Our Weekend

EG and I can stay at home for the whole weekend, only go church on Sunday. Even our neighbor came by and commented that we have good "family time"... Hmm... To be honest, sometimes I feel that we're busier on weekend than on weekdays as weekend is the only time when you can do all your housework that you can't do on weekdays, and it's also the only time when we can cook slowly in the kitchen as there's no rush going to fetch Eunice from babysitter, or getting ready to sleep her.

So, if you wonder, what do we eat during weekends?

I made pancakes.

EG thinks the pancakes are much nicer compare to my previous attempt

EG made bolognese spaghetti (he's getting very good in this esp. ever since he got his balsamic vinegar :P). We could eat this for few meals. :P

Our 2 lunches over the weekend :P

Another quick meal by EG. Simple but filling. Best thing is it doesn't dirty the kitchen.

Friday Night Dinner

Clockwise: Adventist 7-Grain bread with olive oil & balsamic vinegar, pan fried HOG sausages, Salad with cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, celery, apples, and home made dressing, scrambled eggs

Attended a friend's wedding ceremony on Saturday evening (didn't stay for dinner as we think Eunice is still too young to go out for too long :P), and tapao Blue Reef on the way back. (Will blog about this separately).

Saturday night dinner - Blue Reef

A typical chinese dish by me - a-supposed-to-be-hong-xiu-pork-rib-but-turned-out-dunno-what-pork-rib, & stir fry vege.

Sunday Night dinner

I made jelly too... :)Konyakku Lychee Jelly

Then, there are so much housework to do. The for-sure things that we do every weekend is our laundry. We need to wash at least 3 batches - Eunice's clothes with her baby detergent, our clothes, and the inner wear. Throwing them into washing machine, hang, took in at the end of the day, fold, sort. I also wash Eunice's cloth diapers since she'll be on full cloth diapers at home during weekends and she'll used easily 5-6 pcs per day.

Our laundry

And EG will be washing car, vacuuming the house, mopping, washing toilets, washing car porch, etc etc.

Not to mention we also need to take out time to feed Eunice, sleep Eunice, play with her, change her diapers, etc etc.

EG sleeping his precious

So, don't you think our weekends are really very busy? :)

HOG in Penang!

Recently, EG is kinda falling in love with cooking. But he only likes to cook Italian food which is his favorite. He has been searching online recipes up and down to make his bolognese spaghetti better. He also tried to make Aglio Olio - which is a quick and easy meal.

He was looking at some sausages @ Jusco the other day and told me seriously that he really needed some sausages from HOG (which i blogged previously) as we know those selling @ departmental stall are processed one, unlike HOG's which uses fresh & non artificial ingredients.

After checking with YY (the HOG's boss :P), finally we had a friend came up Penang from KL and she is kind enough to bring up nearly 5 dozens of sausages for us (not all for EG and me la... ours is only 2 dozens, the rest are friends' orders). And we have been cooking them quite often esp. when I have no time to cook. It's very easy & quick to prepare a meal with HOG's sausages. :D

So, now, pictures of some of our dinners.

Pan Fried HOG sausages with homemade salad & mashed potatoes

Pasta with HOG sausages and fresh herb

Well, HOG's sausages are full of meat! EG and I can take 2 sausages each and it's really very very filling. To be healthier, EG cut up some of the food / fruits that he can find in the fridge and make some salad as our vegetables. I'm amazed that he's seriously very creative. And the salad tasted very good as both of us prefer the cruncy type of salad. :D

Homemade salad with apples & celeries & tomatoes & olive oil & herbs

In our most recent "shipment" to Penang (yeah, 2nd shipment :P), we got some burger patties from HOG. And EG and I decided to make a quick dinner on last Friday before we left to Taiping for the weekend.

When EG is pan frying the burget patties in the kitchen while me settling down Eunice, I can already smell the great aroma from the patties. Yuummsss... And we fried extra eggs to go with our burger - with bread. :P... Oh it's so good as the burger is full of flavor.

Our burger with HOG's burger patty

A closer look - looko at the juicy meeeeaaatttt... yumm...

Now, we're going to wait and see who else is coming to Penang from KL. And HOG will get them to bring more sausages / burger patties up for us...! Yeahh...! I wonder if we could actually transport the roasted pork as well. Hmm... I shall leave it to the guys to think how to do that. :D

Btw, if anyone from Penang is interested with HOG sausages / burger / meatballs, do drop me a note so that i'll let u know when we're collecting orders for the next shipment to Penang. :)

New motivation!

OK.

I admit that my blog is getting more and more boring, and more and more "dead" with nothing much interesting.

Like EG said, I should try to relax more - ooo-sha ooo-sha - and try not to be so stress out with so many things in life - especially with the little one my cutie pie. :P

OK. I shall re-ignite my blogging motivation and blog about something more interesting soon!

Stay tune!!

ooo-sha ooo-sha!!

Milo Agar Agar

Made this last 2 weekends. Not bad but I think I put too much milo powder (I love drinking milo with a lot of the Milo powder), so there's a layer of powder accumulated at the bottom of the jelly, and it caused the jelly to be a little bit bitter - just a little bit.

But it's still quite nice to eat. And very esy to make. Can be done in 20 minutes and I can do while Eunice is napping. :)... Will definitely do it again esp. on hot weather like these days.

A Life Lesson

Someone bang my car.

Yeap. You heard it right.

Someone bang my car.

Of course it's not our fault. It's very obvious that it's not our fault. The lady driver went into our lane and bang right into my car. My poor potato car. Baby Eunice was in the car with us as we're going to bring her for some checkup on her running nose. Thank God EG has already stopped the car, and Eunice's car seat is back facing so there's no impact on her.

EG already saw the blur lady driver. Honked her. Stopped the car. But she still came all the way straight into my car. Signal light broke. Head light broke. Bonnet knocked. Bumper knocked. Driver side door cannot open. Eunice cried after 5 minutes because car didn't move. Took her out from car seat to soothe her. Called babysitter (since near her house) and got her to send Eunice back to her place.

The sotong lady driver lifted her hand to me while I'm holding Eunice in the car - I guess she's trying to apologize. Fine. I wasn't too angry at that time. Most probably she was distracted by her two little daughters in the car. Thank God that the two little girls are not hurt as well.

She told us we'd claim her insurance. OK fine. She told us she can't go and make police report now because she needs to pick up another child. OK fine. She looked rather sincere. Fine. She repeated many many times that we'd claim her insurance. Fine. We went ourselves and did our own report.

During evening, EG called up to check the status. The lady reported police said WE BANG HER CAR! And so now, we can't claim her insurance. EG and I kept calling her. No answer. SMS her. No reply. I was FUMING angry.

I have never felt SO ANGRY for so long!

I was seriously FUMING ANGRY. I hate ppl lying straight into my face. And I hate ppl taking advantage over me esp. when I DID NOTHING WRONG.

I told EG let's go and find the witness and report to police again!
I told EG let's go round the neighborhood to find her and talk to her again!
I told EG what kind of example is she setting to her children?! Lying?! I was just SO ANGRY.

I called my mum. She told me to let go. Told me to thank God that everyone is safe. Told me to pay the repair ourselves since we can afford it. Told me not to curse the lady. Told me God will have His own justice. Told me to submit to God. Told me don't go sleep with anger.

EG talked to one of his friends in church. He was told the same thing. Let go - it's a fallen world. The thing that encourages us the most is what he said - Don't get discouraged of what others have cheated on you, because our God is resourceful. How much can the others take from you?... It's really encouraging.

So we prayed not to let this affect us. We want to apply what Bible teaches us in this situation. Not easy though.

We got someone to assess the damage, and paid 1k+ for the repair.

Well, I thank God:

• Everyone is safe.
• Eunice wasn't shocked. Thank God for car seat! And after she went back to bbsitter, she continue to sleep and drink like usual. And at night, she still slept well.
• For family and friend who advise & encourage us. For friend who recommend a good contact for car repair.
• I really thank God that both EG and I have income. We can afford the repair. Though we're not supposed to pay it anyway.. but it's OK.

So I got my potato car back after a week. We even paid extra to polish it. Now, it looks brand new!

It's a life lesson. We learn through it. Deep inside me, I'm still angry with that liar woman - guess it's not so easy to forgive.

Anyway, for those in Penang, give way when you see Myvi PHY5525 on the road. Blek!

New chef at home!

I've been so busy with Eunice even if it's weekend. In fact, weekends are busier than weekdays since we have a good babysitter to take care of Eunice during weekdays and we can have time to do some things by our own. But during weekends, I need to do from A to Z to make her the happy baby.

Since I'm rather tied up esp. with feeding, EG has volunteered himself to COOK!. WOW!! I thought I heard it wrong when he first told me.... coz he once told me he really can't cook! Well, guess the new life that came our house in fact changes my dear hubby. :)

Since it's the first time he cooks (except maggi mee or fried eggs lar), he started with his favorite food - Spaghetti Bolognese. He surfed net for a GOOD recipe, and went out to buy the ingredients himself. So excited right? :)

The happy chef

After 30 minutes .... Tadaaaa...!

Bolognese sauce for spag

I must say it's not bad for his first cooking. And of course I helped to do some of the cutting while Eunice is having her nap after feed.

And now the new chef is getting all excited with cooking and planning out his next cook during the weekend... :P

New Role in Life

Life has been busy ever since I started working after 2 months of my maternity leave.

The schedule is rather standard, and I have to sleep earlier these days as I need to get up earlier to prepare everything.

Now I wake up at 5.30am to express some breastmilk. Wash all parts & sterilise the breastpump. Pack up my breastpump & stuff for expressing in office. Prepare & pack breakfast for EG and myself to eat in office. I need to finish all these by 6am.

Then, go back upstair. Spend some time looking at my little cutie pie sleeping in her cot, and show some disgusted face looking at the other BIG BABY snoring on the bed =.=. Bathe. Change.

6.30am wake the BIG BABY up by calling his full name. Then slowly pick up my little cutie pie and kiss kiss a bit to wake her up to feed her before sending her to babysitter. Cutie pie will finish sucking by 7am (or else I'll break her) and I'll change her cloth & diaper. Bring her downstair to get ready to go babysitter's place.

Latest by 7.30am we have to leave the house since I can't reach office too late.

Work from 8am to 5pm+. Go home to prepare dinner and go pick up little cutie pie again. After dinner it'll be around 8pm+. And since cutie pie has been @ babysitter's place the whole day, we'll normally spend time talking & playing with her. And feed her of course.

10pm I'll bring cutie pie back upstair. Wipe her, feed her and sleep her. And I normally will fall asleep while sleeping her. So cute right? :P. At night cutie pie will wake up normally once for feed.

And the cycle repeats.

No, I'm not too tired. I actually like this kind of life. Being parent is so nice esp. when you see the little one growing everyday. The feeling can't be described with words.

Maybe the only problem I have is - I have 2 babies to take care of. One big and one small. =.=

But the big one can help to do a lot of things. Only problem is - the big one is not a morning person. :P

New Blog

I have not been updating my blog often. For those who have me in my facebook will know that I'm upgraded to mummy status. Yeah, you heard it right. And yeah, I was so secretive about it. :P

Anyway, life with a baby now is obviously very busy. And the routine for the whole day is all about baby - bathing baby, feeding, burping, changing diaper, sleep baby. With me doing exclusive direct breastfeeding, it makes my life slightly harder because no one can take over the feeding job! And I have to do it myself!

EG has been very supporting and he has been helping to do all the housework when I'm busy feeding / sleeping his precious. Guess now he knows how it feels to prepare dinner every night last time (though he just tapao / heat up / put in plate / feed me sometimes if baby Eunice doesn't give me a break! :P).

If you're interested on how we're doing with parenthood, do check out my new mamabeh blog. :)

My Oven's Story

When EG and I were planning on our house renovation last year, we have certain expectations on how certain things needed to be done at our new place. For me, I requested for a built-in oven in my kitchen so that I can try with some "funny" recipes, and I got it.

We didn't go for the branded ones (obviously for cost reason) and we chose a local brand called Izoton recommended by our kitchen renovator which has good service and perform equally well with other branded ones.

My oven

After moving in for almost 5 months, I couldn't find a reason or motivation to use the oven. :P... So it has been idling for months until one day, someone asked us to make some roasted potatoes for a pot luck party. So, quickly I took out the oven manual and found out that we need to "clean" the oven before using it.

The smell was bad... it smell like some strong metalic smell and I had to on all the fans in my house and open all the windows for better air ventilation, else I think both EG and I might just be suffocated. :P

Oven cleaning

EG always like to do these stuff. So, to be safe, we started off by trying with a few potatoes first. :P... So, I quartered the potatoes, he put some salt, paprika, olive oil onto the potatoes. We roasted for like 30 minutes maybe? And ta-da, it was not bad. We had it as one of the dishes for lunch. :P

Roasted Potatoes Trial Run :P

So since it's successful, I quartered up the rest of the potatoes. This time, we mixed everything in a bowl with all the ingredients so that they are more evenly coated, and we added black pepper. We poured all of them into the pan and roasted it again.

The real one

The final result was not bad. Though we thought it could be more crispy. After the potoatoes are cooled, they became slightly soggy. But we still received good comments saying they tasted good. Maybe saja-lah friends wanna make us feel better. :P

The end result

After that, I have been trying to use this oven to bake my mum's carrot cakes, baked salmon for our new year dinner, MUFFINS!!! And baking is really fun...! I have been surfing the net for many different recipes and I shall try them with my this lovely oven..! Oh I love my oven now. :)

But before that, I need to stock up my baking tools and baking ingredients... Hopefully my motivation will stay since EG doesn't really fancy cakes / bread / pastry, but he's a huge fan for potatoes. Talking about that, I thought I saw a recipe for home made potato chips too... Hmmm... :P

Muffins Making

I have always wanted to try to make muffins. The steps look easy but I normally only like to try something that's already being tested - to make sure it's not too sweet and to prevent wastage in case it doesn't work. :D

Yvonne came to our place last weekend and showed me how to make her secret recipe for Banana Choc Muffins. Oh it tasted so good and the steps are so easy. :D... So, since it's a long weekend, I decided to try out the normal Vanilla Choc Chips muffins from some other ppl's blog since I'm lazy to go get the ripe bananas.

I just tried 1 recipe that yields 12 muffins - my muffin cups are tall (actually, i don't even know if they are the real muffin cups :P), else it should yield more than 12.

Baking in process

My cute cute muffins

Close up of the muffin with lots of choc chips :P

EG loves it! =) But he didn't know that the muffin cups can be reused and he spoilt one of them...! =.=

Wasted one muffin cup

I'll definitely try this recipe again next time..!

Bear & Cat Talk

Bear asked Cat to buy back a loaf of bread when Cat went out. When Cat came back, Cat stepped out of the car happily...

Cat: Bear! You wouldn't believe it! Today 7-11 has promotion! You buy 1 loaf of bread, they free you potato chips..!

Bear: ...... (still processing, after 5 seconds) Yeah right!

Cat: Bear, really! Why u don't believe me? (with the famous cheeky grin)

Bear: Because the potato chips cost more than the bread your stupid CAT.... =.=

PS: Potato chips are strictly prohibited in Bear's house, but Cat finished half of them while watching LOTR before sleep. Bad Cat.... Fat Cat!

Dinosaur Eggs

EG hates lizards very much. He'd chase them around the house to make sure there's no survivor in our house whenever he sees a lizard. I have seen him chasing a poor lizard with the whole bottle of pesticide, spraying at the lizard from the kitchen to the bedroom in our old apartment last time, until the poor little fella got dizzy and fell down. Then, he picked the fella up and threw it down, and make the stupid "Ahhhh..." sound for the lizard while it's falling down. =.=. Now, in our new place where there's more access for lizards to enter, I can hear "bing bang" sound upstair or at some of the house corner, and 80% chances that my dear hubby is trying to murder the lizards.

I always joke to EG that if ever the lizards can talk, they might probably be warning each other not to enter our house as it's a cursed house for lizards. No lizard could survive getting out from our house. And if there's ever lizard survived, they might have a celebration or testimony sharing among all the lizards. Ya, stupid I know. That's how we entertain (or rather irritate) each other everyday. :P

One day, when we went to a friend's house for a birthday celebration, EG shared about his hatred for lizards, and our friend told us to put a top cracked eggs at the entrance of the main door to prevent lizard. We have not heard this before so we asked why, and the answer given was: "Dinosaur's eggs mar, they will scare the lizard off..."

That's really funny! We don't know if it works but we decided to give it a try. So I cracked the eggs differently while trying to prepare a breakfast few weeks ago.


Then, EG left two of them @ the corner of our main door. Funnily, he put the eggs facing down. U think this position will "tell" the lizards that it's dinosaur's eggs? Obviously no right?! =.=. His wisdom was zero that day. :P


So, we changed the position to show the "hole" to the lizards...! :P. "Hey hey lizards, there're dinosaurs coming out from these holes ok.... so go somewhere else and play before you become their meals! And don't poo here!"


Seriously I dunno if it works but recently there's not much lizards in our house... Not sure if it's coincident, or the lizards are really scared off by the Dinosaur's eggs! :P... Anyway, EG put another 3 of them at another corner of the house.

We shall continue to monitor and see if these "dinosaur eggs" really work to scare the lizard off.

:P

New Year Dinner

I told EG that I want to do something special for our new year dinner - not going out but trying to do bake salmon at home - since we know everywhere might be just jammed and crowded during this long holiday weekend.


We had simple breakfast & lunch at home while cleaning up our place. New Year should start with a clean house i think. :)... Cleaning up house is sometimes fun and have great satisfaction when the house is finally clean and dustless. But of course, it's tiring.

I found the simple recipe for baked salmon online with common ingredients. It only needs minced garlic, lemon, olive oil, parsley (I used dried parsley), dried basil, salt & black pepper.

We got our salmon from Jusco last week. I prepared the marinade, mix everything together, put the salmon in and left it in the fridge for 1 hour. In the meantime, I continued to help EG with the house cleaning task. :P

Marinade the salmon

Then, preheat the oven to 190 degrees and put the salmon + the marinade into aluminium foil. Seal them up and bake for 35-45 minutes. That's all. How easy right? :)... While waiting for the salmon to cook, I continue with the other side dishes - boiled brocolli with garlic powder & oregano, EG's favorite fried potatoes, and some coleslaw since I had some leftover cabbages in the fridge.

And Tada! Here's our new year dinner!

My dinner

EG's dinner with more potatoes

Oh the dinner was so filling. We were overly stuffed. But it tasted good! Yummy! :).. After dinner, we continued with the cleaning upstair and we completed everything around 10pm+. It felt so good with great satisfaction when we see the house is now clean and dustless! And by 11.20pm, both of us were soundly asleep after a whole day of exercising & cleaning. :)

What a good start of the first day of the year! :)

And today, my dear hubby is going to grant me a holiday by no cooking and bringing me out for meals. Yay! =)

Happy 2010

Another year is going to be over soon! I couldn't believe that time actually flies that fast. 2010 seemed so faraway when I was in University but now even our Wawasan 2020 feels so near... *scary*. :)

Few days ago it was raining at night, and EG was standing at the car porch, crossing his arms, watching the rain. I asked him what he's doing and he said it's comfortable to watch the rain & enjoy the breeze. And it just remind me of my dad. He's behaving exactly like an old uncle reminiscing his old times. Even he himself thought the same!

OK joke aside.

2009 has been a real busy year for me, but it was a good year. EG always says I'm a very simple and easily satisfied (and very low maintenance too) wifey and I thought there's nothing wrong with that. I just tend to thank God for everything that happens in our lives, looking at the brighter side and make ourselves feeling more contented & happier. Being happy is the most important thing in life - at least that's for me.

I read through my thanksgiving blog entries for the past few years and I never fail to thank God for His wonderful plans for me and EG all these while. I'm just very thankful that we're blessed with our smooth sailing life and with many things that we wanted in our lives. Anyway, the most important thing for us is to have each other side by side, and together with God, we have no fear to face any challenge in life. :)

God placed Jeremiah 29:11 in my heart this year and I truly believe that He has been blessing us MUCH with great plans this year. And for the coming year, the verse that I have in my heart is Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

I'm getting old so I'm not going to brag what my achievements are for 2009 and what's my new plan next year but 2010 definitely marks a NEW YEAR for both me and EG, and I'm sure we're going to enjoy it to the fullest together like many previous years that we have been.

Finally, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my friends! And may all of you stay happy & healthy all the time! =)

Happy Birthday to Me =)

EG asked me how I'd want to celebrate my birthday this year. And as usual, I told him no need. =)

My mum used to cook some nice food on each of our birthday - like our favorite fried chicken wings, or fried golden boiled eggs. And when my dad saw it, he'll ask why the special food and normally make this funny comment:"Everyone also has birthday, so what so special about yours?" :P... I thought it's quite funny.

This year, I told EG I wanted a quiet birthday. Just two of us - as usual. We again went to Blue Reef for a nice dinner, ordering the same food :P. And before we went back Taiping for the long weekend, we got two small slices of cakes from Secret Recipe. EG sang me a birthday song, gave me a kiss on the cheek (and gave another kiss on my tummy :P). Then we had the cakes while watching the Lord of the Rings in TV8 (with no ending =.=).

My 1st birthday cakes

EG asked his parents to order my favorite pandan layer cake. But I insisted that there's no birthday song or cake cutting ceremony.. I shy... :).. So i just cut the cake and whacked half of it... Yummy! :)

My 2nd birthday cake

This is my last birthday with starting with number 2. I don't feel anything special, but just feel that time really flies. And as usual, I just feel happy and contented with my life. For me, that's the most important thing of all. :)

Happy Birthday, Penguin~!

Healthy Carrot Cake

My interest for baking suddenly increased during the last few months when I found that baking is actually not hard - provided you get the amount of the ingredients right! All you need to do is mainly mixing everything and bake them. The only hard thing is the washing part... argghh....

I tried to do this cake last month using the baking instead of the steam method, and it turned out not bad! I didn't blog about it as the steps are very simple and you can just follow the steps in the website. Anyway, the successful attempt definitely gave me a strong motivation to try baking again using my oh-so-lovely oven!

My mum taught me a healthy carrot cake recipe when I went back to Miri during CNY early this year. I thought since my sister who NEVER cooks can also make it successfully by her own, it shouldn't be too hard for me.. :P

Below is my mum's recipe (don't know where she got it from):

Ingredients:

Wholemeal mix flour - 200gm

Baking powder - 2 teaspoon

Bicarbonate of soda - 2 teaspoon

Brown sugar - 120gm (we reduced to 80gm as we don't like it to be too sweet)

Eggs - 2 nos

Natural Oil - 10 tablespoon

Carrot - 250gm - 300gm

Orange - 1/2 no

Raisins - 80g (optional)

Steps:
1. Beat brown sugar, oil, eggs together with a wooden spoon.

2. Add wholemeal flour + baking powder + bicarbonate soda (sieved), carrot (grated - this is the hard one), raisin. Stir evenly.

3. Bake at 170 degrees for 50 minutes. If the top of the cake is too wet after 50 minutes, bake at 120 degrees / 130 degrees using top fire.

4. After baking, poke the cake with "satay stick" and pour 1/2 no of orange (extract its juice) mix with 1 teaspoon of brown sugar.

Done! Easy right? And it's healthy too!

I tried it tonight. And I made it really healthy by using organic wholemeal flour (actually it's because I can't find the normal wholemeal mix flour :P), and organic raisins (which my mum bought for me but I didn't really like to eat). It didn't turn out as nice as my mum's. I used organic wholemeal flour and I think that's why it's more dry than my mum's. Hers is more moist. But anyway, it's edible. I shall try it again next time to improve it! =)

Note that I doubled the portion to yield the cake of the below size.

My first attempt of healthy carrot cake

The Hungry Hog

Previously I wrote an entry to promote The Hungry Hog 6 months ago. And now, our dear friend aka the boss has decided to extend his business to 7 days a week! And he also added another item into his Menu aka Homemade Sausages....


Check out the website for more details.

And if you wish to know more about the porkie, or the leng cai boss, you can also check out @ thestartonline.tv. He's kind enough to share the recipe on the yummy roasted pork belly...! And remember to listen to the crispy skin sound when he cut the roasted pork in the end... oh it sound heavenly! =)... And you'll know that you're definitely paying for great stuff! =)

Argh... Too bad he still doesn't send it to Penang... Lucky for those in KL!

Enjoy! =)

A Good Sunday

A good day always starts with good breakfast...

It's a Good Sunday! =)

Bear & Cat Talk

This has to be written in Chinese then only it'll sound funny, else it wouldn't make any sense.... So for those who can't read Chinese, sorry... =)

Bear: Eh Cat, 你知道吗，有一种baby blanket 可以用来带贝比从医院回家。那天我们在医院看到，remember?
Cat: 哪个不是毛巾么？
Bear: 不是，它可以从头抱到脚的，很可爱的咧。。。
Cat: 什么shape的？三角形？四角形？五角形？六角形？
Bear: 我不知道咧。。。 我也没有看过。。。btw, 人家通常讲四方形，不是四角形。
Cat: Why咧？这样。。。是五方形？
Bear: 不是。。 不是。。 是五角形。。。
Cat: Huh why...?
Bear: 因为四方形是 square 嘛。。。 华语 - 方 means square。。。
Cat: 啊。。。 This is so confusing... so, it's 四方形，五角形，六方形，七角形？
Bear: Err... 其实我也不知道。。。
Cat: 这样你应该是 “猪脚形”。。。 哈哈哈哈！
Bear: =.= .... 你的华语最近很厉害ho...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cat: (**with cheeky grin**) Eh Bear, 有没有两角形的？
Bear: =.= 。。。 不要吵啦。。。

Our Dinner

It has been a long time since I made Aglio Olio.... Tonight I gave it a try again combining with all the recipe posts that I have read online, and with my slightly more improved cooking skill *shy*... and it tasted much better than the previous one!

Domino's Chili Flakes is good! Two little packet actually is quite spicy for two big portions!

EG's dinner

My dinner

It's always easier to prepare spaghetti for dinner. I started preparing at 6.30pm and by 7.30pm we're done with eating and washing can also be done in 15 minutes since there's nothing too oily to wash.... :)

Bear & Cat Talk

On one fine Saturday, while Bear is cooking lunch...

Cat: Bear, your fridge very messy. Let me tidy it up for u...

Bear: OK!

...After 15 minutes....

Cat: Done!

Bear: (Looked into the fridge) Gosh, my fridge is so empty now!

Cat: Yeah, I have "defragged" your fridge for you....

Bear: =.=... And what's my kiwi doing up there with the eggs?!

Cat: It's Dinasaur's egg... with hair!! Kekeke!!

Bear: Very funny... so the one next to it is the Ostrich's egg?

2009 Raya Break

This year, I looked forward for Raya break eagerly as it's a LONG weekend! And for the first time I was eagerly waiting to go back to Taiping - because it means I can sleep, and eat, and watch tv, and don't need to cook and do nothing. :D

Before we went back, I have told EG that I want to eat as much as I can during this holiday. And I had this strong craving for Taiping Ipoh Bakery's Pandan Layer cakes. Being extra loving these days, he promised to buy the cake for me, and on top of that, he'll also bring me to Ipoh to makan-makan! Yay! :)

True enough, the next day after we went back to Taiping, we dropped by Ipoh Bakery and found out that we had to order Pandan Layer cakes and can only pick up on 5pm in the evening. And they are going to close for Raya break. So, we placed our order, and seriously, it's so hard to resist all the cakes inside the bakery as everything smells so nice. We bought an Almond Cake and wanted to have it for the next few days. But guess what, it tasted SO GOOD that EG and I finished the whole thing after lunch in less than 1 hour time! Gosh! It tasted heavenly (for me laa)! It's not too sweet and we think it's made of wheat flour that makes the cake with very good biting texture. Ahh... I'm definitely going to eat it again when I go back next time.

Almond cake

EG's mum picked up the Pandan Layer cake later in the evening. I'd be crazy if I tell u that we finished that too! We kept it in fridge for the next day as we couldn't fit it into our tummy anymore.

The next day, we went to Ipoh for lunch + dinner. EG's colleagues were kind enough to be our tour guide and brought us go makan something else rather than the usual Bean Sprout Chicken rice. :P... We went to Pasir Pinji for the famous yong tau fu. Apparently they said it's very famous because it is very cheap and many ppl have been blogging about it. I didn't take any picture there as it'll be very obvious that I'm a tourist if I were to do that. :P. I guess u can just find many pics if you google about it. The yong tau fu serving there is HUGE, and VERY CHEAP. I think averagely 50 cents per BIG piece.

Then, we went to buy Ipoh famous salted chicken. We had to wait for 1 hour after placing our order so we walked around the place to buy some other cookies and biscuits and mooncakes.

The famous Ipoh salted chicken

After lepaking around, and we went back to the shop for our chicken. While waiting, Eg and I snapped some stupid pictures. One thing funny I observed there is, there are many shops selling salted chicken, but people will rather wait for 1 hour for THIS PARTICULAR shop. Well, even EG's colleagues who are the locals also recommended that shop. Some other shops had MANY nicely wrapped chicken but no customer - all are at the famous one waiting. Guess they must be really good. Anyway, we bought 4 chicken back. :P. Not all of myself la crazy - 1 for all of us including EG's family, 1 for EG and I to bring back Penang, 1 for EG's aunties, and 1 for EG's parents. ;)

Oh, almost forgot about the Pandan Layer cakes. We had it after dinner. Tasted as good as before. Not too sweet and the cold pandan jelly tasted fabulous! =). We finished it the next day after lunch.

Pandan Layer Cake

After I came back to Penang, first thing I did of course is to weigh myself. And gosh, I grew and put on 1kg just during the weekend..! But it was really good food. I'm definitely going to buy the cakes again next time! :P

简单的幸福

我们的午餐

常常问老公要吃什么

答案通常是 - 要吃你煮的

他总是觉得吃老婆煮的是很幸福的

有时觉得煮的很累

可是看到老公吃的津津有味

却觉得累一点是值得的

有时 快乐可以很简单

幸福也可以很简单

:)

痞子英雄

最近，生活忙得可以。忙工作，忙教会，忙生活。唯一的娱乐，就是看看连戏剧。


上个月，在Astro看到痞子英雄的宣传，第一个反应是：仔仔能演这么man的戏吗？过后，宣传越来越热，跟听说这是台湾第一部动作偶像剧 - 不是那种传统的超有钱男子喜欢上穷女生的悲怜爱情故事 或 vice versa - 看了几个片断, 就心痒痒, 找朋友找来了几个link, 在周末download 全套24集, 开始我一个星期的"追戏生涯".

看完后,真的给两个大拇指.

故事情节出人意外, 从一个小小的毒品追踪案, 慢慢揭发一幕幕惊人的阴谋. 故事情节也不会太夸张. 在戏里的查案工具也很有standard, 不像一些香港戏剧里, 用power point 来做人面比较, 随随便便就show一个98%. 至少这个很有一些美国CSI的feel. 演员方面, 至少我又爱上仔仔了. **shy**. 当然, 一定有爱情故事, 让我感动了一阵子. 仔仔痞痞的性格, 让人有一点哭笑不得. 赵又廷这个新人, 也演得相当有水准. 其他的演员也很不错. 美中不足的是 - 他们说话还是有一点模糊不清. 如果没有 subtitle, 我应该也是看得8个耳朵.

很喜欢痞子英雄里的插曲 - 放逐爱情. 很好听. 很感人的歌词. EG说在我的心深处,还是一个无知小女孩. 不知道这是不是official的MV, 可是可以和大家share share 一些戏里的情节.



很期待痞子英雄Part II.

Mum A-Like

Some said before you marry a girl, make sure you check-out her mother first. Because very likely that the girl will behave similar, or look similar like her mother when she grows old.

My age number is going to change its first digit soon in another year. And I slowly discovered that I'm behaving more and more like my mum.

Case 1:
While EG was packing to go US last month...
Me: "Please make sure you buy a gallon of distilled water from the grocery shop when you touch down - I heard ppl say about the water in US when I was in Phoenix last time but not sure of your area but better be safe than sorry. Then, go buy phone card to call home and don't use your handphone to call, it's going to cost you a bomb. And for the breakfast, if you feel jelak with their food, they normally will serve fruits for breakfast as per my experience. On the plane, remember to make sure you check your time and adjust your sleeping time so that you won't have so much jetlag. And remember when you're coming back don't wear so much belt or any metal thing that will make the sensor rings to save any hassle being questioned. And remember to be careful with your spending as the price numbers there look so small, USD10 seems like nothing but after tax it'll cost u about RM40++... Watch out your expenses, don't overspend. And remember to put some cream on your hands / face so that you don't get flaky skin - the weather there is dry... And remember to take ur vitamin C, and bla bla bla bla bla .... " i can go on for another 10 minutes....
EG: "Hehehehe... I can imagine how you nag your children next time......"
And suddenly I realised, that's how my mum talked to me whenever I'm traveling last time. =.=

Case 2:
EG said our new place really looks like a home because there are clothes (clean or worn) scattering on the sofa or everywhere. I tried to tidy up the living area and make it clean & tidy but just can't. And I have been complaining that the kitchen counter is never clean and there are forever so many things on the kitchen counter and dining table.
And suddenly I remembered: My mum always complained saying that our house can never be clean & tidy when we were young. There are things everywhere in the house always!

Case 3:
It has been raining like cats & dogs (or quote from a friend - cows & horses!! Imagine how heavy the downpour is) in Penang and I can't do my laundry!! :( ... I like the sunny smell after the clothes are dried under the hot sun but now I only get the damp smell. :(. And I was complaining again.
And suddenly it reminded me: My mum used to complain that during rainy season that her clothes can never be dried and I was feeling nothing as I thought it's so nice to sleeep.

Case 4:
I have been cooking quite a bit, and very hardworking in housework ever since we moved to the new place. And so, my hands are having some new scars / marks that's caused by frying oil, hot iron, cutting knife. :P
And one day, EG told me: Your hands & arms are looking more and more like your mum's.

When I was young, I always didn't understand why my mum did things or said things certain ways. But when I grow older, then only I understand how hard her works were last time. Guess it takes time to realize and to appreciate.

Days when you're not around

I have not been blogging for long, due to many reasons - I sleep latest by 11pm everyday, too many tv programs that get my attention, lazy to use EG's computer in the study room since I have no laptop now and I prefer to blog & watch tv at the same time (:D)...

Another main reason was because EG was on business trip for 3 weeks since Mid July all the way till August. A friend reminded me that I shouldn't be posting this much in internet for security purpose since I'm all alone, a little small size girl, in the house all by myself. So I abide. =)... And then, I have nothing much to blog about since I'm just going work, watched tv, cooked for myself, sleep at 11pm.

It must be very obvious that we have been sticking together always. When he's away, almost everywhere I go, be it in church or office, ppl will be asking me - "Eh, how come alone? Where's your hubby?". I wonder if that's a good thing actually. Church friends are being tactful too by inviting me out for lunches or dinners since they know my usual lunch / dinner mate is always my hubby..

During my previous job, I used to travel more. And being an extrovert person, I have no problem travelling, be it with friends or alone. But, in my current job, my boss told me clearly that there's no travelling opportunity and I have no complain because I thought as a woman, it's now time to settle down and concentrate in what a wife or a future mum should do - just like my mum (ya, ya, u can say I'm old fashioned but I do think & agree that that's a woman's job :P).

Having EG leaving me for 3 weeks, or to be exact, 23.5 days - this is a total new experience for me. I was happy that he finally could travel and see the other side of the world, but was also sad that I'm going to be all alone when he's away. He must be feeling the same when I travelled last time.

EG used to say that he doesn't need a tv when I'm at home as I'll talk and talk and talk and talk and make him laugh most of the times. And he'll be disturbing me or cracking some stupid jokes when we're together and we always enjoy each other's company. When he was away, when I reached home, there's no one cracking stupid jokes. I drove to work myself with the radio on, watched tv but with no one to share when there's new funny advertisement or new trailer on anything, cooked for myself but with no one to enjoy the food together, did my own dishes & cleaned the kitchen myself with no one telling me what happened in the day. Everything in the house was quiet - except with the noise from TV. Timezone difference made it even harder for us to talk on the phone. When I'm sleeping, he's working and vice versa.

I have been planning many things to make sure my days passed faster. And finally my dear came back safely after 3 weeks. Though many warned me about H1N1 in airport but heck, I'm more excited that my hubby is finally back. =)... But I did pray before I entered the airport. Hehe...

The 3 weeks separation actually made me realised that how much I enjoy EG's company. Though sometimes we fight and argue but his company couldn't be replaced by any other things. I remember during our pre-marital counselling in church, my pastor asked us what's the main reason that we want to get married and both of us had the same answers - to have each other's companionship. =)

Now that EG is back, we tend to appreciate each other's company now more and often telling each other how bad life is without each other by our side. Hopefully this can last longer before our usual fight & argument start again. :P

Devilled Chicken Wings

I always love chicken wings, but not for EG. So, since I'm only cooking for myself tonight, I decided to try out the devilled chicken wing that I copied from a recipe book when I attended CG @ a friend's place. I bought my chicken wings from Tesco Extra after church today.

The recipe is rather simple. My first attempt was good and I felt so good that I can't don't write it in my blog to remember this. :D

Ingredients (my version - for 1 person)
2 chicken wings
Corn Flour (Original recipe is normal flour)
Chopped garlic
1 stalk of celery - cut into slices
1 tbsp of dark soy sauce
1 tbsp of black vinegar
1/2 tbsp of brown sugar
Water

Marinade
Few slices of gingers - you can cut them into small pieces
Salt to taste
Pepper (I used black pepper from Sarawak baru best.. :P)

First, marinade the chicken wing. I coated them with corn flour (i don't have normal flour :P). Heat oil in the pan and saute the chicken wings in low heat. Note that it's not deep fried chicken wings so I don't use A LOT OF oil, but just enough to saute them until they turned brown & cooked - checked by using a fork to poke parts of the chicken wings and make sure it can go through. Take out & leave the chicken wing aside.

With little oil, fry the garlic till goden. Add in celery and stir fry for a while. Add in combination of soy sauce + vinegar + brown sugar + water. Stir over gentle heat until sugar dissolve. Add in corn flour to thicken the sauce. Leave it simmer under low heat for 1 minute.

Lastly, add in the chicken wing, coat them evenly with the sauce and heat through before served.

It's quite messy to fry the chicken wings due to the shape since i didn't put a lot of oil. But I'm very surprised that the result turned out really good. Oh, i love the sweet + soury taste of the vinegar + sugar. Next round, I'll try with drumsticks only since it's easier to fry that than the whole chicken wing. =)

PS: Sorry, there's no picture as EG is having the camera. I used my phone camera but it turned out real bad.... So till i cook it again, i'll take some better pics to update this post.

Cantonese Steam Chicken

As a working lady, cooking dinner is always a challenge. By the time I reach home, I already don't have the luxury to slowly prepare my dinner, else, it'll be supper instead. I always look for fast meals so that I can get my dinner done in shortest time that I can, and make my kitchen least dirty / oily. I found this recipe few months ago and it's so easy, hassle-free and most importantly - fast!

The recipe is simple:
1. Chicken - I get the chicken thigh from Giant / Tesco and get them to cut into half for me. And I remove all the skin when I am home. Put them on a plate.
2. In a bowl - mix a tbsp oyster sauce, 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp chinese shaoxing wine, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of cornstarch. You can put some salt too if you want it to be saltier.
3. Pour the mixture over the chicken.
4. Soaked & slice some mushroom (optional), dry sherry, ginger, garlic and spread over the chicken.
5. Put them into a pot and steam for 15-20 minutes. DONE!

Before

After

Today I cooked 3 dishes for dinner. We normally eat 2 dishes on weekday but today I was in good mood so I made another omelette. But the main point is, we do eat for dinner... but I am not sure why everyone says we are thin / lost a lot of weight - especially to EG. Everybody was telling him that he has lost weight AFTER the wedding. Hmm... I wonder what does THAT mean... =.=. Anyway, this is the proof that I do feed him OK?! :P

Our dinner

Too bad, the boss said today's dinner was so-so only and it was too much!! So, again, it's not my fault that he can't eat much and can't put on weight... alright? :D

For DoDo

I wrote a long long letter for my dear sis before she left for UK, but someone said it sounded like a creepy suicidal note, so I repost.

Dodo, Remember:
1. Drink a lot of water in the flight to prevent dehydration, and walk a bit on the flight to prevent water retention
2. Don't miss home so much... (not easy for someone who has the record of flying back Sarawak from KL 7 times a year)... Enjoy yourself there!!!!
3. Watch your food - control the cheese, milk, bread, dairy products (it's hazardous for Teng's girls!!!!!)
4. Learn to cook....
5. Travel around and post pics in Facebook.....
6. Buy souvenirs for me (like what i did everytime i travel ok?? ok??).... <-- this is very important....
7. Stay prayerful, FIND & GO church. :P
8. I don't mind LV, Gucci or Coach that you mentioned last night though I am not exactly a bag person....
9. Go online in MSN more often.
10. Send your pics so that I can tell if you should go on diet... :P

Most useful present for you:
Joshua 1:9 - Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go

Will miss you dearly, and take care of yourself for the next 365 days! See you next year! And come stay my new place! =)

PS: Hopefully you're a yee yee when you're back. *wink*

The Hungry Hog

Note: This post is non-Halal...

During my visit to KL during Raya Holiday last year, we stayed at our good friend's aka EG's best man aka our wedding dinner emcee's place in Subang. And as usual, we'll meet up with the rest of the gang for some makan and catch up session.

We were running out of ideas on where to eat, and Yeng (the host) suggested to cook for us. YIPPIE!!.. I remembered there were homemade sausages, pastas, and ROASTED PORK. It has already been >8 mths since I ate the homemade roasted pork but I still miss it dearly!... It's crunchy and juicy, and unlike those out there (full of fats), this is definitely healthier - I saw the cook made it in front of me..! Should have copied down the recipe.... argh!!

Yummy yummy siu yuk...

And now, lucky for those who're in KL or Klang Valley!! Now the great cook has started his weekend business to serve siu yuk!! Drop by The Hungry Hog for more details. You should really try this, and I am sure you'll just love it!! =)

And if you think that the cook will be like "zu yuk weng", then you're wrong! Don't believe me? Order it and go collect from the leng-cai cook and see it with your own eyes!! =). Am sure you won't regret - both of the pork, and the cook! :D

Enjoy!

PS: How I wish he could courier it to Penang too....!!

Forgiveness

I stumbled into this blog today and found out this article is so right.

I love the last part:
“Forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a decision of the heart to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil. Forgiveness may seem like weakness, but it demands great spiritual strength and moral courage, both in granting it and in accepting it.” ~Pope John Paul II

It doesn't only apply in marriage life, but it also applies in our daily life to everyone around us...

Best way of spending money

I realised, the best way to spend money is to spend FREE money. :D

Weeks ago, we have some left over Popular vouchers (around RM190) to spend before they expire. So, EG and I went Gurney after work and spent almost the whole night in Popular to find things to buy, also need to make sure it's worth the values!! (kiasu-ism) And finally, we got 1 CD, and few books, and paid extra RM0.80 on top of the vouchers. Feel good! :D

Last Saturday, I woke up and suddenly remembered that I have more vouchers from the awards from my previous company which are going to expire soon (like in the next 1 or 2 days). 1st is my RM50 Haagen Dazs Vouchers - So, EG and I went Queensbay Mall and ordered two ice creams for ourselves. Sometimes I wonder how could ice cream cost so much, but guess it was really really gooooood and ricccccchhh and it's even BETTER when I don't need to pay from my own wallet but paid with vouchers... Kekekeke... Well, got la top up RM12. But it was so worth it! :)....

EG and his favoriate chocolates flavor

I wanted to try something different so I ordered Tangy mango

Next, I went to Body Shop and spent the RM50 vouchers with their foundation - the only thing that I think is useful for me. I have too many of those lotions and most of them ended up in the trash when they reach their expiry date. So, got my usual foundation (which i don't use often now) and top up another RM8+. So nice!!

We wanted to go to coffee bean to spend the other RM10 voucher but the ice cream was sweet and we wanted something salty instead, so that didn't happen, but we went KFC and shared a plate of snack plate to fill our tummy before going for a wedding dinner later on the night. And no, this round no voucher - using our own money from our wallet. Hehe...

It has been a long time since we can stroll in shopping mall relaxingly with no worry. I wish more relaxing weekends coming for us to rejuvenate after a long, tiring working week... *only if i don't need to do housework... bleah....

Paradox of Life

I heard this from Pastor John's sermon in EPCC this morning and thought it was really meaningful.... Then found it in internet later...

The paradox of our time in history is that
We have taller buildings but shorter tempers,

wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but have less,

we buy more, but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families,

more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense,

more knowledge, but less judgment,

more experts, yet more problems,

more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life.
We've added years to life not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back,

but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour.
We conquered outer space but not inner space.
We've done larger things, but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.
We write more, but learn less.

We plan more, but accomplish less.
We've learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information,

to produce more copies than ever,

but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods, and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce,

fancier houses, but broken homes.
These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers,

throwaway morality, one night stands,

overweight bodies,

and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window

and nothing in the stockroom.
A time when technology can bring this letter to you,

and a time when you can choose either

to share this insight, or to just hit delete.

Remember, spend some time with your loved ones,

because they are not going to be around forever.
Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe,

because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you,

because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.
Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones,

but most of all mean it.
A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt

when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment

for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak,

and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,

but by the moments that take our breath away.

Encouragement

There is an Arm that never tires
When human strength gives way;
There is a Love that never fails
When earthly loves decay.

—Wallace

Bear & Cat Talk

Life has been very busy and stressful. Bear & Cat now work in the same company so they take heavy breakfast at cafe sometimes together, and will skip lunch and use lunch time to sort out things.

Last week after office hour
Bear & Cat skipped lunch.
Bear: Cat, are you hungry?
Cat: Not really. I ate something during tea time.
Bear: Really?! Why never call me...
Cat: Err... I just went down to grab a piece cake.
Bear: =.=
Cat: But I was sceptical and checking out if the Bear is in the cafe too.. I look see look see no bear, faster buy something and run back to my cube. **LOL**
Bear: STUPID!

Yesterday Lunch Time
Cat: Today I'm very full. Let's skip lunch.
Bear: OK.
Cat: Are u hungry?
Bear: A bit, but I think still OK la.
Cat: Maybe later we go eat tea time la.
Bear: See la, if I'm busy.

After work
Bear: Cat, did u take tea time?
Cat: Ya I did.
Bear: Really?! Why never call me? What did u eat?
Cat: Err.... I ate the blue pulut with Kaya.
Bear: Why never call me!! I iz hungwee.....
Cat: Err... Actually hor... I got something else to tell u... actually hor... After we came back just now, I went to cafe and wanted to grab something. Then I see still got fried rice, so I tapao fried rice with some omelette.
Bear: HUH... HOW COULD YOU?! And you never call me..?!
Cat: *laughing all the way*.. I tot u said u are not hungry... I never thought they have left over fried rice (explaining, explaining)
Bear: HMPH! And now I am very hungry now. I am going to cook a lot tonight. I'll do an egg for myself.
Cat: Bear U are so funny! Oh, Egg again? This week we ate quite a bit of eggs.
Bear: I never say I wanna cook for u.. You got omelette already during lunch.
Cat: Huh......?!.... Please.......
Bear: NO WAY! :P