I have been busy over the last few days, updating my vlog and producing another Etsy product for the summer season to the publishing process of my webtoon. The main reason is to sort everything out once and for all so that my brain is not cluttered. I came to realize being a stay-at-home mom and not working anymore thought my brain and body can cope with being a multitasker like I used to be when I was still working 8 years ago. I didn’t expect to have the same belief that I was capable of doing it and that I could handle things like a super-mom. I have so much respect for those who could raise children so dearly and do their jobs and housework at the same time. But in all seriousness, how do you handle things to perfection? Kindly share the recipe. I’m desperately in need of advice T.T
Excuse me for today’s vent. This is the me sharing with you guys a bit of my life stories and today as well, I share with you another throwback vlogs when we were in London 2018. If you like to watch them, remember to subscribe to the channel. Thank you 🙂
Summer has finally arrived and everyone is eager to get out and have some fun. Unfortunately, having a tight budget can put a damper on your summer plans. However, being broke does not mean you should miss out on all the excitement and adventures that summertime has to offer. Here are some of the best ways to enjoy yourself when you are broke and cannot travel.
You just explore what is around you. The chances are that there are several hidden gems around your locality that you have never experienced. Take a walk around your area and scout for small parks, nature trails, or even a small beach close by. You may be surprised at what you will find. When I am broke and want to have some fun with my kid, I take him to explore places we have never been to before. It could be a new park, an art gallery, or even a museum.
The last weekend, we visited a few of free attractions around the town close to where we live. There are several. But two caught my attentions. Thanks to the TikTok I’ve watched the other day. Me and my husband did research within 15 mins away from our house there’s a place where can view two rivers merging in Geneva and a small zoo close to that attraction. So I guess it is worth to visit the place without breaking the bank.
Confluence of Two Rivers
Two different rivers have different colors. Breathtaking!
We viewed the breathtaking atractions from the Jonction bridge. It is the best view to witness this. Two different rivers (from Rhone and Arve rivers) joining together into one.
Before we came to the bridge, we discovered a new small playground with kids pool but it’s a little secluded yet I saw there were families bring their kids to the place although they haven’t open the pool for public yet. If it’s open next time I guess I can bring my daughter here and have some picnic. She can cool off in the water while me and husband pig out. Lol. It is a perfect way to beat the scorching summer heat. I haven’t planned the picnics yet. Perhaps when the summer holiday started then I can plan what the best day to do it. The perfect day is when there’s a little windy and not too hot.
Animal Park, De la Batie
Short walk to go up to the animal park.
Next stop was the Animal Park Bois-de-la-Batie, Geneva. You have to walk on the not-too-steep walkway to the top of the hill and walked past a restaurant, Cafe De la Tour, Petit-Lancy. You can take a short rest at the cafe but we didn’t stop there as my daughter urged us to continue our walk😅
Attention, mon cherie!
The animal park was just beside the restaurant. I didn’t know where the entrance was but the back gate at that time can be entered by visitors. Since it was unguarded I guess we can simply enter the place as long as we close the gate after we enter.
An unkempt animal park which we can observe numerous species of animals, mostly birds and farm animals. I’m quite surprised that my daughter looked super excited and interested to pet the animals especially the tortoises and the goats there than our last visit to Basel Zoo last time. Luckily they didn’t bite her finger. Lol.
A nice kindergarten is provided as well in the park so it’s a nice spot to visit if you have kids who love animals.
Now we don’t encourage parents to do this, but since Mr. Hubby only had his off day after the Easter school holiday and the Muslim month of celebration, Eid’Ul Fitri three days happened right after the holiday, we informed the school that my daughter wouldn’t go to school for that three days. I don’t know if she understood it but she was looking so happy when we woke up a little bit late than usual (Her school alarm is always set off at 7 am)
April 24th, 2023
Train ride to the unplanned destination.
So we figured since my autistic daughter likes to stay so long on the train ride, we decided to spend most of this day on the train and hop on and off to three different stops Bern, Basel, and Zurich train stations just to stretch our legs. She wasn’t pleased we got off the ride. But it has to be done. If not, our old legs and bum would be numb from sitting too long. Lol.
April 25th, 2023
The initial plan was to get the rest of my daughter Fruitea’s favorite drink from this shop where we ordered and thought they already had it in hand. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Pasar Indonesia, Mohlin they said they ordered just a few days ago when we had been waiting for beverages for months. We weren’t that disappointed despite the three hours ride to find this place. We felt grateful that some of the things we couldn’t get anywhere else in Geneva, they have them at the shop.
The shop was situated in an isolated place, but the GPS never failed us.
We were greeted by 2 friendly middle-aged women. There are rows of food racks on the left side of the store and other non-food sections on the right side when you walk into the shop. I was pleased to find Belinjo in the snack area. Bruneians called it Tangang. It would be nice if, after you fry them, you mix them with butter and honey like this recipe. A great snack to nibble while watching your favorite K-drama overnight. Lol.
Our next stop was the PUMA outlet, Oensingen. Unfortunately, we have not found the Spongebob edition. They provide just a tiny corner of the section. How can that be? We expected much from a place this big. Hmph.
Our last trip of the day was to have our bellies full at IKEA, Lyssach. The furniture mall was not as crowded as in Geneva so it was a pleasant, peaceful late lunch.
April 26th, 2023
The search for my daughter’s PUMA sneakers continued today. We went to the other design factory, Fish Fashion in Schonwerd. A really confusing route to get there. Even though Mr. Hubby was here twice, he wasn’t sure 😀
Yet, we couldn’t find the sneaker. Our bellies were groaning by the time we ended the long search. So we concluded this trip by getting our lunch at Singapore Restaurant in Zurich. I guess this is only a halal Malay restaurant. If you ever come here I recommend you the Laksa. It’s delicious!
As a matter of fact, that happened long before Ramadhan this year. I felt so motivated to try new recipes of Brunei traditional cakes (kuih) because my main goal is if I succeed in baking them perfectly Id open a food business when I return to Brunei for good in the future.
I was completely hard core trying to do it every week during this year’s Ramadhan. The recipe wasn’t my recipe, I found it on YouTube. These traditional cakes I made last month were…
Made by moi
The Beginning…
One of the kuih that attracted a lot of attention was Serimuka. I’m not sure why. It’s not my favorite. I only chose to do it because my husband really wanted to eat so as a good wife *cough, cough I baked it, and to my surprise on the first attempt it baked nicely. There were so many leftovers that we decided to give them to his colleagues. From there, orders continued to come and my last order (hopefully not the last) was for the open house celebration of Hari Raya at the residence of the Brunei ambassador.
I know I’m still yet to learn more about baking, but I can pick which kuih should I sell when I’m ready to come back home.
The Price
The only thing I feel so difficult at this time is the cost of purchasing the ingredients is not as cheap as when you live in Switzerland. For example, 1kg of flour here is about CHF2.10 but in Brunei, 1kg is only BND1.55 which is converting CHF0.68 only. And there are ingredients that can’t be found, or maybe I don’t know what the packaging looks like here. Many of the baking needs gula apong/gula anau/gula Nipah because the texture is still soft and liquidy when adding this into the mix so when it bakes it’ll not harden the kuih. This is the opposite result when you only use palm sugar, although they said you can replace the gula anau with it. I think only the professional is capable of deciphering the code here. Lol. I’m still starting out, so I need to learn more and more.
Serimuka/Bingka Pandan/Bingka Ubi – $1.50 / 5 pieces
Oh, those who are curious to know how much the price of kuih sell in Brunei, here I give you the list of general prices for your information.
They typically sell them in disposable clear plastic containers such as this one.
I hope there are more kuih or non-traditional cakes I could bake next time. I plan on making Mini Chicken Quiche, Raya biscuits, Kosui, and Puding Suji. Yes, there are many of them. Lol. I hope that happens as I hope.
What are your favorite Hari Raya cakes or biscuits?
mizarwen 