pearly's place

It's been awhile...

2011-03-16T12:23:00.004+08:00

It's been ages since my last blog entry. More than a half a year ago. Lots took place since then, and lots to look forward to as well.

We're now expecting our second child, due to arrive soon. The morning sickness this time around was not as bad as the first time. But it was still that icky nausea feeling nevertheless. And that partly explains my long hiatus from the blogosphere.

We've moved back to our hometown. Hopefully permanently. We don't have our own place yet so I haven't been cooking for quite awhile. I actually miss cooking for my two lovely guinea pigs!

Exciting (and headache) times ahead: planning for a new home, new baby, going back into the work field...

*Thank you dear Lord for your abundant blessings*

My Name Is...

2010-08-24T21:11:00.005+08:00

Annabel started to say her full name sometime last week, at 29 months. Of course prompting was required initially. It was always difficult to get her to 'act' the part whenever we want to video her. So this video shows her jumping while saying her name. Enjoy!

Annabel Elisha Rajah!

Whatever Will Be Will Be

2010-08-24T20:53:00.004+08:00

I'm wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'.. plannin' and dreamin'..
We can only do so much but God decides.
Whatever happens, we will definitely make the best of it.
Whatever will be, will be, for God knows best!

Busygran's Stewed Chicken in Soya Sauce

2010-08-24T20:24:00.003+08:00

Came across this simple and easy recipe from Busygran's blog. I knew I just had to try it. I added some oyster mushrooms and sneaked in another tablespoon of chinese cooking wine. Besides that, I was true to her recipe. Really simple and yummy.

Fried Eggs with Onions and Soya Sauce

2010-08-24T19:04:00.004+08:00

Eggs are so versatile. You can steam them, fry them, poach them, hard-/soft-boiled them and loads more. And if you're feeling lazy but still need to cook, egg is the answer! I was having one of those lazy days. And instead of the usual fried eggs, I decided to add some 'flavour' to the eggs - stir-fried onions with kicap.

It's so easy - stir-fry the onions and add some cili padi. Then add in light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, sugar, a pinch of pepper and a little water. Stir and mix the ingredients well before dumping everything on the eggs.

A Typical HK Breakfast

2010-08-24T16:03:00.004+08:00

These are char siew paus hubby bought for breakfast from a nearby pau shop. The ones back home can be quite dry. I like mine with (sufficient) gravy oozing out. Hubby dear, it's time for another round of 'pau breakfast'!!

Fusion Curry

2010-08-23T22:47:00.000+08:00

Chicken curry is one of the dishes that I now can cook without looking at the recipe *ehem*. I joked with hubby that now I can cook it with my eyes closed! Although I am quite satisfied with my chicken curry (dry or with gravy), I think it can still be improved. But fish curry is a different story altogether. I was never really satisfied with my fish curry. I can never get that same taste as my MIL's no matter how I followed her recipe. Probably I haven't cook enough and I think I need to sit through a cooking session with her!

Last week I tried cooking a fusion chicken curry. Fusion because I had in mind to add in some lychees! I could almost hear hubby shrieking there! And I did. I first had this lychee in a curry experience at a nearby Thai restaurant in the form of a bowl of yummy Thai green curry. What a pleasant surprise I had, to find the lychee sweetness amidst the richness of the curry. Then I stumbled upon a blogger Rita's grilled chicken red curry with lychee recipe, and thought to myself that it should be alright to add in lychees in any chicken curry recipes (with gravy). And so I did.

My fusion chicken curry with gravy. A combination of recipes from MIL, mom and my own.

How to:

1. Marinate chicken with garlic-ginger paste, curry powder and light soya sauce overnight.

2. Heat oil. Throw in cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, star anise and cloves. Stir a little and add in chopped/ground shallots. Stir till fragrant.

3. Then put in the marinated chicken and mix well. Add in the curry paste and enough water to cover the chicken. More gravy = more water (add in ground almonds or cashews for thicker gravy - a tip I got from mom). Throw in some potatoes. Let the mixture simmer. Add milk / coconut milk / yoghurt and continue simmering.

4. When the curry is almost done, add in the tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, lime juice, lychees (with a little syrup), and salt to taste. Simmer a little bit more and your curry is ready!

I like it! And it could certainly do with more lychees and syrup (I was a bit careful with how much lychees I put in as I'm not sure if it'll turn out alright). But hubby doesn't seem to quite fancy this dish. He said it's as if the lychees accidentally dropped into the pot of curry!! Yup he's a stickler to traditions esp when it comes to the food he's used to!

Local Pudding

2010-08-20T22:12:00.003+08:00

Got these cuties (and yummies) from hubby's patient. Looks like the wood husks pudding from Your Restaurant (as stated in my makan guidebook "Eat Your Way Around HK") but cuter.

Yummy pudding layered with biscuit crumbs...

... superb combination.

Chap Chye Inspired Fried Bihun

2010-08-18T23:02:00.003+08:00

As the title says it, this bihun was cooked using the basic ingredients of the chap chye dish. This is my second bihun attempt. The first was a 'disaster' and from there I learnt that hubby likes his with some colour! Since he likes taucheo-based dishes, I surely cannot go wrong with this! His verdict: so much better than the first time.

Oyster Egg

2010-08-18T22:48:00.006+08:00

Had been asking hubby to tapau back some 'oh-chean' or oyster egg (?) for supper and so finally hubby did with the help of HL ;p

Seriously no big deal (HL already warned us). I very much prefer the ones in Mlk. This one somehow had a very mild porky sort of after taste. Hubby was saying that they used the same wok. And it didn't help that no chili sauce came with the 'oh-chean' - only a small packet of fish sauce, which we discarded.

However the one thing that I like about it was the generous amount of oysters!

Wesley Stace

2010-08-17T18:07:00.001+08:00

Discovered one Wesley Stace while on facebook last night. A friend uploaded a pic of the book cover of Misfortune (the purplish one) and that got me intrigued. So off I went and googled for the author. I wasn't disappointed. His writings look interesting. Only thing is that HKU library didn't have his books!

Review by Colin Greenland on The Guardian

One day in 1820 Lord Geoffroy Loveall, the fey, neurotic heir to the richest estate in Britain, traverses the capital on a pointless errand from his mother. At the foot of a putrid, mountainous rubbish tip he spots a dog carrying a ragged bundle in its mouth. On an inexplicable, uncharacteristic whim, he sends his manservant to investigate. Inside the rags they find a human baby. Lord Geoffroy decides to adopt it and bring it up as his own. He will call it Dolores, after his beloved little sister killed some two dozen years earlier in a fall from a tree. Dolores will be his heir, the next Lady Loveall. There is only one difficulty with his plan. The baby is a boy.

Misfortune, Wesley Stace's first novel, is the story of that boy. Renamed Rose, he is brought up by his doting father and Anonyma Wood, the Love Hall librarian, whom he has married for the purpose. Though she connives at her husband's wilful delusion out of consideration for his fragile wits, Anonyma has in any case contracted a metaphysical passion for androgyny from Mary Day, a visionary poetess she studies obsessively. Innocent of the machinations that surround and support him, Rose enjoys a blissful childhood. It's after that that the trouble starts.

Despite its setting, a glorious facsimile dustjacket, and the rich Gothic potential of the material, Misfortune is no kind of 19th-century novel, not even a pastiche. Conversant with the scientific principles of psychology, from unconscious sabotage through "gender roles" all the way to "conflicted feelings", Lord Rose is a creation as anachronistic as he is anomalous.

Structurally, too, the book is flexible and free. The opening chapter - the best, in many ways - is a vigorous, omniscient narrative (by God, as Rose afterwards explains) which takes the viewpoint of Pharaoh, the autistic boy sent out to dump the baby. In the second, God switches viewpoints to Lord Geoffroy's own, to relate his momentous discovery and its immediate effects. After that, we descend into a memoir dictated by Rose himself in old age, though even that will be interrupted, when he collapses in Turkey, by an excerpt from the journal of the archaeologist's daughter who nurses him back to health.

Chapter by chapter, twist after twist, Stace conducts a rationalist, secular study of sexual politics, of the glory and the grief of enforced transvestism. Though many incidents of his life are dismissed with the baldest summary, the successive formative sexual crises of the boyhood of Lord Rose are described in detail that is explicit, not to say excitable. A great deal of straddling takes place. Skirts, his own and others', are teasingly hitched up before being defiantly hoisted. Few novels can have devoted so much attention, or so much sympathy, to the anguish of erection to a young man alienated from his own penis.

Born in Hastings, resident in Brooklyn, Stace is also a professional musician, performing as John Wesley Harding. There is something musical, almost symphonic, about the sweep of his novel, its single-minded pursuit of themes through sections strongly distinct in mood and approach. He clearly knows several albums' worth of ballads about young women dressed as men, and enough associated folktales and classical myths for a thesis in anthropology. In a sense, it's these old tales that are to blame for the book's one catastrophic flaw, which is the thumping great coincidence that you start to foresee somewhere around page 35. "Surely he wouldn't," you think; and then, with a growing sense of dread: "Surely he won't." But he would, and a great meal he makes of it when he finally does.

Coincidence, as a plot device, is absolutely fundamental to the dynamics of ballad and folktale. It's a device that Shakespeare and Dickens were happy to perpetuate. But Misfortune isn't a ballad, or an Elizabethan play, or a popular novel of the 19th century. It's a novel of 2005. It wears its liberal political conscience on its sleeve. It engages boldly, even polemically, with the forces of social oppression and sexual repression. And coincidences like this one make the world seem suddenly very much less various and capacious, not more.

Review by Patrick Ness on The Guardian

You may not like to admit it, but I'm certain you have them, too: those subjects which when approaching a book - no matter how interesting the novelist, how well-regarded the novel - can't help but make your heart sink, even though you know they shouldn't. I'm not sure I could bear another American civil war novel, especially ones written by white southerners about other white southerners who treated their slaves really well. Ditto tragic coming-of-age stories set during Northern Ireland's Troubles, and I'm afraid middle-class New York post-9/11 tales are also working their way off the menu.

Had I even known there was such a thing as a ventriloquist novel, I might have put it top of the list. Ventriloquists are even creepier than clowns; men who dress their id up as a green duck in a nappy or a Parkinson-biting emu? Surely a novel about them could only be a Hammer-style horror show. Yet lo and behold, here's Wesley Stace's overcrowded but entertaining By George, about ventriloquists and their "boys" (the term they prefer to "dummy"), and it manages to be touching and engrossing rather than just disconcertingly odd.

Evie Fisher, aka Echo Endor, and her "boy" Narcissus are grand stars of the pre-second world war variety stage. Voted Ventriloquist of the Year three times in a row, Evie doesn't quite put the "evil" in vaudeville, but she's still imperious, demanding and entirely controlling of her son Joe. He's working on a different sort of voice-throwing act, but Echo buys him a "boy" called George anyway, more or less forcing him to follow in her footsteps.

In 1973, meanwhile, 11-year-old George Fisher, Joe's grandson and named after his dummy, is bewilderingly packed away to boarding school. His mother Frankie took up the vaudeville life of her family and tours the country in pantos or farces with titles like Exit, Pursued Bare. George is used to travelling with her and grandmother Queenie and is mystified to be sent away, unsure even how the fees are being paid.

He grows lonely, and when his great-grandmother Evie dies, George begins to pore over the books left to him in her bequest, books written by his grandfather Joe that hint at the powers of ventriloquism and reveal family secrets that George starts to wish he'd never learnt. Joe, it seems, fled from his marriage to Queenie and into Ensa, the second world war troop-entertainment organisation, performing his act on the frontlines and dying a hero in Italy, though not before falling in love with someone entirely surprising.

These overlapping stories sound confusing, and they often are, especially because the second world war storyline seems to be narrated by none other than Joe's dummy George. Puppet George even falls in love himself with a beautiful female dummy (a "girl"?) called Belle. But there is more to be revealed, probably too much, as the last section takes a less energetic detour into living, breathing George's own parentage and depressive illness.

Stace is the real name of the folk-singer John Wesley Harding, and this is his second novel since Misfortune, a gender-bending Victorian tale that was longlisted for the Guardian first book award. Stace's grandfather was a real Ensa ventriloquist, and the materials are a rich bouquet that needs more space to breathe. In a country where short works are given primacy, it may seem a peculiar criticism to say that By George could benefit from another 100 pages. Stace, though, is a Victorian novelist at heart and clearly yearns for a bigger canvas. But there's still good fun to be had, smart set-pieces, and ultimately proof that a novel about ventriloquists needn't be at all creepy.

Not Tuckshop but Canteen

2010-08-14T17:19:00.005+08:00

This is another one of our frequently visited cafe esp for sunday lunches (but it seemed less often these days. hmmm.. thanks to the delightful temptations from Tsui Wah). Canteen has a concept somewhat like Cafe de Coral and the likes - fast food HK style.

HK style milk tea. I like.

Hubby's bbq pork and chicken combo meal.

The ginger dipping sauce that comes with it. Sorry no chili sauce here.

My stir-fry beef rice noodles. Not bad but it was a little on the oily side.

The Dessert Shop Opposite Our Flat

2010-08-14T16:50:00.009+08:00

Sweet Classroom opened sometime last year but we only went there last month, twice at that! Here are the collection of photos from those two visits.

Supposed to be Sweet Classroom but it looked more like Smeet Classroom! That's HK for you!!

Interior deco pt one.

Interior deco pt two.

Sweet potato with ginger syrup. Reminded me home.

Mini chocolate cake with some melted choc action inside, and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

Mango galore - ice-cream, pudding and the fruit.

Apple strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

Annabel enjoying her dessert with Aunty HL.

Little Conversations Pt Two

2010-08-13T16:16:00.013+08:00

When she does something wrong or when she knows that I'm not happy with her, "Sorry mommy.." At times through sobs.. awww..

"Papa, throw the rubbish!" Bel on repeating what I said.

I was playfully nibbling her arm when she said, "What you doing mommy? Don't eat my hand. You only eat your food!"

Mommy: Do you want to touch Pepper?

Bel: No. Pepper dirty. Only Kong Kong touch Pepper!!

Pepper is my seven-year old daschund.

While bathing she likes taking the shower head and 'bathe' by herself. She will go, "I wash my armpits, I wash shoulders, my body, my backside, my knees, my toes, my mouth, my neck... oh no I forgot to wash my ears!!" Yes, she is a real mak nenek!

Mommy: What's your favourite cartoon?

Bel: Hmmm... spongebob squarepants and the fairly odd parents!

Spicy Fried Chicken, Alesia's Way

2010-08-12T16:18:00.005+08:00

I drooled over the pics of Alesia the home cook's ayam goreng berempah and so therefore decided to try the recipe. This I would say was the best batch of fried chicken that I've ever cooked (I still haven't mastered the art of deep frying). But it can still be improved. I didn't have cumin and coriander seeds so I only made do with powdered ones.

The egg and flour gave the chicken a crispy skin-like texture. Nice.

Juicy.

I Hereby Officiate 'The Indian Kitchen'

2010-08-11T18:10:00.002+08:00

'The Indian Kitchen' is filled with delicious mouth-watering treats that I wish I could just poof up instead of cooking from scratch. Why, you ask? Good Indian dishes are always prepared with loads of spices and at times hard-to-get ingredients, not to mention that extra cooking step to make it its own. I decided to whip up one carrot-flavoured rice and spicy goan chicken curry - they seemed simple enough and most importantly I have them ingredients.

Gajar Ka Pulao

Heat oil in a pan. When it is hot, add the cassia stick (I replaced it with cinnamon bark), cloves and black peppercorns, and fry for a minute. Add the rice (I used two cups) and fry until translucent. Throw in the grated carrots (I used one big carrot) and 4Tbsp cashew nuts. Fry for a couple of minutes before transferring the rice into a rice cooker. Add the salt and hot water and stir the mixture well. Leave it to cook!

All ready - my carrot-flavoured rice!

The second dish for the day was one Komdi Vindaloo

Ingredients:

Cooking oil, potatoes, large onions, 4 chicken drumsticks, cloves, black peppercorns, cardamom, 4 green chilies (slit lengthways to expose the seeds but the chili is not broken in two - this description immediately made my mouth water ~spicy!), 1tsp sugar, salt. 4Tbsp malt vinegar (I replaced it with calamansi juice).

Grind to a paste: 1tsp cumin seeds, 1tsp coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp chopped garlic, 1tsp chopped ginger, 4 dried red chilies, and a large pinch of cinnamon powder (I didn't have cumin seeds and coriander seeds, so I replaced with powdered ones).

How to:

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the potatoes until golden. Set aside.

2. Fry the onions till translucent. Add the chicken, cloves, peppercorns, cardamom and green chilies.

3. Fry until the chicken is well browned. Add sugar and salt and stir-fry for about five minutes.

4. Add potatoes and the ground spice paste. Cook till the chicken is done.

5. Stir in the vinegar and simmer for five more minutes. Enjoy!

*I added a little water during the cooking process as the ingredients began to stick to the pan.

Presenting my spicy Goan chicken curry

Tsui Wah Again?!!

2010-08-10T00:16:00.002+08:00

Iced coffee. Really coffee-licious. Wonder why we didn't order this previously. Must be the milk tea punya pasal! Next time must try the coffee-tea mix. Takkan wanna leave hk without ever trying that?! >< Champagne milk tea. The perfect blend. Gonna say hello to crappy milk teas in a few months time..
Sizzling king prawns with fried noodles. The jalapeno-looking dried chili is a perfect addition to the dish - sweet and spicy!

Eggs and shrimps with rice. Yes, prawns ruled over our lunch that day!

Little Conversations

2010-08-06T16:37:00.000+08:00

We are able to have conversations with the little darling now. It's cute watching her talk - full of expression and her pelat-ness. Here are some examples that I could think of at the moment. Have a good laugh!

She's also quite mindful with her of her 'please', 'thank you', 'excuse me' and 'you're welcome'. "Koomi Papa, I want to walk!"

Mommy: Did you poopoo?

Bel: No poopoo. Poopoo go away.
Mommy: Go away where?
Bel: House.
Mommy: Where's poopoo's house?
Bel: My pampy!
Mommy: Pampy?..
Bel: No... my backside!!

Papa: We go Ocean Park next week ya.
Bel: I so exciting!!

Her mantra before bathing, "I don't want to wash hair". (hmmph.. she knows how to bargain d!)

Bel: I Bel. Mommy is Pearly. Papa is Daddy.
Mommy: Papa's name is Dharma not Daddy.
Bel: No, Papa is not Dharma!! Papa is Daddy.

When giving her bread, I usually tear the bread into smaller pieces. So one day she wanted to help out with the tearing, "I kopek!".

One day while we were out grocery shopping and were passing by the canned fruits aisle, she suddenly exclaimed excitedly while pointing, "Mommy look spongebob sqaurepants house!!" I was so blur that I didn't get it. Papa was quicker (than usual) and replied, "Oh ya pineapple!", much to my amusement!

We were snapping away while waiting for the mtr and she went, "Guys, stop taking photos!! Choo choo train coming d!!"

After I cleaned her teeth, "Mommy wipe for me. No more choc at my teeth. Thanks mommy!"

While I was admiring her recently cut fringe, "Mommy cut my hair. Thank you mommy!"

When in a lovable mood or when we promised her things or when we got her stuffs that she likes, "I like you mommy/papa!!" while hugging us.

She loves playing make believe, "I Spongebob Squarepants, Papa is Sandy, Mommy is Patrick!". Another variation on the chipmunks, "I Alvin, Mommy Britney, Papa Theodore!"

Some cute words: cucumber = cu-cu-bear-bear, everybody = all the birdies

Fried Bittergourd

2010-08-06T15:41:00.004+08:00

Hubby loves fried bittergourd especially when his mom makes it. It's one of my favourite dishes too. And the little girl's! This is among the few spicy dishes that she would tolerate, armed with her red cup of water nearby (the other being Ebeneezer's beriani. yes, I'm training her to enjoy her spicy food hehehe).

It is quite simple preparing this dish.. the only leceh part is that you gotta stand over the stove while frying and it can be quite hot esp in a tiny kitchen like mine! Although simple, practice really makes perfect for this dish - too long in the hot oil and the bittergourd will be burnt, or if insufficient oil time then it'll be soggy and not crispy.

Fried bittergourd (MIL's recipe):

Mix chili powder, turmeric powder, rice flour and salt well before adding in thinly sliced bittergourds. Heat up the oil and deep fry the bittergourds. Good luck and enjoy!

Here's to My Blog Readers

2010-08-05T16:14:00.005+08:00

When you have a blog, of course you would want others to drop by. Hence the appearance of widgets to monitor your visitors. Lately, my 'live traffic feed' displayed a variety of flags besides the same ol red one (no, I don't do statistical graphs and analysis for my LTF!). I have regular clicks from Spore - probably from Su, Busygran, Kor and Karen. There's one from Havant, Hampshire which I have no idea who. There seems to be a constant visitor from Butterworth, Penang and Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan respectively which again I am not too sure of the identity. Then there are some random ones from HK, probably hubby's colleagues. Well, it's nice to know who reads your blog. If any of you are reading this, feel free to drop me a shoutout ya. Hope you enjoyed ur visit and thanks for dropping by.

p/s: Hmm I wonder what happened to Jackmob. He used to be quite regular on my 'old' blog..

Before the Wok

2010-07-28T21:19:00.005+08:00

Purple spinach for that extra dose of antioxidants

Fresh chinese mushrooms

Baby corns and bell peppers

Chicken and Red Date Casserole

2010-07-28T11:51:00.000+08:00

Another yumminess from 'The Chinese Kitchen'. The recipe used a whole chicken but I made do with two drumsticks and halved the seasonings as well (except ehem for the rice wine!).

1. Blanch the chicken in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Remove and drain. You may also choose to deep fry the chicken in hot oil.

2. Place the parboiled chicken in a pot. Add three big bowls of water (or stock), spring onions, ginger, 1Tbsp Sichuan peppercorns (I replaced it with black peppers), salt and 3Tbsp rice wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, covered for one hour.

3. Add about a small bowl of red dates (I added dried longans as well) with about 3Tbsp light soy sauce. Stir a little and continue simmering covered for another 50-55 minutes.

4. Enjoy!!

I used more dried longans than red dates..

This really makes a delicious soup!

Braised Mushrooms with Tofu and Cashews

2010-07-27T11:41:00.001+08:00

A simple and yummy bean curd dish. Got the inspiration to cook it from 'The Chinese Kitchen'. The recipe calls for dried chinese mushrooms. I did not have any at the moment, so I substituted it with fresh chinese mushrooms. The basic seasonings are the same as the recipe but I added more ingredients. Here is how I did it.

1. Heat oil and stir fry ginger slices till fragrant. Throw in some spring onions and continue frying before adding in a handful of cashew nuts. Fry fry fry. (not sure if I should put in the spring onions when the dish is almost done instead..)

2. Add in some chinese mushrooms and bean curd. Fry fry fry. Add in seasonings - salt and sugar. Pour some water and let it simmer for a few minutes.

3. Add in a dash of sesame oil and about a tablespoon of rice wine. Stir gently, blending everything well.

4. Finally mix 2tsp of cornflour paste with 1Tbsp of light soy sauce, and pour it over the dish to form a clear light glaze.

5. Enjoy!!

I dunno if I'm being syok sendiri or what, but I thought it tasted like what some of the chinese makan shops would dish out! Will try chicken instead of mushrooms and tofu the next time.

Winter Melon and Ham Soup

2010-07-26T17:50:00.001+08:00

'The Chinese Kitchen' has got to be the gem of all chinese cookbooks (the same goes for 'The Indian Kitchen'). These are birthday gifts from Karen and Kor *big grin* Not only does it provide recipes but also descriptions on the ingredients.

I officiated 'The Chinese Kitchen' yesterday with a simple dish of winter melon and ham soup. This is a fast and simple soup recipe: Drop a square of chicken cube into a pot of water (one big chinese bowl) and bring it to a rolling boil. Add dried shrimps and slices of ham and winter melon. Bring it to a boil and cook for another 2-3 minutes. I was true to the recipe except that I 'cheated' and replaced the soup stock with chicken cube. And so I didn't season the soup with salt and pepper.

Looks like a typical HK dish.. thanks to the ham!

Anniversary Dinner at Thai Pad

2010-07-25T14:04:00.007+08:00

This another one of those overdue postings. I only recently uploaded pics taken with my 6500 slide (thus the compromised photos), so expect more of overdue entries with blurry pics ;p

Supposed to be cendol?! Didn't know it'll turn out as a drink! Not recommended at all. Too sweet for my liking not to mention that artificial santan taste. Yucks!

Seaweed soup. Not bad. Something different instead of the usual tomyum soup. We had the tom yum soup when we first went there (for our ROM anniversary). It was ok and spicy (can be spicier though) but definitely cannot beat Purple Elephant's!

Pork and chicken satay. These are yummy! Reminded me of Bali's satay lilit!

Green curry chicken. Simply delicious! One of the better ones I've tasted. But somehow I felt it was nicer when we first had it (this was our second time ordering GCC here). Could it be because the first time had lychee and full cherry tomatoes (so when you bite into it the juice will ooze out giving that perfect tomato taste!).

Some fried rice. Was it pineapple fried rice? Sorry, forgot. Too long d!

Some thai desserts. Ok ok only la. One of it tasted like the above mentioned cendol!!

Birthday Dinner

2010-07-23T15:00:00.001+08:00

We had my birthday makan at a nearby north indian restaurant named the Curry King restaurant. This is where we always go for our 'tandoori house' fix. We had a very satisfying meal *burp*

I have always been a rice person and will choose rice over naan, anytime and anyday!

Yummy aloo goobi

The spiciest ever fish vindaloo, which was surprising considering hk's standard of spiciness! The best! The squeezed lemon complemented the dish well.

Hubby's cheese naan. Annabel loves it as well.

Lunch at Food Republic

2010-07-21T14:11:00.006+08:00

This is my first time having a laksa at the Citygates' Food Republic. What to do, suddenly kempunan. And it doesn't help that Karen was having some laksa party in another part of the world! :( The laksa was very mild but ok I guess to ease a little of the craving. Beggers are not chooser huh?!

Hubby and Bel's Vietnamese lemongrass chicken chop. Not bad at all. Bel is very selective on spicy food! Hmmm..!

Vietnamese spring roll. Full of lemongrassy-spice taste. Refreshing.

My Birthday Cake

2010-07-20T22:13:00.001+08:00

We first heard rave reviews of Awfully Chocolate from Kor and Karen years ago. I even cut an Awfully Choc cake with my 'evil' twin *wink* a few years back (in one of those rare moments where we actually celebrated our birthday together literally). So you can imagine my excitement when I found out last year that they have branches here!

Hubby got me Awfully Chocolate's all chocolate cake for me birthday. Thank you dear! *muacks* Was so tempted for the chocolate rum and cherry but for obvious reasons we didn't get that.

True to its name - rich and chocolatey!

Of course Annabel had a slice too!

Annabel was so excited posing with mommy and the cake...

... and blowing the candle too... while patiently awaits for her slice!

Mommy and Annabel ~16 July 2010~

Hey, Papa's Creative Too!

2010-07-20T09:39:00.004+08:00

Here are pics on creativity, courtesy of hubby dear. He has always been into legos but I still can't help but be amazed at how he could easily model a 'car' out of some clipo parts. He did an aeroplane before but didn't manage to capture it.

Annabel was so excited with her car especially since Elmo and Big Bird could fit nicely inside!

See how comfortable her little friends are!

One contented little girl!

Sek Bak

2010-07-15T13:21:00.005+08:00

Bought Evelyn Wan's Cooking Without Tears ages ago, during my theory-only-no-practical cooking days. Yes I must confess I love cookbooks more than cooking at that time.

I picked this book up again during my last trip back. It was nice browsing through possible dishes that I could actually cook this time. I wasn't going to bring the book with me to hk so I jotted down a few recipes. And this sek bak recipe is one of them.

Sek Bak (how I did it)

Ingredients:
3 palm sized pork fillets (you can also add pork organs)
*10 small shallots (sliced)
*1 pip garlic (crushed)
*1" each galangal and ginger (sliced)
*2 stalks lemongrass (bruised)
*a few pcs of kaffir lime leaves (shredded) this is my own addition
*cinnamon bark, star anise
3 cups of water
half cup light soy sauce
3 level Tbsp sugar
salt to taste
taukwah and taupok (add in half an hour before the dish is done)

Method:
1. Heat oil, add in * and fry till fragrant without burning, about 7 mins.
2. Add meat and turn about with the spices for about 5 mins. Slowly add in soy sauce and sugar and allow it to fry with the meat and spices for about 5 mins to release the fragrance of the spices.
3. Slowly add in the water (boiling), give it a stir and cover the pan. Simmer for about one hour over low flame or until meat is tender and gravy reduced. Check occasionally to ensure no sticking or burning. Adjust seasoning according to taste.

Tah-dah.. . sek bak!

Truth be told, I couldn't really remember the taste of sek bak. Don't think mom ever cooks it. My only encounter with sek bak that I can remember is when we ordered it (for occasions) from our two-doors-away neighbour.

I don't know if this is how sek bak should taste like but I do know that Annabel likes it. It's tasty and sweet with such pleasant blend of spices. What's not to like?

IFC Mall Outing

2010-07-14T01:47:00.002+08:00

Summer is the time filled with temptations to go out and shop. Especially in HK. There are sales everywhere. So yesterday was mommy and daughter's third window shopping outing together.

I hardly go out alone with Annabel because I have to cook and it can be quite tiring carrying her all the time. But it's getting better as she's willing to walk these days, and even insisting at times to walk without holding hands, "I don't want hold hands, I walk alone!" (or is it I walk myself?). But when she gets tired or lazy or moody, she'll quickly walk in front of us, stop and hold on to our legs saying, "Wait!! I tired. Carry me!!" Yesterday was no exception. She obviously didn't hold on to her promise of walking when out shopping with mommy!

Nevertheless Annabel does make a good shopping companion with quips like "Nice mommy!", "Mommy princess!", "Why mommy don't want to buy?", "How much is the dress mommy?" when I was shopping for clothes and trying them on. Aww.. so supportive my sweet little darling!

Annabel likes going in bookstores as well and will get excited when seeing her favourite characters on the cover of books like Mickey Mouse (and friends), Dora, Diego, Kai-Lan... She knows the books that she has at home and will exclaim, "I got!!" when seeing Eric Carle or Dr Seuss' books etc. Upon leaving the bookstore yesterday, she asked that I buy her a book, and immediately grabbed one from the shelves! Books here are expensive and especially since we've discovered the wonders of free delivery of wide choices of books at bookdepository, I am quite contented with getting our books there. So after a round of explanations blahblahblah she relented. Phew!

Despite so many good bargains and temptations, I only spent on a mng dress. On a budget mar teeheehee! I am very happy with my buy - such a lovely floral dress with lace trimmings. I like! It was priced at HKD259 (probably after a discount of bout 60%-70%) which is about RM110. I think it was initially priced at Euro 35 (about RM147). See how much they marked up the price!!

Line Peel Yeux Crystalescent

2010-07-13T12:02:00.006+08:00

So much for my previous eye cream posting. In the end I chose Biotherm (now why didn't I think of it earlier). We were already at Sasa and they having some sort of discount. Plus I was quite happy with what I read - ... instantly illuminate the eye contour, gently renovate it, and visibly reduce under-eye bags, with silica micro-crystals, pearls and caffeine being among the main ingredients.

The Biotherm line peel yeux crystalescent

From HKD315 (~RM134) to HKD252 (~RM107). A twenty percent off. I wonder how much is it back home.

I was expecting a gel-like formulation but it was 'creamy'. No worries, it is rather light and doesn't leave an oily residue. There is a soothing sensation immediately after applying it. Long term benefit is still unknown as I've only been using it for two days.

Chicken Varuval

2010-07-10T17:11:00.006+08:00

I love chicken varuval. Especially PJ Gasing's Sri Pandi's. So when I stumbled upon this varuval recipe by Babeinthecitykl, I knew I have to try it! I've tried a varuval recipe before but that one didn't involve frying the chicken first and it tasted more like dry curry. No surprise! So I was excited when I finally uncover the missing link.

Our dinner later. Can hardly wait.

And it looks like how a varuval should look like!

Just love it! Thanks Babeinthecitykl!!

Be our Guest

2010-07-09T22:20:00.007+08:00

This is a long overdue post. Had our first guest, HL over for dinner sometime end of last year. Due to our extremely tiny place, we can only afford one or the most two guests at a time. I chose dishes that I felt she was missing from home, those that I felt couldn't be found here. It was indeed nerve-wrecking that somebody else was trying my cooking instead of my usual guinea pigs hubby and Annabel!

Pongteh chicken.

Bendi and kacang buncis goreng sambal belacan.

Chap chye.

The whole works.

p/s: The colour of the various food (in the pictures) may not reflect the true colour of the food (in real life).

World Cup ala Harbour City

2010-07-09T20:35:00.005+08:00

Harbour City celebrates the World Cup 2010 with cute comic strips, a giant ball and a row of flags. Enjoy the pics.

Colourful Mongkok

2010-07-09T18:44:00.000+08:00

I've been avoiding Mongkok for as long as I've been here. For one, the acid attacks is a real turn-off. Then comes the immensely crowded situation with lots of irritating pushy ceena crowd. Such a no-no if travelling with a toddler. But a blogger Rita mentioned in one of her posts that if you haven't been to Mongkok then you haven't seen HK! And a recent posting of hers also tempted me with her good shopping bargains at Argyle Centre in (where else but) Mongkok! So Mongkok is suddenly in my must-visit-list before returning home. Of course Mongkok has other interesting places as well like ladies' street, sneakers' street, Sino Plaza, Langham Place, Mido Cafe, Australia Dairy Company, Charlie Brown Cafe, among others. Looks like we'll be making our tripsss there soon.. soon after hubby's exam! :)

Icare for Ibags

2010-07-07T17:04:00.002+08:00

I always tell my girlfriends that having single eyelids do come with a silver lining - you don't get eyebags! Errmmm... I was proven wrong by the uninvited puffiness under my left eye since a few weeks back (sorry no close-ups). Nowadays my eyes feel tight and dry. Is it due to too much tv and laptop time? Or simply signs of ageing? The time has come to look for that perfect eyecream.

... and the nominees are... (description based on the various product website)

1. L'occitane's VERY PRECIOUS EYE SERUM
Plus points: softens and hydrates. revitalizes tired eyes with problems of fine wrinkles, dark circles, puffiness and dullness. maintains skin's elasticity.
Key ingredients: organic immortelle essential oil (sounds so canggih!), natural omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, essential oils of camellia and evening primrose.
The damage: HKD 410 (~RM 175) for a 15ml canister.
My verdict: too expensive la, but I'm sure it's a mighty preciousssss good cream!

2. L'occitane's SHEA BUTTER ULTRA RICH EYE BALM
Plus points: moisturizes, soothes, hydrates and stimulates cell metabolism.
Key ingredients: shea butter, calendula extract, orange blossom water and wheat aleurone extract.
The damage: HKD 270 (~RM 115) for a 15ml jar.
My verdict: can consider.

3. Origins' HIGH POTENCY NIGHT-A-MINS Mineral Enriched Eye Cream (cute name!)
Plus points: decreases appearance of lines and ageing. firms pillow-like puffs.
Key ingredients: vitamins, minerals, centella asiatic (huh?), sunflower seed oil and shea butter
The damage: not stated. comes in a 15ml jar.
My verdict: possibly..

4. Origins' YOUTHTOPIA Firming Eye Cream with Rhodiola
Plus points: de-ages, reduces puffiness and protects from stress. firmer and youthful looking eyes.
Key ingredients: Rhodiola (obviously!).
The damage: not stated. comes in a 15ml jar.
My verdict: hmmm..

5. Benefit's EYECON
Plus points: fades dark circles and smoothes fine lines. eyes look refreshed and wide-awake.
Key ingredients: extracts of sweet almond, apple fruit and japonica leaf.
The damage: HKD 310 (~RM 132) for a 14gm jar.
My verdict: sounds yummy!

6. Benefit's DEPUFFING ACTION EYE GEL
Plus points: tones, revitalises and cools the under-eye area.
Key ingredients: plant fibres, chamomile and raspberry extracts.
The damage: USD 28 (+/-RM 98) for a 15ml tube.
My verdict: possibly maybe..

And the winner is.... Benefit's (either one) ;p

What is your eye cream of choice?

Glee moments

2010-07-07T10:32:00.002+08:00

There are some 'adult' shows that Annabel enjoys watching / tolerate / gets excited over.

One such programme is Glee. Probably because she loves dancing and singing. And maybe she sees that we enjoy watching Glee. She would go...

"Mommy, see Jessie!" upon seeing Rachel and Jessie together.
"Papa, see papa's favourite song. Papa like, mommy like, I like!" when watching or listening to some of the songs.
"Mommy, Glee!" while watching or hearing the promo advert on tv.
"Poke-the-face, poke-the-face.." while pressing both her index fingers to her cheeks! Bel's take on 'p-p-p-pokerface, p-p-pokerface'.
"Hello goodbye, hello goodbye" trying to sing along to Hello Goodbye.
"Hey I watch before" when watching a repeat or a clip on youtube.

I'm a Gleek!

Brinjal Bonanza

2010-07-01T13:56:00.004+08:00

Brinjals are rather versatile veggies. It goes well in curries, masak sambal belacan, deep fried and tempra, among others. Cook it well and it'll be all soft and nice and totally basking in the flavour of the gravy. Here are two brinjal dishes that I whipped up recently.

White pepper brinjals with minced chicken. Recipe courtesy of Karen. Thanks dear. Always trust her for good home cooked dishes!

Terung cili garam. Something different from the usual goreng sambal belacan.

p/s: the title of this post was contributed by hubby dear *wink*

Refreshing Lemongrass Soup

2010-07-01T12:27:00.007+08:00

Soupylicious and simple to prepare - mommy's way. Hubby loves it and so does the little girl, "Mommy I want soup!" All you need are chicken (I used 4 drumsticks), 6 stalks lemongrass (bruised), 1" ginger, one big onion, one chicken cube. For the health conscious, you may omit the chicken cube and add a pinch of salt instead. Simmer for about an hour. Enjoy!

Your Liver

2010-06-29T21:55:00.005+08:00

My BIL gave me an 'assignment' today - on the vitamins and supplements to take for a person with an alcohol-damaged liver. Hmm.. as a nutritionist (a very rusty one at that!) I'll rather go for dietary changes. But when food intake alone is insufficient, supplement is always recommended. These are what I have after some googling on 'liver nutrition' and 'supplement liver health'.

The bit I got from health.nytimes.com:
Our liver is involved in the conversion of food into energy. A damaged liver cannot function normally therefore diet modification is essential. In those with a severely damaged liver, protein is not processed efficiently, therefore protein restriction is recommended. Control salt intake (especially if there's fluid retention). Carbohydrate should be the main contributor of calories, and moderate fat intake (to preserve protein in the body and prevent protein breakdown).

nwhealth.edu and liverdoctor on liver supplements:
Milk thistle, alpha lipoic acid, licorice extract, dandelion, turmeric, artichoke, flaxseed oil, vitamin K, arginine, selenium, essential fatty acids, among others.

I can go on and on but I'm not writing a thesis here. Plus these info are very minimal. Further reading and pondering and research are needed for a really complete write-up. The info here is very basic and BIL and his friend can surely continue on from here.

Chicken Keema

2010-06-29T17:58:00.004+08:00

Got the inspiration to cook this from Busygran. As usual I didn't totally follow the exact recipe so here is my version.

Ingredients:

Minced meat (from two palm sized chicken fillet). Marinate with curry powder (or turmeric and chili powder), mixed spice powder, corn flour, light soy sauce and a bit of cooking oil.

(A) Cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, cardamon, crushed black peppercorns, fennel seeds, curry leaves.

(B) 5 medium shallots, 3 cloves garlic, 1" ginger (chopped)

Curry paste with some mix spice powder

Carrots, potatoes (cubed)

Tomatoes, green chili

2 Tbsp santan

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil and stir fry (A). Add (B) and continue to stir fry till fragrant.

2. Throw in the minced meat and fry fry fry. Add in the curry paste.

3. Throw in the pototoes, carrots and bell peppers, with sufficient water and simmer. Stir occasionally.

4. When amost ready, throw in the tomatoes, santan and salt.

5. Simmer some more and it is ready to serve.

Notes:

* Boil the potatoes first so that it'll be soft and nice.

* Bell peppers make good replacement for green chili.

* You may also add in green peas or chick peas.

* I used whole cherry tomatoes - the sweet-sour tomato taste wasn't really infused in the dish so I added a tablespoon of tomato sauce.

Turmeric Chicken

2010-06-29T16:38:00.004+08:00

This is the first recipe I followed from Busygran. It got me excited at the first glance as it looked rather simple. The second glance had me wondering if it'll be yummy with such limited ingredients. I guess hers was a healthier version. Some improvisation is needed then. Here's how I cooked it.

Ingredients:

4 chicken drumsticks

Grind - 8 shallots, 3 pcs turmeric, 2 stalks lemongrass (thinly sliced), belacan, candlenuts, chili padi

1 stalk lemongrass (bruised)

Kaffir lime leaves

About 80ml santan (packet), some water

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil and fry the blended ingredients till fragrant.

2. Throw in the chicken, bruised lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Stir stir stir and fry fry fry.

3. Add about 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Pour in the santan.

4. Stir to a mix and simmer.

Notes:

* Even after some changes, I still find this dish very mild. You may consider adding pounded anchovies and dried prawns, ginger, galangal, more chilies (if you love spicy). But then again if there are too much additions, it might turned out like sayur lodeh or masak lemak etc.

Today in History

2010-06-24T10:43:00.004+08:00

Hari ini dalam sejarah. Annabel for the first time ever slept without her pacifier last night. It sounded so simple. But not quite. She decided to throw away her one and only blue tut-tut (as she fondly calls it) after I showed her a rather obvious hole. She insisted on throwing it away even after I reminded her that she would not have her tut-tut that night and every other nights from then on. She was adamant.

Then it was time to sleep. As expected she cried out for her pacifier. But luckily it was not as bad and pitiful as the first time (we tried this before a few months back but she was crying and crying and so we gave in). Finally she slept throughout the night without her tut-tut.

When she woke up in morning, she seemed to be complaining about the crying-for-her-pacifier incident the night before, and still asked for her tut-tut (I think it's more for the sake of asking). Even when I told her how proud I was and that she's a big girl now. Hmmm.. big time mak nenek this one!

Annabel has been without her pacifier when going out for a few months already. Let's just hope this sleeping without her tut-tut business will last and that she'll accept it and move on. The next chapter of life without tut-tut..

Bag-o-rama

2010-06-23T16:30:00.000+08:00

I love handbags (and shoes). However, there was a time once not too long ago where I would go like, "How can a person live with so many bags and shoes." But I can see clearly now and so I beg to differ.

In HK, everybody carry designer bags everywhere. Guys and girls. I even saw a small pooch in a Gucci recently (now how they treat their pets is a different story altogether)! When you are a professional earning HKD, it is surely no sweat when it comes to luxury items. In fact you can even treat yourself to a nice bag every month (if you do not have house commitment etc). The price is often a fraction of what you earn. Unlike good ole Msia. I better not get started on that.

I have my own preference for my bags. I love them cute, unique, quirky and especially with colours. Bright pink colours are the best. Now please don't cringe! Well, maybe not too bright. All these make the style so awesomely me! That is why however hard I try to look for pieces that I like in LV and Gucci, I would almost always end up disappointed. Which is actually a good thing as the bags there are about double in price compared to my favourite Coach. I am proud to say that I am my own style - that I do not buy for the sake of joining in the masses, or for having a branded bag or because everybody else is flaunting it.

I can always find bags that I fancy in Coach. I also adore Radley, Marc Jacobs (WC was quick to point that he is the person behind LV) and Kate Spade. Le Sportsac and Kipling are not bad as well.

I would like to share a bag-experience with a fellow bag-buddy. While contemplating if she should get a new LV, WC mentioned that LV has a secondhand value. I immediately questioned her if she was planning on selling her beloved bags in the future. She wasn't too sure. I wouldn't sell mine unless (a) I really have loads and loads of LV bags, and (b) I somehow touchwood go bankcrupt. And so finally that same year, WC ended up with two Coaches instead (on two separate shopping outings la)!!

Happy Papa's Day

2010-06-20T00:05:00.000+08:00

Had an early father's day makan treat for hubby dear last saturday. Dunno why but we initially thought father's day was the second sunday in June! Prepared (with lotsa love) a couple of his favourite dishes. Since I am currently not working, darling insisted not to buy anything for him but instead give his tummy a treat! Dished out tamarind-braised chicken, fried bittergourd and fried eggs with corn and onions (this one's for the lil darling). Simple but darling thoroughly enjoyed it. Love you dear!

Row Row Row Your Boat...

2010-06-18T11:48:00.007+08:00

We decided to do a 'tourist-sy' activity on bakchang day. So off we went to join in the maddening crowd at Stanley beach to witness the much publicised Sun Life Stanley International Dragon Boat Championships. For the first time ever bus 973 was packed to the brim (to and fro), and the whole of Stanley was jam packed! We reached the race venue just in time to catch a race. There were several races throughout the day, plus trophies to be won and titles to be claimed. I was also surprised by the number of international contestants. And so the 'photographer' started clicking amidst all the smell and sweaty beings, to bring you some exclusive scenes from the race!

Bel's First Full Haircut

2010-06-16T12:51:00.003+08:00

For the first time ever, on monday, Annabel had a full haircut, front and back, Surprisingly, she was very cooperative. Good girl. Perhaps cos I used the 'daddy' word. Whatever works *wink* The photos surely tell how she is enjoying her new look!

Oily Rice

2010-06-15T12:07:00.009+08:00

My first effort of a complete set of nasi minyak (literally translated as 'oily rice'), which is often served in malay weddings. Of course the condiments and dishes may vary. The recipes for the nasi minyak and spicy honey chicken were taken from the internet (except for the cucumber salad) but I've forgotten the sites. Sorry yea. But here are my versions (I usually 'agak-agak' and modify them recipes).

NASI MINYAK
1. Heat up a pan. Add ghee and margarine.
2. When hot, add pounded paste (shallots, garlic, ginger), star anise, cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamon. You may also add in screwpine leaves (knotted) and lemongrass (knocked flat). Fry till fragrant.
3. Add cashewnuts and raisins (you may also add in the raisins when the rice is almost cooked). Stir, stir, stir.
4. Then add in rice and mix well.
5. Transfer everything into a rice cooker. Add tomato juice/ketchup and a pinch of salt (some recipes also call for milk. Then add water.
6. Put the rice to cook and do remember to stir the rice as it is being cooked.

SPICY HONEY CHICKEN
1. Marinate chicken with turmeric powder, salt and pepper for half an hour before frying the chicken.
2. Heat up a wok. Add oil and stir fry cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and curry leaves till fragrant. Add in pounded ginger and garlic and continue stir frying till lightly browned.
3. Add in tomato paste, chili paste, honey and stir well for ten seconds. Add in some water and bring to a boil. Toss in the fried chicken and onion rings.
4. Stir fry and bring the heat to a low simmer, cover and cook until the sauce thickens and the chicken is done. Check on the sweetness and saltiness.
5. Ready to serve.

CUCUMBER, ONION AND CHILI SALAD
1. Toss in sliced cucumber, chilies, shallots and pineapple, together with lime juice, sugar and salt. Adjust the sweet-sour-salty taste according to your preference.

Rain Rain Go Away.. take one

2010-06-15T00:05:00.002+08:00

Annabel sang one full song for the first time last weekend. At 26+mths. Previously she would replace the last line with "I want to play". She would sing it when we mentioned that it is going to rain. And she would go like, "Oh no.. I sing.. rain rain go away, come again another (pronounciation sounded like 'come other') day, lil Bel (Bel) wants to play!!" I recorded her singing for the first time in this video. Perhaps she was a bit conscious of herself that I needed to prompt her for the last line. Will record her singing the full song without prompting soon.

The Book of Lost Things

2010-06-11T18:13:00.006+08:00

I first came across this book while browsing the bookstore. As tempting as it looked, I didn't get it. However, I decided that I just got to read this one when an ex-colleague was facebooking about it. This is my first John Connolly outing.

This is the tale of a twelve year-old boy called David, who loves his books, stories and fairy tales. He mourns his recently departed mother, and now has to deal with the remarriage of his father (and the addition of a little step-brother). All this makes him bitter and angry.

Then the books started whispering to him and the Crooked Man made its appearance. Before David knows it, he was in a whole strange new world, one that is filled with myths and stories (think fairy tales gone awry). There he met the Woodsman and Roland (such a knightly name), and battled (and fooled) trolls, wolves including mutated ones, the huntress, the Beast, the Enchantress... It is David's journey from childhood into adulthood, from a timid boy to a courageous young man. He is indeed true to his name David, just as the biblical David had bravely battled Goliath.

For the Love of All Things Pink

2010-06-08T23:19:00.004+08:00

It has been ages since I last window shopped at Swatch. Konon-nya I've outgrown it. So when I happened to look through the display two weeks back, I was surprised to find that I could still find watches that I heart. One in particular is the Huyana model. Hubby commented that it was too bright.. but that's the whole point! It is not like I'm going to wear it for work (as if I have one anyway!). But hubby was so generous and offered that I could have that for our anniversary pressie. I have yet to make up my fickle mind but thank you dear in advance.

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

2010-06-08T22:32:00.004+08:00

A friend posted the link this homemade ice cream recipe on fbk. I thought it was easy to make and might even give it a try one of these days (it is actually a craft idea for kids). Here goes..

What you'll need:
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
Ice cubes

How to make it:
1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Tips:
A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But do not increase the proportions more than that - a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

In search of prawn mee and laksa

2010-06-06T23:47:00.013+08:00

We actually stumbled upon Malaymama while looking out for a cab after exiting the Sheung Wan mtr station. Actually it was me that spotted the signage - cute and bright, couldn't have missed it. Hubby has heard about this place but it just didn't cross our mind to go look for it. So we decided to drop by for lunch last Saturday.

As we were approaching Malaymama, we were delighted to discover two other equally tempting cafes *clap hands*

A closer view. There are food from malaysia, india and singapore. For a moment we were contemplating if we should stick with our lunch plan or have some katong laksa instead.

Malaymama won, we are after all msians hehehe.

A very blurred look at the menu.

The wall displaying photos of the food. Notice the narrow side table. That's hk for you!

Prawn mee. It is said to be made from fresh prawns including the head and shell without added monosodium glutamate. Well, that is how a good prawn mee should be prepared. The verdict? It is acceptable for hk standards, and if you really crave for a bowl here (beggars are not choosers right). But this bowl didn't give me that kick. It didn't have that peppery goodness akin to my favourite in mlk (situated opposite LTP restaurant, next to a chinese school).

Hubby ordered the laksa. Good choice. The gravy was a little mild but still very much acceptable. I might order this on my next visit there.

Sotong kangkung. Not too bad. But I still prefer the ones back home where it is spicier and not too sweet.

Will we visit Malaymama again? I believe so. There other interesting items on the menu like hakka yong tau foo, kon loh mee, bak kut teh and kaya toast that I would love to try. But I will never have their iced milk tea again. It tasted like the 'yucky' ones back home (sorry to say this but my standard for milk tea is quite high, plus you can hardly find a 'yucky' milk tea in hk). One thing that is worth mentioning is their good service - very warm and homely. They even offered to prepare a separate dish of ipoh hor fun for Annabel (as she might not be able to tolerate spicy food). And when the bill came only did we realise that it was FOC! How often do we get this kind of service here?

Our next target.

A pair of studs and earrings

2010-06-03T16:25:00.004+08:00

Hubby's mother's day pressie to yours truly. A pair of Tous sterling silver bear-shaped agate studs. Love it and all the little details. Yes, I'm a Tous fan, and of gemstones too. The price here is apparently 30% lesser than in Msia. And now with a better exchange rate make things all the more merrier.

A pair of rhodonite (I think) earrings. Found this gem at a craft stall in Hong Kong Park. And it was only HKD5, which is about RM2!

Dimsum feast

2010-06-02T21:55:00.020+08:00

We finally went for our long overdue proper dim sum makan last saturday. HL took us there - a dimsum restaurant (a part of Lei Garden, I think) at Wan Chai. Nice spacious restaurant (for hk standards) and the food? Even better! It was truly a dimsum feast.

Some pork ribs dish.

Siew mai.

Chee cheong fun.

Char siew pau. Nice pork filling with ample gravy.

Shrimp dumplings.

Vegetable dumplings.

Congee with century eggs.

Some fried fishball stuff.

Radish cake. Yummyumm.

Some gyoza thingy with shrimp filling.

Custard bun.

Steamed cucumber with shrimp topping.

Popiah looking thingy with shrimp filling.

Eating out

2010-06-02T11:13:00.008+08:00

Tsui Wah Restaurant is one of my favourite joints in HK. It is convenient, just a walking distance away from the church - about ten minutes. So we come here often for lunch on sundays. Although it is always packed, we could always dine in comfortably. That's very important as we now have a little toddler to consider. That's one of the reasons we do not frequent those tiny popular shops with a long queue (that is often associated with out-of-this-world food). So far, I have not gotten tired of eating here yet as the menu displays a wide variety of local food. But then again I tend to choose the same things, particularly the spinach shrimp dumpling noodles. The dumplings have generous amount of spinach and prawns - simply delicious. The broth can be a bit plain so I always add some pepper and their oily chili sauce (don't really know what it is called) to give it more oomph! Hubby simply loves their crispy bun with sweet condensed milk. It is really true to the name - crispy and sweet. Nice! And Annabel's favourite has got to be the fried rice with diced chicken and kale with abalone sauce!

Our shopping break teatime at IFC's Honeymoon Dessert. This is our third time there. The first was at Western Market and the second was at IFC Mall with Cynthia. Clockwise from top left: mango sago dessert, mango dumplings and walnut soup with black glutinuous rice. For some reasons they do not have my favourite peanut paste. A friend mentioned that their durian dessert is yummy too. So that definitely will be the next on my list. Oh and I heard that there a branch in 1Utama, PJ. That's good news indeed.

* I simply must add hubby's motto on eating out in HK, "You can never go wrong with pork (for savoury) or mango (for your sweet tooth) here." Wise words from hubby dear heehee.

Babi assam

2010-06-01T13:21:00.006+08:00

I often go to asianfreerecipes in search for good nyonya recipes (after a few tries, I concluded that this is a reliable website). I've cooked babi assam twice, the first using pork (as the recipe suggested), and recently using diced chicken. I simply love this dish. So does hubby! It has a sweet sour taste with a tinge of spiciness - awesome. I think this will go very well with prawns as well. Will try that the next time.

Escape from Alcatraz

2010-05-31T23:18:00.006+08:00

You can learn a lot from looking at one's laundry. Sorry I cannot help it as I get this view everytime when I am at the sink. Of cause with different clothes on the clothesline. On this particular day I just had to bring out my camera. This person seems to love stripes, black and white in particular. There are four altogether on that day. One little stripey tshirt (probably the daughter's), one grey/white stripey T (looks like hubby's) and two stripey women's tshirts. She really must love zebras.

Five hours without pampy

2010-05-27T16:33:00.004+08:00

A friend mentioned on her fbk status that her 32-month old daughter is diapers-free. That was one of my headache with Annabel right now. The other one being weaning her off the pacifier. But that is another story altogether.

Ok back to potty training. That little status update had me more determined to get her off the diapers. I did try previously but I guess I was not persistent enough. She knows what the poo-poo pot is for but simply refuses to do it there. She'll use it instead as a car for mickey and minnie! She will inform me when she has peed, and when she's gonna poo. That's a start I guess.

So armed with determination and confidence, I told her (after her bath at about 11am) that she's a big girl now and no need for pampy, and that she was to tell me if she needs to go. I kept reminding and asking her and all was well. Then she peed at about 2pm and was a bit panicky. We reassured her and she was happy when she got to play with water while washing her up. Then the peeing started after her milk. She peed for about 3-4 times within one hour! I think she kinda enjoyed it as she gets to play with water after that. So now I'm wondering if she didn't tell me on purpose. Hmmm.. nvm I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. After all that drama I got fed up and gave her her bath at 4pm and put her in her pajamas, yes diapers included.

I will definitely try again but first I need to get some more panties for the little girl.

Chilli prawns with whole spices

2010-05-26T23:44:00.001+08:00

Recipe from "Fresh & Tasty Wok Cooking".

It was supposed to be like this..

... instead it turned out this way!

Hmmph.. the perils of following recipes, especially asian recipes by non-asians (I'm quite allergic to this actually).

The recipe calls for cinnamon stick, cardamon pods, cloves, turmeric powder (oopss I'd forgotten the turmeric powder when cooking this yst!), bay leaves and chillies (just chillies but what was in the book looked like cili padi). These are familiar ingredients in curry. Bay leaves are quite common in malay cooking. I think they are used in rendang, among others. And the marinade consists of garlic, ginger, chillies and lemon juice (which I substituted with calamansi juice). A closer look at the marinade sauce (after I blended the ingredients) made me realise that these are the same things used for mom's chic rice chilli. Which I did not think (and still do not think) will go hand in hand with the above said spices. And if you minus the ginger and throw in some candlenuts you'll get sambal cili garam!

In the end the prawns didn't turn out that bad. Will I cook it again? Most probably not. Do not want to waste my cholesterol quota on this one. But if I do plan to cook it again, I'll do so using bird's eye chillies. Oh and this time I must remember add in the turmeric powder!

Sayur lodeh

2010-05-26T17:14:00.009+08:00

I love lontong and suddenly had this urge for it. So began my online search for sayur lodeh and finally settled for one from myresipi.com. (Yes, ever since being away from home, I have to actually cook things that I want to eat unlike previously where I would just go and buy!) Sayur lodeh is usually eaten with nasi impit and the whole dish is called lontong. I was sceptical on how it will turn out with this being my first actual dish using santan (nasi lemak not counted), but as the dish was cooking and I got a whiff of this aromatic smell (think nyonya laksa), I knew that it will turn out right. *smiley* And after all this cooking, I now feel like trying some nyonya laksa and lemak udang nenas.

Here's the recipe for my version. It serves 5-6.

Finely blended: 8 dried chillies, ~6 medium sized shallots, 2 cloves garlic, 1 thumb-sized turmeric, 1" ginger, 1Tbsp dried prawns, 1Tbsp anchovies, a small square of belacan (shrimp paste), 1tsp grounded fennel seeds (not sure of the role of fennel seeds here. could it be for that extra sweet tinge?).

1 stalk lemongrass, half thumb-sized galangal
Prawns
Dried beancurd, cabbage, carrots, glass noodles, red chillies
200ml santan (coconut milk)
Water, salt, oil

1. Heat oil and stir-fry the blended paste together with the stalk of lemongrass till fragrant.
2. Add in the prawns and continue to stir-fry. Pour in the santan (plus another 200ml of water), galangal and cook till it boils.
3. Put in the vegetables starting with the hard ones and add in enough water.
4. Add in salt, and cook till it boils and the vegetables soften.
5. Ready to serve.

Map of the Invisible World

2010-05-22T00:25:00.004+08:00

The Harmony Silk Factory was so good that I just had to get hold of his second novel. And I was not disappointed at all for it was as brilliant as Tash Aw's first work. MotIW mainly takes place in post-colonial Indonesia, and it centred on a young orphan called Adam. He was abandoned by his mother, then separated from his brother. And when his adopted father was captured by soldiers, so began his search. Again, I just can't help but marvel at the rich knowledge that the author has. Another gem of a book.

The Harmony Silk Factory

2010-04-21T19:54:00.005+08:00

His second book is already out and I have yet to read his first! That prompted me to get hold of The Harmony Silk Factory. And I'm certainly glad I did. A very impressive first novel by a fellow Malaysian Tash Aw. No surprise that he won the Whitbread Book Awards.

No, this is not the story about some lame factory but instead it tells the life of the man behind the legendary HSF, one Johnny Lim from the eyes of three different individuals - his son, wife and a mat salleh friend. The author changes his rhythm of writing effortlessly in capturing the essence of a bitter son, a lonely wife and a rather 'cultured' white man. I must say TA knows his stuff and really did his homework to get his facts right. Facts on various topics like the Japanese occupation in Malaya, tin mining, music, gardens etc. But the way he executed these facts was not at all boring. As I go through the pages I was also reminded of 'sejarah' in school - the book was set in 1940s when the British ruled Malaya.

Do take note of the little details throughout the novel as in the end everything will fall into place.

An excerpt from the book: "... It explains everything, the rain. Power cuts? Hujan. No post? Hujan. What, no vegetables at dinner? Hujan. Why are you looking so sad today? Hujan..." (and now - no astro? hujan!)

On a polluted day outside Harbour City

2010-04-16T16:00:00.001+08:00

The Mysterious Benedict Society

2010-04-09T17:03:00.001+08:00

The cover of a book is one of the important elements when I choose my books. So naturally I got interested in these books by Trenton Lee Stewart, an up and coming author in kids fiction. The big question now is that if it's going to be made into a movie...

The MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY (excerpt from the back cover)

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?"

When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?

Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.

*click here to read the book

The MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY and the PERILOUS JOURNEY (excerpt from the back cover)

The Mysterious Benedict Society is back with a new mission, significantly closer to home. After reuniting for a celebratory scavenger hunt, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are forced to go on an unexpected search - a search to find Mr. Benedict. It seems that while he was preparing the kids' adventure, he stepped right into a trap orchestrated by his evil twin Mr. Curtain.

With only one week to find a captured Mr. Benedict, the gifted foursome faces their greatest challenge of all - a challenge that will reinforce the reasons they were brought together in the first place and will require them to fight for the very namesake that united them.
*click here to read an excerpt

The MSYTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY and the PRISONER'S DILEMMA (excerpt from the back cover)

Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before.

Filled with page-turning action and mind-bending brain teasers, this wildly inventive journey is sure to delight.

*click here to read an excerpt

Cowell, Cressida

2010-04-06T16:58:00.005+08:00

"How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse" and "How to Speak Dragonese" were Cressida Cowell's two books that I noticed first. The title sounds so familiar. Then it hit me. Of course as these are just two out of eight books in the "How to" series with "How to Train Your Dragon" being the first book. The cover of the books are beautifully illustrated with a mention that the story was written by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and translated from the Old Norse by Ms Cowell. There are cute doodles throughout the pages of the book too. Now how can I resist all that? And riding on the Harry Potter popularity, more and more children books are made into film including this one.

See I told you so, colourful and nice huh?!

How do you choose books for your kids?

2010-04-04T00:21:00.001+08:00

I love books. All kinds of books including children books. And now I have the pleasure of browsing and choosing books for Annabel. Yes also for myself as I'm reliving my second childhood. *grin* Some are prettily illustrated. Which is an important element when I choose my books. Of course what it is about, and how Annabel can learn from it are also important. I've recently encountered several interesting books and authors, some suitable for Annabel's age and some not quite yet. Some of my favourites are Dr Seuss, Eric Carle, Roald Dahl and Neil Gaiman, to name a few.

The world of Dr Seuss has many zany characters, and his nonsensical rhyming certainly makes reading fun.

Love Eric Carle's artwork. The content of his books is also very suitable for children. In "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" there are small holes throughout the pages indicating the holes the caterpillar made eating through the various food. How exciting!

The Gruffalo has won several awards and recently secured the fifth spot on the UK's top twenty favourite bedtime stories. It tells the tale of a sneaky little mouse's walk into the woods and how his imagination runs wild.

I must admit I have not heard of Maurice Sendak if it's not for the recently released movie of the same name. He is an award winning writer and illustrator for children's literature (if you can draw, then try writing and u can be well on your way to publish a book!). Another story on imagination, and kids can certainly connect with that right? Anyway reading is also all about the imagination.

Main masak masak pt2

2010-03-24T13:37:00.009+08:00

Ayam pongteh. Chicken in preserved soybean paste (?) with potatoes and mushrooms.

Spare ribs in tauchew and preserved salted plum. Got this recipe from mom but she used preserved sour plum. Yes, I bought the wrong preserved plum. But it still tastes delicious (hubby can vouch for that). Plus the addition of kaffir lime leaves give this dish a distinct aroma. A good replacement for the spare ribs would be indian mackerel (ikan kembong).

Mixed veggie. Another mixed veggie combination consisting of broccoli, carrots and prawns.

Two-beans cili belacan. The beans used here are ladies' fingers and french beans.

Ayam buah keras. Candlenut chicken. Got this recipe from Karen. Yummy yumm yumm.

Fish in tom yum soup

2010-03-24T12:50:00.007+08:00

Another one of my self-modified recipe. The original recipe 'fish in tamarind soup' was taken from an issue of the malaysian women's weekly magazine. When I first tried this recipe, I thought to myself that it tasted a little like tomyum, minus the spiciness and the aroma of kaffir lime leaves. That gave me an idea.

2-4 slices spanish mackerel *ikan tenggiri*
1 Tbsp tamarind pulp paste *assam jawa*
2 tomatoes (cut into wedges)
2 stalks lemongrass *serai* (crushed and use only the white parts)
kaffir lime leaves *daun limau purut*
some bird's eye cili *cili padi* (depending on how spicy you want it)
1 Knorr tomyum cube
salt and sugar to taste

1. In a pot, mix the tamarind pulp paste with a large bowl of water and drop in the Knorr tomyum cube. Bring to a boil.
2. Add the tomatoes, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and cili padi, and cook over medium fire for 2-3 minutes.
3. Put in the fish and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
4. Season with salt and sugar according to taste.
5. This sour-spicy blend of soup is ready to be served. A good dish to whet your appetite.

Curried sambal chicken

2010-03-23T16:39:00.009+08:00

Decided to 'concoct' my own recipe, hence this curried sambal chicken dish (or is it curried chicken sambal?). Decided to document the recipe here in case my memory fails me later. So here it goes.

~ 5 chicken drumsticks (chop into half) - marinate overnight with light soy sauce and curry powder
~ 2 heaped Tbsp sambal paste
~ 1 Tbsp coriander powder (mix with 1/2-1 glass of water)
~ 1/2-1 big onion
~ 2 tamarind slices
~ kaffir lime leaves
~ sugar and salt to taste

1. Heat oil in pan. Put in the paste and kaffir lime leaves. Fry fry fry till fragrant.

2. Add in the marinated chicken. Continue frying and stirring till chicken are well-coated with the paste.
3. Pour in the coriander powder mix. Add in the tamarind slices. Simmer till the chicken is cooked.
4. Throw in the onions when it's almost done. Add sugar and salt according to taste.
5. Enjoy!

The decade's top twenty

2010-03-21T17:07:00.001+08:00

The 20 best books of the decade
by Michael Prodger (published: 5:31pm GMT, 21 Jan 2010) telegraph.co.uk

Dreams from My Father by Barrack Obama

CANONGATE, 2007
When the enterprising publisher bought this memoir, President Obama was merely Senator Obama and there were few indications of what was to come. In recounting the story of his upbringing, Obama shows that his “Yes we can” mantra was not merely an aspirational soundbite but based firmly on his own experiences as a mixed-race American. The book was a key part of his mission statement about decency and optimism and helped to win him the goodwill of much of the world. As well as defining a moment in time, it also proved that Obama can write as winningly as he talks. Would it sell as well a year into his presidency?

"hubby has this book. it was actually a gift from Arvind "

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
FOURTH ESTATE, 2001
A big book in size, theme and ambitions, The Corrections put Jonathan Franzen in the vanguard of America’s bright young novelists. A simple core – a mother’s attempts to reunite her disparate children for a family Christmas – burgeons into a story about the complexities wrought on the American dream by pharmaceuticals, sexuality and shyster capitalism. Through the Lambert family Franzen conjures up a modern Everyman with ordinary lives teetering on the edge of bathos, tragedy or triumph. Proof that the Great American Novel (see Philip Roth, above right) is still worth aiming for.

"this book is collecting dust on my shelf. will read it when i'm back (as with all the other books!)."

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
VIRAGO, 2002
A Dickensian story with a pink twist. With all the elements of a penny dreadful – orphans, double-crossing, madness and pornography – this Victorian tale could have sunk to the level of picaresque pastiche, but while much ink has been spilled on Waters’s lesbian characters it is her ability to summon up the past in palpable, brooding detail that is her most striking characteristic. This is a novel that seems easy to categorise but doesn’t fit into any obvious genre.

"the storyline seems interesting."

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
BLOOMSBURY, 2008
A high-end piece of true crime writing, The Suspicions encompasses far more than just the story of a murder. Mr Whicher was a celebrated Victorian detective, and the crime that got his senses twitching was the vicious and motiveless slaughter of a young child in a quiet Wiltshire village in 1860. The case itself induced both moral panic and universal fascination in the country at large. Kate Summerscale’s investigation unravels not just the details of the murder and its investigation but also the birth of the modern detective and the influence of the proceedings on writers such as Wilkie Collins and Dickens. This is documentary writing of rare quality and intelligence.

"no comment."

White Teeth by Zadie Smith
HAMISH HAMILTON, 2000
White Teeth put multiculturalism on the literary map and made it fashionable to boot. Smith’s tale of three North London families – white, Indian and mixed – didn’t just show a slice of modern life but did it with wit and panache. The book is full of big themes, too, not least race, gender and class, but the potential for hectoring is deftly avoided, the messages being more subtly conveyed through vivid characters and sharp dialogue.

"i have this but as usual have yet to read."

The Human Stain by Philip Roth
JONATHAN CAPE, 2000
The first major book of the decade is a true Great American Novel. The Human Stain was the culmination of an extraordinary period of fecundity in Philip Roth’s long career. At 65, an age at which many novelists have said their piece, he started American Pastoral, the first part of a trilogy (with I Married a Communist and concluding with The Human Stain) that examines just how far the politics, social changes and political correctness of post-war America have eroded the promised land of his youth. The books – and in particular this last volume – powered by Roth’s autograph mixture of rage, sex and moral indignation, amount to one of the great achievements of American letters.
The Human Stain is narrated by Nathan Zuckerman, Roth’s alter ego, and deals with both racial and sexual politics and how they lay low Coleman Silk, a professor of classics at a Massachusetts college. First a piece of casual slang leads to him being forced from his job and then he starts an affair with one of the college janitors nearly 40 years his junior. And at the centre of the book is a plot twist that turns everything on its head.
The film version of The Human Stain, starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, is not to be recommended. The book cannot be recommended highly enough.

"we managed to catch this on the big screen but strangely enough hubby doesn't remember watching it. i thought it was a good show. so naturally the book would be better?"

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
JONATHAN CAPE, 2003

While the French may be besotted with them, graphic novels – apart from those by cult practitioners such as Art Spiegelman and Joe Sacco – have never had much credibility on these shores. Marjane Satrapi’s two-part memoir changed that. In simple, bold, black-and-white drawings she tells the story of her childhood as the daughter of two well-meaning Marxists in revolutionary Iran. Through her six-year-old eyes and later as a student she recounts the experience of both the Islamic Revolution and the war with Iraq and she does so with both seriousness and charm. Like Khaled Hosseini, Satrapi shows a country by which the West is transfixed from an unusual angle. It was the combination of this powerful background, the striking graphics and a touching innocence that stopped Persepolis from being mawkish and made it into affecting personalised history.

"there's a movie/animation on this one too."

The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
FABER, 2001
This was Peter Carey’s second Man Booker winner (his first was Oscar and Lucinda in 1988) and is a retelling of one of Australia’s great foundation myths. The story takes the form of a journal written by Ned Kelly to his as-yet-unborn daughter, and describes the hard scrabble outback life and frequent conflicts with authority that turned him from a mere larrikin of Irish stock into the Robin Hood of the Antipodes. The novel’s power comes from its unromanticised portrayal of Australia and the plausibly rough and flawed figure of Kelly himself. Most notable though is Carey’s employment of a distinctive vernacular prose style (based on the one surviving letter written by Kelly himself) that uses only rudimentary grammar and no commas. While it makes the book a frequently uncomfortable story to read, it does gives it a memorable and appropriate grittiness.

"seems interesting and I think hubby would like it too."

Atonement by Ian McEwan
JOHNATHAN CAPE, 2001
The book that catapulted Ian McEwan out of his high-literary sphere to a new level of general acclaim. A seemingly straightforward tale of cross-class love and blundering miscomprehension in pre- and wartime Britain turns out to be not a piece of engaging and immaculate pastiche but a story about writing. It is a trick that could undermine the novel but McEwan’s brilliance with set-pieces – a sweltering country-house summer, carnage at Dunkirk, an hermetic love affair – wrap the reader so tightly in the story that the tricksiness comes as revelation rather than irritation, and the fact that McEwan has proved to be a manipulator of the highest order is forgiven. He may have won the Booker with Amsterdam but this is a better book by far.

"a good movie but i think the book will be better."

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
PICADOR, 2005
The Laconic McCarthy, the icon of Southern gothic, is frequently likened to William Faulkner and hailed as one of the great contemporary American novelists. Public recognition, however, did not arrive until the early 1990s with All the Pretty Horses. No Country for Old Men (the title comes from Yeats’s Sailing to Byzantium) keeps the Western setting of his early books but the story is set in the modern age. The plot involves a drugs deal gone wrong, a man who finds a case full of dollars, a hitman and a sheriff, and mixes violence with pared down descriptions of the sun-blasted American-Mexican border. At heart a simple thriller, the menace is made tangible through the person of the icily deranged hitman, Anton Chigurh.

"no comment."

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
PROFILE, 2003
A book about commas and semicolons made perhaps the most unlikely best-seller of the decade. With this manual of grammar, Lynne Truss, formerly a droll journalist, emerged as the champion of proper punctuation and thus gladdened the hearts of the millions who bemoan the slackness apparent in contemporary English usage and the negative effects of email and text-speak. Their reason for gratitude was two-fold: through its anecdotes and gentle humour it laid out the case for punctuation, but it also saved purists from the charge of pedantry.

"sounds interesting."

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
CANONGATE, 2002
The previously unknown Canadian’s whimsical yarn was the unexpected Man Booker winner in 2002. The story of a young boy shipwrecked on a lifeboat for 227 days with only animals – in particular a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker – for company, combined elements of fairy tale, fable and allegory. While the imagination on display is unarguable what it all adds up to is less clear – and for many beside the point. Allegations of plagiarism from a Brazilian novelist did little to dampen the book’s popular success.

"heard about this one since ages ago but have yet to pick it up."

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
BANTAM PRESS, 2006
The book that turned Prof Dawkins from respected genetic biologist into the God-worrier in chief. His contention that creation has nothing to do with God and everything to do with evolution has made him the rallying point and spokesman for atheists who can be as noisy in their proselytism as their religious opponents. “There’s probably no God,” he curiously claims, but this book definitely made militant atheism a pressing public topic.

"no comment."

Untold Stories by Alan Bennett
FABER, 2005

A collection of both new and previously unpublished pieces, this book amounts to the quintessential Bennett. It is at its most affecting when describing his family, notably his parents’ marriage and a strain of mental illness that was never discussed at home. It also includes revealing pieces about his own sexuality and private life. These are leavened by diary entries and accounts of childhood trips and adult musings all related with the gentle humour that he has made such an effective tool for wrapping around emotion. The words on the page are like hearing Bennett read them to you.

"no comment."

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
LITTLE, BROWN, 2000
Gladwell is the corkscrew-haired Canadian who has forged a new genre out of studying the little-regarded consequences of various sociological phenomena, from teen smoking to fads for certain types of footwear. The tipping point of his title is the “levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable” and the book itself is an examination of what establishes those levels. This left-field thinking has made Gladwell the Edward de Bono de nos jours, though some might argue that the granting of a $1.5 million advance was the book’s own tipping point for success.

"no comment."

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
DOUBLEDAY, 2003
Bill Bryson used to be the cuddly American whose love of Britain endeared us both to him and to our own country. This book used that popularity to striking effect. The perfect primer for an increasing non-specialist age, it explains in layman’s terms some of the big subjects and personalities of science. Bryson has been admirably candid about his motivation: he knew little about science himself and his teachers had failed to excite him in the subject. His broad-sweep survey, taking in everything from the Big Bang to evolution and from Isaac Newton to earthquakes, is a noble attempt to fill a black hole in the school curriculum.

"have this one too."

Austerlitz by WG Sebald
HAMISH HAMILTON, 2001
The son of a committed Nazi, Sebald moved to England in 1970. His life was cut short by his death in a car crash aged 57, but by then he had already established a new and deeply personal style of writing that is concerned largely with the theme of memory and in particular his struggle to understand the history of Germany and the Second World War. His favoured format was a mixture of fiction and fact interspersed with evocative photography. The career of Jacques Austerlitz, the eponymous hero, encompasses many elements of Sebald’s own history, and his travels tell not just the story of the Holocaust but of the lost world of old Europe.

"no comment."

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
FABER, 2005
The novel that should have won the Man Booker Prize in 2005, Never Let Me Go is nominally a science-fiction story. It describes the childhoods of a group of young people cloned, although they are not fully aware of it, to provide donor organs. A writer who shuns the overblown, Ishiguro’s gradual building up of the full import of their fate is hauntingly done. A masterpiece of incremental detail that becomes poignant as well as horrific, the novel includes elements of both boarding-school stories and superior sci-fi such as John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos. Ishiguro’s habitual feeling for ill-defined menace is used here to powerful effect.

"sounds interesting but I wonder if it'll be too sci-fi-ish. if it is then i'll just give it a pass. can't stand too much of sci-fi reading!"

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
BLOOMSBURY, 2007
The Kite Runner has sold some 12 million copies, and Hosseini’s follow-up is another lush and unashamedly emotive tale of hardship and the Taliban. This story of two Afghan women, Mariam and Laila, has been hailed as an insight into the reality of Afghanistan. The plot itself is an old-fashioned heartstring-plucker and the writing is often hackneyed but the context gives the novel the appearance of capturing historical reality.

"would love to read this."

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

LITTLE, BROWN, 2002
Susie Salmon is a most unusual narrator – she has been raped, murdered, dismembered and is now in heaven looking down on the family she left behind and the man who killed her. Perhaps the reason for the novel’s success is that it is not a tale of retribution but rather an unusual coming-of-age story. Susie may be dead but she continues to grow up, using the living as the markers in her own development. Some critics, however, refused to be beguiled, criticising Susie’s God-free heaven. Alice Sebold based the story on elements from her own past – she was raped as a university student.

"a recent surprised gift fr hubby. yet to read though."

St Paddy?

2010-03-20T00:41:00.005+08:00

One wished for Saint Patrick's Day to last for two days. Some couldn't wait for the 'celebration' and others were on a high. The best part is that these are Msians. Why the excitement? We do not enjoy a public holiday. Is it the exhilaration of drinking and partying with fellow happening people? (And possibly with green costumes?) But do they really know the meaning behind all this 'partying'?

*Saint Patrick's Day is actually a catholic holiday to commemorate the death of Saint Patrick on the 17th March 461. According to the Irish folklore, he uses the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish people. (Now, the shamrock is actually a three-leafed old white clover. Please do not confuse it with the four-leaf clover, used as a symbol of good luck.) That certainly does not sound like our country.

I wasn't really 'aware' of St Patrick's day until we were in London last year (coincidentally on SPD). It was a public holiday there and we saw people in green and in costume everywhere. The atmosphere was even merrier at night.

I think it's silly if you are ignorant of the day but use it as another excuse for clubbing and partying and drinking all night long. Grow up.

*with reference from wiki

Main masak-masak

2010-03-19T15:38:00.012+08:00

Sambal ikan bilis. Anchovies in sambal paste (?). My first attempt (after much bugging from hubby). I must say it was not bad, thanks to the cili boh from the neighbour and mom's instruction. I wonder why I didn't try this earlier. And hubby wonders too!

Six-treasure fried rice. The 'treasures' are prawns, duck liver lap cheong, raisins, baby corns, carrots and snow peas. I would say this is my best fried rice yet.. SELF-PRAISE!!

Ayam sioh. Braised chicken in tamarind juice and coriander powder (?). Sounds complicated but it is actually quite easy. Now, the trick is to get the same taste as mom's. Almost there..

Betik masak titek. Spicy papaya soup. This soup is full of spicy-oomph! Not for the faint-hearted but of course you can control the spiciness with the amount of pepper used. Salted fish will give that extra flavour. Sambal belacan is a nice accompaniment. This is a peranakan dish but I have yet to find it in any of the nyonya restaurants. One of my favourite dishes ever especially when mom cooks it.

Ayam masak merah. Chicken in red sauce (? - haha). My first attempt at this online recipe.

Mixed vegetables with carrots, snow peas and fresh scallops.

Vegetable curry. Used 'fish curry paste' as the base. Not bad at all.

Must read novels?

2010-03-16T13:53:00.007+08:00

These are the '100 novels everyone should read' as recommended by the Telegraph.co.uk (published: 7:00am GMT 16 Jan 2009). Loads of classics, and I guess this is just one of the many other lists out there.

*my colour code: have it, have it but yet to read, would love to read it

100. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein (ehem, only the first book!)
99. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
98. The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore
97. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
96. One Thousand and One Nights Anon
95. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
94. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (and not Satanic Verses?)
93. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
92. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
91. The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki
90. Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
89. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
88. Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin
87. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
86. Old Goriot by Honoré de Balzac
85. The Red and the Black by Stendhal
84. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
83. Germinal by Emile Zola
82. The Stranger by Albert Camus
81. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
80. Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
79. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
78. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
77. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
76. The Trial by Franz Kafka
75. Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee
74. Waiting for the Mahatma by RK Narayan
73. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
72. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
71. The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin
70. The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
69. If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino
68. Crash by JG Ballard
67. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul
66. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
65. Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
64. The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz
63. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
62. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
61. My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
60. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
59. London Fields by Martin Amis
58. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
57. The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse
56. The Tin Drum by Günter Grass
55. Austerlitz by WG Sebald
54. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
53. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
52. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
51. Underworld by Don DeLillo
50. Beloved by Toni Morrison
49. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
48. Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin
47. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
46. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
45. The Voyeur by Alain Robbe-Grillet
44. Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre
43. The Rabbit books by John Updike
42. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
41. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
40. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
39. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
38. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
37. The Warden by Anthony Trollope
36. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
35. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
34. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
33. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
32. A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
31. Suite Francaise by Irène Némirovsky
30. Atonement by Ian McEwan
29. Life: a User’s Manual by Georges Perec
28. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
27. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
26. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
25. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
24. Ulysses by James Joyce
23. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
22. A Passage to India by EM Forster
21. 1984 by George Orwell
20. Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
19. The War of the Worlds by HG Wells
18. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh
17. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
16. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
15. The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse
14. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
13. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
12. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
11. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
10. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
9. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
8. Disgrace by JM Coetzee
7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
6. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
5. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
4. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
3. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
1. Middlemarch by George Eliot

My book wishlist

2010-03-15T17:18:00.008+08:00

Here is a selection of books that are currently on my wishlist (besides the said Antonia Fraser books - refer to the previous post Fraser, Antonia).

I am a fan of Mary Roach. Love the way she writes - witty, peppered with a mild sarcasm. I already have two of her books 'Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers' (bought it from Times @BSC) and 'Spook: science tackles the afterlife' (from a bookstore in Spore). So the following two books will complete my Mary Roach collection.

'Bonk: the curious coupling of sex and science'

'Six feet over: adventures in the afterlife'

Then there's Paul Theroux's 'Kowloon Tong'

I have yet to read a 'proper' version of 'The Three Musketeers' so when I stumbled upon this penguin deluxe edition, I know I got to have it!

The ultimate snacking indulgence

2010-03-15T16:47:00.005+08:00

I'm no fan of snacks and junk food but I have a particular weakness for this one. I could just go on and on. And anything that tastes this yummy (and addictive) definitely couldn't be healthy!

Fraser, Antonia

2010-03-15T00:24:00.012+08:00

My interest in the tudors started when I read 'The Other Boleyn Girl', and I got even more fascinated after reading 'The Boleyn Inheritance'. That led me to watch 'The Tudors'. I managed to catch the first two seasons, and will find time (soon, hopefully) to watch the third season. And after much googling, wiki-ing and amazoning, I came across Antonia Fraser (and I thought only Philippa Gregory could make history interesting!). She is the author of 'Marie Antoinette: The Journey', in which Sofia Coppola's movie was based on (watched it for thirty minutes earlier before hubby claimed the tv for football).

I should have bought it earlier when I first saw it in the bookstores. This particular edition is now difficult to get and can be quite costly.

Second best would be this edition..

I would also love to know more about this other french king..

And of course I certainly would like to read from AF's perspectives 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII'. Sometimes I feel that people those days are more promiscuous, especially the royalties.

And lastly, I would like get to know this Queen Mary better.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-14T22:37:00.008+08:00

The new Tim Burton movie has sparked a newfound interest in this Lewis Carroll classic. I couldn't really remember ever reading the book, but I do know (or I would like to think that I know), the storyline - Alice was in the garden and she fell through a hole and encountered various quirky characters... Yes?

A recent visit to a bookstore told me that I just got to have the book! Why not, with this latest edition ('gothic' and 'creepy' illustrations by Camille Rose Garcia included!).

Oh wow! I just love her illustrations, and am now a fan. But hubby being the dear hubby that he is, had to be a wet blanket, "You really want to get that? AIW should be read with its original illustrations (by Sir John Tenniel). You want Annabel to read that?! Gothic pictures only give out negative energy. Blahblahblah."

When the hardcover opens...

Finally after much pondering, I settled for a 'safe' version, one with hubby's new favourite illustrator, and one that I can pass on to Annabel later. And at the same time still thinking of the version that I (still) want...

Our drama queen

2010-03-12T22:34:00.005+08:00

Here is Annabel, just a few weeks short of being two. She is ever the drama queen, very expressive and just cheeky. I would say that she's quite smart and able to pick things up fast. But I guess most kids nowadays are. Also she is rather independent, always wanting to do things on her own, "I do, I do!".

She loves singing and dancing. She knows the ABC song, row row row your boat, happy birthday to you, this is the way I brush my teeth, twinkle twinkle, old macdonald had a farm (she enjoys making animal sounds!). Don't be alarmed. When I said 'she knows', I meant she recognises the songs and will try to sing along, and when she sings certain songs on her own, I can make out what she was singing.

She talks a lot as well. She tells you what she feels and thinks and wants. She is now able to string a short sentence like, "pls mommy I want bread". Aww.. so cute! She will shout out "fwen" and "ghee" when she sees the series FRIENDS and GLEE on the tv. When she sees a kissing scene, she will make the smooching sound. She has her own favourite shows like Hi-5, mickey mouse clubhouse and dora the explorer. She recognises most of the characters and can predict the next scene and interact with the characters like "no", "there" etc. I say with proper guidance a child can learn a lot from the not-so-idiot box. She is beginning to recognise numbers and able to count. Oh, and she knows her colours as well.

I must say I am quite proud of what she is able to do before reaching two. But most importantly she doesn't give us much problems (although at times she does tire me out) and is a healthy little girl. And I thank God for that.

Hello blog

2010-03-10T16:20:00.005+08:00

It's been aeons ago since i last updated rosietheposie. Blame it on facebook. One can practically do anything a blog can offer and more - one's thoughts for the day, self-advertisement, photo uploads and comments, article/photo/videoclip/etc-sharing, buy and sell stuff, play (addictive) games and many more.

What have i been up to? Nothing much really, just the usual stuff. Oh and eagerly waiting for our little angel's second birthday end of the month :)

My stick family

2009-10-22T20:54:00.001+08:00

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

Yummylicious in red

2009-07-10T16:58:00.005+08:00

Fresh cherries for hkd 23+ per kg. These are not too sour, almost sweet. Good source of vitamins A and C.

Second round of lychees. This time I remembered to photograph these red wonders.

A close-up.

Tau ewe bak

2009-07-10T13:28:00.002+08:00

Got the recipe from an online site dedicated to peranakan recipes (thanks to ahkim bel). Thought it would be the same as how mama used to cook it, but hers was much more simple. This recipe requires crushed peppercorns, for that added flavour. My version was also much leaner with tremendously lesser oil.

Pea sprouts

2009-07-10T12:30:00.005+08:00

This is one of my fav veggies. It's from the taugeh family minus the plucking of the tail and head,.. equals to less work.

Pea sprouts with cabbage.

Oyster sauce chicken

2009-07-10T12:26:00.001+08:00

My second time cooking this dish, and this time with more ginger.

Red on the outside, white on the inside

2009-07-06T18:43:00.006+08:00

Bought some lychees the other day. HKD 15 for 2kg - can never get that price back home. No, actually, getting fresh ones is almost impossible. At least in Mlk. I love lychees, the fresh and sweet ones at least.

After the peeling. So tempting till I forgot to photograph the whole fruit.

The juicylicious sweet fruit that is full of vitamin C goodness. Annabel had two, and daddy enjoyed his in his iced ribena (ala sirup laici).

Breakfast today

2009-07-05T17:20:00.006+08:00

We went english for the first meal of the day today. The breakfast set consisted of smoked bacon, fried eggs, baked beans, fresh tomatoes, english muffins, and good ol nescafe.

Hubby's

Mine

Ayam masak tempra

2009-07-05T16:10:00.003+08:00

My first time using chicken for this tempra recipe. It's easy to cook. The combination of sweet-sour-salty taste is a delight to the tastebuds, giving this dish its unique tempra-taste. So unlike the tempra dish that we ordered at a local peranakan restaurant in melaka quite sometime back. It tasted kicap all the way. They can bluff their way to other customers (non-peranakans) but definitely not this one!

View from the kitchen

2009-07-05T15:35:00.003+08:00

Yeah, I know, the window needs cleaning!

More flats!

Makan-makan and catch-up outings

2009-06-28T23:35:00.007+08:00

June has been a fun month as we had three different visits from friends. It's really nice seeing familiar faces here. The irony of it, of all places, we managed to catch up here. *smiley*

My first trip to The Sweet Dynasty was with Ren En and Noreen. It was also my debut outing to the much publicised Tsim Tsa Tsui. More weird (and rude) people can be spotted there (and also on the way there, on the mtr).

The Sweet Dynasty is popular for their taufoofah, which came in a wooden bucket (good for keeping warm). Very smooth taufoofah - nice. But I still prefer our local gula melaka with ginger syrup. Annabel also enjoyed her share.

(clockwise from top left): Some sort of pork noodles, chee cheong fun (the way i like it), veggie wanton, and a pork dish.

Our second outing was with Cynthia. We brought her to Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop, and later dessert at Honeymoon Desserts, both at IFC Mall.

(clockwise from left): Fried prawn dumplings with sweet sour sauce (no big deal. i still prefer the one behind the old federal/rex cinema), fish congee (this is really nice and smooth - yummy!), chee cheong fun wrapped over yew char kueh (not bad - something different), and fried kueh teow with beef (yum-yum).

(clockwise from top left): Walnut soup & almond tea (mine), mango with taufoofah (cyn's), and mango & grass jelly in vanilla sauce (hubby's). Over here, one cannot go wrong with any mango desserts!

My second visit to The Sweet Dynasty was yesterday, with Elfie and Wei Chieh.

(clockwise from top left): Pork noodles (this is really nice and tasty), chee cheong fun (yet again), veggie wanton (and again), and fried rice (so-so only). Of course we also ordered the taufoofah but didn't take photos of it as it will still look the same as the first time!

Day four in London

2009-06-27T16:01:00.011+08:00

On the way to the palace... such lush greenery.

The Buckingham Palace.
We managed to catch glimpses of the changing of the guards. There were loads of people and we couldn't really get a good spot, hence glimpses only. Oh, the photos were taken with (almost) maximum zooming. Anyway I wasn't in the mood to snuggle among the crowd just to get an excellent view. Plus I despise crowds. In the end, the changing of the guards was just that. There are some things that you just got to do when in London, and this is just one of those things.

More photos of the surrounding area.

After that we were off to Leicester Square again, this time to actually get our tickets and to a theatre performance. We took ages to decide on what to watch. Is it gonna be the Phantom (hubby watched already), Wicked (am currently reading the book),... and we finally settled for Les Miserables.

Then lunch at a nearby Burger King.

Of course we had to drop by Harrods for some window and souvenir shopping.

And later we stopped by Oxford Street again for some last minute shopping.

We ended our fourth day with Les Miserables. All that walking and sight-seeing were really tiring. I was snoozing on and off throughout the performance. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't a wonderful show. The actors were superb, not to mention the singing and all. It was a great experience, minus the napping.

Dry chicken curry

2009-06-27T13:07:00.002+08:00

My third attempt (i think) at MIL's dry chicken curry. I think this one turned out just about right. Will try the one with more gravy next.

On this day, the present

2009-06-27T00:15:00.007+08:00

The many cute faces of Annabel. These were taken while lepaking with her just before leaving for dinner.

Mommy and little girl while waiting for the food at Zafferano.

Daddy's tandoori chicken pizza. Annabel had her share too. Mommy was starving and had forgotten to take a snapshot of her chicken tikka beriani.

On this day, two years back...

2009-06-23T17:35:00.004+08:00

Happy second anniversary, dear!!!

Braised Mackerel with Tomatoes

2009-06-20T23:43:00.002+08:00

The recipe called it as such. But it is actually one version of sweet sour fish. I sticked to the given ingredients (minus spring onions - didn't have lar) although I know very well that I could have added cucumber, pineapple, onions etc. I will surely add more stuff the next round. But I did throw in a teaspoon of chinese cooking wine.. just couldn't resist it!

Dumpling: nyonya style

2009-06-16T13:35:00.006+08:00

I managed to satisfy my nyonya chang craving, all thanks to HL (hubby's junior cum my schoolmate cum half peranakan). She said the dumplings were a bit too peppery, but hey, beggars are not choosers right? Plus I love the spiciness of pepper. Hubby was also kind enough to donate half of his to me hihi ^_^

Before the attack.

Yea, still sempat to ambil gambar.

Stewed chicken wings in oyster sauce

2009-06-16T13:10:00.003+08:00

Got this recipe from the internet. Modified a little as I didn't have ginger wine. Instead I grated some ginger and added a dash of cooking wine. Turned out rather well. I actually love it! I do wonder if it'll still be as nice if I compensate the wings with other parts of the chicken (minus the skin)?

Bukumuka

2009-06-15T16:50:00.004+08:00

Facebook. It seems to be the most natural thing to do nowadays when you go online. Everybody is on it. A surefire way to be in touch with the world - friends that you see day in day out, old schoolmates that you haven't seen or spoken to in 20 years, colleagues that you are not too fond of (or your boss), one Mr A that you met only once, your general practitioner, a friend's toddler... you get the picture.

Facebook. This is the avenue where you advertise your humble self. Your status can be updated every hour to give an insight into what you have been doing, are thinking, or all the super cool stuff that you are planning to do. Through this, I learnt of one friend's exotic culinary adventure, another acquaintance's exotic escapade to never never land, and another's exotic dining experience. Oh, and not to mention those spoilers.

Facebook. You can create photo albums and fill them with memories - graduation, wedding, birthdays, holidays blah blah blah. And then comes the taggings and comments. Photos that are sure to derive loads of comments are of baby/kids and food. People just seem to connect well with these two topics. And the least comments I would say for your holiday shots. Jealous of others' happiness perhaps? Hmmm.. unless it involves them food! Of course those small people that harbour hidden feelings towards you will simply refrain themselves from any comments whatsoever. Let's not get into that.

Facebook. The wall. Where you are able to pen-down sweet nothings to your wife/girlfriend, in the eyes of the whole facebook community, therefore proclaiming yourself as the most romantic guy on facebook. Also, where you are able to send birthday greetings to Buddy A only to get Buddy B mad at you for not wishing him. And where you have conversation with friends for all to see.

Facebook. On etiquette. It is only natural to reply to a person's comments. Ok, an excuse is granted but only if you really really do not like the person, or are lost for words, or suddenly went brain dead. Like when people are talking to you, you will reply. The same applies here. If you answer to the comments, it will definitely encourage the commenter to say more things in the future. Now, you would surely like to have comments splattered all over your facebook, don't you? And it the long run, you would have developed a closer relationship. See, a win-win situation.

Facebook. I am not against it. In fact I love my facebook moments and it can be quite addictive. Ehem.. and I do indulge in the things mentioned above. I am only human. And I can just go on about this topic but let us just leave it for another day.

The Agaricus bisporus and Lentinula edodes

2009-06-14T14:28:00.004+08:00

Mixed veggie with broccoli, carrots, green bell pepper and button mushrooms.
Chicken with chestnuts. Followed an online resipe but (self) added the shiitake mushrooms. Hubby didn't like chestnuts so I had to sapu everthing (not complaining :o)!