Life is a jigsaw puzzle. Every segment of the puzzle is formed by different elements of life. I cherish all my felicity elements, what about you?

Monday, August 29, 2005

Baked Rice w/ Cheese Casserole 鸳鸯芝士锔饭

早 一阵子回吉隆坡,发现香港式的茶餐厅开得到处都是。凡是比较有规模的商场一定可以看得到,除了奶茶鸳鸯餐蛋面出前一丁面,芝士锔饭算是茶餐厅最招牌的食 物。只是啊,坦白说,我吃了3家不同的茶餐厅的芝士锔饭,3家的都让我好失望。有一家把白芝士锔饭弄成好像滑蛋河似的滑蛋饭,之后的不是味道根本没有,就 是只见红红的汁(tomato paste)没有cheese。哎。

让我告诉你,好吃的芝士锔饭,是这样的。这是我几个星期前农的。我的是鸳鸯的,红汁白汁的都有。
其 实做法很简单。现煮好一些饭。饭好了,放到你有的容器上面。我用的是Pyrex的Bake-ware。然后,一边用spoon spread over some tomato-based pasta sauce,另一边放cheese-based的pasta sauce,就可以鸳鸯啦。

然后,我撒了一罐的罐头黄梨块,还有一些已切成块状的香肠。再然后,撒上cheese。我放了mozarella, cheddar, parmesan. 为了要更有风味,我也撒了一些香料,入黑胡椒碎,parsley & basil. 接下来用一层锡箔纸盖着容器。

然后再然后?送进烤箱靠咯。我也忘了烤多久。我想温度350摄氏,靠大概25分钟吧,到芝士都融了,嗅到香味扑鼻的味道了,就好啦。

开吃!


味道真的很好呢。^_^

附:弟弟,你快点来找我啦,我做给你吃。那一家Kim G.,又贵又窄又多人又吵又不是很好吃。你省下那些钱来找我更好!哈!

Viewing from sky-high.



Was going through my photo album and I saw these pictures. I thought I ought to share with you all. They were taken when we flew into US. I'm not entirely sure about the location where the pictures were taken, but I reckon that it would be in the middle part of the States.

The clouds look so pretty. So do the different crops from this bird-eye view.

Awesome, eh?

Bruschetta

I was craving for pizza yesterday, but it was no where near a proper meal time. After some brainstorming, as well as digging out what I have on hand, I made this:
The ingredients I used were stale Italian bread, bottled pasta paste, top with my home-grown basil and some sliced mozzarella cheese. The method:

1) sliced the stale French bread to desired thickness;
2) on top of the bread, spread some pasta paste;
3) scatter the basil leaves on top of the pasta paste;
4) sprinkle the sliced mozzarella cheese;
5) To a pan, add in a few drops of olive oil (I didn't know why did I use olive oil over vege oil, but I figured that bread always go better with olive oil), and lightly heat up the pan;
6) lie the bread in your pan;
7) cover the pan with a lid ( I figured that this will produce a better temperature for the cheese to melt);
8) after a few minutes, the cheese will melt and the bottom side of the bread will turn slight crusty and golden brown colour. Ready to be eaten now.

The outcome? Delicious! I was so happy as I thought I'd invented a recipe for myself. A recipe to eat my fresh basil and stale bread ... only to realize that Italian had come up a recipe like this way before I did. Sigh. Italian call this food 'Bruschetta'. By definition, Bruschetta means ' an Italian appetizer of toasted bread slices rubbed with olive oil and garlic and topped with diced tomatoes, basil, salt, and pepper and served warm or with melted cheese on top'. When I discovered this, I was like, man, I thought it was MY idea! Haha. Out of the website I found about bruschetta, it seems like Italian will normally use fresh tomato over tomato paste. Oh well, at least they're still tomatoes.

Bruschetta anyone?

Sunday, August 28, 2005

A Brief Memoir to Share.

Warning: This is a long post. Prerequisite needed: Lengthy time. Please read at your own risk.

Yes, I’m gonna share a rather long journey with you. The precise timeframe of the journey was, let me count, approximately one year. Although 12 months doesn’t sound as extensive as it is, trust me, it has been a year with most dramatic elements that’d top my life.

I was diagnosed with nodal tuberculosis.

The story began 15 months ago. It certainly was one of the most unforgettable moments in my life that Tomato and I graduated from our university. We celebrated our graduation by having a trans-Canada trip, from the very east coast of Canada, all the way to the west coast of Canada, and back to the origin, all by BUS. The budget was tight, but we were ambitious, so we selected what it appeared to be the cheapest transportation method, Greyhound bus (Greyhound Bus is a North America Passenger Bus Company, providing extensive coverage to many destinations in Canada and USA). The trip was great. We toured all the major Canadian cities, which included Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, etc. Oh, let’s not forget the breathtaking Rockies Mountain, Banff National Park, saw the glazier, ice-parkway, bluish-green pond, absolutely gorgeous. We also saw the Gigantic Niagara Falls, the Great Prairie, the Native American Indians, etc etc etc. And along with all these amazing tourism spots, we had tons of cheap and scrumptious meals. It was real fun, and truly memorable.

The nightmare started to begin after we went back to Halifax. I started to feel chilly from time to time, even during summer! It was unusual. Then I started having some mild fever, but it would go away with Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen. But because I was feeling well otherwise, we just couldn’t let ourselves be bothered by it as we were busy packing to move out. Then, we moved out, we tried our best to get settled at the new place, and, the fever and chilliness persisted. Plus, it was getting worst. They happened more often, I was feeling worse, and to top it all, the temperature of the fever was climbing to a newer peak each time. The weird thing, the fever would disappear once the drugs were in effect, and I would feel/look completely normal! Of course I paid visits to my family doctor, but he sent me home as he believed the fever was due to unknown virus infection, and more rest and liquid were all that I needed. There you go, then I was home, resting, and was constantly waiting to be bombarded by the severe chills + high fever. During those days, I’d have three-four episodes of fever on average each day. They’d come, I’d take my acetaminophen/ibuprofen, after a few hours, the fever would go, and I’d look normal. There was no sore-throat, no flu, no diarrhea, no coughing, no stomachache, NOTHING! nothing else to associate with the fever & chill. During one of the night, feeling frustrated and worried, Tomato suggested a trip to the ER would be relevant. We then got hauled to the nearby hospital by a cab at the wee hours. After long hours of waiting (around 5 hours I think), I finally got checked by an Emerge Physician. They took an X-ray of me, had my blood tested for all sorts of possible infections, did lots of palpation and physical check-up, and of course they did give me acetaminophen when I was there. As expected, a few hours later in the ER, I appeared to be normal again. Having ‘Negative’ in all the tests that they’d performed, a clear chest X-ray, and the physically- looked-okay-me, they sent me home as they believed, and agreed with my family doctor that it was due to unknown virus infection. They believed all the symptoms would soon subside. At that point, I believed everyone felt helpless, as well as myself, and all that I could rely on was my own immunity! Apparently I could do nothing other than to be patience with what I was experiencing. With the great TLC (tender loving care) given by Tomato, I hung on there. Five days later, we found ourselves appeared in the ER once again as the fever climbed to a more severe peak. It was approximately 40 degree Celsius. Similar to the first visit, we waited for a few hours, and finally, I was attended by nurses and Emerge physician. Once more, they did all that they could do, and there were no surprises in all the results, we were sent home. Nonetheless, given the fact that it was my second visit to the ER and I was not at all getting better, the ER physician referred me to an ID (Infection Disease) Specialist, Dr. M. After my first medical appointment with Dr. M, she ordered more blood test for me with an intention to rule in/out all the possibilities. She suspected all sorts of infections, and tuberculosis (TB) was one of them. However, given the fact that I was not coughing at all (hence no sputum to be tested), my chest X-ray appeared to be clear, and I had taken BCG vaccination before, these signs did not cohere with the classical TB. Along with these, there were more negatives from all sorts of serology testing. Sigh, sigh, sigh … I was upset, disturbed, annoyed, discouraged all at the same time. Needless to say my folks in Malaysia were extremely worried, but no one knows what to do other than keeping our fingers crossed, and pray really hard.

While the fever and chills persisted, some other symptoms appeared. There was once I had tons of ulcers in my mouth. On the upper palate, underneath the lip, inner edge of my oral cavity, they were outrageous, and tremendously painful! Aside from the ulcers, I had noticed the swollen lymph nodes that were around my neck and shoulder. However, due to the fact that having swollen lymph nodes was a common symptom associated with infection, not much attention was drawn to this matter. Approximately three weeks later, the fever and chills really did subside. I felt like I was alive again. The joy was like seeing sunshine once again after a terrible thunderstorm. I bet you can empathize with me, can’t you?

Everyone thought the battle was over, and I had regained my health. I thought so too. The later days were fun. I did nothing but to get rest at home. Both Tomato and I would stroll to Halifax Waterfront frequently to enjoy the awesome summer fiesta, the Tallship Festival, the Buskers’ Festival, etc etc etc. I was back into the exuberant mode.

YET, that was not the happy ending that I anticipated. The swollen lymph nodes continued to grow larger, and expanded in terms of quantity. Approximately three weeks later, I was back to Dr. M’s office. This time, she sent me for a CT scan, as well as a FNA (Fine Needle Aspiration) session to be performed by her colleague, who is an otorhinolaryngologist (a.k.a. ENT specialist). The purpose of the FNA was to test for AFB (Acid Fast Bacillus) culture, or more commonly known as TB culture. The CT scan showed significant patches close to my lungs, a much undesired news. The TB smear failed to show a positive result though. Having the urge to confirm the diagnosis, Dr. M referred me to a surgeon to have an open biopsy, i.e. to have one of the largest lymph node removed.

It was a day surgery and they had determined there was no need to hospitalize me. That surgery was my very first operation of my entire life. Sure enough, I was nervous like hell. I remembered it was scheduled at 2pm, and I had to be there for all the necessary pre-op procedures. I walked to the hospital around 12 something, and arrived there prompt at 1pm. I checked in, got all the pre-op check up, change the gown, wore the clog, and waited anxiously. I know I was fortunate that Tomato was by my side throughout, giving me endless mental and emotional support. He helped me to stay calm. Finally, it was time to be in the OT (operating theatre). I could still remember vividly that I insisted to walk to the OT myself. It was like a brief tour to the OT, surely an eye-opening experience to me, but obviously I would not wanna learn it that way. I had an OT nurse to walk with me. I remembered in the OT zone there were many individual theatres. I saw the places where the OT personnel would scrub pre and post op. I saw many other nurses. Perhaps they smiled with me, but I could not see it clearly without my glasses. It was a long corridor, and I was hoping the journey would never come to an end. Of course that would not be true. I was then walked into a room, and was asked to lie down on the operating table. Without a glimpse, more staffs walked in, and I was flashed by the OT lights. With that shiny lights, my eyes could barely open. I was then approached by an anesthesiologist, saying that he was gonna insert something into my vein, and he gave me some gas to inhale, and I … was….starting … to …. lose … my …. consciousness …….

Two hours later, I started to regain my consciousness in a gradual manner. I first realized my awfully painful throat! I wondered what happened! I opened my eye, and the nurses in the recovery area checked on me. I rested there for a while, and after I could completely open my eye, I saw Tomato, my angel. You would not understand how did I feel, but I was grateful, was emotional, was so happy to see him once again. I was transported to another area whereby some beverages would be served for post-operated patients. I was given a glass of apple juice, a glass of icy cold apple juice. I can tell you, it was my best apple juice, EVER. It was comforting, like telling me the jitters of having a surgery was finally over. Until now, I’ll crave for a glass of icy cold apple juice from time to time. It has become one of my comfort food.

After two classes of apple juice, gown-changed and some check-ups, the nurses determined that I was okay enough to go home. Mentally I was awake, but physically, I was weak like tofu. I could not even stand. Using a wheelchair, the hospital’s attendant transported me to the entrance of the hospital and helped us to call for a cab. After much hoo-hah, we finally were home. Great fatigue I suffered, I fall back to sleep right away. A few hours later, I was awake. I had some mushroom soup that was cooked by Tomato, another comfort food of mine. My throat was so sore that I could barely speak! Tomato reckoned that my throat was hurt during the intubation procedure during the operation. I once again fall into sleep.

During the next day, I got a call from Dr. M. To my disbelief, she told me that the culture we obtained from the FNA session had shown positive on the night I had my operation. (Note: TB culture, unlike other bacteria, if positive, will take a longer time to grow. They’ll take normally 3-6 weeks to grow) Meaning, if the culture showed positive ONE day before, the surgery could have been omitted. What could I say? The dramatic elements had made me speechless. Oh my …

Okay, after much painful medical procedures, the diagnosis could now be confirmed that it was TB, a disease cause by a type of bacterium known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In my case, it was nodal tuberculosis, where my primary sites of infection were lymph nodes. As a consequence, I was not infectious, hence isolation was not necessary. Pulmonary TB, whereby lungs are infected, are a more common and classical TB seen elsewhere. The standard regimen of the chemotherapy will be taking four types of antibiotics during the first two months of treatment. During this period, all antibiotics would be tested for susceptibility/resistance. If all four antibiotics are found to be susceptible, one can drop two out of four, and have to take the other two types of antibiotic for another four to ten months, depending on the types of TB one is diagnosed. As for me, it was lucky that I could drop the other two after two months. It certainly was no fun to take more than ten tablets a day. Every time when it was time to take the medication, I would whine a little, rant a little, absolutely abhorred it. I later on had apple juice to go with them. This way, I’d feel better.

The antibiotics, though life-saving, they could give some nasty side-effects. The drugs would impose me at a great risk of having hepatitis (as the drugs are hepatoxic, meaning bring harm to your liver). Therefore, I’d have to get my blood test for my liver profile once in a fortnight. On top of this, I had experienced many dreadful side-effects. Nauseous, fatigue, myalgia (muscle-ache), loss of appetite, hair loss, fatigue, myalgia, fatigue, myalgia, fatigue, fatigue, fatigue … They all took their turn to happen. Oh, let’s not forget, the orange urine. Although I was warned beforehand, the dark orange color freaked me out so much the very first time I saw it myself, and I would have that during the entire treatment! Ewwwww!

The side effects were intense during the first two months. Luckily, my body developed a better tolerance to them later on, and by reducing four types of antibiotics to two, life was so much better as the tablet count reduced from 10 to 4. Oh, I was grateful, and I did not whine as much later on.

Aside from the disease, everything else in my life and Tomato’s life fell into parts during the first few months of the treatment. Many unfortunate events happened, one after another. Life was depressing most of the time, but we had to move on. It was during that time, I had a chance to ponder over my life, my goals, and my desires seriously. Before the disease, my plan was to try my best to stay in Canada and enter graduate schools. I was inspired and determined to further my studies, hopefully until the doctorate level. However, after a series of serious thoughts, I realized I did not fit into the mold that I once made for myself. That would not be a life I would prefer. Of course pursuing higher education would always crown one with a more glorious look, but if one were to do graduate studies in science, that would mean no life, no free time, sleep deprived, always competing with self and others, perpetually pressurizing, etc. I admire people who are doing this, and I appreciate their effort, but that is just not something that suits me. Especially after the disease, it came into view that what I want for myself are easier lives. That would imply: not being ambitious, not setting sky-high goals, and most importantly, not getting separated from Tomato. If I insisted to stay in Canada, we would have to turn our relationship into a long distance one. I am sorry, but I am just not that kind of gal that enjoys long distance. After a series of contemplation, I made the wisest choice of my life. I quit the Canada plan, went back to Malaysia for a few months, and am now residing in United States, being with Tomato all along.

Life has never been so good, so far.

On August 23, 2005, I had reached another great milestone of my life. It definitely is a noteworthy one, if not one of the most significant date to celebrate. It was my last day of taking the antibiotics! I can’t believe it has been one year already, and with great compliance, I finished my 1-year course antituberculosis drugs! From that day onwards, there would be no more antituberculosis drugs for me, no more worries about hepatitis, and best of all, no more orange color urine. Yay!

My heart still trembles when I think about this. From now on, I can proudly announce myself as a ‘TB Survivor’. If you haven’t been through something similar, you certainly will not fully apprehend the feeling when I say ‘I survived TB!’. Oh yes, it’s over, it’s officially over.

Ahhh, IT IS OVER!

I’m so happy to make this episode into a past. I can assure you, it was no fun to face death. I have so much more to do, to see, to travel, to experience, to attend to, to … that I have yet to do. It was simply awful.

But now, it’s over.

Anyhow, there are still aftermaths from the disease that I will have to bear with till the rest of my life. My swollen lymph nodes, although most of them had subsided, they are still a number of calcified (hardened) nodes around my neck. Yes, they will be like this forever. No, they are not life-threatening. As well, darker patches around my lungs are visible in chest X-ray, and will remain like this till forever. As much as I’ll like to forget them, they will be with me, and will be in me, everlastingly.

Looking back, I still can’t believe how I went through all that. I remember a lot of needle-poking sessions, ouch! They were painful, be it the uncountable blood tests, the CT scans, and let’s not forget the dreadful surgery. Oh well, at least I am well now, and the ID specialist assures me that it is next to impossible to have recurrence of TB. Why not a certain impossible one might ask? My ID specialist humbly articulated, ‘You can not be too certain when it comes to Medicine.’ Hmm.

All in all, I’m well now, and will take the best effort to stay well.

This is a brief memoir of mine. Just wanna pour them out once and for all. And of course, to share with you.

Your proud nodal tuberculosis alumnus,

Greenapple

P/s:

I’ll like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Canada. To me, Canada possesses some of the best welfare system in the world. I bet I will shock you if I tell you I spent nothing on all the treatments I was given when I was in Halifax, Canada. Yes, absolutely NOTHING. How was this accomplished? Well, first of all, I was covered by a great insurance coverage provided by the Provincial Government in the province that I resided. In that province, if one is a citizen, or a resident who had reside there for at least one year, one will bear the eligibility to be granted the coverage. I was a student in Halifax for approximately 3 years. I had to pay for my own insurance coverage for the first year, but I got covered by the provincial insurance on the subsequent years. Consequently, I did not pay a single penny on my clinic visits, ER visits, uncountable blood tests, CT scans, as well as the surgery. I did not know how much would everything sum up to, but I bet it definitely would be a huge amount. And me? I paid nothing.

Aside from this, I paid nothing for all my antibiotics too. No, the provincial insurance did not cover prescription price. I was so afraid that I would be broke by the end of the treatment as let me tell you, the antibiotics are expensive. Very expensive indeed. However, as an effort to eradicate TB cases from Canada, Public Health Canada has a policy stated that patients in Canada, once diagnosed with TB, will get the antibiotics sponsored by the government. Aren’t you speechless like me?

Although I got this disease in Canada, I blame no one for the disease. As a microbiology student myself, I am well aware of the risk and chances of infected. It was unfortunate to happen, but it was fortunate enough that I was treated in Canada. I am more than ‘adequately treated’ as far as everyone is concerned. FYI, the specialists I met in Halifax were all Associate Professors, meaning I really was in good hands. What more could I ask for?

To sum it all, I owe Canada a big favor.

Hence, next time if I tell you I Heart Canada, please do not ask me why.

Get well soon, Mr.Tomato.

Tomato wasn't feeling so well yesterday night. Fatigue, loss of appetite, and mild fever were the symptoms he experienced. Of course I'm worried. What could I do in situation like this? Seriously, I'm not at all sure, but I did what I usually do the best, i.e. overwhelmed him with lots of TLC, as well as feeding him with lots of fibers (cantaloupe and apple) and vitamins.

Luckily he looks/feels better today. Phew. May he has a great working day today (yes, he has to work on weekends too ... sigh).

Dear Tomato, may you be alright very soon ...

Friday, August 26, 2005

My Felicity Corner - not the cyber one ...

As of now, I have 2 felicity corners. One of it is this blog that you're currently reading. This is my cyber felicity corner. Another one will be the felicity corner in my room. As you can see from the picture posted below, the corner comprises some of my favourite framed art, as well as some other artistic ornaments.

My felicity corner as a whole:


The artistic Chinese ornament is a gift from my aunt working in Sungai Wang, a shopping emporium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:
I think it's really unique. Like it very much.

Framed Poster "Follow Your Heart", by Emma Thomson, bought it when I was still in Halifax, Canada. This is my long time favourite.

Framed Art of Precious Moments series. I've always been a big fan of 'Precious Moments' images. Will love to buy some of the figurines, but they're not at all affordable. Well, at least I can enjoy the images. ^_^

The car plate is a gift from my fellow friends in Halifax. To me, it was a meaningful gift as both Tomato and myself are proud alumni of this university. The framed picture below actually is a piece of Cross-stitch art I made for Tomato as our 7th anniversary gift. As Tomato enjoys being anonymous, I had to use Photoshop to cover up his name with a dark patch.

And of course, that dried bouquet (see previous post) adds in another twist into my corner.

My Target Audience of this felicity corner.

The biggest intention to write this blog, aside from recording my day to day life, is to share my current happiness with my family members and friends who are staying afar. Like I've stated in my profile, although a Malaysian myself, I am currently residing in USA. I often call home to talk to my parents and my siblings, but as good as phone calls can get, there are still extents whereby phone calls isn't the best resort.

Consequently, I'm putting up many pictures in my blog. Am doing this simply because ' a picture speaks a thousand words'.

May you like them.

Mama's style Yong Tau Foo 酿豆腐

酿豆腐,很多人都会做。这里头其实有酿香菇,酿青椒,酿茄子,酿腐竹皮,还有酿苦瓜。我妈妈的独有秘方是,我们有很美味的酱汁,不是清汤,也不是干的。这样子很下饭的。

其实要弄酱汁不难,只是豆瓣酱勾芡而已。酿豆腐要先煎一煎(至半熟),然后捞起。弄好酱汁,再把酿豆腐们回锅, 微火煮一下。好了以后,上碟子,撒上青葱,就可以开饭了!
Bon Appétit!

Thursday, August 25, 2005

My 7th Anni. bouquet.

I received a bouquet of roses from my Tomato when we celebrated our 7th anniversary. Not wedding anniversary lah, but the dating anniversary.

Then: Aug 09, 2005


Now: Aug 25, 2005

They still look nice even if they'd dried up. Agree?

Malaysian Style Chai Buey 菜尾


I believe this is a dish you will only find it in Malaysia but not elsewhere. It's a type of Hokkien Chinese food, especially common when there are a lot of meat leftovers like roast chicken/pork/duck. That's why it's called Chai Buey [菜尾,福建音], which means 'leftover dishes' in Hokkien. The recipe is simple. You only need 3 key ingredients, which are: 1) dried chilies (to give the spiciness), 2) tamarind[亚三羔] (to give the great sourness), and 3) chinese mustard vegetable [芥菜]. Of course, you may always add some garlic and ginger to spice it up a little, and some salt and/or sugar to taste. If you do have the meat leftovers, just add them in. This dish will taste as delicious as it can be even without the meat though.

If you ever wonder what tamarind is, this is how it's look like:

You can always get tamarind paste from asian grocery stores. They're cheap.

And if Chinese Mustard Vegetable doesn't sound familar to you, no fear, this is how it's look like:

How to cook this dish? Simple. In a pot, add in some oil and lightly heat it up. Add in some sliced ginger and garlic, sauté them. Then, add in the tamarind paste and dried chilies, stir fry them a little bit. Once you get the aroma from these ingredients, you may add in your meat if you have, otherwise, just stir in your Chinese Mustard and stir fry them for a while. Later on, add in 2-3 cups of water and let the entire thing simmer until the vege are tender and soft (but not mushy). Salt and sugar to taste. Then, voilà.

The end product, spicy, sour and slight sweetness ... Always a comfort food for gals craving for sour and spicy food.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Homemade Kimchi

With the help of multiple recipes available on the internet (especially this website), I've successfully made Korean Kimchi myself! No more buying Kimchi from Asian Grocery Stores and say hello to homemade Kimchi!

With these Kimchi, I'll be able to make more Kimchi Omelette or Kimchi Fried Rice now!

Yummy!! ^_^

My tiny lil' basil farm

With the tiny lil' land we have at the rear of the house, I figured I can make good use of it by planting something I like. Something I like? Basil it is! (Basil=九层塔)I feel extremely rewarding everytime when I look at them. They all grew from shoots where bigger leaves were plucked away by me, and they're now growing happily like a big family. Ahh, I'm so proud of them.

A 'bird-eye' view to all my basil plants.
My very pioneer plant.

This says my plants are definitely pesticide-free. ^_^

One of them is even flowering! How cool is that!

思乡菜:潮州粥 Congee with condiments

几个星期前弄的。在家里平凡的幸福之精典代表:番薯粥,咸菜,豆豉鱼,蛋煎菜圃,清炒小白菜。我家周末早餐最爱这样。

My culinary adventure - Malaysian style 板面干捞&炒板面

在 加拿大的时候,有不少朋友教过我怎么自己发面做面食。一直都没有学以致用,直到上周末,有一点无聊,于是就自己发了一团面粉玩玩。其实还满成功的,就因为 没有想到会成功,所以没有买到其他的馅料,不然可以做饺子包子阿什么的。临机一触,好,试着做面条吧。我看过来自北京的朋友的爸爸做的炸酱面,但是我又没 有酱料,啊,板面it is.

板面是马来西亚中式的面食事物。在马来西亚,正宗的话,会有一锅江鱼子熬的汤底,然后还会撒上有一些我不知道什么名但是只有在马来西亚才看到的青菜+炸江鱼子+木耳丝+等等的佐料。我的嘛,就求简单吧。

我的面团。
用擀面杖揉成一大片薄薄的面皮,撒上面粉,对折几层,再用刀切。其实在马来西亚有特别的手动碾面机,不用刀切。
将切好的面条甩开。
面煮好以后,加麻油+酱油+香料(crushed black pepper, basil, garlic powder)即成了我的干面。佐料有青菜和炒香菇。
成品。好吃!

晚上的时候,把所有的材料加上一点虾仁略略炒一炒,更好吃。还弄了一份爱心便当给Tomato。



后注:Tomato说隔天吃就没有当晚吃的时候味道那么好了。
所以,lesson learned:以后弄这一道食物的话,不能留过夜。

An Awesome Banana Leaf experience

Another delayed record when I was in Malaysia a couple of months ago. On an ordinary sunny day, I lured my little brother to a gourmet meal. We paid a visit to a restaurant @ Jalan Gasing that is well-known for their Banana Leaf cuisine.

Everyone was giving a big piece of banana leaf to begin with.

Later on, everyone was served with steaming-hot rice, a couple pieces of papadam (deep fried lentil crackers) and 3 types of veges. The servings were generous. You could order grill well-marinated chicken/squid/shrimp to go with your banana leaf meal. Oh ya, please do not forget the tasty gravy for your rice.

A scrumptious Banana Leaf meal together with a cup of Mango Lassi. Ahh, what more could you ask for?

Roti Tisu - can't find it anywhere else ...

Just a delayed record of a night out with my beloved friends in an Indian Ethnic Restaurant in PJ, Malaysia.

One of the major highlight on the menu, the very very very long Roti Tisu. (A type of sweet, long and extremely thin pastry)

Can you see how thin it is?

Dining Out @ China Star, Richmond, VA















星期天晚上我们决定外出用餐。我们,包括了我,Tomato,还有我们的室友。

一路上的夕阳蛮美的。那一道一道的光,让我禁不住要用我的相机将它们capture起来。


我们到了一家还属于蛮authentic的中国餐厅。他们有两set不同的menu,英文的是给老外看的,给华人的是手写的中式菜肴。我们点了三道菜。

鱼香肉丝。味道不错,蛮好吃的。

香酥鸭。唔,不错,不过个人觉得干了一点。有特别的酱汁to go with it的话,味道会更棒。

红烧鱼。看到这道菜时我蛮兴奋的。为什么?1,serving size蛮大的。2,来了北美几年了,我可是第一次在餐厅吃到所谓‘有头有尾’的鱼。在这里,餐厅很多时候serve的鱼都是鱼片。感觉真得很难得啊。

Overall的评价?嗯,整体的感觉不错。有机会的话会回来。下一次可以来试一试其他中式菜肴。

北 美的中餐馆一般会在客人缴钱的时候给fortune cookie.我的签语:You will be sharing great news with all the people you love. Seems like it's true ... hehe. ^_^

Monday, August 22, 2005

幸福の期许 - Felicity Wishes


几经兜兜转转,终于,给自己在这一个网络空间找到一间不错的新家。

其实想有一个blog的想法已经存在了好一段日子。只是啊,我的significant other总对这虚拟空间很有保留。啊,简单的我,不想有太复杂的忧虑。就暂时先试一试吧,我想。

我想有一个blog来干什么呢?Well,当然逃不了用于记下日子中的点点滴滴。岁月可是不饶人的!如果不用一些什么方式将生活中的精华给记下,就真的有一点浪费的感觉。

好的,这一个blog要正式启航了!Bon voyage!

仅以这一个blog来记录一些些只属于我的幸福小故事;同时也祝福所有有缘经过的浏览者。

p/s:
这一系列的绘图名为Felicity Wishes,是英国一位儿童涂绘画家Emma Thomson的作品。
Felicity,即‘幸福’,是我觉得最美的一个英文字。除了poster绘图,此作家也出了几本儿童读物,皆以她的绘图为主。我是在一次偶然的机会下看到了这一系列的绘图。之后,就深深爱上了。

像现在的这一张附图,我房里就挂了一张。我尤其喜欢这一张图的名字-‘Follow your heart’,随心。个人觉得,好美!^_^

我想,生活中的爱与幸福,就是我最想留下的脚印。

且让这一个小小的虚拟空间,成为我散播幸福期许的爱の小部落!

Monday, August 01, 2005

Delivering my new blog ...




After a series of contemplation, I finally have made it!

A few weeks ago, I was still contemplating between to blog, or not to blog. I never am a good player when it comes to game that requires perseverance. Oh well, we'll see how things go.

Being a PC-idiot, I've come across many PC jargons while playing with the settings, choosing a template, etc. Sigh, I guess getting a PC-literate personnel around me is crucial now, eh?

No matter what, this will be my designated web-home, ha!

Let this weblog be the place to gather felicity stories.
Let this weblog be the place to cherish felicity memories.

Let this weblog be the place to create felicity moments.
Let this weblog be the place to jot down felicity elements.

May everyone be showered by your felicity wishes!

Welcome to my felicity corner!
^_^

 

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