Horrible Histories: Vile Victorians by Terry Deary illustrated by Martin Brown

After spending so much money on books, I felt the need to read some of my books to justify the spending, although my hobby is book buying! To avoid loading myself with some serious topics that will take some time to read, I have chosen a very thin book about Victorians. It's history and so long ago. So it won't affect my minds too much. Nowadays, I bought less novels, more on other genres. 

Horrible Histories: Vile Victorians by Terry Deary illustrated by Martin Brown

I read this on one Saturday while waiting to see the doctor during my checkup. Well, I was the number 7 in line although I reached around 7am, people woke up so early! I only managed to see the doctor on around 11:30am. I got to read around 80% of the book while waiting and finished it after got home. 

This book is actually kind of sad. It started with some facts about Queen Victoria and then some stories on Victorians lives. The child mortality rate was very high, living space was scarce. The book provides an example, "I have note of a locality where 48 men, 73 women and 59 children are living in 34 rooms.". Then there were some issues like insufficient food, child labour in coal mines, chimney sweeping, ribbon making that caused death or mutilations, etc.  

short sentences with illustrations

Next, about the schools. I couldn't imagine it. Although in 1870 the education bill was passed and every child between 5 and 12 years old had to go to school, Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens was based on an infamous teacher that caused two of his students lost their sight. There were inequality back then too, in 1870, women teachers were paid 58 pounds a year, men were paid 94 pounds. That's a big differences. There were big classes too, around 70 or 80 students per class, well, I think it's still ok. When I was in primary school, my classes were around 40 pupils and there were 8 classes on my year. Nowadays, in the same school, I heard from my friend, there was only about 4 to 5 classes per year, and 1 class around 20 to 30 students. The birth rate is lower from year to year.

Then there are information on Victorians' games, literature, plays, transportation, sewage system (mmmm.......). Also there was also the bad working environment in the factory. Lifespan was short and for poor persons, often they had to share graves with multiple bodies. Two recipes were provided too, "candied carrots" and "half day pudding". Well, not a fan of Victorian food.

I thought Jack the Ripper was a character from novel, it is not. It is a killer from Victorian era. Another famous criminal was Mary Ann Cotton. She killed around 15 to 20 people (husbands, lover, children) and not get caught due to she changed name everytime she remarried and death was very common in that era. Sweeney Todd was really a character from the penny dreadful novel though.  

The author closed with quote from Charles Dickens "A tale of two cities". By the time the Queen died, there were electric lights and electric chairs, motor cars and crashes, very very rich and the very very poor. It was such the contrast. 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

2026 First Haul of Books from bookxcess

I once told a friend, my hobby is not reading, my hobby is buying books. I am so exited when I buy books. Actually nowadays, it is so difficult to finish a book. I read the most when I was in Japan where I commuted to work using train, I read a lot then. Now commuting to work by car took around 2 to 2.5 hours a day to and forth. It so demoralizing, so I had my retail therapy when I buy books. 

This is my biggest haul so far, not the most expensive, but definitely the most books from bookxcess. I bought 39 books in one order. When I received the order, it's so heavy that I have to open the box outside my house and carry some books inside first until I was able to lift it up. 

my book haul 2026

Below shows the books I bought on January 2026. Since I earned more now, I am more generous on this books buying "adventure". There are books that I wouldn't dare to buy 10 years ago, the coffee table books, anything above RM20, cookbooks, etc. Yeah, although I didn't cook, I bought cookbooks!  

all the books

Although I got the books fast, two books from the order didn't make it.

2 books were not sent

I bought biographies, Hans Christian Anderson (children's book author), Amy Tan (an American author, I knew her from The Joy Luck Club, read the book in my 20s in university) and Michael Faraday (have been tortured in the science lessons with Faraday's law). 

biographies

Next, expensive and not really useful for me, the cookbooks. There are other food related books. It's interesting to read about food items, I am just not interested to cook only.

cookbooks / food related

Then another batch of art related books. Initially I thought the magic of stainless steel is a material related books. It is not, it is a book about things built in stainless steel from one glance. Anyway, it doesn't talk about lattice structure for sure. I kind of like the steel related classes in Uni though. 

fun books

I bought also some science titles on biology, design and economy too.

various science subjects

I bought so many books on numbers. Total 7 from this order. LOL!!! I maybe not so good on numbers, I do like to read about them, although maybe I won't understand a word of it.

books about numbers

I also bought novels. Only 3 though. One which I thought is the classics, The Metamorphosis, it is not, it's a book from Raisa Gabrielli (reading her websites reveals she is a yoga instructor and a teacher in international school, and she also run a charity). Another is a Star Trek novel, I always prefer Star Trek to Star wars. And a novel named "The Honey Bus". I bought this book for the title, with honey!

novels

Lastly, I didn't know where to separate the genre in. A sticker book for nephew, a book on "What Women Want" and a history book on bronze age. 

sticker book for nephew, a history book and a economy book?

I guess I will control myself before another book buying exercise. And predict that I will read the novel first. 

Happy buying!

Economy Rice vs Zhi Char

I like my food hot. And due to my work pattern, normally on week days, I would only reach home after 8pm and have my dinner at kopitiam. I will choose rice or bihun (include other noodles) dishes. All freshly cooked. Almost never eat economy rice for dinner. Then, one time, a colleague that stayed in the same taman as me told me that there's a new economy rice shop in our taman, which offered 50% off after 8.30pm. 

So on one of the nights, I went to this economy rice shop. Well, from googling about the shop, apparently it's not a mom and pop shop, there are multiple shops around Klang Valley. Although it's almost 9pm, there were still plenty of dishes. I think it's good to offer discount to clear the food. At least the fried fish wouldn't become ikan tiga rasa and the fried chicken wouldn't become ayam masak merah the next day. A colleague of mine said he would never order friend chicken in Mamak restaurant. He said he once worked in a Mamak restaurant, since the business was ok, normally huge amount of fried chickens were prepared. So the odd of eating leftovers in Mamak is higher than eating in a smaller restaurant. Well, I don't think so, I think the more popular a restaurant is, the fresher the food will be. So, I would go to a restaurant or kopitiam that looks more lively. 

Anyway, I had this 50% discount economy rice on one night. I got stewed chicken/pork (I forget) with pickled vegetable, omelette style egg and stir fried pumpkin, it's only around RM4.80 total. Considered quite cheap in today standard. In this kind of shop, drinks such as plain water or chinese tea is free, even soup is provided free. However, when I went, the soup already finished, so I only had plain water. 

50% discount economy rice

In contrast, to enjoy freshly cooked hot food, one have to pay more. Nowadays, friend rice or noodles cost around RM9 to RM11 depending on the stall. Items like fried bihun is around RM9, plus an egg, it will become RM10.50 total. And there's unspoken rule, you have to order a drink. There's quite a number of diabetics in my family, so I only order plain warm water, it's RM0.60. One interesting fact, when I worked in Seremban, I came to know stewed bihun (焖米粉) and I like bihun, so it's my repeating order. 

After that, I changed job and I stayed in Klang. When I said I wanted stewed bihun (焖米粉) in a Kopitiam, the stall owner looked at me strangely and asked me what was that! Then I described to her, bihun soaked in black sauces. The stall owner clapped her thigh and said, "Oh, that's Hokkien style bihun".  Well, that's another prawn noodle story again. 

hokkien style bihun

Another good thing for this Zhi Char style stall is it's highly customizable. One can order anything not on the menu as long as they have the ingredients. However, normally I will just have the normal. Sometimes, while I was still standing there thinking what to order, the stall owner would just blurted out my usual orders, and I would choose one from there. For economy rice, the variety is there, but sometimes one just didn't know what to choose.

I was taken by surprise when I saw the line outside the economy rice shop right before 8.30pm, it was a long queue, they were waiting to take the plate on 8.30pm so that the price would be 50%. I understood that, for me, one single person, the money saved wouldn't be not much, but for families with multiple persons, the savings would be huge. I think it's a sort of CSR, avoid food wastage and help people save money. 

Conclusion, no matter economy rice or zhi char, it's just a way to fill our stomachs, hope there's no people gone to bed hungry. 

ECO Shop Items

Ever since Eco Shop opened near by parents house, we bought so many items from the shop. My mom likes the spices, dried foods, instant baking yeast and the senior eyeglasses. It was only RM2 per item, now it's RM2.60. I bought plastic containers, pots for plants, seeds (it do germinate, but most of it are eaten by snail), wallpaper, stationeries, and socks. I like their socks, not so thin and some are so cute. I bought some really cheap socks online and it's too thin, not comfortable. Eco shop socks are doing ok. My father bought a lot of the flip-flop sandals from Eco, I didn't understand it, he changed sandals so often, the money could be used to buy a proper sandals, instead of keep changing a very uncomfortable flip-flop sandals. Others are toys from Eco, my nephew toys box is so full of plastic toy from Eco. 

Anyway, other items that are worth to buy are cleaning agents. I went to Eco the other day to buy spray paint and looked at those cleaning stuffs. Some are cheaper than supermarket. I just learn that oxygen based cleaning agent are useful to clean away stain. 

Kuat Harimau oxi bleach

Ganso explosive salt

Ganso Power Oxygen Toilet bowl cleaner

Next what I like is the serai based cleaning solution. I planned to use it as spray to chase away ants, the smell is better than other insecticides. 

Kleenso Serai Wangi

Kleenso floor cleaner

Other items that I think worth buying is the shampoo. Eco has brands like Safi, The items are in small size bottle. I think can buy for travel. I didn't dare to use other brands though. Even googling the brands didn't yield much result.

 various shampoos

Erm, I wondered what is bath bomb. Sephora and Lush bath bomb is really not cheap. But like I mentioned earlier, I don't dare to use this on my body, unless someone I knew dearly tell me that it's safe. 

bath bomb

Ok. Initially I thought that the spray paint from Eco is RM2.60, it's not. It's RM5 per can. The price still so so ok. I bought two to paint the tube that have become rusty. Well, the paint is not for steel. After painting, I can still feel the powdery dust on the tube. Need to read the fine print. 

spray paint

after spray paint the tube

I normally don't buy the 3 in 1 mixes in ECO too. Eco repackaged it into smaller quantity. I feel that it's more expensive than buying the full packet in supermarket. However, if one wanted to have a taste on some new flavour or new brand, it's a good place to buy and test it out before committing to full packet. I bought a packet of Aik Cheong Cafe Art Hot Chocolate Kosong and had a very tough time to finish it, I need it to be a little more sugary. If I tried it before, I wouldn't buy such big packet. 

3 in 1 beverage mixes

There is one interesting item in Eco too, carbonated flavoured drinks. I never see this elsewhere. Not sure the taste. Anyway, it's such a big bottle for RM2.60. Maybe I will buy this to test it out.

Delicies brand carbonated flavoured drinks

And I found spicy konjat in Eco. This is one of the snacks from China that I couldn't stop eating. So unhealthy. I didn't buy also because I think 3 for RM2.60 is quite expensive. Will buy online when there's sales. 

spicy konjat

Ahhh. Eco is the shop that it's quite hard to walk out with only one item or nothing at all. Need to be prudent although it's not that expensive. 

Dinner With Instant Noodles, Canned Corn and Canned Sardine

I had cravings for sardines suddenly last Wednesday. So I went to speedmart to buy Ayam Brand Sardines, it's definitely on the higher price range compared to other brands (although cheaper than those premium brands), I tried some cheaper brands before, and it's not to my liking, it tasted off. Maybe I grew up with Ayam brand? While I was in the speedmart, I was looking at the canned food section and I saw canned corn! I watched a lot of youtube cooking videos and a lot of people eat canned corn. I like corn, carrot so so ok. But I am not a fan of green bean. I don't understand why almost all the frozen mix vegetables out there (in Malaysia) are mixture of carrot, corn and green beans! I think I once saw frozen corn only package in Tesco (now Lotus), but I didn't stay near Lotus. 

Anyway, I bought the canned Sardines (in tomato sauce) and canned corn. Actually I didn't know how to eat the canned corn. I had frozen and fresh corn before, never canned. Then I remember I had instant oat at home. So, I decided my dinner would be mi goreng with shredded sardine and instant oat with half can of corn. 

dinner 1 - instant mi goreng with canned sardine, instant oat with canned corn

I cooked the Maggi Mi Goreng Cili Ala Kampung and took the mee out first. Then, with the remaining boiling water, I put half can of sardines into a cup to heat it up. After that, I used forks to shred the sardines and tossed it to the mi goreng with the sauces that came with it. Well, the tomato sauce from the sardines are quite overwhelming, the mee tasted more tomatoey. 

warm up the sardines using leftover water from cooking the mee

mi goreng with shredded sardines

Next, I boiled water and poured it to a bowl with instant oat. Then, I poured half can of corn into it.

instant oat + canned corn

Well, the instant oat I used has no added sugar i think. I felt that the oat porridge is quite bland even with half can of corn. However, I could still taste the corn sweetness. Not bad.

oat porridge with corn

So for Wednesday dinner, it's around RM8.95 and I was so full. If I had my dinner at Kopitiam, I would spend similar amount without the fruit. One bowl of noodles would be like around RM8 to RM9, fried rice, noodles would be around the price point. And a glass of warm water is RM0.60. I didn't save that much with own cooking because I didn't choose the cheapest brands out there. If I substitute the instant noodle with the one without any flavourings, cheapest sardines brand and in house brand canned corn, I could save around 30% of the cost.

item	price (RM)
half canned Sardines	2.50
half canned corn	1.90
1 packet of instant oat	0.55
1 packet instant noodle	1.40
1 orange	2.00
miscellaneous	0.60
total (RM)	8.95

I was left with half canned of sardines and corn each. So on Thursday, I continue with the same items to avoid spoilage, I didn't how long can it be stored in fridge after opening. I chose soup type this round.

dinner 2

I had Mamee instant noodle, 5 packets around RM4 to RM5. For the oat, I had the Nestum as I wanted some creaminess. I cooked the noodle together with sardines. Like the day before, it tasted like tomato only from the canned sardines. 

mee soup with sardines

Next, Nestum cereals with canned corn.

canned corn texture

I poured a packet of Nestum cereals into a bowl and added the remaining canned corn, hot water last. Ermmmm, I should have added hot water to the cereals first, mixed it well, then last corn. I had issue to mix it well on the first method. Anyway, it tasted better than the instant oat only, need to add some sugar to the instant oat to make it taste better. Albeit, not so healthy.

Nestum cereals with canned corn

My second dinner cost around the same. If I really wanted to save money on food, I need to research more. However, with my hectic schedule on work days, I will still be eating out for the time being because money wise, I didn't save much. Time wise, I think I spent more time cooking and finally washing all the dishes. 

item	price (RM)
half canned Sardines	2.50
half canned corn	1.90
1 packet of cereals	1.00
1 packet instant noodle	0.90
1 orange	2.00
miscellaneous	0.60
total (RM)	8.90

The end.