Hearty Dinner

I have been taking the easy way for dinner for the past few days - steamed fish, mee suah, soup and etc. So I have decided to cook a better dinner for EG on Sunday (esp. since he has been very patient bringing me shopping for almost 6 hours+ on Saturday).

I tried surfing for a few recipes on soy sauce pork belly. Everyone use slightly different ways to cook soy sauce pork. So I have decided to combine all the recipes to be my own recipe. :P. I mistakenly took down pork rib instead of pork belly from my freezer in the morning. Anyway, I assumed that the recipe for pork belly will work for pork ribs too - and I was right of course. :P

Pork Ribs

Ingredients & Seasoning

The ingredients are simple - garlics (I put a lot as I love garlics), chinese mushroom (soaked till soft and sliced), dried chili, dried cuttle fish (cut into small pieces), 2 pieces of star anise & 3 inches of cinnamon. I got the star anise & cinnamon (or kayu manis) from Giant after church today specially for this dish. For the seasoning, I mixed 2 tsp of Oyster sauce, 1 tsp of Hoisin sauce and 2 tbp of dark soy sauce.

1) Pour in the seasoning 2) Pour in water + all the other ingredients 3) Simmer for 1.5 hours 4) My yummy tao yu bak

So what's the sugar for? I followed some of the recipes online, I heat up the pan and add sugar. Once the sugar caramelised, I put in the meat and coat it with the sugar to lock the juice in (according to the online recipe :P). EG smelled the nice aroma and came in the kitchen to check it out and be the photographer. Next, I put in the seasoning, pour in water, put in all the ingredients and let it simmer for 1.5 hours to make sure the pork became real soft. I also added boiling water occasionally to make sure the gravy didn't dry up. EG commented the gravy was not thick so I add in some corn flour to thicken the gravy. And that's it!

Ingredients for stir-fry lotus root & the dish

For the vegetable dish, I have some left over lotus root from the soup yesterday. So I cleaned and cut up everything and stir fried them in the following sequence - minced garlic > carrots > mushroom > prawns > snow peas > lotus root > capscicum. And ta-daa... it's done in <5 minutes.

Now you see, now you don't

The dinner was served hot with rice. The tao yu bak tasted fantastic and the vegetable dish was still very crunchy. And as usual, EG loves the dinner - especially the tao yu bak. He loves the gravy as he said the saltiness + spiciness tasted really good. He was literally "drinking" the gravy. Funny thing is - the dried cuttlefish didn't make much difference. Maybe I should have put more.

Nom nom nom....

Next time, I'll try with the pork belly and hopefully it'll be as good as this. =)

How do you know your cooking is nice :P

How do you know your cooking is nice and your hubby loves your cooking? :P

Sky Restaurant @ Penang

EG drove to town during lunch time few days ago to send his guitar for some i-dunno-what-and-i-dun-really-care "operation". :P. So, he asked his colleague for a nice place to eat in town - since both of us don't really know the hidden restaurants in Penang. The colleague suggested Sky Restaurant along Chulia Street for the best Char Siew rice in Penang.

It is not hard to spot the coffee shop, it's right underneath the Sky Motel. (Picture downloaded from some other people's website on the net :P). We were there early, slightly before 12 noon and the restaurant is already almost full.

Sky Restaurant

A glimpse in the restaurant


Typical coffee shop

The guy told EG we need to wait for 20 minutes for the food to be served. For drinks, EG ordered a white coffee. Wow, it tastes real good - very kao as how we'd normally say. I feel like I am eating chocolate while drinking it.

The very kao white coffee

After waiting for almost >20 minutes, finally the food is served. They have chicken and duck but EG order char siew siu bak. We also got a soup - there's generous amount of pork rib, and a plate of vegetables (choy sum) with char siew sauce.

The food looks little and we wanted to order more chicken, however, the waiting time is quite long due to the crowd so we cancelled our plan. To my surprise, I was overfed and it last even till my dinner time. The siu bak is nice, but nothing much to boast about. However, the char siew is really really nice - crispy and sweet (I think it's honey glazed). It's sinful, but yummy!

The soup

Vegetables with Char Siew sauce

The sinful but yummy char siew siu bak

We were very satisfied with our lunch and planned to bring our KL friends here the next time when they visit Penang. And oh ya, the price is very reasonable too - total of RM12.50 for everything (exclude drinks). I think it's worth it.

So, there goes my diet plan - but YUM! :P

Orange Peeler

Facebook has been taken too much of my time and it also kills off all my "mood" to blog.

Anyway... What do you think the below silly looking thing is? :D. Well, the title tells it all. It's an orange peeler. EG is an orange lover and oranges are our main fruits after meal almost every day. He bought the orange peeler when we were doing some shopping somewhere and it is very cheap.

To cut oranges, normally we'll use knife and chopping board to cut the oranges. However, as a lazy person as I always be, I am just lazy to wash the knife and chopping board, and clean up the kitchen counter after cutting the fruits. This silly looking kitchen helper does a great job in ease my daily fruit preparation.

Wonder how it works? First, use the broad and flat side of the peeler to "dig" out the i-dunno-what-you-call-it part as like the picture.
Next, place the curved stem into the orange skin. Hold the fruit firmly and just glide it down the orange skin.
You will see the orange skin sliced like the below picture. It nicely separates the orange rind from the fruit.

Some use the flat edge to peel off the orange rind but I use hands. The flat edge can also be used to remove the white bitter pith.
And ta-daa, fruits for the night.
Wonderful tool, right? Try it out and I am sure you'll love it. I tried bringing it to office and it makes the eating orange process so much easier. :)

Beautiful Moments - Moments in Life

There are moments in life
when you miss someone so much that
you just want to pick them from your dreams
and hug them for real!

When the door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often times we look so long at the closed door that
we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive.
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile,
because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile.

Dream what you want to dream;
go where you want to go; be what you want to be,
because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you wants to do.

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,
enough trials to make you strong,
enough sorrow to keep you human,
and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past;
you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born,
you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so at the end,
you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away!

Bear & Cat Talk

Bear came back from her friend nursery and tuition center opening.

Bear: Eh, Cat! Kids these days are very smart man... Their IQ questions are tough.
Cat: Really? Like what?
Bear: OK, let me ask you. How many different sexes that Moses brought up to the ark before the flood came?
Cat: Eh Moses had no ark la, it was Noah la...
Bear: Haha stupid Cat, you're quite smart ar...
Cat: Of course! You mean you don't know the answer....?!
Bear: -.-....

---------- One Day Later ----------

Bear: Eh Cat, ask you, a black guy and a white lady gave birth to a baby. What's the color of the baby's teeth?
Cat: White la
Bear: Baby has no teeth laaaaa..... Hahahaha
Cat: Hahaha... U know what, as long as I have you in the house, I don't really need a TV....
Bear: -.-....

LOVE

In our CG on last Friday, we learnt about LOVE - receiving love and giving it away. In Bible, John 13:34 says "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another". 1 John 4:7 says "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God".

Jon split up all the different definitions of LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, and asked us to evaluate ourselves on how we're doing for each definition stated. EG and I used the same bible verses during our wedding ceremony 9 months ago. It means a lot to me as LOVE is one of the important elements in a happy marriage. Pastor also shared a short sermon about "Love is Patient" in our wedding ceremony. The learning on Friday just reminded me on what LOVE is again, not only to my own husband, but also to everyone around me.

Love is patient
Love is kind
It does not envy
It does not boast
It is not proud
It is not rude
It is not self-seeking
It is not easily angered
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
always trusts,
always hopes,
always perseveres.
Love never fails

爱 是 恒 久 忍 耐
又 有 恩 慈
爱 是 不 嫉 妒
爱 是 不 自 夸
不 张 狂
不 做 害 羞 的 事
不 求 自 己 的 益 处
不 轻 易 发 怒
不 计 算 人 的 恶
不 喜 欢 不 义 ， 只 喜 欢 真 理
凡 事 包 容
凡 事 相 信
凡 事 盼 望
凡 事 忍 耐 。
爱 是 永 不 止 息 。

Beautiful verse.

Mooncake Festival

My mum is a very much chinese cultured lady. She remembers all the Chinese Festivals - like Mooncake Festival, Dong-Zhi, Dragon-Boat Festival, etc. And every time during the special festivals, there will be special food for dinner - maybe our favorite fried chicken wings, her special stew duck, roasted chicken, red wine chicken soup, etc.

After I left home since 1998, I have never really remember any of the Chinese Festivals anymore. Mum will call up and ask me if I have eaten any tong yuen during dong-zhi, or any dumpling during dragon boat festival. And she'll urge me to buy one just to have the feel of the festival.

I have been very busy recently - though I don't really know what I'm busy with. :P. And I have not been calling my mum often too. Since I'm already married, she expects EG to take care of me more and also, she has another 3 younger ones to worry about since now all of us are out somewhere. Somehow, I missed out the moon cake festival this year. I only found out it's mooncake festival on last Friday when one of my colleagues wished me happy mooncake festival when I was going home.

We wanted to buy some mooncake to celebrate but somehow it didn't happen due to many many reasons. And when we want to buy this week (one week after the mooncake festival), all mooncakes are sold out. :~(. There goes my mooncake festival. There goes my favorite pandan mooncake. :~(.

Anyway, it really makes me home sick. I have not been feeling this for very long (bear in mind I have left home for 10 years!!). But now I really really miss my family much. The thought of going back to Miri for Chinese New Year next year just can't stop bringing a smile to my face - I could even smile in my sleep. Oh, that reminds me of an incident - During Pre-U, I was so excited to go home that I actually laughed "Ha Ha Ha" in my dream in the middle of the night. That gave my roommate a big shock.

How I wish time could fly faster, and I want to go home soooooon..... :~(

Maggi Mee Goreng

Life has been busy, stressful and depressing at times. I tried to make it a habit to off my laptop after work and make sure I don't check / reply emails at home at night. Well, it lasted for two weeks before the habit came back. And that's also one of the reasons why I haven't been blogging for almost 1/2 month.

So, now I am back - blogging about my cooking again... (Guess my life is kinda boring :P)

My mother-in-law cooks very good maggi goreng. Everytime when she cooks maggi goreng for us when we go back home, EG will ask me to learn how to do that so that I can do for him in Penang.

Of course, I have tried to make maggi goreng a few times before this. And sadly, they are not very successful attempts.

• First attempt: Mee overcooked, too soft. :(
• Second attempt: Too dry
• Third attempt: Too dry
• Later few attempts: Too dry, too salty, too.... :(

Anyway, I have been thinking of making maggi goreng for EG this weekend and I have tried to surf the internet for better cooking "secret". Somehow, I got the combination of all the ingredients right and this round it's muchhhhh better.

One for EG, one for me

Simple dish with oyster sauce, onions, garlic, prawns, sawi, eggs, sausages

EG? Happy man today since he enjoyed it, though he said his mum's is still slightly better, but it's good enough. Hopefully I can "produce" the same "product" the next round.

Breakfast with my Best Friend :P

EG was very excited when he discovered a new place for breakfast last weekend while waiting for me doing my facial. So this weekend, he brought me there. It's actually a Malay stall by a small street near Lebuh Pantai, right opposite HSBC, beside Standard Chartered Bank. There aren't many cars passing by the street so it's not as dirty.

This place not as crowded as other places. It's cool as Standard Chartered is TALL, it blocks all the sun rays. There were quite a bit of people having their breakfast there (last week and this week), and you can listen to other people's conversation, if you want to :P. Somehow we felt it's peaceful, and quiet, and nice. But this is also another sign of getting older.....

Anyway, we had 2 teh ais with less sugar, one nasi lemak (my favorite!!), EG's favorite toast bread with half boiled eggs (best breakfast in the world konon :P), and a big plate of Pasembor. The pasembor is served hot as the gravy was cooked on the spot - and it is full of ingredients.

Drinks with nasi lemak, My yummy nasi lemak,
Toast bread & eggs, Pasembor

The street, the stall (see HSBC?),
Ah Pek aka my best friend with the newspaper while breakfast-ing,
Standard Chartered right opposite me.

It can be rather awkward if I keep snapping pictures while others are having their breakfast. They probably take breakfast at the same place every day, or week. Would you laugh at someone who take pics @ Mc Donald in Queensbay or One-U? Hmm... So I have to be quick in taking all these pics in the least obvious way by using my faithful handphone with 2MP camera. While EG was paying, I quickly snapped around the stalls.

The food varities - some kuih, nasi lemak, bihun, hard boiled eggs

This is where they "grill" the toast bread - how often do you see this? It's my first time though ;P

The stall

If you still wonder this place is, I took a picture of the street too. You might need to click on the pic for bigger view. It's at Union Street. And the Pasembor stall is right there.

The pasembor stall @ Lebuh Union

We had a good car park - this is the view of the famous Beach Street in Penang (Lebuh Pantai) for you to find the place

Everytime when we pass through this area, EG and I will be rather excited as this is where we took our outdoor wedding pictures (Yayaya, we still talk about it :P). On the way back home, we drove through the spot where we had one of our poses. We were rather surprised that they have renovated the place and it looked totally different now! So... no couple could take pics at that spot anymore... And now, pictures are the only memories that we have.

The new look

One of our wedding pictures - See the changes.
It's quite amusing that the poster is still there :P

EG said maybe one day we should go back to the same place and pose the same, and post it up for "spot-the-difference" game. Duh.... Anyway, I enjoyed my breakfast (Well, it should be brunch) with my only best friend in Penang - my hubby la... :P

Home Cooked Food

For health reason, I have been cooking dinner almost everyday, yes, including weekdays, unless we have some appointment then we'll eat out. Everytime when I shared with my friends that I cook dinner every night after work, 99% of them will give me a very shocking face asking questions like "do you have time?", "what do you cook?", "cook for only 2 persons?", "YOU CAN COOK?!". -_-. The only one that doesn't get surprised will be my mum - who has been wanting me to do this since years ago.

I reach home daily latest by 7pm, sometimes 6.30pm. Then I'll start to take out all food from the fridge, which has been brought down from the freezer to defrost since morning. All I do is just cut all ingredients, and then cook them. There will always be a dish of vegetables, plus another main dish. Normally dinner will be ready around 7.30pm to 8pm, with all frying pans & cooking utensils washed up and kept nicely. After dinner, EG will help to clean the dishes as I wipe up the stove. By 9pm, we're done and we'll be watching tv or surfing internet.

So, I am going to share some of the dishes that I cooked for the past few days. Then maybe you'll know - why I can do it every day.

Different types of vegetables

Some dishes besides the greens
Curry fish (I know the pics looks bad :P), Plum Sauce pork ribs,
Steamed Jap Toufu, Sardine with extra ingredients

Some other varieties
Mashed potatoes, Spaghetti (EG's favorite), ABC soup & Tom Yam beehoon

We just had our mashed potatoes and spaghetti during the weekend. The mashed potatoes is so good that EG stocked up another 10 potatoes today. And it's so easy to prepare - just boil it, mashed them, mix with margerine, salt, parsley and pepper. So goooooood!

Except for the soup which needs to be boiled for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour, other dishes can be easily done within 15 to 20 minutes - approx 15 minutes to cut-up all ingredients, and 5 minutes to cook. Steamed food is the easiest and has the least hassles. Besides, it's easy to find all the ready made curry paste / tomyam paste / soup ingredients in the supermarket. This makes cooking even easier. However, I normally will go for those with no preservative (Mak Nyoya brand from Sunshine Supermarket is good :P).

I thank God that EG doesn't ask for "complicated" food. All he wants are just simple home cooked food that can fill his stomach, and thank God that he can eat almost everything that I cook. Looking the food that I prepare, it shows how simple it is - provided that your partner doesn't complain much. :P.

Relaxing Saturday

We went back to Taiping last weekend. It was one of the best weekends I have had. Why? Because, EG's gaming kaki aka his brother has left to KL for college. So, I had >80% of his attention. :P

EG said he wanted to bring me to a new place in Taiping for lunch. There we went to Taiping market. It's not hot or stuffy like most of the places, but rather it has high ceiling, and it's airy. All the stalls have their own hoods to make sure the place is not smoky. Have you ever had the experience whereby others could tell where you went by smelling you? :P

The market

We order two drinks - home cooked healthy Longan & Winter melon.

Refreshing drinks @ RM1 each

I had the urge for improper food on that day, but EG was very hungry. So he ordered the famous Teochew fried kuey teow - according to him, that's the best in Taiping.

Teochew Fried Kuey Teow @ RM3

I saw a stall selling the Apam Balik that I have not been eating for almost 10 years! I remembered my parents used to buy two whole pieces whenever we went visiting my grandmother on every Saturday. That was when I was like... 12 yrs old or 15 years old?! Gosh, it's almost 15 years back!! EG said it's not called Apam Balik, not sure of the exact real name but I heard others calling it Bang Chang Kuih in Hokkien. It tasted good, but will be better if they have more peanuts. :D

Apam Balik or Bang Chang Kuih @ RM0.50 per piece.

Next, we order fried oyster and some fruits rojak. Again, EG said the fried oyster is one of the best in Taiping. For the rojak, it's good too except that it's a little weird as they put sotong in the rojak.

Fried Oyster for RM5

Fruits Rojak with Sotong @ RM3

So after all these, we are 80% full. While leaving the place, EG dropped by his grandma's neighbour's stall to buy some black soya drink - I don't normally see black soya drink around. Do you?

After that, we went to the next most happening place in Taiping - Tesco (:P) to have some "window shopping" to spend the afternoon. We were still having some craving and we bought back 12 pieces of nuggets. Yummy! And I bought one magazine from the book store.

Nuggets from KFC

We headed home after that. EG searched through Daddy's DVD and found National Treasure II by Nicholas Cage. So we watched the show, while enjoying the yummy nuggets and refreshing black soya juice. And I was also flipping through my magazines since I am blessed with multitasking skills (:P).

My new magazine

Ahh... What a beautiful, slow and relaxing Saturday afternoon... ;)

New Sleep Mate :D

Hello, don't you think I look innocent? :D

After I came back from PH, I saw my doggie was replaced with a fatter, shorter and newer one. :D. It's very sweet of EG to get me a new doggie and he said it's for our 6th month anniversary present. Time flies, we have been married for 6 months - even though I feel like it has been 6 years already. :P

I am a lazy dog....

And I have a ribbon around my neck too....

I know this looks obscene but my owner said it's very cute
Because she said I am very fat...

And I have a small, short, little tail too...

Since I have a new doggie now so what should I do with my old one? My old doggie has been with me for the past 5 years. He even went to Vietnam for 11 months to be with me. And he has been there all the while - when I am happy, sad, watching series, crying, sleeping, anything. :P. But he has grown very thin after a few rounds of bathing....

Anyway, I am not going to throw it away. He'll be my TV mate... :D

PS: I am only a soft toy doggie lover, not really a real doggie lover... :P