Monthly Archives: October 2010

The Kitchen of Lame Music

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My mom was a nut. A year ago today, just before the sun rose, Mom went to be with the Lord.

Mom and Lorna cheering each other on

I miss her.

It’s so funny how things happen in life. When the kids were small, Mom lived in Sterling, Illinois. She was raising the Dudelette and his sister, Tori, at the time.

Me with the Dudelette

Mom always had music on in the kitchen. Being that Sterling is not the music mecca of America, the music was, well, lame.

We dubbed the kitchen “The Kitchen of Lame Music”.

I knew that Brandon and Geoff were well aware of this designation. When Brandon was in high school, he made The Kitchen of Lame Music volumes I and II for mom who had, by then, moved to Port Townsend, WA.  Songs you’d find on these CDs would be songs like Afternoon Delight, Billy Don’t Be a Hero and Rubber Band Man.

I didn’t know that the Dudelette remembered the Kitchen of Lame music, though, as he was pretty young at the time.

I was talking to him yesterday and he was telling me how he found a cool, custom pool cue at Goodwill, dirt cheap, that he bought for his fiance’, Scarlette, who is a good pool player.

Scarlette and the Dudelette with Mom

I told him it reminded me of the song You Don’t Mess Around with Jim. He said he didn’t think he knew that song so I dialed it up on Grooveshark and he said, “Oh yeah, I know that song. I heard it in the Kitchen of Lame Music.” He went on to say how, while he was at Goodwill that he was singing another old song and the man who worked there said he couldn’t believe someone the Dudelette’s age would know that song. He told the man about the KOLM. 🙂

Last October, when I went out to stay with Mom, we talked a lot about and played the songs of the KOLM. Many nights she would be falling asleep at the table and I would “threaten” her with playing The Night Chicago Died if she didn’t let me help her to bed.

Mom was a nut and she was loads of fun. I will always miss her and I know that every time I hear one of those lame songs, I will remember her and the fun that we had.

Jonny, Becky, Me and Julie with Mom

Smarty? I don’t thinky so.

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I’m going to go hang out on my neighbor’s front porch on Halloween and give out candy. I did it a couple of years ago and we had a lot of fun. Since no one trick or treats on our side of the block, it allows me the fun of not only visiting with Elaine but seeing the kids in their cute costumes.

For this year, I bought Smarties to hand out.

Smarties are a personal favorite of mine. They bring back fond memories of my bodybuilding days when I used them for a quick shot of post workout dextrose. And I love their tart little sweetness.

On facebook last night, one of my friends, Malena, said she was going to have to take her Smarties back because she forgot that they are banned.

Banned? Smarties? I had to ask why.

Before my question posted, she posted that she didn’t want to be the bad neighbor who hands out candy crack at Halloween.

What??

I then searched the internet and found that kids are grinding Smarties into powder and inhaling them.

Now who would have thought? But then I was completely shocked when I was in 7th grade and one of my classmates died from huffing foot spray.

Foot spray. Seriously. Have you smelled that stuff? Deadly, apparently.

So, we just got rid of the meth house yesterday.

I don’t want to be responsible for starting a whole new drug  problem in the neighborhood so maybe I need to return my Smarties, too. 😉

Are you my mother?

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When we lived in Saudi, we would frequently see a sight like this when we were out shopping.

Often the ladies would be gathered in a group, with many children playing around their feet. We always wondered, how do the children know which one is their mother?

Last week, David’s students included a gentleman from Saudi and one from Qatar. He asked them if their mothers covered fully when they were little and, if so, how did they know which one was their mother.

The Qatari gentleman replied, “I would know my mother in 100.”

The Saudi gentleman replied, “It’s your wife that you’ve just met that you have to worry about. You need to remember what her handbag looks like.”

🙂

Nasi Lemak = Not for Lauri

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In the more fun with food category, I bring you Nasi Lemak. These little packets are on the breakfast buffet every morning. I’ve been so curious so I finally got my nerve up to grab one, open it up and taste it. It was interesting, that’s for sure!

Here’s a crazy discovery I made after I turned off the video. This tastes much better after you’ve eaten it. I ended up eating about half of it because I liked the aftertaste. LOL! I’ve never had food like that before! 🙂

F-cup

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Continuing along our way through the center of Kuala Lumpur, we happened upon the Pavillion Mall.

The Pavillion Mall is where Laura and I went to the fish spa, I told David, and suggested we walk around this next mall. We were really hot and decided it would be a good spot to get something to drink and cool off.

We got some water and I ordered an iced coffee from Old Town White Coffee. I ordered the white coffee, minus the white but forgot to tell them to leave out the sugar as well. An interesting drink!

On our way out, we passed by a cosmetics store. I thought it looked like fun so we went in. As we wandered towards the back of the store, we came across a display of

F-cup cookies.

Intrigued, we started looking at the box. Then a helpful sales clerk came over and I began asking her about this product.

Me: So if I take this product, my boobs will get bigger?

Her: Yes, but you really need to take them for 2 months at least.

Me: And then I will have noticeably bigger boobs?

Her: Yes, and the fat that you have at your hips will relocate to your chest area.

Me: Really? Now THAT would be doing something.

Her: Oh yes. And you know the discolorations you can sometimes have on your face?

Me: (Okay, I have a brown spot on my right cheek and I’m starting to get a little suspicious here.) Yes, like this? (I point to my cheek.)

Her: Yes! Well, that will all go away.

At this point I am laughing because it was like she was looking at me and my imperfections and telling me that these magic F-cup cookies could fix ALL of it.

Me: So you know this really works?

Her: Yes!

Me: How? Have you taken it?

Her: Oh no, but I have customers who have taken it and it works. They see a difference.

David and I are both really laughing by now.

So we look at the ingredients to see what miracles are inside these cookies.

Exactly. LOL!

But here are the real ingredients:

Ingredients:
Flour, chocolate/vanilla/strawberry, margarine, powder of preparation soy milk, skim milk, liquid tofu, shortening,starch, dry albumen, powder of beans embryo, Pueraria Mirifica, swelling agent, emulsifier, spice, sweetening, coloring, (annatto,caroten)

Doesn’t that seem somewhat like the ingredients used to make cake? 🙂

The twins

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If you’ve been following along our trip, you’ve noticed a lot of photos of the Petronis Twin Towers. These are two of the tallest buildings in the world and I am enamored of them.

Yesterday, we got a chance to get really close to them and wowza! I couldn’t get enough.

I can’t tell you how many times I nearly face planted because I was too busy looking up instead of looking where I was going.

My favorite things about the buildings is the juxtaposition of the curves against the straight edges

and the fact that it’s made out of so much steel.

There is a cool sculpture at the front entrance.

And the floor looks like this.

Here are my boys at night.

And from the top of the KL Tower.

Love them! 🙂

Muffins and malls

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When we went down to eat breakfast yesterday, much later than we normally do, the restaurant was absolutely packed. Not an empty table to be found. Not my idea of a leisurely Sunday morning repast.

We decided to go out and find something to eat. According to Laura, Western breakfasts are not really common here in Kuala Lumpur so, before going, we consulted Google to see if we could find something that would work.

We found a terrific write up for a place called Terrace Bakery that told of caramel banana french toast amongst other yummy things. I looked at the map and it looked like it was near the Suria KLCC Mall. So off we went. I told David we could go and look at the mall after we were done eating, that it was one that Laura and I had been to earlier in the week.

Although we found the mall, sadly we didn’t find the Terrace Bakery. So we settled for the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. First we each had an incredibly hot muffin and cup of coffee that almost didn’t fit on the table. Can you say giganto?

Then we had some perfectly tasty Eggs Benedict that was ice cold. Maybe, because it’s so hot outside, it was meant to be served at a cooler temperature?

After that, we headed across the street to the Suria KLCC Mall.

Shopping here is not for the faint of heart. Kuala Lumpur has the biggest malls I have ever seen and, frankly, I don’t think I’m cut out for shopping like that but we gave it our best shot.

The coolest thing about the Suria Mall is that it’s right underneath the Petronis Twin Towers. I am so in love with those buildings that if I weren’t married to David, I might just marry them. 🙂

Nibbling on nail polish

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I woke up yesterday to a posting on my facebook wall from Laura saying we were going to go to the fishy spa. I had absolutely NO idea what that was so I looked it up on google.  So we were going to go and stick our feet in fish tanks. Hmmmm. To be excited or freaked out?

I’m always up for a new adventure and, since I have survived rides in the car with Laura’s driver, I figured the fish would be a piece of cake.

We got to the Fish Spa which is in a very nice, upscale mall where the size Large clothing equates to a US size 6.

After paying we had to wash our feet before letting the little guys feast on the dead skin of our tootsies.

Then we went to the tank with the little fish in it.

After a few minutes, Laura asked if I was ready to move over to the big fish. And so we went.

Here’s how the fish look up close and personal.

That was a really interesting and fun experience. I was sort of surprised that the fish didn’t go after my heels more. Because I like to walk around barefoot so much, that’s usually the roughest part of my feet. But my feet do seem smoother!

I think those fishy guys like a little more than dead skin or else my nail polish was just the wrong color. I seem to be missing polish on the 4th toe of both feet! Next time I’ll wear bright red like Laura. 🙂