Preparing For Chinese New Year

Who can miss Chinese New Year with all those 'tung tung chiang' music blaring in all departmental stores and hypermarkets? I was at IOI Mall today and we saw Lion Dance Performance already ... and there are 13 more days to go towards CNY! My little Raymund was excited. Insisted that we go nearer to watch. There was a crowd and we were at the shop lots further away. No intention of getting into the crowd. We promised Raymund that there will be more lion dances that he would see when we get closer to Chinese New Year.

Actually, we were kinda late.. comparatively... for new year shopping. I have gotten my new clothes and my little girl's. The easiest. My boys are kinda tough. I wasn't too happy with the designs. My husband's...not all all. We are going tomorrow. For this long weekend break, we meant to stock up drinks first. We missed Giant's one day special last Friday where Tiger, Carlsberg, Guinnese went out for RM88.88 per carton only! So frustrated yesterday when we rushed to Giant and found that it was over! But just as well! Today's newspaper advertised even lower price - at RM83.88 per carton. I suppose it's also because of the Saturday-No-Plastic-Bag-Day, the Sunday's crowd at Giant was at its peak! Giant did a lot of PWP - got really cheap Top detergent and baby diapers too. Then I saw the can mushrooms and gift packs... oops! .. big time oops!! I totally forgot about the 'pai neen' shopping...ie. the gifts that are accompanied with mandarins and angpau (red packets) ... that I have to give to all my elders. I started grabbing stuff! Phew!! I do wonder if the drinks, particularly the beers, will go even lower. I remember last year, the drinks were at their cheapest almost like 1 or 2 days before CNY. Don't want to risk it.

My MIL who is ardent fan of Lilian Too, has been reading her 2010 predictions, of course. She told us over the full moon dinner that...

1. On 'Lap Chun' day (aka First Day of Spring) ie Feb 4th 2010 - all major cleaning must be completed by then.
2. On 'Lap Chun' day ie Feb 4th also - try to do a deposit into our account - signifies money going in. I hope I remember :)
3. On the same Feb 4th, be more careful so that no bad things happen on that day else bad luck will follow us thru the whole year ... hmmm
4. On Feb 10th, to hang the red cloth on the main door between 5am to 7am - best time! Ha,ha! I just told my maid to remember :)

More shopping to do. Also, I have to get new notes too. Some left overs from last year... since I have 3 kids now, angpau out is almost equal to angpau in. Thank God!! Hmmm what else. Oh yes! Stock up my kids milk and medicine. The Chinese medical shops will be having a long break.

Since I'm already at it, I might as well make a checklist now:

1. Buy clothes for all children and hubby
2. Change new notes for angpau this week
3. Get angpau packs
4. Buy biscuits and tit bits to put in the house
5. Remind maid to dust house and major cleanup before 4th Feb (Thurs)
6. Clean up the garden tomorrow.
7. Some CNY decorations in the house
8. Put up the red cloth on the door on Feb 10th
9. Buy milk and medicine
10. Get kids' cough and flu medicine from pediatrician, just in case
11. Buy mandarins

Vitamins and Supplements for my Kids

What with H1N1 still going on strongly ... death toll increasing... number of people affected rising... I can help but be very paranoid about it. Every time someone in my family contracted cough and flu, I get very worried about the possibility of H1N1 on my kids especially. The recent case about the death of a 3 year old baby due to H1N1 upset me badly. I can't imagine how his parents feel. There is nothing we can do about it but hope and pray that our kids and family are fine and healthy.

I'm now quite 'fanatic' :) about building my family esp my kids immunity. I've increased the dosage of Vitamin C for my family - I read on the web somewhere that vitamin C at a sufficient level would boost immunity. Strangely, some docs do not believe the wonders of Vitamin C. During my recent visit to a clinic, the doctor told me that it is just a belief that Vitamin C can boost immunity. A pediatrician also once shared the same view. After all my school education and so on, it is hard to stomach that. Anyway, no harm taking and I still believe vitamin C does help. We just have to remember to give them lots of water as these vitamins are quite heaty.

These are what my kids are taking now. I ran out of Vidaylin Mini Bear Gummies with Garden Vegetables when I took this picture. This is for replacement of fruits and vege which my kids don't frequently take. Here is a separate pix on it.

I just bought another supplement for my kids called Pureen Kids Chewable Milk Colostrum. My sons love it. If you are interested, check out this site about what it can do:http://www.ussummit.com.my/servlet/gateway?command=ShowcaseProductInfo&category=998443500143&id=1200513456408&catname=baby

H1N1 - Worried Sick for my Family

I don't know if this thing about H1N1 is being blown out of proportion or not but it sure scares me like hell. Not so for us adults but more so for my very young children. I have been googling trying to find out more but still getting the same generic info. Particularly high risk to those with medical problems, pregnant ladies, old people and children below 5years -- my children!

The Star news alerts which I subscribed from Maxis is not helping either. I get 'gleeful' death counts and people infected counts on daily basis .. and the number is increasing. What I don't get is what exactly happened. My husband has a doctor friend who actually commented that this H1N1 is not as scary as we think. Could be just a matter of opinion. He told us that the critical and casualties were mainly due to late or no treatment.

Well, whatever the case is, I have a baby and 2 very young boys. Even simple pneumonia is not something to be taken lightly. So, how so to prevent? I really don't know. I have heard that the mask is not really effective too. And how can I expect my 3 year old and baby to wear mask?? Short of becoming a hermit with our own food supply grown in the backyard, there is no 100% avoidance of H1N1... that's a scary thought.

During my recent visit to my doc (I was having a common flu), I had a chat with the doc. About vaccines and so forth. He told me that they are expecting the vaccine to come to Malaysia in Dec 09 and even so, the frontliners (ie hospitals, nurses and docs) will be given priority. By then, a lot more casualties would have happened. And then, there is this uncertainty about new drugs and their side effects. Sigh!

People around us are still traveling - probably because they had a great deal from the last MATTA fair - as well as being sent by their own company. No strict rules around that. Some people who came back visiting high risk countries just went about without self quarantine (in case they are in the incubation period). How irresponsible can you get?? Some companies treat H1N1 positive cases confidentially - no quarantine or even reporting to the Health Ministry. It is no wonder the virus spread!! On the other hand, I have heard some responsible company actually test their staff temperature every day before they get into the office and they have rules around people having flu (H1N1 or not) and travelling.

So I did the little I can do to help my family.

1. Increase Vit C intake (myth or not - I'll talk about this later)
2. For my husband and I - added Vit E and Garlic (Antioxidants)
3. Multi vits for my two boys
4. Appeton Infant drops for my baby girl
5. Scott's Emulsion for my boys
6. Plenty of water
7. People told me to take cooling drinks - eg herbal drinks ('leong sui'), coconut water , barley, fresh fruit juices
8. Double Boiled Snow Frog/'Suet kap' to reinforced the lungs amongst others - see here for recipe: http://www.joanne-momsays.blogspot.com/2009/05/snow-jelly-or-suet-kap-in-cantonese.html)
9. Keeping the house clean with disinfectant (Dettol)
10. Not touching the kids after a day's work until I wash my hands
11. Washing up my kids after a trip out

Now about pneumococcal vaccine, I just don't how true but a friend of mine was given an advice by his doctor to take pneumococcal vaccine to protect against pneumonia. I googled up and found an article about it but it is not exactly conclusive. For kids, the jab which is normally recommended by the pediatrician is Prevenar. But this is not part of the vaccine schedule - just an option and it's quite procey. My kids took it coz they are quite prone to high fever and ear infection to which this vaccine can help. As for the adults, the pneumococcal vaccine is not Prevenar but something else. Gotta ask the doc.

I really hope that this H1N1 thingy will be under control real soon. I get real upset when I hear that a child becomes a victim of the virus.

When You Suspect that You Are Pregnant!

A mom 3 times over - I guess I can give some flashbacks about my experiences about what I did when I found that I was pregnant. The most memorable one was my first pregnancy. More so because it was the first time and not knowing what to do and what to expect. When my 2nd and 3rd baby were conceived, it was almost like a piece of cake! Exagerating a bit la. 

Each pregnancy of mine wasn't exactly the same. But most importantly, we have to be careful and do what we think is right and safe for the baby. These were some of the things I did when I suspected that I was pregnant:

1. Bought a home pregnancy pack to check out if I was pregnant. The best time to do this is first thing in the morning when you wake up. My book told me to do so 10 days after I missed my period for better accuracy.
2. Hunted for a gynecologist. If you are not sure who or where. Ask your friends and relatives (moms) to recommend. I will blog about this later. 
3. Had the 1st appointment with my gynaecologist to confirm my pregnancy. My docs scanned my tummy to look for the little 'bag' and did urine tests on the 1st visit. They would normally give the necessary Folic to be taken daily. Or additional medicine/supplements if the doctor feels it is necessary.
4. Most importantly, my GP advised - Take the day off and celebrate with dear hubby! It's a special moment!!!

A personal note:

1. Stop all supplements or medicine, including Chinese 'poh' herbs. Ask your gynaecologist first before continuing. Have to be sure that it is safe for the fetus. In my case, my gynae just told me to drop everything as his vitamins would have been enough for my pregnancy.
2. If you are on medicine (due to virus, etc), immediately tell your gynaecologist as some medicine are harmful to the fetus. You can even google it for more info.

Visit to the Chinese Medicine shop again

Snow Jelly Red Dates "Sang suk yee mai"

Just made a trip to the Chinese Medicine shop in OUG (opposite the wet market, next to Guardian) to get Rachel's Similac milk  and some Chinese medicine. This shop's pricing is very reasonable and you can also pay by credit card. There is another Chinese Medicine Shop in Happy Garden which is even cheaper but they accept cash only. If you are interested to know where, leave me a comment :). For my convenience, I went to the one nearer. 

Rachel's Similac is only RM59.50 here. At another shop in Puchong, they sold Similac (green cap) for RM61 which they said was a very special price (?!). No need to mention about supermarkets of course - it is like >RM67 over there - I'd only buy if it's really an emergency.

While I was there, I asked the sinseh about my girl - despite taking all those medicine, how come she still has lots of phlegm when she coughs occassionally. He advised to dillute the milk and drink lots of water. Especially in hot weather like this, the milk will cause phlegm and heatiness. Dillute the milk, drink lots of water AND feed her with Hao Zao San, Chuen Pui mixed (which I can get there). That was his advice. Ooops I forgot! To boil 'sang suk yee mai' as well for all at home to drink as water. Only put 2 or 3 pieces of winter melon sugar (gula kundur) for taste but not too much as it can cause phlegm. My Chinese Sin seh has been my advicer - not bad ya!

I also stocked up the Snow Jelly which is depleting. There was a promotion for 9 squares of Snow Jelly and free pao sum for RM180.  Got that too. Snow Jelly is supposed to help boost immunity, strengthen the lungs and for good skin. The alternative, the more expensive alternative is Bird Nest - which only to help strengthen lungs. 

I joined E Excel Membership

I just joined E Excel distributorship. More so because I want to get better price for the supplements that my family consume. I have never been a MLM product believer but E Excel products have convinced me otherwise. E Excel preaches immunity. So their products are designed around building body immunity against sickness and diseases. What they use are essentially Chinese herbs.

Why am I convinced? Actually for the longest time, one of my best friends have been trying to convince me to take one of the products called NOCO. At that time, I was pregnant and I couldn't try it. I was also dragging my feet to put my hubby on it. I was afraid that like a lot of supplements. it may have some side effects that could surface years later. My friend told me that she has been on it for years already and so far so good. She is as healthy as an ox. Then I got my hubby to try 2 of their products NOCO (the names says it all 'No Cold') and ACT (for immunity). Since he took it, he was totally immune to viruses that was floating in the house - my kids and I took turns getting sick then. And when he off it about 3 months later, he kena! Convinced? Almost. After I delivered, my health was not exactly great. My immunity was quite low. When I felt that a flu was coming, I took NOCO and managed to suppress it. That was WHEN I decided to join the distributorship. So far, I have tried 3 products - NoCo, ACT and Nutrifresh (contains nutrients from 16 types of fruits and vegetables). No regrets!

If any one would like to try out E Excel product, do email me at joannechin28@hotmail.com. I'll try to help. I will also drop some E Excel product information from time to time. Look out for more. 

Snow Jelly or 'Suet kap' in cantonese

My kids are so very prone to cough and flu that I'm so very desperately looking for just anything to help boost their immunity. Someone recommended me to try out Snow Jelly or 'suet kap' (in cantonese). If you really want to know what is Snow Jelly, it is actually quite yucky! Snow Jelly also known as Hashima is the dried fallopian tube (oviduct) .. urrgggghhh! ...of a female frog species found in forest of Jiang Baishan mountainous region in Northern China. Exotic .. but still it is hard to stomach that you are eating the fallopian tube of something. But once you get over it, it is actually ok and really quite delicious. Heh, heh!





I bought this promotion pack from a Chinese Medicine Shop for RM199. It that came with 9 squares of Snow Jelly and Korean Ginseng. No idea if it was a good deal or not coz it was my first time buying it. Then I got some sugacane rock sugar as well - and that's cheap - only RM4.


I have already cooked it twice for my family. My sons love it and they call it 'Jelly Soup'. Hopefully, this would help them boost their immunity.






Here's how to prepare Snow Jelly Korean Ginseng Soup (4 pax):


Ingredient:

• 3 squares of Snow Jelly or 'suet kap'
  
• 10-15 slices of Korean Ginseng or 'ko lai sum'
  
• 10 red dates or 'hung jo'
  
• 2 pieces of sugarcane rock sugar (average size)
  
• 3-4 bowls of water
  

Use a slow cooker. Chinese medicine is best cooked with earthern pots and slow cooker is best because of its make as well as the heat is controlled to allow simmering. Metal pots may react with some chinese medicine.

1. Put the Snow Jelly in a bowl and soak it overnight. The Snow Jelly will expand and expand.
2. The next day, clean the Snow Jelly by taking out all black particles and 'hair' from the fluffs. It actually smells a bit like dead fish but don't worry, once cooked with the rest of the items, you wouldn't even notice it.
3. Boil the water in the slow cooker and when it is hot, put in the Snow Jelly, Korean Ginseng, red dates and sugarcane rock sugar in the pot. The red dates and Korean Ginseng will key the fishy smell.
4. Cook on high for about 2 hours, then go on either Low or Auto depending on when you want to serve.

Chinese medicine for cough & flu? Hao Zao San, Cordyceps, Bird Nests, 'Suet kap'..

My kids are down with cough and flu AGAIN! Will it never end?? They have been taking medicine for close to a month already and now, a second bout of cough and flu attacked again.


The earlier cough was almost subsiding. I was still skeptical about the effects of Singular and worried, like most moms do, about administering drugs to my kids for long period of time. I turned to Chinese medicine. My little mind tells me that Chinese medicine being herbs and roots (and I mean genuine ones with no ++ ingredients if you know what I mean) should be better than drugs. No science here really... just my mind on overdrive mode :)


I bought 2 types of Chinese medicine - known to most moms - Hou Zao San (Monkey Bezoar Powder) and Cordyceps Powder. They don't come cheap - costed me RM90 each. And if I buy from Eu Yan Sang, it would be more expensive at RM138 for Hou Zao San. Price aside, it works! According to Eu Yan Sang, Hou Zao San is supposed to 'clear excessive phlegm, relieve cough and asthmatic bronchitis, especially suitable for infants suffering from chronic cough'. My mom gave me lots of it when I was a kid. Cordyceps is supposed to help strengthen the lungs. It comes with various grades and can be as expensive as few thousand Ringgit. Too soon to see the effect yet.

As I was saying, it was subsiding when the 2nd round of cough and flu attacked again! My husband thought that it was better to take them to see the pediatrician. Guess what! Both sons got ear infection again! Can Hao Zao San help here? No idea. Once again, the works... antibiotic, cough, phlegm, flu medicine. Sigh!

One thing for sure, I need to 'poh' (cantonese for 'strengthen health wise') their lungs and natural defense system. The chinese sin seh recommended the expensive bird nest and cordyceps. I have the cordyceps now - thats fine. And I choose 'suet kap' (sorry, not sure what you call this in English) over bird nests. Works about the same way I was told, and it is cheaper. And also it is largely because you just don't know how genuine the bird nests is. There have been talks about bleaching agent in bird nests. My late gynae also told me not to take bird nests when I was pregnant as we don't know if it is really genuine. The fake ones are made of 'petroleum' components which is harmful to the fetus. My pediatrician is worried about infection. So, to play it safe, I got the 'suet kap' instead. Have yet to prepare it (double boil with sugar cane rock sugar) as my kids have to be well and healthy first. Waiting ...

My kids having COUGH and COLD again!

The weather is freaky! Burning hot in the morning and afternoon, it pours and pours. All my 3 children are having bad cough, clogging phlegm and flu …AGAIN! Are there herbs and supplement to raise immunity in children? I’m still hunting for it! My eldest school going son is usually the one who gets it first. Sometimes it would get so bad that it would lead to high fever that goes beyond 40 deg, chills and shakes, and even ear infection. And then domino effect! My younger son would then catch on and just cough and cough and cough. His lungs are more sensitive because when he was just 1 month old, he was hospitalized for a week for bronchopneumonia. He was on oxygen support, physiotherapy, suction (a small long tube is used to insert into the tiny nose and month to take out the mucus/phlegm) and on drips (a big needle going into his very tiny hand – it sooo painful to watch!). That was one experience I care NOT to repeat! Quite traumatizing really especially when you are talking about your new born baby! So for all mummies out there, please isolate your babies if anyone around them has cough and cold! I do that for my baby daughter!

Visit to the pediatrician is a monthly affair – and they don’t come cheap!! More often than not, my children have to take LOADS of medicine such as nebulizer (to dilute the phlegm and my younger son just hates it!!), cough/flu syrup, antibiotic and even inhalers like Combivent and Steretide. If the cough gets worse, they are given Singulair to take for 1-2 months - costs a bomb I must say (1 months supply is ~RM200!!)! On this note - I was google-ing yesterday and found that there could be side effects on Singulair. I will check with my pediatrician and tell you more later.

So what can we do?

1. Once your child catches the bug, DON’T WAIT! See the doctor! If you wait, it gets worse and the medicine gets stronger , your child suffers.. and it costs more!!! My Doc actually scolded me for waiting!
2. Vicks – some said that this works - rub Vicks on the sole of the feet and then cover it up with socks before they sleep.
3. I rub Vicks on my children’s chest – seems to work too
   Hand washing – after school, after food, after sneezing/coughing, after play, after outing… just keep clean!!
4. If your child is sick, try to keep them at home and not to send them to day care or school. This is so that the germs don’t spread and you can observe your child for medical attention.
5. Try to avoid people who have caught the bug – I know it’s easier said than done but at least we tried, right!
6. Household disinfectant – I use Dettol to wipe my furniture and floor.
7. Also I’m almost fanatic about bathing (if can) my children (and myself) after a visit to the doctor or hospital. Those are the places which are ‘full’ of germs.
8. Lots of vitamin C. It’s ok. The excess will come out in the urine.
9. Scott’s Emulsion – the orange flavor tastes better. People said that it helps increase immunity. I give it to my children anyway.
10. Air their bedrooms and clean daily
11. Drink plenty of water – especially when your child is sick
12. My pediatrician advised me to give my children flu shots. I haven’t yet. So can’t tell you much there.

While I do most of that, the bug just keeps coming back. And, I don’t like to administer too much antibiotics on my children. So now, I’m hunting for supplements that can help to boost my children’s immunity system. Some suggested the following - I’m still thinking and thinking about whether to try it on my children.

1. Cordyceps (it costs a bomb!)
2. Cactus juice from E.Excel (??not sure)
3. The Chinese says Bird nests – but my doctor is worried about infection… hmmm
4. … still hunting…..any advice for me please??
   
   

Working mum and 3 kids

Just today, I was at Guardian Pharmacy buying Vitamin C for my 2 boys. A lady at the Q asked me what brand I was buying and if it has Lysine. I got the Appleton ones. And NO Lysine, thank you very much – I don’t want to make their appetite any better than it already is. They just can’t stop eating. Why, just yesterday, we participated in Fernleaf Milk Powder assessment of my 2 boys’ weight and height (part of their sales drive) and guess what – no surprise here … They are in obesity state. Buttt then again, what is ‘obesity’ … that is up for debate. But take it from me, my 2 boys do not look like the real real obese-obese type, you know. Just normal super active kids with firm baby fats and bigger tummies only – and still have to go on diet and exercise. Here’s a pix of them.




Anyway, anyway, back to this hot looking mom with a son at Guardian Pharmacy was telling me about the Vit C and then asking me the age of my kids. I said ‘5 2 and 4mths’. ‘Huh? What do you mean by 5 2 and 4mths?’ she said. Must be thinking of a new measurement J. I have 3 kids, I said – one 5yrs, one 2 years and youngest only 4+ months. She was kind of surprised and asked me how I manage them, working and all. Actually being a bit of a vain pot, I was hoping that she would tell me that I don’t look like a mom with 3 kids – Dream! No such luck! L I told her that I have 2 maids, running high on costs now but hopefully when my 2yr old son goes to school, l may not need 2 maids blah blah gossip...

Well! After this episode and lots more before, I got to thinking that perhaps I should lay down some plans and decide whether (or rather ‘when’) I should quit my day job and concentrate on my kids. Perhaps a little business that gives me time flexibility and $$$ of course!

Yoo hoo, out there! Anyone has any idea for me? Love to hear your views.