Leah’s Cafe

The visa was approved yesterday and I received a blue slip after the visa interview. The blue slip has instruction on where and when to pick up the passport and visa package .

The pick up time was 3-4 p.m at the Visa Facilitation Service (VFS) office at Wisma MCA, which is at Jalan Ampang, adjacent to Citibank and opposite China Bank. I took a LRT train, got down at Ampang Park station, took the exit that has “Wisma MCA” on it and walked towards Citibank. Wisma MCA is two buildings away from Citibank.

There was quite a crowd, about 50- 60 people were in line when I arrived at the entrance of VFS office at 2.45 p.m.  The office was closed and only opened at 3.00p.m. Despite the long line, it went really fast.

Most people were there to pick up visitor’s visas. In fact, I was one of the two people who were picking up immigrant visas on that day. The man who served me  at the counter was kind of goofy. He was looking high and low for my passport at the drawer that held all the visitor’s visas. He looked kind of perplexed when he could not find mine, he searched one more time, could not find! Opened another drawer, still could not find!

So, I reminded him I was picking up immigrant visa. Actually, the consular staff made a note on the blue slip, he must have not paying attention to that. :-) He suddenly realized his mistake and albeit embarrassingly took out a bag from another drawer and gave me the passport and visa package.

I got out there at 3.15 p.m!.

After beating all the dragons, arrived at the embassy gate at 8.55 a.m,. About 3-4 people were lining up beside the gate,  we were allowed into the embassy building after security clearance.

Security clearance again at the entrance of building. Got a number (the second person for immigrant visa). The waiting room was almost full with at least 60 people inside, eight out of nine windows were opened and it went really fast. The interviewers were mostly whites, only one Asian interviewer who looked  and sounded like a Filipino.

 When I entered the waiting room, the numbers for non immigrant visas had already gone up to 50+. Looked like they had  interviewed about 50+ non immigrant visa applications at 9.00 a.m, starting from 7.30 a.m! Pretty efficient, I would say.

I was quite sure it was a local staff who was in charged of the IV documents submission  in the morning when they did not start calling the first applicant at 9.15 a.m. And, I  was right !  Time is rubbery as in Boleh Land.:-)

The KL consulate conducts the immigrant visa (IV) interview in two parts. Morning for submitting documents and afternoon for the actual interview. The first part was handled by a local staff and the second part by an American staff.

My number was called at window 8 at 9.45 a.m. Submitted all the documents and paid the $400 visa application fee. Was told to go back there at 1.30 p.m for the actual interview.

Got out of the embassy at 10.oo a.m. Then I walked back to the train station at a leisurely pace. There was really no need to hurry as I had 3 hours to kill before the interview at 1.30 p.m.

At first, thought of taking a train to the next train station - KLCC, as there is really nothing much to see at Ampang Park. Second thought, better preserved some energy for the afternoon session. So, sat down at the McD for a little people watching, then window shopped a bit, bought a handbag and had an early lunch there.

It was too hot at 1.00 p.m and was too lazy to walk, so I took a cab to go back to the embassy. It was easy to get a cab this time! It took only 5 minutes to reach the embassy from Ampang Park by cab!

It was a bit too early, the guard said he will let me in at 1.15 p.m. Security clearance and entered the building again. Could see many embassy staffs got back from lunch break.

I was the only person at the waiting area! A white man was sitting at  window 7  and was typing something on the computer. He called my number at 1.20 p.m. and the interview began!

He had me placed the fingers of both hands on the scanner, first four of the fingers, then the thumb. The biometrics data was online and connected to database in Washington DC. Matching any records would mean further administrative processing a.k.a. bureaucratic blackhole. Mine didn’t match any, obviously. :-)

The interviewer had me took an oath and then signed the part 2 of the DS-230 form before he started asking me questions about my previous stay in the US and our marriage. He asked quite a few questions, but he was not hostile and was rather casual.

He flipped through all the documents submitted, kept the photocopy and returned the originals, except for the Certificate of Good Conduct which he kept the original.

He opened the old passport and stamped “Canceled without prejudice” on the  ten years visitor visa. Then ticked at the box next to “meet the requirements of section 213A” on affidavit of support form and wrote down his name as reviewer. I could see it started with a J, not sure it was Jimmy or Jerry.:-)

Then he asked whether I have any evidences of our  relationship that I can show him. I passed him some photos of us and with other people, cards, letters from the big boy’s parents addressed to us and a document that showed  my name on his health insurance.

Then, he told me everything looked alright and asked me to take a seat and waited to be called again. I sat down, in less than one minute, saw the local staff whom I submitted the documents this morning appeared  at window 7,  my number was called again within seconds.

He tried to pull my leg, he asked in a typical Malaysian way “Got approved ah ?”

Then, he smiled and gave me the slip that has the instruction for picking up passport and visa.

Yup, the long awaited IR1 visa is approved!  Can pick up the passport and a package  tomorrow at 3.00 - 4.00 p.m !!

The friendly woman security guard asked me on my way out: you the only person this afternoon? I have no idea where was this guy who was supposed to be in front of me.  I guess the interviewer decided to call my number first as I was the only person at the waiting room !!

All in all, it took 15 minutes in the morning for the documents submission and 15 minutes in the afternoon for the actual interview.  But it was like killing a few dragons, all the  waiting, commuting, walking, loitering at the mall had me exhausted, would need a good massage!

My visa appointment at the US consulate was 9.00 a.m.

Got up at 6.30 a.m, took a shower, had breakfast, double checked all the documents and left the house at about 7.15 a.m. The plan was to go down to KL by train with my first sister. But, she could not wait for me to finish my breakfast, she wanted to leave before the rush hour. So, she left at 7.00 a.m without taking breakfast!

It was a five minutes walk to the train (LRT) station from my sisters ‘ house. Managed to catch a train before even caught my breath! The train was sardine packed, as expected at this rush hour.

It took about 50 minutes to reach the Ampang Park. Tried to get a cab outside the  Ampang Park station, but  it proved too much of a hassle to avoid daylight robbery a.k.a cab drivers who refused to use meter and overcharged.

Since it was still early and the weather has not warm up yet, decided  to walk down to Jalan Tun Razak, arrived at the gate of US embassy, the only low rise building on the row at 8.55 a.m!

Was I not glad it was just for today, to attend the visa interview? I realized that my sister and anyone who took this much hassle to get to work deserved more than a salary. :-)

Thank goodness I don’t have to go through this rush hour everyday to get to work! Not even sure I would have energy to work because I was already feeling exhausted after beating all the dragons!!

Took a 4.30 p.m bus down to KL to attend the visa interview scheduled on 28 Sept (that’s tomorrow!). It started raining heavily after we passed the Sungai Besi toll plaza. Was a little worried as the bus approaching the “Smart Tunnel “.  As you might know, it’s the tunnel that they previously had to close down to investigate its intelligence. You probably have also seen the TV featured the floods at the tunnel when it rained heavily.

Fortunately, it did not flood at the tunnel today, it took half an hour to get  through the tunnel and another hour to reach the entrance of the bus station. So, one and half hour for a journey that usually takes less than 20 minutes!

Most passengers did not get down at the entrance of the bus station like they normally would, because it was still raining and not many wanted to walk in the rain. We waited patiently for the bus to go in the basement. That took another half an hour!

As the bus was finding a lane to park, we realized that there was water all around us, the bus was wading through the water like a boat!

The bus driver had to carefully park near the platform so we did not have to walk in the water. I took this picture before getting out of the basement. A few people gave me some kind of look, probably thought this woman EFNTD. :-)

It was 8.30 p.m,  was tired, hungry and attempted to get a cab outside the bus station. It was a mission impossible without paying a ransom to the pirates aka cab drivers outside the bus station. But would rather walk home than encouraging this pirates to continue their robbery. So, I walked in the drizzle  for 5 minutes to the Taxi station opposite Kotaraya, where it clearly said :  “For Metered Taxis only”. Lined up, waited patiently.

At 9.45 p.m, finally got a cab who wanted to go PJ, where my sisters live.  Both the cab driver and I were amazed the Federal Highway which  was busy 24/7 was so smooth all the way. It took only 15 minutes and less than eight bucks to  reach my sister’s house!

Those pirates actually asked for fifty bucks! I was so pleased and thankful  for the chatty Indian taxi driver who saved my day, I gave him ten bucks and told him to keep the change!

It took five and half hours for a two hours Melaka-Pudu-PJ journey!!

Sisters too got caught in the rain and reached home quite late. They were too tired to cook and decided to order Domino pizza for dinner at 9.30 p.m !! Luckily my mom did not come along with me to visit my sisters like she did few weeks ago. She would have been stressed so much by the situation and stressed everyone. :-(

Decided to go ahead with the visa interview. After spending countless  hours preparing for all the paperwork and stressing over the mistake he made on the forms.  I have nothing to lose by attending the interview since the big boy has paid close to $800 for the  whole visa process.

And, getting it done now will also mean I don’t have to deal with it anymore in future. However, the move is going to be postponed. At least not until he starts making all the necessary preparations. I don’t want to freeze my butts off in IL !

It has been almost four years since I left the teaching job in the university, started the after school care and became a self-employed person. The resume has not been updated as there was no need of it. In fact, my desktop went kaput three days ago and I could not even find nor retrieve a soft copy of the resume.

Luckily, found a hard copy of the resume lying somewhere. I retyped it, did the  alignment and formatting. It still needs some update and a little polishing though. It’s better to get it done as I will need it to start looking for a teaching job soon.

Called the consular office this morning to cancel the visa interview on  this Thursday. No point pursuing it when the plan to move has to be shelved indefinitely. Too much is at stake to leave a comfortable life here for lies and broken promises. Just too tired to deal with it.

Are you a person of your word? Do people trust you? Being trustworthy is a character trait essential for any healthy relationship. But there are many things that we say and do that will break the bonds of trust.

Keeping promises is an important part of a relationship. It builds trust and shows we are committed in what we say and do? Are your yes’s a yes and your no’s a no. What does that mean?

If we end our statements with, “I promise”, that means we are to do what we say and say what we do. If someone says to you, “I will take you out to dinner on Friday, I promise”. But when Friday rolls around, he couldn’t go because he was working late. What happened? He has broken that promise and not being sincere with his words!

Why do we make promises that we know we may not be able to keep? Do we truly believe that we can back up our promises with action? Do we say “I promise” because  we want to please the people or we want people to believe in us so bad.? Do we say “I promise” all the time, but more often than not, busy schedules and mismatch priorities get confused in the way, and promises get broken?

If you’re not really sure that that you can keep a promise then don’t make the promise! If you are the type of person who often makes promises, do what you say you’re going to do and be a person others can trust and believe in.

Lying is like a broken promise but much worse. Unlike a promise, which you hope you can keep, a lie is an untruth that deceives people into believing truth, which in fact is not true, but a lie! When you lie to someone, the person feels deceived and unloved by you. Why would you lie ? Can you not be trusted?

Why do we lie when we know it is dishonest? Are we hiding something we are ashamed of? Do we really have a personal relationship with God and our conscience doesn’t bother us when we lie and deceive others. Maybe we don’t want others to hate us, be mad at us, or leave us. Are we dare to lie but are not bold enough to tell others the truth about who we really are?

Did you know that nine times out of ten, others especially your spouse who knows you so well can tell a lie from a truth? This breeds more mistrust and pretty soon there is nothing left of the relationship because one of the major components of a happy relationship is trust and faith.

You don’t have to be a liar. Be an honest person of character and then you won’t have to lie. When you can avoid lying, fibbing and making half-truths you become known as trustworthy, which marriage and all other relationships thrive on.

Lack of commitment in what a person does will eventually  lead him to be dishonest in its interactions. Your commitment is your promise that you will be the honest and upright person you say you are. If a couple aren’t committed to each other, what do you think is going to happen? I think all sorts of deceitful deeds will be acted upon; making  the other person feels doubt, mistrust, and suspicion.

Unfortunately this kind of unhealthy relationship won’t last long. In today’s society, unfaithfulness and deceitful practices are rampant because many people aren’t devoted nor committed to what they do in life!

On the BBC’s website, I read that the world’s best-known shoe collector, former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, has opened a museum in which most of the exhibits are her own footwear. The Footwear Museum in Manila contains hundreds of pairs of shoes, many of them found in the presidential palace when Imelda and her husband, President Ferdinand Marcos, fled the Philippines in 1986.

During her time as first lady, Mrs Marcos was famed for traveling the world to buy new shoes at a time when millions of Filipinos were living in extreme poverty. The exhibits include shoes made by such world-famous names as Ferragamo, Givenchy, Chanel and Christian Dior, all size eight-and-a-half.

We ordinary folks might not have the financial mean nor the level of shoes fetishism  to start a shoes museum like Mrs Marcos, but this Famous Footwear coupons will certainly go far in expanding your shoes collections! Many of us women folks are borderline addicts who indulge in buying shoes. Most of us probably have more shoes than we ever need. In fact, very few women can resist the temptation of adding another pairs to their shoes collections whenever they go shopping. But, are you the financially smart women who know how to use coupon codes to stretch the dollars in this weak economy? My mantra for shopping is : never pay retail prices, always ask for discount or look for discount coupons before you purchase anything, yes, anything. :-)

Was just telling someone that the Dell desktop we bought in 2005 did not give us any problems in the last three years. Oops, didn’t touch the wood, it went kaput last night!

Was having problem getting online last week, thought the modem went out.  But did not bother to get a replacement. Since the visa interview is scheduled and would not be here for long, thought would  just temporarily use dad’s computer  to get online. Last night, I turned on the computer trying to backup some files inside, it would not even boot!!

Looks like need to send the computer to the shop, it has lots of files that  I did not have a chance to backup, hopefully all is not lost!!! I hope the hard disk and video cards are not gone!

The packet 4 documents from the consular office came in the mail. It has a checklist for all the documents required to bring to the immigration visa interview. With the interview appointment less than a week away, guess it is time to get all the documents  in order. I spent the last two afternoons preparing all the documents. All the paperwork is quite well prepared and organized now.

Unlike some people in other countries who joked about “bringing everything except the kitchen sink”, KL is not a high fraud posting that is notorious for asking for excessive proofs of bone fide marriage. However, we have some of the proofs i.e.  photos, cards, phone bills, bank statements, in a big envelope. Though not too worried about the interview, one can never be too prepared when dealing with US immigration. :-)

The consular office required the originals of the civil documents i.e marriage certificate, birth certificate, police certificate and passport to be presented before the interview. but required a copy of all of the civil documents to be submitted after the interview.I have the originals and xerox copies of all the civil documents  in separate file folders and are labeled  accordingly.

All the leftover labels from the preschool that we folded up are put into good use. The Dymo label maker is very handy to create labels. We used  to label the Montessori materials in the classroom, to expose the children to written words and  later to help them to identify the materials. We also label the cubicles and stationery  at the preschool so the children can locate and identify  their belongings.

The consular office mailed the packet 4 documents last Thursday and it came in the mail today. The packet 4 contains the visa appointment letter, a check list, an instruction sheet for photo size and all the forms for medical examination.

Since the visa interview appointment has been brought forward from 09/09 to 08/28, they are sending another visa appointment letter. Hopefully it will arrive before the interview date. May be should call the consular office if it has not arrived by Monday, just to confirm the interview date.

The consular office at first scheduled the visa interview to be on 09/09/2008. Since I have all the documents ready and have done the medical examination last Friday, decided to call to ask to reschedule to an earlier date.

Called the consular office on Monday, Rani whom I talked to on the phone was hesitant to bring forward the interview, she said they are quite tight with a few complicated cases in the next two weeks. I pleaded and told her our case is simple. She agreed to “squeeze ” me onto the tight schedule and rescheduled my visa interview to next Thursday 08/28/2008. Which means only one week before I go back to KL to attend the visa interview.

With the visa interview fixed on a Thursday,  we are expecting to receive the visa on Friday, a day after the interview and can start making travel arrangement and booking air ticket after the visa is on hand. The big boy told me to land on certain days so that he can pick me up from the airport. Do I fly the airplane and have control over the schedule? If he can’t pick me up, I would take a shuttle bus or airport limousine. I am sure Chicago  airport has the the same reliable and affordable ground transportation services like the Newark Airport Shuttle that run the surrounding suburbs.

First sister had already left for work when we got up in the morning, second sister was not feeling well and on medical leave. I drove out to get some breakfast for us and bought a packet of Milo for parents as there is none at sisters’ place. They must have their fix of hot Milo in the morning, else they will be complaining for the rest of the day.:-)

Called the US consulate  after breakfast, was told they have mailed out packet 4 documents i.e. appointment letter, visa application form DS-230 part 2 and all the forms for medical check up to Melaka. However, they would give me a copy of the medical forms  if I wanted to go for medical check up. Well, might as well since I would be here in PJ till Sunday.However, the consulate is open for immigration visa related matters only on Mon and Fri 2-3.30 p.m.

Left PJ at 1.00p.m, decided to take a train down to Ampang Park and walked down to Jalan Tun Razak. The US embassy is about 10 minutes walk from the train station. The sun was so hot, really regret didn’t bring along an umbrella. It was 5 minutes before 2.00p.m at the entrance of the embassy, the guard let me in for security check. The woman guard ran my handbag through the machine (like the one at the custom). She pour  everything  inside the handbag into a basket. Then she put everything back to the handbag except for the hairpin and earphone. She kept these in the basket and gave me a number for retrieving them later. She asked me to take a sip from the water bottle and switch off the handphone. There weren’t many people inside the embassy, was out of the consulate office within 10 minutes.

Armed with the medical forms, took a cab outside US embassy to go to the panel doctor at Bangunan Ming  near Bukit Nanas. The doctor took some history, did some routine physical examination,  and gave me a jab for Mumps, Measles and Rubella (MMR). The biggest challenge during the medical check up was to find the well hidden veins on my hands to draw blood for HIV test! He spent about 20 minutes poking at five places n my left and right hands!! The X-ray has to be taken at PKNS Building at Jalan Raja Laut, took another cab to go there. Was able to get everything done before 4.00 p.m. Walked down to Masjid Jamed station to take a train back to PJ before the rush hour office crowd, reached PJ at 5.00p.m sharp. Took about 4 hours and cost about USD90, now the mandatory medical examination for the  immigration visa application is done, one less thing on the to-do-list.

Since my parents wanted to come along, decided to drive down to PJ instead of taking a bus. We left at 5.30 p.m, dad drove till Seremban and I continued the driving, reached PJ at about 7.15 p.m, just in time for dinner.

In fact, mom brought all the food from today’s Hungry Ghost prayer, so we could have dinner at my sisters’ place. Both sisters just got off work when we arrived. Our super impatient mom got down to business immediately and have dinner served right away! We chit-chated after dinner, my parents dozed off before 9.00 p.m and me too, soon followed suit. 9.00 p.m is really too early for a night owl. :-)

Went to post office this morning, to mail the package 3 documents to US consulate by express mail. The express mail service by POS Malaysia is very competitively priced, four bucks for guaranteed next day delivery, not bad at all!

The package 3 returned contains the visa application form DS-230 part 1 and a checklist that indicates the availability of civil documents thus readiness for visa interview.

If the consulate receives the package 3 documents on Tuesday, I supposed they will schedule the interview and mail out packet 4 this week.  So, I am going up to KL on Thursday and go for the medical check up and vaccinations on Friday.

Finally, the packet 3 documents mailed out by the US consulate on Monday came in the mail, on a Saturday, at 3.45 p.m !

It was raining cats and dogs on Thursday and Friday, guess the mailman couldn’t go out to deliver mails on his bike. In fact, on the way to buy bus ticket, I dropped by the post office at 4.30 p.m on Thursday to check whether the mail  was there. The mail room supervisor told me the mail man has already left for home! The supervisor swore mails from KL would take two to three days to reach my parent’s place. But, this one has taken five days!

There is really nothing they could not email in the packet. Packet 3 documents include a cover letter, a check list, an immigration visa application DS-230 form (which can be downloaded from US State Department’s website)  and an instruction sheet about photo format.

The DS-230 and  the checklist need to be returned to the consular office. So, going to the post office on Monday to mail it by express mail. Hopefully, they will receive it the next day and packet 4  will be ready for pick up on Friday. (The consular section open for Immigration Visa related matters on Monday & Friday only) Packet 4 contains the medical check-up and interview appointment letter. Will need to go down to KL for the medical check up as the panel doctors are in KL and Penang only. It depends on the interview date, if it’s not too far apart, will just stay on for a few days.

It came so sudden. I was planning to go up to KL on Friday and was driving out to purchase bus ticket on Thursday at about 4.00p.m. Half an hour later, on the way driving home, I felt a little warm. By the time I reached home, I have a fever and chronic pain at multiple joints. Thought I was coming down with a flu. I don’t like to take anti-biotic for flu, so I didn’t see a doctor.

Took a lot of fluids that night, but the fever would not come down. Could not sleep well all night and getting up to go bathroom was a struggle because of the chronic multiple joints pain. It didn’t get better but worse the next morning, the temperature went up to 40 Celsius and the joints were so pain, could hardly move or walk. Was also feeling cold, though with a winter jacket on in this summary weather.

Couldn’t even drive to see a doctor, had to call dad at work, he was busy and could only leave in the afternoon. My mom cooked some porridge for lunch, though didn’t have any appetite, forced half a bowl down the throat. Dad came home for lunch and then we went to see a doctor.

The doctor said I have the symptoms of Chikungunya. Due to my paracetamol allergy, she was cautious when giving out medications. She gave me the Buprol (Ibuprofen) for bring down the temperature and inflammations, Ponstan and another type of pain killer to relieve the joints pain, some antibiotics and oral rehydration salts. She advised me to take a lot of fluids, fruits and drink some 100 plus to prevent dehydration.

An hour after taking the medication, was perspired profusely, the temperature went down, the joints pain disappeared and the appetite returned! In the evening, before I took the next dose of medication, could feel the joints pain coming back.

While the medications are keeping the fever down and the inflammation in control, but the new symptoms - rashes are coming out. The itchiness is bearable. Following the doctor’s advice to take a lot fruits and fluids to prevent dehydration, it will take a few weeks to completely recover from this disease. Currently no medicine is available for treatment of Chikungunya yet. The doctors could only give medications to relieve the symptoms.

Though our file has arrived at the KL consulate since Jul 31, still waiting for the packet 3 documents to arrive in the mail. They have mailed it out on Aug 3 by snail mail. I did ask whether they can email the documents and forms instead of sending them by snail mail. Was told it cannot be done.

A Korean woman told me the Seoul Consulate sent her all the documents via an E-packet and she was able to schedule an interview within 10 minutes because everything is done electronically on the consulate’s website. That must be the famous efficiency and work ethics, the Korean style. :-)

May be to allow people to schedule appointments online, they will need to hire IT specialist like new york IT services to setup a sophisticated IT management system. All the documents they have are probably available in pdf files and they have our email addresses on file. It is not difficult to setup a system to email all the documents and forms electronically, isn’t it?

Don’t understand why there is so much resistance to adopt more efficient method i.e. email! Why they still use snail mail when they can just email all the documents ? Wouldn’t that make their job much simpler too? No more licking stamps, sealing envelopes and annoying calls from people who were impatiently waiting for the packet to arrive. :-)

The consular staff Mr Saravanan said he is sending out the Immigration Visa Instruction package or normally called packet 3 on Monday. Today is Thursday, still waiting for the packet to arrive. How many days it takes for a mail to arrive from KL ?

Should have driven up to KL on Monday to pick up the documents from the consular office in person. But, due to some miscommunication, I thought it was not ready for pick up yet when I called on last Friday. Since the documents can only be picked up on Monday or Friday 2.00-3.30 p.m, no choice but to have them mailed out instead of waiting till this Friday to pick up in person. Looks like this inevitably delay the process for another week. But, at least we have expedited the I-130 petition and an approved expedite request at NVC which has saved us months of waiting.

Admit it or not, we all just love free stuffs, don’t we ?

Here is a company that gives away 250 free Business Cards -Vista Print. For the free offer, there are 42 designs of business card for you to choose from. The designs are very simple and basic. Like other free name cards deal, there will be advertisement printed on the back side. You can pay more for blank back side, own text, or calendar.

Of course, you can also get hundreds more designs (and your own design) by paying for Premium Business Cards. Though it’s not free, but you can get a 50% off your order by using the coupon code BizCard08 !

Ordering business cards from Vista Print is simple and hassle free. You pick the design, enter basic text information, select the quantity and paper stock. Then, other Vista Print products are suggested to you. Simply skip them if you are not interested. Your selected business cards will then listed in the shopping carts. Select “check out” and you will be asked to register and enter your shipping information and choose a delivery mode or shipping method you like. Only credit card payment is accepted.

Tips: Besides free business cards, Vista Print also give away free rubber stamps, free logo design, and free car door magnets.

My post on our attempt to make fruit enzymes at home last week received a lot hits from many people who were searching for recipes on how to make fruit enzymes at home. So, thought I will share what we did for the apple enzyme and dragon fruit enzyme we made.

For the apple enzyme, we have:
-20 green apples
-6 lemons
-500 g organic sugar

The steps:

(1) Wash the fruits and let them air dry.

(2) Wash the jars, knife, peeler, chopping board and air dry them.

**It’s important to have everything dry without water, to prevent contamination, growing mold or bad bacteria.

(3) When everything is dry, you can start peeling the apples and lemons and cut them into slices.

(4) Lay one layer of the apple slices in the jar, one layer of sugar, one layer of lemon slices, one layer of sugar, and continue this process until the jar is full.

(5) Close the jar and put it at a corner without direct sunlight.

(6) You should see bubbles forming on the second days.

(7) On the third day, open the jar to let the bubbles out.

(8) Close back the jar and let the fermentation goes on for another 2-3 weeks.

(9) Sieve the liquid out and you can use the remnants to make jam or drink.

For the dragon fruit enzyme, we have:
-2 dragon fruits
-100 g organic sugar

(1) De-skin the dragon fruits and cut into slices.

(2) Layer the dragon fruits and sugar alternatively until the jar is full.

(3) Follow steps (5)-(9) as in apple enzymes.

Happy making fruit enzymes at home !

When it comes to starting a blog, your biggest decision will be whether you want to host the blog yourself, or use a free blogging service that is hosted for you.

Yes, you can host your blog for free, but nothing is really free. When you start a blog with a free blogging service, you don’t get your own domain and you don’t actually own the blog. If you ever do decide to move to your own domain, you may find it difficult to take your readers with you, because you have no control over the site.

Paying for a hosting plan will offer much more flexibility and freedom to do what you want. You will have your own domain name and have access to the root directory. By far, the easiest way to get a website is to go with a hosting company that offers “1 click installs”, or instant installations for blogging and forum software. If you are not sure which web host to choose or what kind of options you have out there, you can always check out webhostinggeeks.com to read about the reviews of different hosting providers and feedbacks from their customers.

Friends and family members often ask me how to start a blog, and the teacher in me always enjoy explaining it, but it is a lot of information to take in over lunch. It also takes a while to process and understand all the terminology used, especially if they are not Internet savvy.

A few of my friends have taken the trouble to have me sit down for a few hours, going through the steps by steps and they taking down notes. At the end, some decided that starting a blog is not what they want to do, and some find picking a topic to blog about a challenge. Guess blogging is not everyone’s cup of tea!