19.02.2010

GONG XI FA CAI!

i guess it's not too late for me to wish all of you happy chinese new year, because it will be celebrated for the whole 15 days until Chap Goh Mei. my new year was great (except for the black-outs) and wishing you a blessed new year too!

as usual, our reunion dinner was home. this year, i happily volunteered myself to prepare the soup of the day ;) because mom will prepare pak cham kai and i can have the chicken broth for the soup.. and that's easy.

these are the ingredients i prepared for the soup:

japanese tofu, cut into small pieces..cut them just like how you cut leong foon

black fungus, cut into thin slices

grated carrot

filament stick, also cut into thin slices

first, heat the chicken soup, put in the carrot and black fungus. bring the soup to boil to soften the carrot and black fungus. then put all the salt, sugar or any extra seasonings for the taste before putting in the tofu. when the tofu is in, stir the soup slowly and pour in corn flour mixed with water to thicken the soup. after getting the perfect consistency, pour in beaten eggs to make it more presentable.

the soup of the day :)

we had our yee sang which consist of seaweed, carrot, stripes of cuttlefish snack, filament stick, cucumber, jelly fish and raw salmon, pumpkin seeds all over them, sesame seeds on the jelly fish and sweet and sour sauce..

for dinner, we had:

pak cham kai

stuffed mushrooms with broccoli

fried prawn

khiu nyuk

fried pork with sweet and sour sauce

fresh seaweed salad

chu kiok (pork leg cooked with dark soy sauce)

it was also roddy's birthday, on that day, so we bought 3 small slices of cakes as a surprise for him..

Blessed Birthday! :)

17.02.2010

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten Season where it is also the time to reflect upon my life, spiritually..wholly..

it's a time to fast and abstain. for me, it is not merely to fast or abstain, but it is also a challenge for me to fight temptation, and it's food (meat) to begin with, where i can be easily fall for (and some other things)..other than that, it is also a promise i made to myself and i know i can go through this with God's help.
yes, in normal days, it would not be easy, but i believe, if i WANT, and with God to strengthen me, i CAN do it.

Happy Fasting!

"..when you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do; they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. i tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. but when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.." Matt 6: 16-18

to bunie: we did it last year, and surely we can do it again this time..jia you! jia you! ;o)

12.02.2010

i made some cookies this new year..they are anzac biscuits and pineapple tarts..

however, i did not make my own pineapple jam because.....hehe, i do not know how to make my own jam and i think it will be much much more easy if you buy from the shop. i got mine from Bake with Me at only RM6.80/kg..and it's thai pineapple! ok, i dont know how good thai pineapple is, but for sure, it's hakuna matata! ;)

let me share my pastry dough recipe with you so that you can make your own pineapple tarts next year..

125 g butter, cut into small cubes
250 g flour
50 g milk powder
20 g custard powder
15 g corn flour
100 g castor sugar
an egg, lightly beaten

1. mix all the flour, milk powder, custard powder, corn flour and sugar in a mixing bowl
2. add in the butter cubes and mix it into the flour mixture to form bread-crumb like. i recommend you to use your hand, instead of the electronic mixer, because electronic mixer will cause the mixture to be very very soft, and end up you have to add in more flour. oh ya, make sure you wash and dry your hand and also make sure your finger nails are short and clean :)
3. add the beaten egg into the mixture to form dough. and at this stage, you need to have kneading skill..aisey..usually it will be very wet, so you have to prepare extra flour (not too much and not too little) to make sure that the dough is perfect to be rolled or shaped.

i made a total of 9 containers of pineapple tarts and 2 containers of anzac..ok, only now i realized i made that much of cookies! hehe..

and as for the anzac biscuits, you can get the recipe by clicking on the picture below :)

09.02.2010

it was the best and the longest conversation i had (i think)..and i enjoyed every moment of it. =)
even though the outcome was not a positive one, but at least i poured my heart out *wink* i believe God has His plan and His plan is always the best for us.

May the Lord reveal His plan for you and you'll have the courage to face any challenges that may come. Amen.

i'll keep you in my prayer =)

01.02.2010

leslie, jenn and i

i was away to kl-ipoh-penang-ipoh-kl to attend jenn's wedding in penang. it has been more than a year since i last stepped my feet in kl..and it has been at least 4years since i last saw them. and one word to conclude the whole trip: SUPERB!

although it's a short and busy one, but i enjoyed myself every moment.from the shopping in times square until i got headache, to the driving which i concentrated too much until i got headache..haha. i'm not complaining, i'm just sharing my experience. =)

journey to penang

i arrived KL at 9++pm and i took shuttle bus from LCCT to Salak Tinggi Station to Putrajaya-Cyberjaya Station. initially bunie asked me to get train to Bandar Tasik Selatan, then interchange to another train to Putrajaya. Luckily i was aware of the route map, or else i have to burden bunie to wait for me and fetch me at the middle of the night.

sunrise in old town, ipoh

i am so blessed with the gift of friendship that there's nothing that i have to worry about on where to sleep for the night? how do i travel? what am i going to do? etc etc. i am surrounded with wonderful people..

another 140km to penang

to be honest, the night before i fly, i was so worried that the trip will not go as smooth as how i imagined. i was so afraid that there's fear in me and voices telling me not to go.. and i cried ;p


somehow, God is so great that He took care of everything (in a form of friends).. the journey went well..oh, i love long distance journey..

the wedding ceremony went well, and i think everyone was in the mood of love, hehe. congratulation to Leslie & Jenn that finally they are one.

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Penang

i remember that day, i was in asayo with jenn when her boss was not around. i arranged and stuck all those selected pictures in front of her boss's wall.. that time, she had just started dating Leslie, and she would not want to tell me who the person is, but somehow i knew. i'm not sure how i found out that Leslie was the one, but when i told her his name, she was shocked. i'm glad that i have to opportunity to witness their big day.

the dinner (oh, not forgetting the singing) went well.. the food were all perfect! yum..












we went for Mass in pulau tikus..and it feels nice to pray with group of friends you knew. =)

Immaculate Conception Church, Pulau Tikus

we searched for foods of penang and we got penang laksa, ABC, mochi, air tebu, tauhu and popiah..and many more. but too bad, my camera was out of battery and i forgotten to bring the spare with me to penang (i left it in KL) and i didnt get to take the picture of that bowl of laksa i had.

pasembur

pai tee

chai kueh

ABC with mango

tee nya kueh

prawn noodle- very nice!

the day before i fly back to KK, bunie and i filled ourselves with another meal of chicken rice in The Chicken Rice Shop. we had the same meal on the first day..and because they were too nice, we decided to have them again on the last day. ;p

i flew back to kk at 2pm, arrived at 430pm and had another serving of food in the plane.

my appetizer and dessert: orange juice, ferrero rocher and fruit cake

chicken satay with fried rice

i was refreshed after the trip..really refreshed. and the whole trip (from the people i met, event i attended, things i saw, food i ate, conversation that i had, etc etc) just made me a happier person ;)

ok! now back to my diet plan..