Is that the light at the end of the Rabbit Hole?

I was thinking of writing my blog a few months ago when we uploaded all the videos of the blond hair being lopped off, but then I've been a bit pre occupied with the chemo treatments and was in emergency with a high fever (it's what happens when you have a compromised immune system) so was in the hospital for 3 days with blood transfusions and antibiotics , they finally let me out. I must have looked like a missile outta control getting out of there!  Well I was counting my free days, 4 more and I had to go back in for another round of treatment.

Hello it's me!  still alive n kickin at Noosa! 

Reading through some of my texts and letters to friends and family it looks like I've totally lost my sense of humour ( I know I have as I've started posting on Face book political pages... which I never do as a rule!) and it seems that the treatment was my total focus (kinda of hard not to be! but hey there's more to life),  so I took my self to the  cancer centre called  BLOOMHILL
www.bloomhill.com.au   Best thing I ever did.  My designated nurse was fantastic, my brother had arrived on the same day so he came along to and was mightily impressed.   It's situated in the middle of this fab rain forest, the cafe which is on their deck is wonderful, peaceful and you could just sit there sipping your latte and nibbling on your lemon slice for ever.

Whilst we were taking in all this goodness, there was an unexpected cancellation and since I was there I managed to get a reflexology session.  It was bliss, and she dropped some important knowledge on me.   The thing I noticed is as cancer patients, we ask all sorts of people for advice but the best are the nurses and caregivers.  So now I've got something I can do with the numbness on my fingertips which is caused by one of the chemo combos.  You leave the centre feeling calm and peaceful.  Next time I went was for a psychiatrist consult.  Not scary at all, peaceful, lovely cuppa , brilliant view an such a patient calm doc. 

I have yet to go back and use their yoga or massage classes but I will as soon as we've got a rein on the appointments at the hospital  and my weekly chemo sessions.  Oh you want to know how it went with the Psychiatrist?  Well of course I'm mental but then it's a good mental and I'm in the normal zone so far!!!! I'm now closing on the last two cycles of my treatment.  Because of it's toxicity levels building up in me, my hemoglobin and platelet counts get wiped out so I have to go back n forth to the hospital for loads of transfusions.  A big huge thank you to those of you who donate blood and Platelets ( that's you Annie), we couldn't survive without you.

I'm sure my oncologist wished I'd be as thankful to him,  the other day at our appointment before he could do anything i said "look at my eyebrows!", he looked at them and said " err they're nice",  I said are they straight and do they look too dark?"   he said " no..., is there a reason to this? " .  "Yes !" I said, "as part of  an ongoing care for patients, doctors should provide eyebrow and eyelash accessories as part of hairloss due to chemo!", which floored him.  Well it kept him grinning for a few minutes. I have no idea how to do eyebrows, mine were low maintenance when I had them,  so I have to  keep asking my daughter to help out!  Annie finally got me eyebrow stencils, thank god for that, makes life so much easier. Don't even ask me about eyelashes, I'm still staring at the false eyelashes wondering how I'm going to glue it on... knowing my luck it'll adhere to upside down!! eeekkk

https://www.rosettelavedette.com/en/hair-growth-after-chemo/     Hair Growth After Chemo

My Doc keeps reassuring me I'm doing really well, and I'm dealing with it well too.  Huh if only he saw the sobbing, and sulking and moaning I do . (well none of you get to see it cept my kids and brothers... well that's what brothers are for!). Kids more because I love when they hug and hold me and tell me it's OK.  It's been a real ride down this rabbit hole and I've got 5 more weeks to go.

So here's the thing, I think I'm hooked on food porn, my appetite is totally shot to smithereens but with one of my close buddies posting Malaysian Specialties and my family and friends posting all the dishes they're eating, I'm addicted!  Which led me to search you tube for cancer friendly meals... lemme tell you, there is a LOT out there!!!  Let your common sense guide your tummy's path is all I can say.  I've turned into a pesco pollo vegetarian, even the smell of steaks on the grill turn my tummy.  And correct you want a slight tang with your food, so dishes like NOT SO HOT Tom Yum, Pho, fried glass noodles etc are so much more appetising.

Satay

Curry Mee

Asam Laksa

(https://youtu.be/YdD5mXZIjJs)

 (I sent out a distress call to all my close friends for sour plums!).   I've actually been toying with the idea of doing a small vlog on cooking for your self as a cancer patient.... well I might have a go at it once I get the wind in my sails again.

Dried preserved plums!

Anyway just wanted to touch base with you all, thank you for posting all your positive notes on my blog and fb wall as well as my Insta account .  To those who gave and gave for the GoFundMe Account that Annie hosted, thank you from the bottom of my heart ( a little bird told me I had so many of you caring for me) Reach out to me please anytime if you have questions or if you have answers.
Dx

Just a little Spice bebeh

Let me tell you a little story, no it's not a terribly long one, just a little one, promise...  it's about food, oooo my favourite topic!  Ok ok quick background, I grew up in  and around Hong Kong, as my step dad was a Chef in the hotel industry, and because of this we moved around a lot.  I learned to eat all sorts of strange and wonderful types of food.  So once in a while I get a bit nostalgic and want some of the more exotic stuff that I enjoyed in the Orient, and one of those little mouthwatering morsels are century eggs with pickled ginger,

in case you've not seen it, here's a pic.  Now I know it looks like a 'goth egg!', but it's actually quite delicious.

Also known as preserved egg,

They are made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls for several weeks to several months.

As an hors d'oeuvre, the Cantonese wrap chunks of this egg in pickled ginger

Finding the century eggs here in Kuala Lumpur is easy enough.  Most supermarkets sell them as well as the wet market, but finding the pickled ginger... well that's how this journey begins!  Talk about a needle in a haystack.  I searched most the main stores for pickled ginger, and couldn't find any.  I was really stumped, we use pickled ginger for a lot of our food, well this one in particular : 

Pickled ginger otherwise known as Sushi Gari

Off I went to the Japanese grocers.  They did have some kind of pink ginger pickle but I couldn't read the ingredients (obviously I can't  read and write Japanese! but I can curse, long story,  but that's beside the point!). 

I mentioned this to my girlfriend, well when I say mentioned what I really meant was to grumble and moan about the lack of pickled ginger.  My galpal said, "Daph, most people either buy from a friend or make it at home".  Well talk about a light bulb moment!   I decided to make a batch for myself. 

First, I researched the best type of pickling ingredients and started off with normal ginger root. When you pickle old ginger root its very yellow and is pretty hot! yawsaahh, old ginger root, ...fail.  Next, I wanted a crunch but a light delicate ginger heat, so I  tried fresh young root ginger, it turned out pink!

Fresh younger ginger from the markets

Then I tested it on my friends and family, hey that's what they're for!,  and the feedback was good, so much so that my little Faerie Lisa suggested I retail it along with my signature chilli sauce I make which includes these ingredients :

Fire Engine Red Chillies

Garlic bursting with flavour

Taking my own advise, I've started a small home business retailing these  home made condiments, yes I've got a label too thanks to OXOLOCO. It was an exciting process, including sourcing all the materials!

Many thanks to OXOLOCO for designing my label.

I've now rolled out my first batch of both and taking orders! Both condiments contain no colouring or preservatives, the ginger naturally turns blush pink in the pickling marinade.  You can pop your orders on e mail,  that's, daphnenasir@gmail.com or pm me on Facebook!

My ©Cha Cha Chili Sauce ready to be labelled

©Tickled Pink Ginger anyone? 

I can't wait for my labels to be ready, they're in print as we speak.  It feels very satisfying because whatever the outcome, this venture fulfills two things, a creative outlet that allows me to utilise my home again as a workspace, and to make good quality products that everyone can enjoy.

Cheers and have a lovely week ahead! 

The Year 2016.. in the beginning

Happy New Year everyone.  I do hope for everyone this is going to be a great year.  2015 had so many bumps in it, it seems like everyone is happy to see the back of it. I for one waved it off with close friends and a few days of recuperation!

In my last blog I was talking about empowering women and what we can do for ourselves financially and spiritually in this economic state of uncertainty. I'm not going to bog you down with figures and tech speak, but have a real heart to heart about what we can do to help ourselves.  We've been informed that there have been so many budget cuts which means a lot of people being made redundant, downsizing of departments, companies going belly up or being bought over or like the radio station I had been working for, shutting down with 2 weeks notice.

Last day at the Station!

Me and my partner in Crime on the Morning Show

Once the initial shock is over, I think the most important thing is to ensure your tribe, and that is your most faithful and most supportive friends and family rally around you.  There will be a lot of ideas being bandied about, but the most important thing I've discovered is to trust your instinct and go with your gut.

Now for some of us , it's the age factor, lets face it, more companies prefer to hire younger people and to also pay less for the inexperienced ones. Plus the younger folk can hop around from one company to another and it's quite the norm, but if you've had an established career and a defined work ethos that you've been following it can be harder.  You will come across a myriad of  work opportunities, from MLM to introductions to investing.  Lets cover them one by one shall we?

My Almond Shortbread

Firstly if you find yourself at home, going through the ads and recruitment agencies without as much luck as you'd hope to have, lets look at what you can do immediately.  Do you cook?  Is there a specialised dish that everyone ooos and ahhs over?  I've spoken to quite a few women and they do a few signature dishes that they advertise online and cater to folk who don't have the time to cook.  All it takes is a little bit of patience and PR.  Make sure you bring you signature dish to the next get together, tell your friends you're available to cater the dish you've brought , make sure you also have a price in mind of how much you will charge.  Post it on your social networks, it's the best way of being visible and word of mouth also works and make sure you take some great shots of the food (not the person holding it or eating it!!)   Also as my girl friends mentioned to me, a lot of restaurants and cafes are accepting home made goods that are up to their standards so look around your neighbourhood to these places where you can possibly promote your dish.  This is immediate cash.
I make about 4 specialised dishes, apart from my Shepard's Pie and Apple Crumble I also do

killer quiches in many flavours

I also make tasty tuna puffs!

Then there's part time work at UBER, why not, if you own your own car, have a few hours to spare and want to earn money, apply, I'm sure your network will tell you where and at what time there's the most need for public transport.

The same can be said for your actual skills, you can always offer your services on a free lance basis whilst looking for the next major job, (anything from teaching yoga, cooking, accounting, language classes etc)   just make sure you know what the going rate is and charge accordingly.  Cash money more money.

my pal Riz does dive classes in her free time

and has some pretty awesome experiences along the way!

There are many MLM, Pyramid and Networking Jobs. out there, ranging from health products to time sharing.  The most important thing about this type of work is to actually believe in the product, believe you can market the product and make the initial payment (yes there is always an initial investment starting from RM 500 upwards.)   I'll cover them all in detail in the next blog, suffice to say this is to just kick start your year with a quick patch up and to let you know that you are not alone, we're all in this boat together, and we believe with more women supporting each other and building a network together or as I love to call it a TRIBE , we can do it and there is light at the end of the tunnel.


I'm in the midst of gathering other blogs for micro financing and also investing.  If you have a topic you'd like to share please don't hesitate to let me know, I'd love to hear from you,

Kitch Kitchens

I have always wondered why people like to have white kitchens.... goodness I can feel every one's hackles rising and a massive debate about to start! Well before you start putting your points forward, let me give you a few of mine.

I cook almost everyday, for me it's partly a creative outlet and partly because I feel I am cooking my family a nutritious meal with love.  We try out lots of different recipes and for those  dishes that don't make the grade, well they're tossed out on their ear!  (not really, we just don't bother with them again) My kids are my biggest critiques, and I like their honesty because it helps me tweak the dish to perfection according to our palette.

Now the cooking part is always good, but the cleaning of it is a real pain in the .. bottom.   I've noticed (and here is where I put my case forth on white kitchens)  that during the cooking frenzy , splatters of sauce, chopped onions or other aromatics strewn about, some beetroot or rhubarb juice is spilled (beetroot in potato salad is yum.. uh I'll post recipe at end for the non believers.)  Anyway you can see where I'm going with this mess, cleaning it up on a stainless steel or dark marble surface is so much easier and kinder to the heart, whereas white cupboards or light counter tops become an art from in elbow grease  (you ever tried cleaning saffron stains from a white anything... good luck) Stainless steel seems to be so much more functional, is beautifully streamlined and lasts longer!  Yes white kitchens are brighter and look cleaner but in reality it takes longer to keep clean!

No stains here!  Dx

Beetroot and Potato Salad
1 x fairly large beetroot (peeled and quartered, boil the beetroot, when it's tender remove half the water, then add some vinegar to the water and let it cool)
4 x large potatoes (boiled and cubed)
1 x onion minced (up to you how much you want in , I usually use a medium sized one)
2 x boiled eggs chopped up
olive oil
vinegar
salt & pepper
mustard
mayo

Add the cooled potatoes,  drained beetroot, onion, eggs in a large bowl, add in olive oil (about 3 tbs) vinegar (3tbs as well) salt & pepper , dollop of mayo and a squirt of mustard.   Toss it well .
Chill it in the fridge and you're good to go!

New Year! Hello 2010!

Everyone was asking me , 'where are you goin to be celebrating NYE D?' I had initially promised James (e gads months ago actually!) and so when the invites came pouring in I kept wondering what I really wanted to do.

Well as we get older I guess we prefer to spend it with people that mean a lot to us, and I didn't want to be trapped with a bunch of strangers in any sort of party, be it at a house or club. I was also not really in the mood as it had been a pretty horrendous couple of months financially and emotionally draining, even though I was doing my best to press on. I mean, geezz even I was getting tired of all the gloom and doom of my mood and general life.

Feeling like a shrew, I just wanted to sit in my little "safety zone" and not have to bother about being nice to anyone.... one accidental slip of the tongue, and "ooo wazzup with D, she a total biatch these days" then again I was also getting fed up with my own company.

So on Christmas day, unlike most Christmases that I have with only family, I had my extended family who were ol school chums of mine from waaaaaaayyyyyy back when come over with their kids, can you imagine cooking for 17 people?!! Well I did, and it was brilliant, it was also going to by my last Christmas here. The table was groaning with turkeys (yes two, and both cooked differently!), stuffing, roasted spuds, baby potatoes, mixed green veg, Brussels sprouts, mushroom gravy sauce, cranberry sauce, mince pies, Christmas pudding and not forgetting the yummy Christmas log that my gal pal had brought along.. deeelishh oh and of course I made mulled wine (gluh wine) but of course only I drank it, people here aren't used to it.. so we carried on with some great Merlot.

Much later, much much later.. when everyone could heave their bodies around, we had a music flashback, "who knows this song!" "it's Prince!" "ok ok how about this one" ! "o my god, that's not rappers delight is it!!" yeahhhh. Heh Heh, its was the most tiring but one of the best Christmases I've had in a long time.

So when I went for my quiet round of drinks with James and his family for NYE, it was just right, I didn't feel I needed to be with tons of people, I enjoyed the convivial atmos of the restaurant and we most certainly did give the DJ heaps when he wasn't playing our music!!

And to top it all off, I went home early, fell asleep as I was waiting for the kettle to boil, woke up with a start at 6.30am , ran to the computer and flicked on my skype, and true to my word and hers, Ana and I celebrated her NYE countdown, it was the loveliest bottle of Prosecco I'd drunk in a long time! albeit the earliest ! he he he rock on!

I really feel this year is starting out so brilliantly, I've started my master cleanse detox diet that my lovely friend Chrissy gave to me. We went to school in Hong Kong together and she lives in Bali now, the invite is open to head over there , and I'm most certainly going to take it up! When she came over a couple of weeks ago to see me, (and I haven't seen her for 25 years!!) she looked bloody terrific! So I'm on my third day of the detox and I'm still hanging in there!



He He He... I'm thrilled with 2010 so far!
Dx