Friday, January 31, 2014

An Array Of Food On Chinese New Year

Reunion dinner in my In-Law's house. It is already a custom that my family goes there each year in and year out. Great to get together to catch up with each other's lives at least once a year... LOL... Indeed Chinese New Year brings us together, from the south to the north, we had a great time enjoying the Family Reunion... Food indeed does bring us together... hahahaa....

So what did we have?  Food is almost the same from the day I married into the family...  I love the fusion of Hakka and Cantonese food....
 Food is not as much as those days...
No need to eat leftovers the next day... LOL...
My one and only dish I made... shy to say...
Closer version.... ahemmmm...
I love this dish... Steamed arrowshoots and "Lap Cheong"
Leeks
Steamed chicken is a Must...
For dipping the steamed chicken....
Another closer version... ahemmmmm...
One of the dishes prepared by my cantonese sister-in-law... very "abalone" taste...

Lets say Grace....  for the abundant food.. 
ooppss...something is missing... 
Yes, the soup is missing.... 
Me and Andy looking on.... 

Sorry... My posts are one day backdated... 
Too busy to update as there are too much activities going on... :)
Hope you all have a Great Time too!!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Seafood Pot For CNY Reunion Dinner

Chinese New Year Eve is finally here! Woke up early to prepare dishes... correction... woke up early to go breakfast with my siblings. We went to the food stalls near Perak Stadium and it was like free food for everyone there. Ordering food that never came and queuing up for food like "beggars" as if the food was free.  Conclusion :  Never go for food when it comes to festive season...

Home cooked food is anytime better than queuing up for food and eating in a hurry.... better stay home and have a bowl of cereal with fresh milk... (my girl's breakfast this morning)

As for myself, I always volunteered to cook ONE dish.... hahahaa... My contribution for tonight's Reunion Dinner ...it is all cooked... ready to be served....

My limited 101 Dish
 
Part of the ingredients... 
Sea cucumber, fish maw and one tin of abalone with sauce...
First "tumis" lots of chopped garlic, 
 then add in abalone skins, oysters and mushrooms....
Sauteed for some time... add in the sauce....
Then when everything is well mixed, I transferred them to a pot...
And allow it to stew for an hour...
Before adding in the abalones and sea cucumber...
And.. that is it....
Actually I wanted to do something like this.... 
But I guess this will have to wait for another year.... 
hahahaaa.... 

HAVE A WONDERFUL REUNION DINNER, READERS!!!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Sweating Out Before Chinese New Year

We went up the Youth Park hill again! Yes!  Both of us are vain pots love food and we can eat a lot! 

As we all know, Chinese New Year is a time for celebrating Food Reunion with our families, Food brings the family together, am I right to say that?  So before we input lots, we went for "output" of calories first.  Wanted to sweat and sweat like nobody's business.  I was shocked to see my "spare tyres" protruding out of a sudden... seriously!
So we came here... our starting point...
at the foot of the hill...
I timed ourselves... it was around 30-40 minutes when we saw this scenery....
(Mama here had to huff and puff going up the hill... )
Reanaclaire Junior admiring the scenery with her famous poseee....
Don't ask me how much we sweated... 
I definitely did sweat a lot...
But not sure why the tummy is still so rounded Today.... 
But I feel Good to sweat out... finally!
 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Selling Old And Getting New After Chinese New Year

Since the day we test drove the Suzuki Swift, Andy has been giving some suggestions on which car we should get for my girl.  At present we have two cars and we thought of selling one away and get a newer one.  In fact we have put up an advertisement online to sell off one of our cars because at the moment, both cars are sort of "too big" for my girl.  She needs a much smaller car, something with 1100cc should be fine with her.  She just wants to drive it around her college vicinity and to move around just around the small town.

That was why we went for the test drive the other day but we did not really like the model.  We heard of the New Automotive Policy recently in the papers and now we are awaiting for the new car rates.  Some of the car models we have in mind is Myvi, Atos, Hyundai I10 and the last choice is Viva.  I think the latter should suit my girl fine, the car is small, easy to handle and save petrol consumption since the petrol prices have risen recently.

A few people responded to our online advertisement on the sale of our present car.  One have seen it and has given a good price.  However, I am still undecided whether to sell it off or not, I am kind of sentimental when it comes to cars.  I treat my cars like my "babes"... LOL... Day in and day out, I have been sitting in this car for years and it has kind of gone through many "experiences" with me, if you know what I mean.  LOL.... Well, I guess I have to let it go one day... meanwhile I will look into the car loans and their monthly installments, check whether I could still afford to pay since I am going on retirement "soon."  There won't a new car for the new year, too late for that but I surely will spend more time with my "babe" during Chinese New Year!





Monday, January 27, 2014

Chinese New Year Fries

Last minute preparations.  This morning we took out the uncooked prawn crackers to dry under the sun.  (My mom said if dry the crackers under the sun, they will "bloom" out bigger under the hot cooking oil)  Yes, she is very right!  I didn't do that one year and the crackers did not expand as big as it should be.

Andy is the commander here.  He said that he would do it after dinner when the sun has set... he knows better, I let him take charge when it comes to frying.  I can help with the  cleaning of tins, packing them up and washing here and there.
Commander and his assistant....
Two hands... make sure the crackers are pressed down properly...
Some could be "flattened" 
but some still curled up cos he put in too many at a time...
Our mission done... 
Just in time for CNY... 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Food Glutton

Chinese New Year is just a few days away. For the past one month, I have been busy running up and down like a mother hen! LOL... As a mother to three grown up kids, I have to start preparing my menu, what to cook for them, what to buy, what to bake.. Okay, I am exaggerating here a bit, I do not cook nor bake much, just a few dishes and bake some simple cookies, nothing to shout about much here.  But just by looking at the dishes below, they were prepared by my In-Laws, I really have to pay "tribute" to them.  As a daughter-in-law, I just have to go back and savour all the glorious food!!  How blessed I am, right?
Yes, my In-Laws are really great chefs!
That is why I love to do the "Washing-up!" after the glorious meal!
Loe Sang as the Appetizer and the Starter before the meal.. 

After the reunion meal, the desserts are next!  My sister-in-law loves baking cakes and each year she will prepare a few choices of cakes for us to savour!  Blueberry cheese cakes, carrot cakes, lemon cheesecake... and what else... hmmmmm....
Isn't she amazing!!
Now you know why I always look forward to Chinese New Year! LOL... 

However, after all being said and eaten, I need to be cautious about my own health from now on.  I am now getting younger, my metabolism is getting slower and if I eat too much and too fast, I might get indigestion or discomfort.  Well, prevention is better than cure so I better watch how much I eat this coming celebration.  By the way, I am keeping some Gaviscon in the house, well, you know, just in case... for heartburn and indigestion, it helps to relieve.... I wouldn't want to miss out all the glorious food, right?


Saturday, January 25, 2014

Planetshakers In DUMC

An unexpected event to DUMC to witness The Planetshakers... The night before we went to KL, we were told that the Planet Shakers were having a three nights Awakening in DUMC and I was excited when I heard about it. We started our journey around 5.30pm and only managed to reach DUMC at 7pm! The jam in KL was really terrible... I kept telling myself that I wouldn't want to stay in Klang valley... ever... hahahaa... 

My kids were here for a purpose, Andy had to attend an interview and it is really a good time that Planet Shakers are in town as well.  Tonight is the last Awakening and I am sure it will be as crowded as it was last night...

 Slowly the hall began to fill ... 
The hall can easily fill in thousands... 
  See any familiar faces here... ? :)
While waiting, we did something interesting.. to both of us...
Soon it began to start...
The music is awesome.. the drummer is fantastic
And so were the other musicians too..
Soon it began... Planet Shakers....
It was a really a night of Awakening... 
A memorable night indeed... 

The Planetshakers band is an Australian rock and worship band, a part of Planetshakers's ministry. Their music is a contemporary style of praise and worship tempered with mainstream rock and pop.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Fast Delivery

My nephew has just left for Ireland to further his studies.  It is going to be Chinese New Year soon and his mom has packed up a lot of goodies for him to take along so that he can celebrate with his college mates.  There were so much stuff to take along that his bags were sort of overweight.  To overcome this problem, I suggested they use courier service, a reliable one so that the extra packages can be reached within a short time.
There are many courier services where we can search online but one of the best that my friend recommended is Parcel2Go.  Just mention their name, it sounds like they are all ready to go and deliver your parcels, right?  Well, from what I heard, Parcel2Go is a global courier company which offers cheap and affordable shipping services across UK and internationally.  They offer services to 240 countries worldwide and the best thing is they work together with large courier companies such as FedEx and Parcelforce.  With these reliable names in mind, one can rest assured with the parcels we send.  Tracking service is available as well even wit their large volume of orders they handle daily.  

I certainly will use try out this courier service recommended by my friend.  With their reliability, trusted and efficiency services, one can count on the safe delivery of goods from one end of the country to another.  I just log in to their website a moment ago, very user friendly and will try this courier service very soon!





Thursday, January 23, 2014

Bread Expresso And Jack Fah

Bread Espresso... my second time to this place for the past two days. I don't really fancy bread all the time but they have nice desserts there as well.
 I ordered two Blueberries cupcakes... or is it muffins? 
 I forgot which is which...but they are indeed up to my taste..
RM3 for each...
 I have to admit that their bread is one of a kind..
So soft and nice...RM4
I would like to indulge in that again...
A cozy place where I would recommend for a tete-a-tete...
Today I had a Durian Pie.... RM10
We ordered a Ham & Cheese Sandwich... RM6
That was our light lunch for today...

This evening Andy wanted something different and we went to Jack Fah for our simple dinner..
Jack Fah's Shop... 
Plain noodles...
Glutinous Rice... my favourite... 
Freshly steamed Kueh Talam.... just look at the "Santan!"
Yam Pudding...
I guess these need no introduction...
My son ordered his second bowl of "Black Glutinous" dessert...
The way he likes it... not too thick...
Phew... now we are really FULL... 

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