Meals of the week!

This is a wonderful dish of Chic with Thyme. This is an experimental dish whereby I use up my lemons and add some thyme into this chic to create this delicious meal! Well we ate it with some salad and lemonade!
Well this one here is grill lambchops with some cranberry sauce and viola it taste good too. I came up with this dish here as I kinda miss those lambchops day of mine when in college! So here is one of the favourite lambchops of mine!
Fish of the day! Too much red meat so a bit of white meat to balance up the diet! Some linguine to go with the fish, not too bad! Yum!
So these are some of the meals that I cooked for the previous week. Hope that this will inspire some to cook well at home. All these home cook cost less than eat out, don't ya think so?

The confuse identity!

Was having a discussion earlier on about the local dialect as in "Penang Hokkien" among the local chinese in Penang. The confusion came about when me and my hubby was having lunch at a local restaurant. Local means own by a local chinese 'Tng Lang'. What is so confuse is, a chinese restaurant serving chinese food in Malaysia must speak Chinese meh? How come they don't speak Malay / English? Yeah definately we all look like chinese but hey chinese is not the first language here though! Duh!
There are still many chinese in Malaysia who don't speak Mandarin! BUT they speak the local tongue, as in Hokkien!
What I want to mention here is, come on lah..... we are Malaysians, not Taiwanese or Hongkies or even China chinese! SO what is their problem of speaking Mandarin to Malaysians?
If a person speaks in Hokkien, does that make you a lower level person, compare to someone speak in Mandarin! What's wrong with the local restaurant here? DUH! Yeah I actually strongly support all chinese students speak Mandarin, so do not get me wrong, it's just that the idea of not speaking Hokkien piss me off! Don't they know that what so unique about Penang chinese people are the 'Penang Hokkien Version'! Don't you know that actually all Hokkien speaking species actually admire our "Penang Hokkien version"?
How many of our young kids these days speak hokkien? Only the so-called lower class people? Please take a moment to listen to the Taiwanese Hokkien version, the China Hokkien version, the Singaporean Hokkien version, the Southern Malaysian Hokkien version then you know our "Penang Hokkien" actually (chut mia ie!) :)

Devotion - Part II

Devotion is a strong word. A word for commitment and requires constant concentration on a particular subject. Time consuming in fact, and fill with a strong desire for something.
Talking about love and marriage here reminds me of the idea of choices and decisions. A devotion of love for someone must not exceed the freedom of that person. Say the devotion of love for a child... it must not exceed their freedom to think, talk and act. If it surpasses all these factor, love becomes hatred! That is the law of all relationships. One can devote their entire life on a subject but that does not mean the subject will in return do the same towards you.
A choice is being made here, and you choose to devote your time and life in it, nobody ask you to. There is always a choice, a devotion becomes a decision over something, it can be changed and it can be stopped; it all depends on the idea of worth. Is the person worth your time and effort? Choose wisely to devote your time and effort towards a person, some people are just not worth doing so, they do not appreciate your devotion as well. It may become a burden towards them? Maybe not? Maybe just plain ignorance? Those are called selfishness instead, so why waste time? Life is too short to waste it on one person, don't ya think so?

Brassiere - Chapter 1

Was having a discussion seesion with my fellow students about brassiere and body, and came to know that a lot of people out there, especially ladies still have no idea what a brassiere actually is and how to wear them and also how it protects our body.
Seems like this topic has become a hot topic and suddenly we were discussing about going on a field trip to visit the brassiere shop. I guess I know how most of you girls feel about buying brassiere and lingerie as I been through teenage and the process of becoming a woman then getting married!
Buying a bra is the most embarrasing moment to some, even mothers as well. The education in buying a suitable bra for oneself was being introduced from mother to child, never ever there is a course of a book to refer to. That is why there are still people out there has no idea whatsoever about buying brassieries. So in the end, many young and old ladies out there still has no idea of wearing a perfect bra!
In my opinion, education in this area is quite important, so why aren't there any formal education on this in high school? Instead, I heard alot of them in high school aparently bind up themselves to keep their boops from forming! That is really something our high school need to look into.

Time to spring clean!

Megasale is on! Time to spring clean my wardrobe! I tend to spring clean my wardrobe once in a while when I buy new clothing. I would donate part of my wardrobe leaving behind the classic stuff and donate the rest to charity house,etc. I do this so that my wardrobe will not be enlarging each time I buy new stuff. I make a point to really sort out and give away the clothes that I don't wear anymore. Of course this practise always makes me feel that I am living in a minimalism lifestyle. Keep all things simple and confine is the motto of minimalism. Hope that my shoes and bags are not piling up too high. Hehhee!

Partly this movement is motivated by the size of my wardrobe but in a way I also feel that I do not waste the spaces around me. I make full use of all the spaces in my petite apartment. :) Well, I come to love confine spaces as I do not really enjoy cleaning up big houses and I have no interest in pest control department! Confine places are OK with me but not crowded places as I do easily faint! So, again I welcome the sale and bye bye to my old clothes!

Winter Melon

Always wonder how the winter melon will taste like, and my hubby was tellin me how much he love soup.... er hem.. so I decided to try this winter melon soup out of the blue. First time ever cook this soup and well doesn't taste bad at all, and kinda easy to cook! Throw everything in and whola...it's done!

My version is no chic skin... and uses only the "Kampung" chic......... which is more expensive! That's why I'll only make this once in a while! 3 main ingrdients; the chic, winter melon diced, and red dates! That's all folks! Throw everything in and add water and salt to taste!

Well you can also find this recipe in here...... just a click away! :)

http://www.grouprecipes.com/9191/winter-melon-soup.html

Ahhh... at last I made it!

At last, I kept my promised! I have been promising myself to bake a chocolate fruitcake one day......... which is one of my favourite cake during December! You must have guess, the stores only sells fruitcakes in December and I couldn't find any delicious fruitcake otherwise! This is the first time I made this chocolate fruitcake and surprisingly very successful! Yummy! Thanks to Debra, I tried her recipe and WOW, I can't believe I made it! Honestly, I thought I may have screw it and then have to patiently wait for a week before I can taste it, amazing! My hubby was eyeing on it everyday! Hehehhe....

So if you guys/gals out there wanna try it click on to this web page, and give it a try! Trust me you'll fall in love with it!
http://www.grouprecipes.com/2370/chocolate-fruitcake.html

Act 5 -Yey yey Dumpling Day!

Bedak kid came to gimme a quick visit.... as I was quite sick. He actually came to drop me some dumplings made by his grandmama. Yummy yumm.... I love dumplings aka (Bak Chang). Heheh these are old traditional chinese dumplings made from glutinous rice, some fatty meat and yolks. Delicious!

Well, bedak told me those were classic dumplings, his grandmama made ones are different! So how different? He said it was (Pua Kiam Ti Chang) as traslate into Half saltly and half sweet dumplings. As he were explaining it to me that these days nobody really make these dumplings as it were originated from Nyonya (Peranakan) Culture.
The other type of dumplings that he brought for me is my favourite dumplings; the (Ki Chang) as they were the sweeter version of the dumplings which serve with (Gula Melaka) a sweet brown sauce made from burnt coconut. This kind of dumpling is yellow in colour and also smaller in size. It supposed to serve as dessert. So I say thanks to Bedak kid and send regards to his grandmama who still manange to make these delicious dumplings! Hopefully one of these days I get to learn how to make them! :P

Well, traditionally dumplings are made only once in a year on the 5th day of the fifth month of the chinese lunar calendar, which is during the dragon boat festival in the chinese culture. But these days you get to eat it whenever you want, so what kinda culture do you call that? Money culture! haha!

Act 4-Get Messy!

This messing me idea was re-introduced to me once again when I was out the other day with Bedak kid at the beach. Bedak kid was holding a pail of sand and was playing with it near the beach! We kinda building a castle out of the pail of sand but in the end we were actually throwing sand at each other. What a mess!

I remember when I was young, I used to play hide and seek and run around the gardens and get all messed-up. Playing with horrible mud was a fun thing then. Nowadays when I have muddy stuff or even sand that goes into my shoes....... I get annoyed!

Apparently, my clean and perfect without a bug world will come collapsed once I have muddy shoes in my front porch or even ants that climb all around my balcony will come to haunt me at all times!

When I was with bedak kid the other day, he sort of make me come out of my clean world and have fun playing with all things messy. Mess is disgusting word for a clean, perfect and proper person. They'll say, what a mess you are and become disgusted with the idea of you making a mess out of yourself. While for me, I came to like the idea of mess as in having fun, be creative and enjoy.

When we were kids we use to play games full of messy stuff, like water bombs, throwing flour and eggs, playing with water, playing with mud, run under the rain, get all wet and get slimy. Hah, that's what I think I miss these days!

Healthy cooking habits

I came to read about different cooking styles that are available and found out that by choosing the correct way, you get to eat healthier too. Good cooking styles help to avoid excess fat and retain vitamins in foods.

Good cooking habits:
Grilling - adding flavour to foods and no fat such as vege, fish and chic.
Baking - no fat and lots of trapped nutritional juices.
Stewing - slow cooking which captures the gravy and juices.
Steaming - a better way to retain vitamins and minerals in vege.
Poach - small amount of liquid used can be made into a super-nutritious sauce.
Stir-fry – uses little oil and cook quickly to retain goodness. Yummy!

Bad cooking habits:
Frying – fat, fat and FAT!
Roasting – same, same ditto…
Boiling – bye bye to nutrients in the cooking water!

So, now you get to know how to cook healthier!

The Devotion - part 1

According to traditional customs and laws, the meaning of a total devotion for a wife to her husband is to obey. No suggestions, no arguments, no voicing of opinions and no freedom. That's absolutely outrages to our world today!

We call that men's ego! We label them as old fashion, absurd and ridiculous! Yes, it's true........ they are trying to keep us girls in a cage, like a bird, doing what they want and suppose to treat them like a king!

Now wait a minute..... I'm am not a feminist, condemning all husbands out there! Yes, men are men and always will be, you can't change them! I am here to also reminding all wives that men needed their controlled over things. It is their nature to control / overpower all things that they care for. I know not all couples of husbands and wives are the same, yet one cannot deny the nature of all men.

To control is an ego thing, but must be reasonable and stated clear. If women take control over men at all times, what will they be like if they are not with their wives? Women on the other hand likes to over power men to show their motherhood!?! Subconsciously we are doing that very often and not knowing it.

To give total freedom is also not advised as well as we have to protect our own nest... so to speak. If you so liked the idea of freedom then you are not even ready to get married in the first place! You must foresee that either one of you'll be bound to stay and devote on the idea of having a family, be there always for your partner, be responsible of your actions, be a friend and support your partner, etc...... before you move on to the next step in life............. marriage!

For a women taking control over their own life is very important. You must first understand what you want for your family to work and not let it be and hope that things will work out. I am not the perfect wife here trying to advised people out there...... I kinda have some thoughts of people who does not care for what they already have, and then complain of the outcome later.

Marriage is not a solution for capturing a person's heart, marriage is a total devotion of life and responsibilities for both parties!

Act 3-Megatrons..........

Saw Bedak kid with his mum today in the supermarket. He was holding a toy in his hand. Guess what he's holding? A megatron in his hand. He hadn't noticed that I was there as he was playing with his toy. I wonder does all kids do that. Anyways, he saw me later and introduce his autobot to me and then I realise that his mum is actually buying him another decepticon so that he can play with it. He told me that there will always be good guys fighting bad guys. Hmmm... I wonder is that true these days.......?!?

When I was a kid I use to watch cartoons like Thundercats, Tranformers, He-man, Smurfs, She-la, Flinstones, Some disney stuff like mickey, minnie, goofy, donald duck and daisy duck with my brother. Other cartoons like Road-runner, Bugs bunny are those looney tunes cartoons that we both enjoyed too.

The thing is these cartoons are making a come-back with a newer version. They are being brought into the world of cinema. When I was a kid, I'll never dream of this would be true! Almost two decade later it has turn from children entertainment to adult entertainment! Maybe the targeted market are people like me.......... who are trying to recall thier memories of childhood life.

Wanna see the real transformer? Watch this mini video.

http://www.youmaker.com/video/sv?id=20d2afae297941ad8e50bfe09ef60645001

Perculiar subjects..........

The idea of intiating a match-make marraige from our parents are very often percieve as old tradition and out-of-date in our modern world. Well perculiar enough this happens a lot every where else.
I came to read an article about parents match-make a date and proposal of marraige through their parents by intiating it in a park. In china, one of their parents will hold a picture of thier child (son/daugther) and their resume/profile walking around the park hoping to find a partner for their child. Perculiar right? No wonder thier parks are full of people!
Thier son/daughter may not know that of their parents doings....... and would accept to meet at a restaurant and end up meeting thier so-called future partner in a blur mode situation! How fascinating!

Slapping me Stew....

Was running around the supermarket looking for my baking ingredients, and kinda browse through the local groceries area and saw some slabs of beef lying around. On a second thought maybe I'll done up a beef stew for the weekend. Well, it's a last minute decision so I forgot to buy lotsa ingredients for the stew. Finally I end up chopping mushrooms and bacon together with the beef to create this stew, hey slap me, it end up well and me and hubby finished it before the weekend ends! Will try this recipe again... if you would like to try, the ingredients are onions, capsicum, button mushrooms, bacon, beef and white wine.

Act 2-The Faithful Cobbler

Saw Bedak kid today, he still fancy on covering his face with bedak and wearing his kikilala...... and this time he was wearing a pair of new Asadi-croc shoes. Well I met him at this shoe cobbler corner. This faithful cobbler was mending his shoes and his mum's and dad's shoes as well.

It fascinated him so he sat by there watching the cobbler working on all his customer's shoes. He told me his mum just bought him a new pair of shoes since he likes to run about in town. He will be wearing his old Bata slippers at home. His mum bought him a pair of Asadi-crocs shoes as they were kinda cheap and good...? Well originals ones are quite expensive though.

I kinda wonder why he was interested in the cobbler... well I found out that this cobbler was friendly and his services were reasonbly cheap and good. Few people mend their shoes these days as shoes were cheap and fashionable. One can change their tastes in shoes in a matter of days!?!

I don't blame them as a good pair of shoes that you'll wear up till years are hard to find and expensive. So who'll mend their shoes? I can't stop wondering that how long will this old faithful cobbler here survive in this trade.

Lemonny taste...

Was doing marketing and bought a lot of lemons, so I went on to create this dish which include chuck, prawns, risotto and cabbage.

Well the whole dish is fill with sweet and sourish taste. I serve it for lunch and it couldn't taste better. I recommend that you should try it because it is so easy to prepare and cook! To find out more about the recipe, look for "Sizzling Lemon Prawns" in this website.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/7759/sizzling-lemon-prawns.html

Cuddling party.......

I once heard of the "Cuddling Party" in one of the articles in the papers. They mention that it is a kind of theraphy that people just cuddle each other and do nothing else. Most of them are strangers but do not get this wrong... it's not what you think it is as in the "S" is not involve. It is for people to experience the physical intimacy through cuddling.

What involve are groups of people actually cuddle each other and one may have a cuddle buddy. In fact there are rules and regulations for a Cuddle party. It is a non-sexual kind of activity. If you ever come across any discomfort youcan quit anytime.

In conjunction with this cuddle party thing, I think it mat be useful for some people who are not having any relationship. I personally feel that a lot of people has a need to feel loved and able to give love as well. So much so that the confidence in a relationship between men and women can be improved. Back to basics, our mother and father use to hug us, but not so much when you are getting older. What happens is our super-ego would probably be longing for a hug but well we do not simply hug a person. As our culture does not teach us to hug that much! So that is why partly this cuddle part is invented!

Well, part of us may want to hug the same sex but we also feel akward to do so especially for mens, so part of this cuddling party is actually for the same sex to approach another person and hug each other or hold each other in the arm and give them a pat at the back. Come to think of it that was what our mother use to do when we were young. Read more...

The Dating Investment....

Came across an article about relationships and came to wonder how true it is as I can see everone is practising it. The title here is pricing.... came across to me as how much a boyfriend-to-be / husband-to-be would invest on his girlfriend-to-be / wife-to-be. Why I used the word to-be because it hasn't happen yet..... that is when how much guys would invest on his girls. When the relationship has gone further than that...... the whole issue of price and money would not be necessary.

Many many think that it is too materialistic to talk about money. Romance is what people are seeking for............ tell me how long does the romance lasts? A lifetime? Only in fairytales...... so is it romantic if you keep on feeding your guy all things romantic with your own pocket money? It is a true fact. How can one ignore it! How much would a guy invest on a girl depends entirely on the girl herself. How much does she thinks she's worth? How long does she thinks she can keep the guy a lifetime? A short period of time? ........................Nothing is forever.

What a girl wants in her life is important. Also the girl must know where she stands or else all things will not go right. From the " The Joy Luck Club (film)" base on best-selling novel written by Amy Tan shows a women's worth and their belief in their worth and pride, without these qualities, guys will take advantages and girls will loose out.

Where to go, what to wear, where to eat and what to do? All these things came into the picture if you are dating or just hanging out together. All these involve money.....so who's paying? Traditionally, guys will pay but hey these days women call for equality, so girls should pay too! Now since when majority of women's pay are higher than mens? If both parties are earning the same amount, still women will be spending more on cosmetics, which mens normally won't....... women will be buying lots more clothes and shoes and have their hair done all just to hang out/ dating with men, so again who has to pay? Women?

Men on the other hand invest all the money for what? One simple answer.........sex! Alright, not all men and women are the same but majority are. Think about it!

Pin-ups!

Pin-ups are described as “a picture of a sexy and attractive girl that is displayed on walls.” Compare it with a nude picture……. which normally displayed in Museums and galleries… funny huh! Well, it’s a fact that people appreciate art and people attracted to girls are different! Both are of the same thing just a different definition. One is more of a high class amusement with taste; the other is kind of casual, street and wild nature call. Tell me about that!

Modern pin-ups are eventually pinned on the Laptop wallpaper…. Virtually, hah! Still the same subject but different ways of identifying it. Tell me what are pin-ups for? Ideally they are our dreams and our fantasies, a cult even that makes us imagine another life with the person on the wall. Some people say it releases stress, some says it inspires, some even circle around the idea of hoping to meet and touch the real person. Wow!

Actually back to basics, pin-ups are not realistic, they are man-made………with photoshop, colour enhance, etc.) this shows our human brains can be cheated and make-believe, that’s how I think. People always love the idea to fantasize. What is reality always sucks!

Pin-ups can be a way of imagining a different character that you will be. The “id” is strong, in Freudian terms, it's call the principle of pleasures. The id is suppose to be primal, and does not take account of the thinking brain, it ignores the brain but still part of it.

So, some call it a therapy, helps to reduce stress. After a tiring day need to seek peace and pleasure within and call it self meditation. Right! Maybe it’s true, it does help, who cares everyone indeed need some space to fantasize and imagine. Bettie Page, Marilyn Monroe, Dita Von Teese, etc. are some of the famous 50s retro style pin-ups girls.

James D

Ain't he cool? The most sexiest and coolest guy first known in America! James Byron Dean, born in Feb,8 1931.... sadly enough died in Sept, 30 1955. He was the all time favourite Bad-boy pop icon actor. He was one of the rare kind that both Men and Women find him sexy. Well, he became a legend due to his career and his tragic accident that cause his death at the tender age of 24. Sad huh........
Come on, this looks like a younger version of Brat Pitt! No wonder Pitt is soo.... popular these days! So, James Dean was popular beacuse he acted in Rebel Without a Cause as a troubled high school rebel filled with teenage angst. He also starred in East of Eden and the surly, racist farmer Jett in Giant. These movies that he acted in indicates that he is capable of playing different roles. He is a handsome fella climbing up in his career and up-coming star; but is fated that he can't enjoy his life much further. He met an car accident while driving in his new "Porsche 550 Spyder"- nickname the "Little Bastard". This is beacuse, this car has not only cause his death but also caused a lot of unfortunate events that occured to whoever came to contact with it. They said that it was cursed! How true is that you can find out yourself. Later report that sometime in 1960, the car mysteriously vanished. Dean has later evidently inspired a lot of creative people, including writers, directors, singers, etc. Dean has appeal mostly to the teenagers in America. Ironically, both men and women find him sexy. He was actually bisexual. His brief career combined with the publicity surrounding his death at a young age has indeed transformed Dean into a cult figure.