Jer hit 3!

A few minutes ago, Jer was hitting the new chapter of his life. The big 3. Now, he is OFFICIALLY in chapter 3, 1 day into it to be exact! heee...

Our usual Bday / anniversary celebration is to go for a meal. I suggested Ma Maison at Bugis, but he wanted Seoul Garden. And so, Seoul Garden we went.

Food's ok. But I do think that variety is much lesser as compared to the past.

Only thing I really really dislike is to smell like BBQ. My hair, clothes, bag and even my HP! =( I'm wondering how long its gonna take before the lingering smell clears. *sigh*

Anyway, I was early and I waited and waited and waited. From an empty restaurant, I waited till it was full and still no signs of the Bday boi!

Oh well, at least we had a window seat. Overlooks Liang Seah street. This lane does brings back memories, we used to come here often when we were doing our wedding prep. Our bridal shop is just down the lane.

I was so bored, till I snapped pics of the spanking clean BBQ hotplate and steamboat bowl. And my own reflection from what is supposed to be Jer's seat. I finally can't take it any longer and so I cooked while waiting, I thought he should be hungry by the time he arrives, can start eating no need wait. And when I was done, he's still not here!Fast forward to after dinner and we asked 1 of the staff to help us take a pic.

First shot. I like this shot. Only thing is, I had to crop the pic as the manager of the store choose this moment to walk out and he's in the frame.

Second shot.Blur. =(

So, that leaves just 1 good shot.

Nevertheless, can any of you tell that my left lower eye lid is swollen? I was a little uncomfortable since yesterday but earlier today, it got more and more uncomfortable and starting to irritate me. Towards the end of the day, it hurts a little too.

Sigh... another episode of eye infection I guess. I just recovered from the last one less than 2 weeks ago! Maybe the bacteria is too strong as I let it heal naturally without going to the doc and the bacteria did not clear totally. I guess, I must go to the doc if the swell is still here on Sunday.

But still, Happy Birthday, Hubby! Love you always!!!

11 years

Today marks the 11th year that Hub and I have been together since day 1 when we first got together.

It's been a long long time.

And to mark our 11th year anniversary, we had to get a plumber to come in to fix our toilets. -_-"

The silly toilets had been leaking for some time now and finally, we moved our ass in getting a plumber to come in.

OHH... Now then I know, the water tank can be removed like this! (Bedroom toilet)Bedroom toilet DONE. Lots of tools...Plumber working on the kitchen toilet.
This silly white thing (that the plumber was trying to saw through) costs us $50 JUST to replace! Made of gold or what?!

Like so easy lor and it took him less than an hour to do both toilets!

He merely changed the flushing system inside and then fix the tank back to the wall! And it costs us $270! *ouch*

Now we have 2 perfectly good flushing systems... in fact too good lor. The new system is so powerful that we use too much water! And coz this is an old bowl, there is no half flush with the knob!! *sigh* Means my water bills will increase... got to find some ways to save water.

Heart pain things aside, hubby and I went to J8 for dinner.

KFC.

Sinful but finger licking good you know. heee....

Walked around and we came back with a Monkey cushion from Mini Toons. Hubby sponsored half.. hahahaha..I like this monkey. So cute! I needed a new back cushion for office, the ones I have are already flatten. Time to change.

Best of all, it has another function! Serves as hand warmers!!! Perfect for my ever freezing fingers in office! That's hubby demostrating the warmers effects.

I saw a similiar one in Ikea before, was tempted to get it then, but that is very small and it was socks popping out so can't really lean comfortably on it. Anyway, that was supposed to be for kids to keep their feet warm and to prevent them from kicking away the blankets or something to that effect, that's why it has the socks thing.

and a black top from Cotton onWanted to get a black racer back, can't find any and happen to see this, and it's only $10. Get lor.

Took a walk back home after that in the cool night.

Certainly felt good to be strolling home with hubby... it seems like ages ago when we last did that too!

Yet, another adddition

I always nag my mom that she buys far too many pots and pans for the family... and I think I truly am her daughter.

I am doing the very same thing!!

Brand new Stainless Steel Tiger Thermal Magic Cooker, 6L.
Now, I can make my soups... something that I ALWAYS say to myself on purchase of a new pot. =/

Thing is, I have the Tanyu pots, Slow cooker all of which, I'm hardly using.

And my reasons for getting this Tiger Thermal Magic cooker?

I have to watch the fire for Tanyu pots... a luxury that I do not have. My Tanyu pot is now for porridge and barley water. Such a waste hor.

Slow cooker is easy, but the soups n food is blah... Hubby finds it ok. But I find the product soooooo blah!!

Now, with this Magic Cooker, I can just boil my soups over the stove in the mornings and then leave it in the outer case and have good soup for dinner! Maybe even desserts or some tonics...

Plus, I've been aiming at this pot for the last 3 years and it's only now that I'm getting it... So I really must put it to good use in order to fully make it worth my amount spent.

So happened that my mom is not cooking today, so, after a super long period, Hubby and I went grocery shopping after mass today!

And for dinner, we had pre-mixed rice (influenced by Clement & Wise)Carrot & Corn soup (in the new pot) re-heat on stove after cooking in the outer casing for a few hours - sorry very dark. I was blocking the light...Scrambled eggs with ham and tomatoes on lettuceAnd altogether, our dinner...

Rice with a soup and a dish.Pardon the newspaper, we are too lazy to clean up so with a newspaper, we can then just throw every single thing, have a simple dinner without worrying about splashing food on the table.

Conclusion...

Rice was ok. I was silently thanking God that the grains was not too hard... First time cooking mixed rice, not sure of the amount of water needed.

Eggs not bad. I mean how wrong can eggs go?

Soup.. ahh.... added too much water. Also, in future will get those bi-coloured corn instead as it is sweeter as compared to these pure yellow ones. But overall, can taste the sweetness of the corns and carrots. Just that silly me added too much water. The soup looks too clear to be nice. =(

I wanted to cook more soup so that I can have it for dinner for tomorrow and also some for hubby when he comes home after class. But... greedy lor...

Anyway, I shall practise more often so that I can get it right! It's getting sooo boring to keep eating outside food!

So sad lor, Hubby was not being encouraging at all. =( He was like "You sure, you will use the pot?"

=(

But then again, to give him credits, he did the washing up after we finished dinner. And he did say "After May, can cook more often already" coz that's when my exams would have ended. And he did went grocery shopping with me, lug the food back and also to volunteer to help in the kitchen.

So all in not that bad la.

OHH!!! When I was frying the eggs, hubby was helping me by covering the splattering frying pan (frying ham) with newspaper and our converation went like this...

Hub: "We probably are the only ones who fry things like this. Where got people use newspaper to cover oil wan?!"
Me: "No! I grew up seeing my mom do this especially when frying fish. Don't your mom do that?"
Hub: "No lei."
Me (Shocked): "Then how she fry things?"
Hub (matter of factly) : "Let the oil splatter lor"
Me (even more shocked):"Har??? Then after that, it's such a mess to clean up!!!!"
Me (casually):"Oh.. Then your mom and I cannot own the same kitchen... sure argue lei."
Hub: "Sometimes used the metal cover..."
Me: "Oh. Then it's ok la. Got cover can already, but not let oil splatter so messy and oily and so troublesome to clean up. But cover still got to wash ma, newspaper can throw."
Hub: "Ya lor, oily" followed by silence....

So people, how do YOU fry your things?

I'm the lazy sort. The less things to wash and clean up the better. If I can juse 1 plate for everything, I would! But I can't, so too bad.

But still, I'll try very hard to minimise the number of plates, pots and things that I got to use.

大年初七

It's everybody's Birthday!!! =)

Happy Birthday to one and all!

We went for mass at CTK in the morning and then dropped by Courts in AMK, I wanted to take a look at the HP mobile phone as I am contemplating one... But oh well, they don't have it, so too bad.

I think at this moment in time, I should be getting the Samsung Omnia. If I can convince myself that it is all right to be using the same model as my mgr and another colleague (all in the same department!) then I will get Nokia E66. Or if I can convince myself that the buttons of Sony Ericsson G705 will get seasoned with use, then I'll get that. After all, the G705 is the cheapest of the lot and still meet my requirements of having WiFi!

Anyway... we had a steamboat dinner at my Grandma's place. First time, having steamboat dinner there and we also have the traditional "Lo Hei" after dinner. Should be before dinner but the adults say after dinner then "Lo" then after dinner lor.

Lots of laughter with my sisters and all the other relatives.

Sitting here blogging just drives home the fact that tml is back to work for me. I should not be grumbling, after all, I've had a week long CNY break. Not many are as lucky as me to have such a long break.

Hope that the new work year will be a smooth sailing one!

Udon

Another dinner that I made from the cookbook.With the leftover frozen mixed veggies and the remaining block of toufu, I decided to just add everything plus some more other ingredients into the Udon noodles for dinner.

As usual, I followed what I understand of the recipe, the rest, I modified and edited.

For the soup base, I just went to NTUC to buy the pre-pack miso soup base. Throw in some chinese mushrooms and scallops (to make the soup sweet) and wait for the pot of water to boil. Add in marinated chicken (pepper, hua diao jiu, salt) and mixed veggies after the pot of soup of mushroom and chicken has boiled.

Continue to simmer on low heat while I go take my shower.

After my shower, add in those white scallops followed by Udon. Wait to boil. Meanwhile cut the block of toufu and put into serving bowls. I did not add the toufu to the soup as the toufu are those super soft and meant to be eaten cold not for boiling soups kind. So I just cut and then pour the whole pot of soup, Udon and the rest to cover the toufu.

Serve. Our dinner of Mixed Veggies Udon in Mushrooms, Chicken & Scallops.

I think passable. The ingredients sounds weird, not Chinese not Japanese. But ultimately, as long as can eat, and Hub say "OK" I think can already la.

Definitely room for improvement but at least I am trying.

A Home Cooked Dinner at long last!

After a very very very long time, I finally decided that I will once again step into the under utilized kitchen and cook a simple dinner for ourselves.

I guess it started because of that 2 simple cookbooks I got in KL. What better way to start with a simple meal and since Hub has no class and I've finished exams for this semester! =)

I decided to make Japanese rice with egg and chicken. So during lunch, the lunch kaki and I went to AMK Hub for lunch where I also went to buy my chicken, frozen veggies, toufu and Yakitori sauce to prepare for dinner.

But I always prefer my meals with veggies... so I modified the given recipe and added in frozen mixed veggies. End up... My chicken becomes very colorful with the mixed veggies =P I think it's still acceptable! I did not really follow the given recipe and instructions exactaly. What I did was stir fry the onions and mixed veggies till almost done. Add in marinated chicken (in Yakitori sauce), water and continue to stir fry. When chicken is almost done, add in 2 beaten eggs, simmer for just 5-10 seconds and off the fire.

By this time, the japanese rice (Short Grain Rice) is done, pour all the chicken into the rice cooker to keep warm and to cook the egg so that the egg will still be watery and soft.

And I love the Japanese Cold toufu! So I decided to make that as well. Only thing is, I added Enoki (not sure how to spell) mushrooms, spring onions and bacon bits. VOILA! A little of "East meets West" but added crunch from the bacon bits and not to mention, it looks so much more colorful too!Hub commented. "WAH! So convenient! Don't even need to cook!" I retorted "Says who! I got to lightly boil the mushrooms lei!"

For the sauce, just mixed the yakitori with some water, soak the cooked enoki mushrooms and pour it over the toufu. Chuck it back into the fridge to keep it chilled till it's ready to be eaten.

Then, we go bathe! hahaha.... so that we can have a nice meal after our shower and I've also heard that showering after dinner is not good and it adds weight! So, as far as possible, we try to shower BEFORE eating. hahahahaha..

Our dinner on 27 Nov. Home cooked Japanese Rice with Egg and Chicken with a twist and Cold Toufu.Pardon the newspaper.... We usually eat in front of the TV at the coffee table and we are just too lazy to even wipe the table after eating, so with the newspapers, just crunch everything up and throw. =P

Hub said it was Good. =D And I'm happy that he likes it.

The Ingredients (serves 4)....
1. Dashi, 250 ml
2. Sugar, 1 Tbsp
3. Mirin, 4 Tbsp
4. Japanese light soya sauce, 4 Tbsp
(no idea what iall the above are, I used Yakitori sauce to replace items 1 to 4!)
5. Large onion, 1, peeled and thinly sliced into rings
6. Chicken fillet, 250 g, cut into small cubes. (I used chicken tigh, cut into bite size)
7. Eggs, 4 large, lightly beaten (I used 2 normal sized eggs)
8. Cooked Japanese Rice, 300 g (Short Grain Rice, 3/4 cup)
9. Shichimi togarashi (No idea what it is, replaced with Yakitori sauce)

Instead of Yakitori, other japanese sauce can be used too!

and the Instructions...
1. Combine items 1 to 4 in a bowl and bring to boil in a pan.
2. Add onions rings and chicken cubes and turn heat to hight. Cook for 2-3 minutes ensuring Chicken is evenly cooked. (I just heat olive oil, lightly fry mixed veggies and onions, then add Yakitori sauce and water to dilute the sauce and lastly chicken marinated in the yakitori.)
3. Pour in eggs covering chicken and onion rings. Cover pan and leave for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and leave to stand for about 1 minute, allowing eggs to cook lightly but remain soft.
4. Divide into portions, pour warm egg mixture over each bowl, sprinkle with nanami togarshi or Japanese seven-spice seasoning to taste. (To keep the food warm, I just pour the whole thing into the rice cooker. No need to add seasoning as the yakitori sauce does it all.)

That's all. Simple isn't it!

Cold Toufu is even easier!
1. Remove the toufu from the plastic container.
2. Rinse it under cold running tap water, place on plate.
3. Mixed yakitori sauce (or other sauce) with water.
4. Pour mixture over toufu. (I felt that it's a little too plain, hence added Enoki mushrooms, spring onions and bacon bits... these, I anyhow add, not even sure how it would taste.... But Thank God. It's not too bad!)
5. Chuck back into fridge and only take it out when it's ready to be serve.

Was a good and simple meal.