Happy Birthday, D....

Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Eric Lim Chun Guan of K4K Foundation...

31st March

the day your footprint is planted on this earth

your voice echoes through the sky

and as years sped off at the speed of lightning

so many years have gone by

there's not a year that's the same

there's something in store that springs surprises

I pray that this year

will be yet another memorable year for you

a year that marks changes

a year that will bring you to the truth in life

a year that gives you a new beginning

as your work grows

may your spirit grows in the right path

Happy Birthday, Eric...

I AM CUTE~! I AM COOL~!

Muahahahahhahahaa... There's nothing as laughing at your own photo when you were small. That was taken when we were 9 years old. All 3 of us live in the same place, went to the same primary and secondary schools. I looked so round when I was small. Chubby... cute cute.... muahahhahahaha... eh... I wonder if I have a daughter, will she look like me? A school prefect at age 9. I wonder whether I knew the meaning of holding responsibilities at such age? I just remembered that the only thing I wanted so much was getting to the top 3 or top 5 to get a prize at the end of the year. Kiasu-ism at the age of 5 years, since kindergarten years. HHmmm... I don't seem to be able to smile into camera when I was small. Why look so fierce? Haih... still fierce now... *smile* I'm cool~!

Healthy La....

I may not be a vege lover, but I do eat my fruits. Provided my mama prepare lor... if you ask me to slice and cut and dig and squeeze... haih... I cannot lor... lazy ma... Look at that banana... can replace a cordless phone. Local banana? I think so... not sure.. but it's sweet. I do like pears and apples as well. Lychee... durians... *mmMMmMMM* ORANGE~! I have like oranges since I was a kid. That's orange juice squeeze with hands. This is fresh orange, no additional sugar or ice. The taste is totally different from what restaurants claimed to have fresh orange. I love my mama....

Rain...

It has been pouring. It started two Saturdays ago when the sky was covered with thick and black clouds. It was hideously black and heavy. The clouds even covered half of Komtar building. Nothing was mentioned by the Meteorological Department. We had evening showers. Bright and fresh mornings. Then, last Saturday it rained the whole day. How I wish I can sleep through the rain and snuggle comfortably without having to wake up. I'm working now on the computer. I have finished my work, blogged in between work. It's time to get busy in the kitchen. I do like the cooling rainy days but thinking of fetching my kids home from school, the traffic will be very heavy, inching slowly towards the main entrance... *ugh* the nasty of crawl of the traffic will drive me insane. Why must people drive extremely slow even if it rains for a trickle or two?

Lazy Sunday...

My Sunday morning started off with a surprise. Mama went to queue up in McD around 6 something in the morning just to grab the free McD big breakfast. You only need to purchase something that cost RM5 and you're entitled to get two free big breakfast. I turned that breakfast into lunch as I had to work and can't find time to squeeze in for breakfast. Thus, my brunch was a hearty breakfast by McDonald's. Scrambled eggs, a piece of chicken burger, an empty bun which I spread with the grape jam and a hashbrown. The big breakfast didn't manage to even fill one-tenth of my stomach. My hubby cooked for me instant noodles but I ended up taking an afternoon nap. A refreshing and lazy one indeed. Grocery shopping was shifted to late at night, an hour before Tesco closed. Serve me right, the racks for breads were completely empty. I didn't know that Penangnites love breads. The poultry section left me in total dismay as there's not even a piece of chicken backside, not that I'm looking for one. There's not even a feather left. Nobody's cleaning the fish anymore so I will have to clean the fish myself. I wonder when will Tesco start sending raw food right at my door step like in London?

Bak Kut Teh... My Love... *slurp*

Once in awhile, I will crave for 'bak kut teh'. According to Wikipedia: Bak kut teh (Chinese: 肉骨茶; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bah-kut-tê) is a Chinese soup popularly served in Malaysia, Singapore, Mainland China,Taiwan and the Indonesian island of Riau (where there is a predominant Hoklo and Teochew community) and also, cities of neighbouring countries like Batam of Indonesia and Hat Yai of Thailand. The name literally translates as "meat bone tea", and, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic) for hours.[1] However, additional ingredients may include offal, varieties of mushroom, choy sum, and pieces of driedtofu or fried tofu puffs. Additional Chinese herbs may include yu zhu (rhizome of Solomon's Seal) and ju zhi (buckthorn fruit), which give the soup a sweeter, slightly stronger flavor. Light and dark soy sauce are also added to the soup during cooking, with varying amounts depending on the variant. Garnishings include chopped coriander or green onions and a sprinkling of fried shallots.

Bak kut teh is usually eaten with rice or noodles (sometimes as a noodle soup), and often served with youtiao / cha kueh [yau char kwai] (strips of fried dough) for dipping into the soup. Soy sauce (usually light soy sauce, but dark soy sauce is also offered sometimes) is preferred as a condiment, with which chopped chilli padi and minced garlic is taken together. Chinese tea of various kinds (theTieguanyin variety is especially popular in the Klang Valley area of Malaysia) is also usually served in the belief that it dilutes or dissolves the copious amount of fat consumed in this pork-laden dish. Bak kut teh is typically a famous morning meal. The Hokkien andTeochew are traditionally tea-drinking cultures and this aspect runs deep in their cuisines.

Out of so many 'bak kut teh' stalls usually found in the lanes of Penang, there is only one stall which can satisfy my cravings. The auntie knows how much meatballs to give me and how much meat that I need to make me 'burp'. The place is easily found in one of the small lanes off Datuk Keramat road. The stall is just at the corner and can be easily spotted while driving along the main road. Yeah... it's at Trem Road. The place is closed on Tuesdays. On other days, sometimes there aren't many customers but sometimes you can't even get a place to sit. You'll probably have to wait for awhile before a table has been cleared off. There are many parts of a pig with different names. I don't know most of the parts so I'll just show some pictures...

This is 'yau char kwai'.... the strips of fried dough... ...you can choose to chew on the crispy dough just like that but I prefer soaking the 'yau char kwai' into the 'bak kut teh' until they become soggy. My usual bowl of 'bak kut teh' with yam rice... it's so delicious... I'm salivating for some now... shouldn't have blog about it... makes me so hungry now... the aroma of the herbs of the soup and the taste mix with my bowl of yam rice. Oh... oh... *dreamy eyes* my favourite of all... MEATBALLS~! I can just order the whole bowl with meatballs floating in the soup. Do you know how to rate whether the food is delicious or not? Look at the empty bowls and plates...

DELICIOUS~!

Yes, I Can Do It~!

Before I start writing what I really want to write, there's something from my Donkey, "It is a blessing that i can feel the pain because i am still alive." Donk, I suggest that you grab hold of this book... it will change your perspective in life. You will feel God's pain looking at you... *Looks like Peng Chin Mau is glorifying the ground that you walk on. Shame on you Eric for taking God's place*Now.. now... I'm motivating myself. Self-motivation. I have read so many books. Probably read 3 to 4 books in a week. And I don't find any difficulties reading a book with more than 800 pages in a week. My biggest issue right now is that I... yes, I... have never once read the Bible from cover to cover. I tried... many times I tried. I started from the book of Genesis, followed by Exodus. By the time I reach Deuteronomy where God repeatedly remind the Israelites how to live their lives, I punctured. Then after putting it off and taking it up again, I started all over again from the book of Genesis. By now, I've lost count of how many times I've finished reading the book of Genesis. I can say that I know Abraham, Isaac and Jacob rather well. Obviously I know Adam and Eve and all the 50 chapters of Genesis unless my memory fails me a little bit here and there.
I do read my Bible here and there in patches of scriptures. Some in full chapters. I did finish a few books from the Old Testament like Hosea. I tried finishing all 150 chapters of Psalms but again, I fail to do so. I have a few Bibles at home but I prefer to stick to one which has been nicely underlined, highlighted and coloured with more than 10 bookmarks in the New International Version torned hard-covered Bible of mine. I have lots of reading materials with me yet I never seem to be able to follow the daily devotions according to the dates printed. I either read faster than the dates set or I left it untouched. So, I'm going to start now, right now, not waiting until the 1st of April or even Monday. I'm not going to start from Genesis. I'll start from the New Testament, the book of Matthew. I believe that if I can finish reading other books from cover to cover, I should be able to and I ought to read the Bible from cover to cover as well. I can do it this time round~!!

Youth Park...

Since it's raining and I'm stuck at home so I start blogging. Actually I wanted to clear the kitchen area but looking at the things there, I don't think I'm going to survive doing that in just a few hours. I have a phobia of doing housework. My Saturday evenings are spend hiking in Youth Park. Youth Park is a place buzzling with busy bees, children, adults and the oldies. The oldies are fitter than the youngsters. It's like walking through a very congested market area. There are just so many people there. That's the morning sight. I was stunned to see so many people diligently working out their 'qigong' moves. Whoever's leading also brought along a radio turned to the highest volume so that those standing right at the back can hear the instructions clearly as well. Whoever said that Penang people are one unhealthy lot of people ought to be shot dead. They're fit as fiddles and they must have started their lessons early in the morning before I even wake up and they do it every morning without fail unless it rains heavily.Then, there's another group doing 'tai chi'. They're fantastic. I think I'll prefer looking instead of joining them. I won't be able to make it till the end. This group has better and louder music. Hhhmmm.... can I put Hillsong and dance around? I'm sure we'll be able to attract younger people... but then most people will be working or in schools. Those are not the only activities carried out in Youth Park. There are fitness equipments for the public to use and there are also two public pools. The smell of chlorine makes me walk away. There isn't any soul dipping in the pool in the morning on weekdays but on weekends evening, there are just too many people. You won't be able to swim. You can only stay in one spot and move about within a radius of 1 inch. Take a stroll around the park. They have beautiful trees planted all around and you'll appreciate the beauty of it all. If you really have nothing to do, you can hang around like a monkey. Just kidding la... Now, let's start walking. The interesting path starts from here. To tell you the truth, that path looks rather deceiving. There's only one way up and well... the starting path is not as beautiful as the one shown in this pic. The pic that I'm showing you is from another part of Youth Park. It's leading to the swimming pool. It started with a flight of steps. There are shortcuts up but through flight of steps. The usual trail is covered with laterite earth. It's really easy to hike up. There will be a few trails that might confuse you at first but whichever trail you're taking, it will lead you to the same area. Hardly is there anyone who's lost there unless that person really has no sense of direction or whatsoever. Walking at a moderate pace without resting to catch your breath, it will take you 20 minutes to reach level 3. There's level 5 and 6 but that you'll have to use steps that's neverending. The steps are narrow. As we always don't have much time, we can't linger for too long. Usually we'll be rushing home to go to church after that. So, it's kinda rush. You'll never die of thirst hiking in Youth Park. The level 3 community actually prepared kettles of water, tea and coffee for hikers for free. It's for the public. Anyone who thirsts can drink from it. Kindly wash your own cups. Sometimes if you come at the right timing, one of the aunties will be busy frying vermicelli. It will be a big hit among hungry hikers. All hikers are hungry and thirsty. Just grab a small plate and start scooping those delicious vermicelli into the plate. The chopsticks are on the table as well. If there's no one cooking then a big tin of finger biscuits will be put out. The stock will be replenished before it's even finish. How efficient the people in level 3 are. The hikers' growling stomachs are taken care of. Now... now... you can't eat for free rite even if there's no price tag on the food? There's a donation box for all the food that went into the stomach. Feel free to donate... Along the way up, we do meet with nasty monkeys. But by the time you reach level 3, the monkeys won't be in sight. Too many people scare them off I think. There are a few things that you can do up there instead of eating and pounding back the calories that you've painstakingly burn. There are 3 levelled rocks... totally flat-surfaced rocks and we chose the highest one and sat on the solid rock. From the top we can Penang's concrete jungle down below. You can even hear the cars honking away. So far yet so near. Which is which? On the rock itself, that's where we have our private photography sessions. We did a lot of silly stuff together and it's surely relaxing after crawling all the way up here. By the time we're heading down, our sweat have been evaporated and it is rather cooling to speed downhill. Hey... do you know that the top of the hill is a really romantic place to go to? First of all, you don't have to spend a bomb just to have such spectacular view. Secondly, the place is really quiet and peaceful no doubt there are many people moving up and down the hill. Thirdly, you have natural air-conditioner plus plenty of sunlight that's blocked by the white and fluffy clouds. Last but not least, if you're creative enough, you can do sand art...yes.. sand art... We use sticks to scribble our names on the ground and decorate them with fallen leaves. Isn't that creative enough?

Rambunctious Chatter...

I have a lot of things playing on my mind right now and I seem to forget that I have a blog where I am free to write about anything and everything under the sun as long as I do not touch on politics. I do not need any flare in writing as this is not a book to be sold neither do I have to worry about any grammatical error as I'm not an expert in English.

It's a minute to 12 a.m. and by the time I finish writing this piece, it will be way past 12 midnight. It will be Saturday, the 26th of March 2011. I like peace and quietness as my fingers pounded rhythmically against the keyboard. I have an accompanying background sound now as my hubby is snoring while I'm preparing notes for tomorrow's lesson. I'm still a last-minute person. I get the oomph to do things at the last minute. My hubby is the same in this part. We're the last minute people, so sometimes I frustrated with him but he's never frustrated with me. That's the joy of having a husband who loves you more than loving himself.

I have wanted to put the house in proper order. I would love to give a major transformation to the two connecting rooms in the house and turned it into a comfortable family room. I like Japanese style... on the floor... no sofa sets but with lots and lots of pillows on the floor. But when I open the door and look at both rooms, I know it will take me years to transform those two rooms. I believe that to keep a house sparkling clean and spotless, you need talent. I have no talent in doing that. I can't even put the things back on the same place from where I take them.

My things are strewn everywhere and if you ever hear people complaining that their husbands leave the dirty clothes on the floor.... I'll just laugh that off... as I'm the one leaving dirty clothes all over the floor and my hubby does the laundry and he will be picking them up for washing. Folding clothes?? Oh, please... I don't see why clothes must be folded and stacked neatly in the cupboards. If I ever fold my clothes, then I'll always be wearing the first two clothes on the stack and the clothes at the bottom will never be touched. My clothes are hung according to the colours.... thanks to my hubby again.

I'm just a one-week-old wife. I feel pampered. I have half-boiled eggs ready in the kitchen when I wake up. I have my Milo in the refrigerator. I have my clothes picked for the day and left on the bed. And I'm left alone to do my own things, to work, to work out in the gym, to hang around with my best friends, to cook, to fetch my kids home from school... then my hubby will be back from work. The daily routine is the same, no changes at all. I'm still working until 10 p.m. at night. I have time for everyone.

What I hate most is looking at the bills. The bills are never ending. Phone bill, electricity bill, credit card bill, water bill, less Astro bill because I chopped it off as I'm not a television addict. Talking about television, I finally start to watch my Singapore teledrama again. This time I'm watching "Just in Singapore". Not bad just that I'm irritated with the advertisements in between. There are more than 20 advertisements every 15 minutes into the show. So in the end the show is more like a half-an-hour sitcom instead of a solid 1 hour show. My Samsung video recorder used to be able to record television programmes until I just realized this afternoon that it can't be used to record the show anymore as I have changed my Samsung television away. *Dang*

I've lots and lots of things to write about but the daily routine seems to suck away my time. I can't even find time to read so now I go to the gym with my books. I will cycle for an hour and read at the same time. Killing two birds with one stone since I'm quite bored working out without doing anything with my brain. I feel so inactive and I just must have something to read. So looks like I have to use my time wisely to squeeze in everything. There must be time for everything.

*Yawn* My eyes are starting to droop but the rain has stopped. Why must the rain stop when I like sleeping while it's raining because it's more cooling and superbly comfortable. It has been raining every day especially in the evening until the next morning since last Saturday. Morning will be sunny and bright. I better go off and have my beauty sleep as I'll be working tomorrow. I'm working everyday so no difference.

I miss my Donkey. I can't wait to slam Donkey with my writing. Donkey helps sharpen my writing skill. Love you Donk Donk... great photos with the kids... but sad to tell you that you look so fake... so insincere... it's just to put up a show that you're a caring and loving man when in fact you're not at all.. I snap photos more than you do so I know how fake looks like. You can fool the world into believing what you want them to believe but you can't fool me. Good psychology trick... too bad I can see through you... you're just a businessman seeking for glory... you're not a great man just a speck of dust... insignificant...