Winter Solstice Festival / "Dong Zhi"

I made some dumplings for the Winter Solstice Festival which falls on Sunday, 21/12/2008. It was not that colourful as I only made 3 colours, yellow, green and white. But all the colours are natural colour. I didn't use any artificial food colouring.

The yellow colour dumplings were made from yellow sweet potatoes and the green colour were made from the screwpine leaves while the white colour was the original colour of the glutinous rice flour. If not because of the babies, I would have more time to experiment with more colours.

The Arrival of The New Member of The Family

Although it is a bit late, I still wish to introduce the new member of our family to everyone out there. Better late than never. She open her eyes to see this world for the first time on 29 August 2008 at 11.04pm. This baby's name is Celine Yew Ern Xin.

Her birth weight is 2.95kg. But now at 2 months old, she is 5.2kg. During the early days, she seldom smile. But now you can see her smilling very often. Almost everyime when you look at her, you can see the smile on her face.

She was very difficult to take care when I first took over from the confinement nanny. During the firts few days when I take care of her, she did not sleep at night. She was awake for the whole night. Unlike other babies who wake up for their feed at night and will continue with their slumber after that, she practically stay awake every minutes. She will take her feed and then cried till the next feeding time approached. This scenario is repeated till morning. That is the time when she will falls asleep. As for me, I was very deprived of my sleep and unlike her, I can't sleep during the day because I still have all the chores to do and don't forget, I still have to take care of Cheryl.

After a few days, I tried to change her sleeping pattern and for almost one month, her sleeping time was "normal" (She sleep till morning without waking up for her night feeds). I was very happy because I finally can catch up on my sleep. But now She has changed her sleeping pattern again. She wakes up for her night feeds!!! But this time, it is not as bad as during the early days. She did not stay awake for the whole night.

Naughty Little Cheryl

Just now, I saw Cheryl sitting in the basket under her recliner chair. I was a bit surprise when I saw her there. How on earth did she manage to get in there? When I asked her to come out, she refused to do so. No matter how I tried to coax her out, she still remain sitted in the basket. It was very funny.

So, I went to take the camera to record down this funny event. When she saw me coming back with a camera only she moved out. She tried to grab my camera. When I put away the camera, she went back into the basket. That was when I saw how she got in there. Once again I tried to get her out, but she still doesn't want to come out. So, I go and take the camera again and that does the trick. She quickly climb out.

Nowsaday, she has become naughtier and naughtier. It is very difficult to control her and she is very good in throwing tantrum. I think nobody can beat her in this. Whenever she wants something, she will make sure she is getting it. If you scold her, she will begin to throw things. If you try to pull her away, she will lie down on the floor.

But you can't hate her for long as she will show you her cute face when you are angry. Then she will jump over and hug you. Sometimes, she will even kiss you.

Whatever....

Last week, I noticed a swelling or a lump on my right breast. It is round and hard. Its size is somewhat bigger than a pebble and smaller than a golf ball. I am quite concerned with this condition and can't keep my thought out of it.

I am going to see my doctor this Thursday for my routine pre-natal check-up. So, I think I am going to talk to him about the lump. I hope he can give me some answers that will ease my mind.

I hope he will tell me that it occurs because of hormonal changes as a result of my pregnancy and the lump will be gone after the childbirth. It is a logic explanation, isn't it?

Mangoesteen

I have been craving for mangoesteen for quite some time. But I was unable to satisfy my craving till yesterday when hubby bought some mangoesteen. The mangoesteen costs about RM3 per kg.

It was so "fresh" and taste so nice. Initially, when I saw an advertisement by Tesco in the evening on mangoesteen, I said to myself that I must go there and buy during the weekend. The mangoesteen costs RM3.50 per kg there.

I kept on thinking about the mangoesteen until hubby came back that night with 2kg of mangoesteen. What a surprise!!Is it just a co-incidence or are we thinking in the same wave? Our antenna can transmit and receive excellent signal, huh?

Chasing Little Cheryl

Yesterday, Cheryl ran off with my carrot.... I took out a packet of carrot from the fridge. When I asked her back for the packet of carrot, she took one out and gave the rest back to me. No matter how I tried to get it back, she won't give in.

It was so funny how she ran away from me with the carrot in her hand. She keep on looking back to see whether I was chasing her. I managed to take some cute photos of her with the carrot.

Tom Yam

Yesterday, I cooked tom yam for dinner. I think my skill in cooking tom yam have improved. Of all the tom yam that I cooked before, this is by far the best.

Initially, I boiled a pot of water with lots of prawn heads and shells (I have one big packets of prawn heads and shells in my freezer. So I just used all of it). After that, I removed the heads and shells leaving only the basic soup in the pot. Then, I lightly fried the onion which I have pre-cut into rings. When the onion turned limp, I added in some kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass which I lightly bruised using a pestle. Then I transferred these ingredients to my pot of basic soup which I have prepared earlier.

After that, I added in the carrots, tomatoes and birds eye chillies as well as 2 tablespoons of instant tom yam paste and some fish sauce. I just let it boiled for a while.

Just before serving, I added in the abalone pieces, prawns and squids and removed the pot from the flame when the prawns turned pinkish. As I don't have any lemon or lime at home, I just ommit them this time around. As a result, the tom yam doesn't taste that sour. Nevertheless, there were still awesome!!

Grapefruits

During the weekend, we went to Jaya Jusco to buy some groceries. You would normally see many type of fruits on the shelf. I do not know why I suddenly have the urge to try the grapefruits. They look so pretty with their beautiful hues. The last time that I bought grapefruits were from Tesco. They look just like normal oranges. But these were different. They were so beautiful.

Those grapefruits that I bought from Tesco costs about RM4 for 2, if I am not mistaken. They were of the size of average oranges. They taste like pamelo, only a bit bitter. After trying those grapefruits, we don't have the plan to buy any grapefruits again.





But when I saw the grapefruits in Jaya Jusco over the weekend, I just wanted to try them. So we bought 2. It is cheaper that those that we bought from Tesco as it costs RM1.49 for 1. They were also slightly bigger than the average oranges. For me, they still taste like pamelo but this time around, they have a bit of sweet and sour taste. The bitterness was not that emminent. On average, they were good.

Bak Kut Teh

Last Saturday, I cooked bak kut teh for dinner. This is not the first time that I cook bak kut teh. But what is so special about this is that I prepared (mix and match) the spices and herbs myself using only ingredients that I have at home.

Although I "mix and match" the herbs and spices myself, they taste just like the real bak kut teh. You can see from the pic what are the ingredients that I put in.... (red dates, wolfberries, cinnamon sticks, star anise, dang gui, dang shen, bei qi, white peppercorn and some garlic) I even marinated the pork ribs first. I marinated them with dark soy sauce, sesame oil and some salt for about 2 hours.

Initially, I boiled the spices for few hours together with the pork ribs. Then after about 2 hours, I removed the herbs and spices using a sieve. After that, I continue to cook the meat till tender. Minutes before consuming the bak kut teh, I added in pre-fried "fu chuk", birds eyes chillies and dried octopus? (Is that what they are being called?).

When hubby tasted the bak kut teh, he instantly fell for it. He said it taste so great that I can start selling the bak kut teh. Sure I won't run out of business...

Dragon Boat Festival

I made dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival. It was the first time I attempted to made the dumplings myself. Luckily Yvonne was here. She helped me to look after Cheryl so I can concentrate in wrapping the dumplings. I have already prepared the ingredients early in the morning while the sun has yet to rise....You have to make more effort if you have a baby....

I only prepared about 600g of glutinous rice. By the time I finish using all the glutinous rice, I still have lots of pork meat, mushrooms, oysters and nuts left. So I decided to go out and buy another 1/2 kg of glutinous rice. I went to the newly opened minimarket but they don't have glutinous rice. So, I went to the normal grocery store that I always frequented. Luckily they have!!

As this was my first attempt to make glutinous rice dumpling, I think I can be forgiven for some minor mistake. It might not be my mistake though... I made about 6 bundles of dumpling. Out of these 6 bundles (about 40 over dumplings), about 3 to 4 was not properly tied with the hemp string. So, they burst open when they were boiled. I boiled them for almost 2 hours. In total, I used about 4 hours to cook the dumplings as not all of them can fit in the pot. ummph....about the dumplings bursting open, I cannot be blamed entirely...The string also played some part. The hemp strings were so hard that they were very difficult to be bent. They were as hard as "lidi".

When I told my neighbour about the difficulty in tying using the hemp string, she asked whether I was using the hemp string provided in the package (I bought a packet of the bamboo leaves and they come together with the hemp string). She said the hemp string provided in the package cannot be used. She normally would buy loose hemp string for tying. Well, I will remember that the next time I make the dumplings.

Out of the 6 bundles, I gave 3 bundles to Yvonne to bring back to Klang. The taste was superb!! We finished up 2 bundles and I was only left with 1 bundle. So, I only gave 2 dumplings for hubby to bring back to Tangkak. One for his father and one for his mother.

Trip to Genting Highlands

We went to Genting Highlands on 15/5/2007. We reserved a room for 1 night. It was pretty cheap. It costs us only RM38.80 per room. On the way up, Cheryl throws up. Maybe she is not used to travel in such a long journey and furthermore it is a long winding road. We reached there around 12.00pm and straight away went to fill up our stomach.


Then, we went to the theme park. The entrance fee is RM55 per person. Luckily we need not pay for Cheryl. They only charge entrance fee to children above 3 years old or 90cm in heights. Her height is only 72cm.







We were at the theme park till about 4.30pm. Then we went to collect our room keys. The queue was very long. We waited till about 6.30pm for our turn. It was quite absurd as we still need to wait for so long since we have already reserved and paid for the room 1 week in advance. I thought collecting keys should be very fast.....

The next day, we went to Bukit Tinggi. I will never go there again. It is a waste of our $$ as we have to pay RM16 entrance fee per person but there is practically nothing to see.

Hubby's Birthday....

May 7th, 2008 is the day. I made spaghetti and fruit salad for dinner. As for drinks, I made some lemonade. However, the VIP of the day only reach home after 10.30 pm. The worst thing is that he already had his dinner with his friends. Pitty me who waited for him with my empty stomach....

I was quite angry with him. Shouldn't he be celebrating with us??? I do not know why he still can't understand why I am so angry..... Nevertheless, he was forced to finish the meal. The spaghetti that I made was quite a generous portion. By the time he finish the spaghetti, he couldn't even touch the salad or the lemonade.

Then he went out again after the meal and only comes back around 12.10 am. So we only sang the birthday song and cut the cake that I made then. It was chilled oreo cheesecake. Such a nice cake!!!I think I should be baking cakes and selling them. Don't you think so?

Birthday Present

On my birthday, my husband brought me to Windmill for dinner. I had Cordon Bleu (a dish of chicken with bacon and cheese). It was quite nice. After the dinner, we went straight home.

Then, when I came down after changing my clothes, I saw a present at the staircase. Wow!!! It is my birthday present. I got a Nokia N76 for my birthday..... It's from my dearest husband. Thank you very much!!!

So, where is my old Samsung handset? It is with Chiu Hong. Initially, I planned to give it to Yvonne. But she doesn't want my old handset as she is targeting on a new handset that Pik Lay had promised to buy for her end of the year.

Getting Older & Older

Wow!! It's coming......and it is approaching with the speed of light....Another birthday.....?! Sure or not?

My birthday falls on 1 April. I don't know whether there would be any celebration or not. I am hoping for one. I was not able to celebrate my birthday last year as I was still under confinement after giving birth to little Cheryl.

What is my birthday wishes this year? I am not that greedy.....So I hope my wish would be granted. I wish the baby that I am carrying now is a boy coz I already have a baby girl. If I can have a baby boy this round, it would be perfect.

I also hope that my hubby will love me more and more and more.....I hope he can spend more time with us and bring us out for vacations at least once a year. I have not had any vacation since 2006. Sigh!

Cheryl's Birthday

We finally found the green peas in a minimarket operated by an Indian. This is how it looks like.

After washing and soaking for few hours, they were cooked and mashed into puree form.

This is the fillings for the "angkoo".

These are few delicacies that mummy made for Cheryl. Nice??

This is the birthday girl with mummy and daddy.....