: : mum-mum : : eat-eat : :

: : Homemade Tomato Paste

2009-02-23T11:53:00.001+08:00

Hmm...something to do this weekend...

Link 1 : Tips on removing tomato skin

Link 2 : Making the tasty sauce.

: : Busy weekend : :

2009-02-22T22:06:00.003+08:00

Yeah, it's been busy as I tried making carrot soup from scratch since I couldn't find a pumpkin to make pumpkin soup instead. Now I understand why these soups are so hard to make fresh i.e. not using ingredients from the can.

I took the recipe from a book titled "Just 5 Things" from a Singapore Publishing Company named Page One. I modified the recipe abit :

2 Mandarin Oranges
1/2 kilo of Carrots (grated)
1 large onion (sliced)
Few stalks of fresh coriader
Some Thyme & Oregano (a wee bit)
1 teaspoon of Curry Powder
1/2 teaspon of vegetable stock (postnote : probably added in too much)

First the oranges. I should just have juiced them next time rather than try to peel the skin off. The thing about Mandarin Oranges is that there's so much fibre in them, unlike Clementines or Satsumas. Anyway, I removed most of the segment skins and seeds and blended the sacs together. Then poured it together with the grated carrots and onions and the rest of the ingredients and boiled them for awhile until they soften. Then blended everything together and reboiled. I'm amazed that there was literally complete 4 servings as mentioned in the book.

Now the curry powder, because I forgot to ask Granny where she put her Chicken Curry Mix, I used her Fish Curry spices instead. Oh well. Still though, the hint of curry is just nice but it would have been better with pumpkin soup.

Now this is really the lazy men fare. Fettucine tuna but I got very lazy because the carrot grating just irritated me to bits.

1 large tomato
1 can of "No Salt" Tuna by Ayam Brand
1 medium onion
Oregano
Olive Oil
Boiled Fettucine
1 tsp of capers (rinsed to removed the salt in them)

Lightly fried the onion in olive until soft. Then added in the chopped tomato as well as the tuna and oregano. Then because it didn't seem that tasty, I added in some rinsed capers. >.> Ok, the capers were salty so I guess the label was misleading.

: : Making Carrot Soup : :

2009-02-21T22:34:00.003+08:00

1/2 kilo of carrots grated. HALF KILO!!!

I now have more respect towards those chefs in the kitchen who has to do so much grating and cutting just to do a blended/cream type of soup.

At the moment, the soup is being cooled down so that I can zap it into the blender and see how it taste like in the end. Keeping my fingers crossed that it turns out alrite >.>

Oh, and surprisingly, it came out pretty sweet considering that I haven't added any sugar inside. I did juice up 2 Mandarin Oranges so it could be coming from that too.

: : Alternate salt mix : :

2009-02-21T00:28:00.002+08:00

And apparently, it's from Reader's Digest and reposted in Allrecipes.com.

10. Replace salt in the saltshaker with a salt-free mixture. This way you can still use the shaker, but hold off on the salt, says Jennifer Leslie, R.D., a clinical dietitian at the Clarian Heart Failure Clinic in Indianapolis. Mix garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, and oregano together. Grind the mix fine enough for it to come out the shaker's holes, or buy a Parmesan cheese shaker from a kitchen supply store. Another fun mixture is garlic, onion and chili powder, cumin, dried oregano, and a touch of red pepper flakes.

Sounds yummy. Ok, going to

: : Post Meal pack : :

2009-02-20T12:05:00.004+08:00

A few lessons learnt about the food I've packed for today.

Apple + Mandarin Oranges + Yogurt
Bad. Too much fibre in the drink and I think I had some seeds floating around. Going to put in more effort in removing the skin and all. Plus, do a more thorough check of the seeds as well. I thought I took everything out but guess looks are deceiving. Also, use only one orange and not two, else the taste is overwhelming.

Salad
Surprisingly, it came out very sweet after settling for a day. Raisins and balsamic vinegar had soak in really well overnight. For a moment though, I thought it was going to be very bland and tasteless like the ones I made before (I didn't cut the grapes up).

Chicken Sandwich
Again, another suprise. The ginger gave the chicken as really really nice taste and the onions that had caramelized, gave it a bit of a sweetish flavour. And, because it was lightly pan-fried, tasted pretty good, considering that I didn't add in any other filling in.

Tomorrow to-do list :
Morning - Goto an Organic Food Shop and see what unsweetened dried fruits that they have (and hopefully doesn't cost a bomb)
Afternoon - Head on down to Boulevard Hypermarket with Granny to have a looksee there.

Need to make a shopping list...

: : Making Food Pack III : :

2009-02-19T22:26:00.004+08:00

I shouldn't be calling the past few posts "Making Lunches" when I'm also making my breakfast.

The last of Grannie's dragonfruit drink. That's the purple one

Dragonfruit Smoothie
1 dragonfruit
2 Mandarin Oranges (leftovers from CNY)
6 small ice cubes

This was my desert treat for today for being so good. I should really watch out the sugar level. But at the moment, it's really very very nice eating all these fruits this way.

Orange, Apple Smoothie
1 Fuji Apple
2 Mandarin Oranges (we just had too many of them leftover after CNY)
1 small pack Nestle Fat-Free Yogurt

My breakfast for tomorrow is that yellow thing on the right. Ok, last time I'll make an Orange + Apply combination in a long long while. Going to start hunting for bananas, mangos and other fruits that I will put through the blender just to see what will pop up and all.

Chicken Sandwich
1/4 chicken breast
Small slices of ginger
Small slices of onion
White bread from UNACO Supermarket

Actually, the chicken would have been my dinner meal but decided to eat the fried egg instead. The chicken looks brown because I think the onion was cook until it slightly caramelized and gave the chicken that brown color. Believe it or not, there wasn't any salt in it but the natural sweetness of the onion and the zesty flavour of ginger did help. But I must admit that this kind of fare is not for me for the longterm, so I'll be looking for ways and means to have a nicer lunch.

Now, one thing that is very good is the white bread from UNACO Supermarket. This is better tasting than the usual bakery bread that is found in standalone bakeries. Now the thing I'm not sure is what makes it so nice, other than the fact than it's cut very thick. It's extremely light and fluffy and not at all salty like other bread around. However, I have to start eating wholemeal soon and I'm only just finishing up the leftover white bread.

Weekend coming soon and so I'll have more time to study what on earth I want to eat for my breakfast and lunch next week. I have a lot of leftover food to think of how to eat. Maybe something with pasta or egg just to finish the bacon but not to overdo it.

Postnote :

Attempt at salad #2. Urgh. I think I'm going to avoid lettuce for awhile and just get the other stuff. Gets extremely boring after awhile.

Anyway, this time, I've sliced the salad into smaller pieces. The new ingredients are carrots, yellow bell pepper and raisins. No grapes this time but the celery, cucumber and slice lettuce are there. Oh yeah, this time, I've removed the center of the cucumber. I put some balsamic vinegar but I still need something in there. On shopping list : more herbs and spices!!!

2 more days till week #1 of low sodium diet is over. Sina' was right. Take it easy. Next week, I'm going to bring some soup to work and see if I can last through a lunch like that.

: : Making Lunches Part II : :

2009-02-18T23:24:00.003+08:00

I think I know what to do when it comes to low sodium diet but it's going to take awhile before I get used to shopping for eating for 3 meals a day. This is a drastic change from eating home during dinnertime only.

This evening was an event of getting enough stuff to make breakfast, lunch and a tea-time snack tomorrow. So, just to make it easier, I made extra helpings for the lunch and to bring some break tomorrow. I just hope that I made enough. Still not too sure about how much I should be eating.

Morning : Smoothie

Easy to do since Granny unearth her blender that she has had since 2006 but we've never used it. So, it was a homemade frutie smoothie with :

1 Fuji Apple from China
1 Orange from China
1 Nestle Fat-free Natural Yogurt that I paid for 1/2 price compared to recommended retail price.

Blended it all together in the food blender and surprisingly came out sweeter than I had expected. This is considering that I didn't add in any extra sugar into it.

Lunch + Teatime : Salad with Tuna & Corn Mix

Well, I started out wanting to do a simple Tuna sandwich with a side salad but I got caught up doing it that I made extras.

Tuna & Corn Mix
1 LIGO Can of Corn
1 AYAM Brand No-Salt Tuna
1 tbsp of Kraft fat-free Mayo
1 tbsp of pepper

Well, seriously, anything that comes out in a can would contain salt but I was out of ideas on how to get hold of corn without having to clean the cob. Besides, I'm still trying to work out a way to deal with cooking meat at night for meals the next day.

Anyway, with the corn, I rinse out the corn twice in the futility that a lot of salt would be removed (fat chance). Ah well. This weekend is going to be a major shopping day and exploration as well as discovery of all things healthy and green.

The No-Salt Tuna was a very pleasant surprise but I doubt that I'll get the chance to eat it that often. I tried to find the link online but it looks like their website doesn't have a dedicated link to their products. Tasting it, there is definitely the lack of salt presence.

So, finally, the KRAFT Fat-free mayonaise. Yes, it's low in fat but sadly, not low in salt. Yikes! Hmm....and I think I put a dab bit too much so must put less. Apparently, 1 tablespoon is already about 750 mg of sodium. On the other hand, another website posted the sodium content as only 160 mg. I have to check the labels again but anyway, only added a bit just to give some taste to the mix.

Salad :
1/2 cup sliced lettuce
1/2 cup cucumber (dice)
1/2 cup celery (dice)
1 tomato (dice)
1/2 cup seedless red grapes
1 teaspoon of Balsamic vinegar

I had an incident with the vinegar. Should have used a spoon. Instead, the entire salad got splashed with about 1/2 cup of it. Haha! So, had to rinse the salad and pour it out.

Needless to say that this entire exercise took about 1 hour because I made some smoothie from cucumber + carrot which didn't taste very nice (and ended up being thrown away). Plus, although I didn't put it up, as a reward for making the efford to do this, I made myself an ice-blended dragonfruit smoothie (which Granny like).

I foresee a lot of broken blenders in the upcoming days.

And hopefully, I can get more ideas on what to do in the upcoming days.

: : The sodium spotcheck : :

2009-02-18T13:14:00.002+08:00

Well, it looks like cooking for low-sodium diets isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

There are a lot of Malaysian Food Products that totally excludes sodium from the content list. So, we know the reason for Malaysia's number #1 killer, eh? :)

Although with A1, I think they may have done a copy and paste of their product to list them all as having less than 2400mg of sodium, from the soup mix to the roast chicken mix to etc.

Going shopping today and see what I can pack for lunch sandwich over the next few days and plan my next week's meal.

: : Making Lunches Part I : :

2009-02-17T23:27:00.002+08:00

Well, let's just say that I got a big wakeup call to life. So, time to make lunches again. And hunting around for interesting recipes for lunch sure isn't that easy. Especially when one is looking for salt content in food. That's when one realises that the Malaysian Food Companies exclude them out most of the time. Only the imported goods from USA have them. Oh well.

Will have to do more planning for this endeavour. Biggest one yet. :)

: : Homemade Gluhwein : :

2008-11-12T02:04:00.004+08:00

Updated with pictures :

The frog is thirsty and the wine is heated up with some herbs and lemon rings. :) Yummy! Needed some sugar added in as well. :)

My friendly German colleague invited me to dinner at her house after taking me to a trip to a famous castle in Thueringia called Wartburg Castle. Her husband and only son join us. It was a nice trip and very breathtaking. Like the olden days, we climb up a hill to get there.

After the trip, we headed to her home and she made some Gluhwein for me. Yum! It's basically heated red wine with some lemon juice and spices in it. Very nice after a cold day.

Trying to get the pictures up on a slow line is a pain. Will get it up later. Time for bed! Jetlag, urgh.

: : Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches : :

2008-10-23T22:35:00.005+08:00

I first got an invitation in the email to join a Foodie Community some time in the early part of 2008. They were different from the other Foodie Community as they had a more organized way to getting the food information around the world. Plus, love the layout and information.

FoodBuzz : Find Flavor, Share Taste

Took me awhile to put up the buttons as I searched for a spot to put the button. That's when I realised that the template I had put up had made all the fonts white in the Archive Posts. Hence, yet another template format change and hopefully this time, people can read the archives properly now.

They have since made an Official Launch of the site on Oct 13, 2008.

The Food Blogging Community in Kuching is healthy and alive from what I see from the Foodbuzz. And with more and more restaurants opening daily, there are definitely more things to write about.

Anyway, that's all from me at the moment. I'm going to be away for 2 weeks in Germany on a business trip so I'll try to take some pictures and get them posted up. Erfurt and Dresden are beautiful cities with many nice places to showcase food galore. Problem is that my camera is going through a bit of teething problem so we'll see how good the pictures are.

Until then, cheerio!

p.s A note to Walter and Angela who are persistent in reminding me to blog again, I should write about your restaurant, no? :) I'll pop by one of these days to do it.

: : Allton Bernard Pasang : :

2008-08-09T00:40:00.004+08:00

My cousin has passed on in life. He will be greatly missed.

My late cousin has moved on. He will be miss greatly.

: : 7-15 Jun ~ KL, Dresden, Erfut : :

2008-07-09T15:43:00.003+08:00

On 7-15 Jun 2008, I was in KL, Dresden and Erfurt, Germany. Well, KL was in Malaysia but Dresden and Erfurt were historical cities in Germany.

Here are some pictures with some of the captions. Was a wee bit lazy to do separate posts so enjoy them here.

: : My Little Plot of Land : :

2008-02-01T13:22:00.000+08:00

Come visit my virtual city : http://cahaya-remi.myminicity.com/

Pretty....

....empty at the moment. Oh well.

: : News for 2008 : :

2008-01-16T09:08:00.000+08:00

Grats to Sam for winning the White Pepper Draw (Menu for Hope 4). Prize will be heading to you in the mail.

On the other hand, since I'm playing World of Warcraft for the last 1.5 years, I've started a forum for Malaysian WoW Players called "Jom Wow!" Was kinda tired of how the newcomers were being treatead in some of the forums as well as getting irritated with the moderators in others. Minimalist site because it's free and hopefully will answer questions to WoW. Postings and community chats are slow but hopefully traffic will pick up.

: : Menu for Hope 4 ~ AP09 500g of homegrown white pepper : :

2007-12-11T00:28:00.000+08:00

It's now round 4 for the next Menu for Hope. I help out in the first round and it was a fun time giving stuff away for a good cause. For more information about the raffle, more details are listed here. And as always, Chez Pim is ever the gracious host.

So, my raffle prize is 500g of Granny's homegrown white pepper. It'll be mailed anywhere in the world. The pepper is definitely more mellow than the white pepper found commercially because it is grown organically and Granny, of course, took much care growing it. And as she claims, it is not soaked with dried chilli in water. The taste is different and the peppery taste comes slowly after a few seconds of tasting it.

Prize code is AP09 so donate USD10 now for a ticket to win it. Don't forget to put down the prize code (which is the raffle ticket number for the draw, in the Special Message column. When entering your details, please make sure it's (number of tickets) x (ticket code). And it's USd10 per ticket!

Here's a list of what's available in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific, hosted by Helen from Grab Your Fork. It's a lot of stuff. But the worldwide list is even bigger.

It's pretty easy to win it and this year there's a lot of prizes to be won. I'm going to try and see if I can win AP14 Demonstration of Chef baking beautiful cakes. So it's basically just 2 prizes from Malaysia this year.

Postnote to Australians : You might want to select another prize. The Australian Quarantine Laws in Australia looks to be pretty tight so most likely, the above item will be consficated. Since the pepper is considered dried herbs, it will be picked up by the sniffer dogs. Sorry about this.

: : Arriving in Erfurt, Germany : :

2007-11-04T18:35:00.000+08:00

Having slept most of Saturday and Sunday away, here are some of the details of the journey to Erfurt, Germany.

From Frankfurt Airport, we caught the high-speed InterCity Express (ICE) train from Frankfurt Airport to Frankfurt Mains where we changed trains to Erfurt. The journey took a little over 2 hours to reach there although the speed of the train was very fast. Speeds were either over 200 km/hr or 168 km/hr, depending on which part of the land we were. Not sure why the train speed was different although probably the railroad tracks had something to do with it.

We stayed relatively close to the train station at the Mercure Hotel Erfurt Altstadt. It's tuck away in a little corner right in center of where the trams meet. Erfurt is a very beautiful and picturesque city where many of the old buildings are still standing up to today. It's also the state capital city of the Thuringia state. Here are some pictures of the city :

This is a picture of a building built on top of a few bridges. There's a little brook running underneath the building which is split into 3 small channels whilst flowing underneath the bridge.

Another side view of a nearby building near this bridge.

This is how the bridge looks like from the top. It's full of quaint little shops selling handicrafts and also very very old books.

A lot of the older part of the city looks like this although some of the facades are different from the others. The city council subsidies some of the maintenance cost of maintaining the facade of the building.

For lunch, we had something to eat at a quaint little Italian restaurant nearby. The square that you see is known as the Firschmarkt a.k.a. the Fish Market. They no longer sell fish there anymore but the name stayed.

Me, being me, was feeling very cold so decided to have some of the traditional German mulled wine known as Glünwein. The one at this restaurant wasn't that great but it was hot enough to keep me very warm.

A bowl of minestrone soup for me. Yes, I was feeling very cold throughout the trip.

Seafood spaghetti is what my boss ordered. It came with some mussels (which I had later on for 3 days in a row in Rotterdam but that's another tale).

My colleague had a risotto instead as he wanted something with rice.

I went for the Gnocchi without knowing what it was. But suffice to say that it was very nice and everything ended up in my stomach. One of the major problems about food blogging from another country is knowing the names of the food that you're eating.

As I post new pictures up, I'll also be updating my Google Maps link on all the places I've been during this trip. Here is the link to Google Maps.

: : Canon Powershot TX1 : :

2007-11-03T19:23:00.000+08:00

Elo elo! It's been awhile since I last posted here so thought I'd give a few updates to friends and family. I just got back from a trip to Germany and Netherlands (Holland) for both business and pleasure.

Well, along the way there, it was a quick trip down to Kuala Lumpur to LowYat Plaza to get a new digital camera. Yes, I've had many different models over the years and my last one was a huge EOS 30D. But I felt it was time to really go back to having a slim camera and my itty bitty Sony Ericsson W800i doesn't count.

And so, I walk away from Fotokem about RM1,699 (USD485) poorer but it came bundled with a great package of a free Canon Selphy Printer CP750, a whopping 4GB SDHC Card and a free case. Of course, including a protective screen layer for the LCD monitor.

This is definitely a good buy and I was so shock at the video quality. Ok, granted that the picture got noisy when I moved the camera alot but other than that, can't complain. The original videos came out very crisp and very clear. The noise probably came from the sensor having to refocus all the time and processing a lot of image data as well from all the moving about. My 2 big gripes are on the Red-Eye Reduction feature which doesn't work during picture taking and also the fact that the On-Off button doesn't work that well i.e. having to press it a bit longer than usual just to get it to work.

On a side note, I enjoy going to the Fotokem Outlet at LowYat because there always have very good bundles for the camera and the staff are very knowledgeable about the cameras and stuff. Ok, so the Selphy 750 was dusty which actually brought to my mind on how on earth can a brand new printer, still in it's original plastic packaging, come out very dusty. Thought that Canon's quality control would be better than expected but strangely no. So, ho hum.

Anyway, pictures of the trip to Germany and Holland coming soon with text.

: : Having Fun with Google Maps + Google Earth : :

2007-06-01T23:12:00.001+08:00

Well, today is my last day in Michigan and probably one of the last few chances I'll get to use free WiFi. A lot of the international airports don't offer free WiFi so oh well.

Anyway, I made a Google Map of all the places I've been to during this trip. It's been a whirlwind journey so far but seriously fun. Check it out here :

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=105120891051527761188.00000112dd6b29365302d&om=1&ll=27.994401,-154.335937&spn=119.257223,326.953125&z=2

: : Alarming Crustacean @ Red Lobster : :

2007-05-30T22:28:00.000+08:00

Oh yeah, when I mean that it was eating at Alarming Crustacean, I wasn't kidding. Eating lobster was an experience at the Red Lobster Restaurant at Lubbock. My boss' wife wanted to have some of their lobsters and their huge snowshoe crab. And seriously, we polish them off as well as 2 bottles of wine between 4 people.

So, here's the video for you all to enjoy. Again, the auto-focus is being a pain but just reinforces the fact that I need to get myself a flashlight or videolight for the handycam.

You know, it's easier than I expected it to be and making videos has been a fun process so far. It's not as boring as I thought it would be although it also still needs time to prepare it. But I need to find a source for music tracks that are royalty free or CC free.

Link to Red Lobster site. Funny thing about this website is that there Store Locator is not working at all or I'm not putting in the right searches. Then again, if you put in the search for Texas, nothing shows up anyway. Going to drop them a mail after this.

: : Biiiiigggg steaks @ Cagle Steaks : :

2007-05-25T19:00:00.000+08:00

Yep, big steaks alright. I'm getting used to using Windows Movie Maker now but have to look for some better music pieces to attach on to give better video viewing experience.

Here's the link over at Youtube.com. I sure am going to miss this fast internet connection.

And it's still a pain that YouTube videos can't be embedded into Blogger posts yet. Oh well.

Postnote : Google Map directions to get there.

: : Jazz, Restaurant : :

2007-05-25T11:26:00.000+08:00

I'm not exactly too sober at the moment. Somehow, 2 large margharitas does that to a person.

Anyway, here's a link to the Jazz Kitchen in Lubbock, Texas, USA. Delicious. :)

http://www.jazzkitchen.com

Postnote : Google Map directions to get there.

: : Shogun of Japan, Hibachi Steak House : :

2007-05-24T11:17:00.000+08:00

Hi all,

I'm trying putting up YouTube.com videos. I got myself a Sony HDD Handycam DCR-SR62 and have been having fun with it the past few days. The only problem is that Blogger doesn't allow YouTube embedded videos until it's link up with Google Accounts. Or so it's been notified since Sept 2006. So, at the moment, it's just a link to the relevant video page.

I"m currently on a business trip to Lubbock, Texas, USA. And here are some videos of the Japanese Steak House we went to, known as Shogun.

The front of the restaurant. It was very quaint. Plus, it has been 4-5 days since I last ate rice so the sight of rice was a pleasure. An added bonus was that they either used Thai or Japanese small grain rice. Yummy.

The chef's introduction. It's a bit blurry because there's not enough light coming from the handycam so was having a tough time to focus on a post.

Cooking Fried Rice. Klak klak klak klak. ^_^

Meat cooking time. By then, we were extremely hungry and couldn't wait for the food to come out.

And finally, the veggie bit that is getting cooked.

Postnote : Directions using Google Map.

: : Test post : :

2007-01-09T17:43:00.000+08:00

Am checking out the new blogging interface. To see how fast are the post loaded up.

Getting into the new interface is alright but not the Google speed expected. Hopefully that will improve over time.

: : Some updates : :

2006-12-07T09:45:00.000+08:00

My old harddisk crashed. Bah! Ok, so that translates to literally hundreds of foodie goodie pictures gone. And that's pictures that hasn't been up yet. Should have backup the data but oh well.

As for lack of posts, getting into the blog editor is a real pain over the past few months.

However, will try to put something up of my Plymouth trip. :)

: : Tabuan Jaya & Streamyx : :

2006-10-19T13:44:00.000+08:00

Anyone in Tabuan Jaya having problems with connecting to Streamyx since Tuesday nite?

And yes, I paid my bill. :P

: : A Quiet Moment : :

2006-10-02T11:59:00.000+08:00

My aunt, Cecilia Holmes, passed away quietly yesterday afternoon at 4:30 pm, Sydney time in Australia. She was in the hospital for a few weeks now due to Hepatitis B infection in her liver. She leaves behind 2 beautiful girls.

I'll always remember my Aunt Cecilia as a chirpy person and jovial. She used to live with us for a few months in Miri during her bachelor days. I was a young primary school girl then. Both me and my sister.

In view of this, I'll not be blogging until after the funeral service is over. Got a new pc so still setting it up.

Check back in a week or two.

: : sob : :

2006-09-27T17:48:00.000+08:00

PC went back into the shop (so to speak) because the motherboard slot for the graphic card doesn't fit the card. Ah well. Hopefully, I'll get it back by Friday if the new motherboard can reach Kuching in time.

Other than that, have been checking out the Nintendo Wii prices in both UK and USA. Eep. Steep. And region lock again. Aiyo.

: : Updates : :

2006-09-22T12:51:00.000+08:00

Yes yes, I know. It's been a really long while since I last put up any updates. Please bear with me until this weekend.

I got my PC parts with me at home. The only thing left to do is to goto the shops tomorrow and find a nice casing.

Then, it's back home to install everything and hopefully, I'll be good to go by Sunday. That is, after all the defrag that needs to be done after all the installation and data transfers.

After that, pictures of the UK trip will be put up.

: : London : :

2006-09-15T21:52:00.000+08:00

Somehow, I was heading to Bond Street and found myself in the Apple Shop in London. :)

: : Plymouth, UK! : :

2006-09-08T18:39:00.000+08:00

Passport : Done.
Flight Ticket : Done.

I'm off to Plymouth this Sunday. Now, trying to remember the name of the Malaysian blogger in UK who is blogging about politics. Ah well.

Mon-Thurs : Plymouth
Thurs-Sat : Hemel Hempstead. Well, basically London.

Anyone living nearby? My email is myremi AT gmail DOT com.

Cheerio!

: : Plymouth or bust : :

2006-09-08T13:32:00.000+08:00

Surprise surprise! Am heading to Plymouth. However, it's pending passport renewal today.

Doh.

: : Another Eye Candy : :

2006-09-05T13:13:00.000+08:00

Time to start saving up for next year.

Sony-Ericsson P990i Product Page
My-Symbian Review : P990i
Mobile Review SE P990i

Why SE? Better music player + speaker and great camera. Plus, I miss my old PDA. Also, snap pic and instead blogging from a Hotspot location. Ohlala... sadly, not that many interesting places with free WiFi coverage. Other than hotels and airports.

Plus, SE also has a very good download center especially for the games. Imagine being able to download Gameloft games for only RM5 rather than RM20.

User friendly software? I'm not so bothered by that, having tried out a number of phones over the years. It's just a matter of getting used to the interface although Motorola's software is probably the one that is the least stable (not sure whether it's because of the software or hardware, always crashes after the V-series launch).

Anyway, it's probably near RM4,000 price mark. Gulp. Definitely more than a few months of saving up. Unless I bought an AP set which I’m a bit reluctant to do so. So, more planning and selling of a 13-month-old phone (SE W800i).

Sigh. If only I blog more often, then maybe Sony-Ericsson Malaysia will sponsor a phone for food blogging. ^_^ Yeah, I dream too often. They probably have a publicity campaign or something to launch the phone. Ah well.

: : Chicken Wings ~ Aftermath : :

2006-09-01T12:03:00.000+08:00

Well, it sure was a busy past 3 days that cumulated in about 371 pcs of Fried Chicken Wings being sold off. The earnings from the sale was about RM928, out of which, about RM576 was profit. All in all, it wasn't too bad and hopefully, our customers didn't suffer too much from biting into the extremely crunchy coating.

Out of the entire session, all 3 of us suffered from leg pains and muscle aches on the arms. Plus, I have 2 finger sprains, one on each hand from doing all the frying.

Ah well. It was for a good cause and I'm hoping to have a very good rest this weekend. And hopefully, will have a new PC by next week.

So toodles folks! :)

: : Chicken Wings ~ Marinade : :

2006-08-30T08:19:00.000+08:00

3 of us spent about 5-6 hrs yesterday preparing and marinating the chicken wings. All in all, we had about 320-350 pieces of chicken wings where we literally pressed out as much oil as we could from the skins. This was something I didn't know but it was shocking to see the amount of fat and some white bits coming out of the skin. Well, suffice to say that I'm rethinking eating chicken wings as seems more than a bit dirty.

My cousin's friend, SA, had a great sense of humour. We ended up laughing a lot more than expected.

These chicken are lucky. They're getting very good massage.

Remember the "Quality Used Cars" sign we saw earlier? Now these wings are "Quality Chicken Wings".

(Mixing marinade) This is fun. Grind grind grind the salt and bijeng (MSG).

Anyway, today is a round of frying the chickens. Hopefully, we can get everything done by then. 300 pieces is scary.

: : Wena's Snacks @ Salvation Army's Sale of Work : :

2006-08-28T09:56:00.000+08:00

Yes yes, as per the title, I'm helping out at the Salvation Army's Sale of Work. I'm helping out my cousin Em to sell Fried Chickens. It would be 3 pcs for RM10 which isn't too bad considering the fuel price hike. Even before the fuel increase, at Charity Food Events the fried chicken was already going for 3 pcs for RM10.

Anyway, please do come. There will be tickets sold on that day. Plus, we have about 680 pieces of chicken to sell. Yes, a huge number so please do come and help us out. I'm not even sure whether we can get that many chickens sold off but we're hoping to tempt the children who in turn will beg their parents to buy it. Hee hee!

Date : 31 August 2006 (Yes, Merdeka Day)
Time : 8 am - 12 pm
Location : Salvation Army Boy's Home, Ban Hock Road

Note that there may be a huge congestion on that day because of the Merdeka Day Parade. So, take Deshon Road and park near Grand Continental Hotel. I'm not sure whether most of Ban Hock Road is open or not, so it's either come early or come late.

Anyway, do stop by. The sale is for the Salvation Army activities in Kuching where they look after 2 homes for children (orphans or from improvised families), one all-girls, another all-boys.

(AND PLEASE HELP TO ~~GET RID~~ BUY 680 PIECES OF CHICKEN. WE DON'T REALLY WANT TO EAT SO MUCH CHICKEN FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS)

: : Trusting a doctor : :

2006-07-11T19:14:00.000+08:00

A lot of people think that it's great to have children who are doctors and that they will earn loads of money. It's also increases the "social status" of the family as well.

Yet, we all do forget that doctors have a higher responsibility. More than the normal person because he/she would have to serve the community. I never knew this but doctors are obligated to answer any calls/inquiries requested by the public. That he/she cannot turn it down in the eyes of the law. Where is this? In the Sarawak Labour Ordinance as well as the Labour Act. Because they fall under the category of managing life and death situations for the community, they have a huge obligation to serving the public. Even the politicians do not have it this tough.

So, if a doctor has prescribe the wrong medication, who does the checks on the doctors? In Malaysia, we tend to shy away from actual confrontation and just totally do not goto that doctor again. Very few people would actually go and actually voice it out to the newspapers or the Ministry of Health.

I had a similar situation that happened to me awhile back. In 2004, Granny went to see a specialist doctor at Timberland. He prescribed her some medication that did not elevate her blood pressure problem but left her very fatigue and tired. In the end, I took her away from this doctor after realising that he doesn't even listen to her symptoms and when I confronted him about it, he gave excuses that there shouldn't be anything wrong with the medication and that why should I believe her, being an old person.

I got mad and decided to ask relatives for another doctor. This other specialist is a lot better, as well as having a more proven track record. In fact, he's so obliging that even he says that he's giving us the option to buy medication from him (which he also pointed out would be more expensive) or buying from the pharmacy (cheaper) where he can give us a chit to get the medication. As for her previous medication, the current doctor said that most likely, she just didn't adjust to the medication well and so he gave her another type of medication. And she is very fine up to today. In fact, better than fine. She is more alert and sleeping a lot better than she used it.

Then, recently, a colleague's father was struck by stroke twice. By coincidence, she was seeing that same doctor in Timberland (not sure whether it's before the 1st stroke or after). After the 2nd stroke, she mentioned it to me and I suggested that she see the doctor that my Granny was seeing. Also, I suggested to bring the medicine given by the Timberland doctor to the 2nd doctor. The 2nd doctor was open enough to say that they can also go back to Sarawak General Hospital(SGH) and confirm with the doctor there on whether the medication is safe or not. Apparently, the doctor at SGH pointed out that Timberland doctor's medicine will not give any bad effect to her father but worst still, it doesn't give any benefits to her father who is a diabetic! Whether the wrong medication was the cause of her father's 2nd stroke, it is hard to tell but suffice to say that he's now in better hands. Hopefully he will see improvements from the 2nd batch of medication. He may not be as fit as he was previously but at least, there is peace of mind knowing that he is now seeing a better doctor than before.

And it's definitely very creepy that the 1st doctor is still practicing medicine. *Shudder* Makes you wonder whether anyone has died at the hands of this doctor, albeit that it may take awhile to actually die from wrong medication or useless medication. Or any other doctor for that matter. *Shudder* Note that this is not an accusation but a hypothetical statement.

I tried looking for the older blog posting where I mentioned that Granny first had problems with the 1st doctor from Timberland but couldn't find it. It could be that I have taken it down because of fear of retribution. Well, here's another one put up although it's also not so transparent. But, if you live in Kuching long enough, you start to realise that you should only go to doctors who come recommended by at least 4-5 people. Or, goto a doctor recommended by another doctor that you trust.

So, hmm...again, if you don't happen to see me for awhile or hear that I've been arrested or sued, well, do remember that I am reporting this as an outsider and relating to me only what my friend had said to me. Information here are to be verified again by yourself as this is only what I see and hear.

I could be wrong, yes. But nothing will make me change my mind after looking at Granny now, all the more healthy and alert.

: : Streamyx Saga II : :

2006-07-10T18:36:00.000+08:00

Ok, some updates regarding my line connection.

Problem 1 : My house wiring connections

TELEKOM's contractor came very fast but I guess business is business. The technician came this afternoon and has done the rewiring of the phone lines. So now, for my PC, there's now a direct line using the recommended phone cable for Streamyx. That is RM50.

Also, the wiring for the 2 telephones in the house also got replaced and are also connected directly to TELEKOM. That was RM40 per phone so in total, everything was RM130.

According to the technician, rewiring of telephone systems is the norm for them. They just did 4 house before mine and all that the same problem.

And, to connect on, I have to disconnect the telephone on the top floor. Bleargh.

Problem 2 : Telephone system in the old Tabuan Jaya phases

Now, this same technician did mention that since I'm still using the old copper wiring system for the telephone exchange, there's no way the Streamyx signal will be strong. The newer telephone systems are now using fibre-optic so the signal strength is much stronger.

So there you have it. Problem 1 is fix. Problem 2 may not be so easy and it hinges on whether TELEKOM really wants to upgrade their phone system or not. Which probably will not happen for awhile yet. Sigh. IF EVER...

: : Streamyx Saga : :

2006-07-10T08:25:00.000+08:00

It was a very funny session. Last Thursday, 2 people came and check the phoneline. They then called the Streamyx tech who came to the house and all 3 started quarrelling. Or so says my granny as they didn't tell me that they were going on that day.

So, last Saturday, the Streamyx tech came by and explained to me the situation. Ruling out the issue of my PC and modem having problems, it was finally the phone line that had problems.

Problem 1 : My house wiring system
The way the existing phone line was connected, one of the connections outside the house got damaged during heavy rains. In fact, the Telekom contractor wasn't even suppose to have split the line in such a way that the split connection point is outside the house. So, Streamyx Tech Office (Kuching) has help to arrange for a telephone contractor to come and rewire the house. This will cost me about RM50++ to do the entire wiring works.

Problem 2 : Telephone system in the old Tabuan Jaya phases
This one is not easily solved and it falls on Telekom on whether they want to upgrade the telephone system in the older parts of Tabuan Jaya. Because the phone exchange and system is more than 20 years old, many of the wiring works have weaken such that the Streamyx signal will not be strong. My account had to be downgraded from 1MB to 512kb. It was downgraded last Thursday and there was definitely a noticeable improvement to the line i.e. I didn't have frequent disconnections. I live in one of the older Tabuan Jaya areas (Phase I or II, I think) so if you're also getting frequent disconnections, it's a good idea to downgrade it. So, I save about RM20 a month. According to the tech, once the system is improve, Streamyx will contact me on whether I want to upgrade the package or not but only if the lines have improved a lot to the point it runs a lot better than now.

Plus Note
Because my ZTE modem is one of the older modems, apparently it's more stable. Phew! That was the only plus point for that day. The newer ZTE modems are apparently less stable and more problematic. And to think I was thinking of changing my ADSL modem to another brand. I wonder if it had to do with the firmware being from DLink. According to Mr. Wong who help to troubleshoot my modem, the firmware interface is exactly like DLink except for the name of the company on top.

: : Streamyx Problems in Tabuan Jaya : :

2006-07-04T16:19:00.000+08:00

Looks like it's going to be a terrible month. The past one month has been a stressful month where it's impossible to stay connected onto Streamyx for more than 5 min during peak hours and about 1 hr during off-peak hours.

And TMNet has just recently changed their website. They also sneakily took down their Announcement page which use to be full of notices of technical problems. Now, it's no longer there so you're never going to know whether it's your computer or a Streamyx problem.

It's gotten to the point where I have to put up a firewall just to play games and even surf the net. And usually I don't.

There was a problem with some connection problems in Taman Tun a few weeks ago. Presumably, all the residents there are calling up the Helpdesk for help. Sigh. And so, the phoneline is always engaged so there's not much that can be done on my side.

I wish the Kuching team that handles Streamyx can find out what the heck is going on because it's getting extremely tiring having to pay RM88 per month for a lousy connection and poor service.

: : Two loves : :

2006-07-01T23:05:00.000+08:00

Football + Chocolate = RM119 box of TV snacks

Taken at SENSO, Hilton Kuching.

: : Losing the excess baggage : :

2006-06-30T08:04:00.000+08:00

Currently weight loss up till today is 8.71 kg. That's in a period of 3 months. Yeah, I know, it's slow. The 1st month, I cheated too much in Miri so weight loss wasn't that great. Too many family dinners!

But now, am back on track. I'm actually taking a meal supplement because it's harder now to lose weight with cutting down on meals and not getting enough nutrients. Yeah, it's tough work but on the bright side, I'm losing. Steadily.

And suddenly, reaching my ideal weight suddenly seems a lot faster. Phew!

One of the reasons why I decided to go on a diet program is that I have 2 mothers who are forever reminding me that I'm suppose to lose weight. Ok, now I am. :p Hee hee! It's also ironic that the roles are reverse now and I'm sometimes reminding them to lose weight as well. Haha! Putting on weight easily runs in the family.

: : Fear of Happiness and Contentment : :

2006-06-26T12:00:00.000+08:00

I have just finish reading a piece of essay forwarded by a friend from KL. Apparently, this was the winning entry of the 15-18 year old category for the Commonwealth Essay Competition. It was written by a young Singaporean girl who wanted to "Through my story, I attempted to convey the unique East-versus-West struggles and generation gaps that I felt were characteristic of young people in my country".

It was a good story but with a terrible ending. It wasn't the fact that the daughter is neglecting her mother. The bigger picture was that as I grow up, I see the same repeated story theme over and over again. There's this big arguments between Eastern and Western values. If you remove the words "East" and "West", you start to notice that it's really not that different in other parts of the world. It's more of a generation gap than anything else. And frankly, I'm bored of these kind of story themes.

Sure, stories like this makes big bucks. Sells books. Gets a lot of sympathy. At the end of the day, this theme starts to wear off pretty quickly. I don't know about you lot out there but I have enough worries about living my own life that I don't need to be influence by stories of dysfunctional relationships.

I'm also a person who prefers happy endings as well as having to live a life with as less hassle as possible. And that means being more patient with my Granny, other grannies, parents and relatives. It's giving and taking but I do try not to think about it too much. If it's not too much to ask for, then I'm fine with it. If not, then it's time to reason with them.

Yes, it's an unpopular trend to be happy and to not be interested in dysfunctional-relationship-stories that I'm following. Heck, it's my own life and I'm enjoying it as much as I can.

Don't you think that a lot of people these days are more fearful of happiness and contentment because it involves being honest, truthful, patient and actually having to forgive someone?

Think about it.

: : Google Earth & Kuching : :

2006-06-25T11:04:00.000+08:00

I'm always trying out new features to put on the web. This time is another experiment, similar to my Frappr one. Only this time, it get's a bit more interesting.

I've been playing around a bit with Google Earth so I'm testing it out at the moment. I'm still not sure how it works and it looks like it's manual updating of locations. Plus, you need to have Google Earth installed in your computer to view the locations. Check whether your PC requirements can handle it or not. A broadband connection is recommended because of the amount of data that passes through it.

Here are some downloads for you to view on your PC. Note that Google Earth needs to be installed first :

My Foodspot links. Only 2 at the moment while I'm still testing it out.
Kuching landmarks that are useful.

But, somehow, I get the feeling someone would put up a better one than I can. I get lazy after awhile or when the glamour has worn off. Ah well.

: : Fusion Cafe : :

2006-06-25T10:11:00.000+08:00

After my massage session yesterday, I went with my cousin, Em, to a new place in town known as Fusion Cafe. We've been wanting to go there for awhile but didn't have the guts. There's just too many choices in Kuching that it's difficult to decided where does one want to go and have a bite of something.

The restaurant is located in Padungan. The interesting bit is that it's located on the 1st Floor of the building and the kitchen is located on the Ground Floor. If you know where Tao Restaurant is, it's just right next to it. Sorry, didn't take the main signboard because my SE W800i cannot take good pictures at night, especially when it's more than 20cm away from the camera. My LED isn't that strong.

The first problem we had was that the staff couldn't speak Hokkien and Em wasn't so well-versed in Mandarin. Me, I'm a hopeless Chinese that can't speak a work of any of the dialects, let alone Mandarin. Yeah yeah, I'm an embarassment to the community but it still doesn't stop me from doing food reviews. Haha!

Anyway, the only English speaking person turned out to be the proprietor, Grick Liew. So, we made our selections from the menu on the table. Similar to what I've seen in KL, orders are made by the customer by filling in Menu Forms that are on each table. The orders are made using a pencil. The menu selection actually looked pretty good and most of the cooking looks healthy.

Before we go on, here's a brief introduction about Chinese Herbal Cooking. It's not always bitter and it's not always nasty. It's similar to something that has been cooked at home and definitely, the selection has a lot of soups and stews. Deep fried stuff is kept to a minimum as well as very sweet sauces. The challenge is to make sure that the taste of the food ingredients is not camoflouged by all the sauces.

Sad to say that while I'm undergoing some massage treatment, I cannot eat spicey food or seafood. Strict instructions on dieting so as to improve my well-being. Well, to humour my masseur, I decided to abstain from those food and it helps since I'm also dieting at the same time.

Anyway, back to the food. Here are the photographs. Along with Granny's commentary after I spoke to her the next day about the food.

The drinks selection wasn't a lot but I suppose it's to go with the theme of healthy Chinese cooking. So, deciding to stick to the Chinese philosophy of not drinking cold drinks for better blood circulation, we ordered a pot of Chinese. Then again, this was the only hot drink that they had in the house. It either softdrinks or fresh juice which were apple, carrot, and other fruits.

While waiting for our food to arrive, we were served some peanuts coated with a sweet sauce. These are not the fried peanuts from a junk food packet but rather, boiled peanuts. Boiled peanuts are not as crunchy as the deep fried one but it was definitely different and one of my favourite ways of eating peanuts. Plus, it's also easier on the teeth. It's also wasn't too salty and not too sweet either.

This is the Ah Por Fan Shu leaves or Sweet Potato Leaves. I can only guess that it was cooked with a lot of garlic and a bit of oyster sauce as well. It was definitely a lot of stuff for a small portion of food.

Granny : I can also do this lah but I like to cook it with sambal. I like spicy food! Otherwise no shiok! Haha! But, look good lah.

This was the "Dong Buo" pork dish that we had. It was soft enough that we didn't need a knife to cut it and firm enough to still taste pretty good. I tried to Google Dong Buo but not much references pop up so presumably, the English translation of his name was not commonly used.

Granny : Dong Buo is old famous Chinese hero. He go another place to look after it. The village people very happy with him so they give him lot lot of pig meat. After that, he cook it and give back to them. First, pork fry and then steam to make soft. Usually cook with soy sauce and mushroom one.

That night, we didn't have any mushroom but I can say that the pork was tasty because we finish everything! The portions are served in the size shown in the picture for about RM6 (USD1.63).

This was the usual Chinese Chicken Herbal soup but instead of ginseng, the chef coconut juice and flesh was added in. What we could see inside were just the coconut flesh and some dates. Coconut milk is not used in here and hence, that's why it's not thick or creamy. The coconut juice is the coconut water from a coconut when it's first crack open. As for the flesh, it's the thin white layer that's inside the coconut. These coconut slices were sliced thinly and added into the soup. Plus, the soup was boiled a long time that the chicken inside was already very soft that it was starting to peel away from the bones. I actually prefer soup this way as the soup itself would already have most of the nutrients inside it. The thing about Chinese Herbal soup is that it's not the meat that needs to be eaten but the soup rich with nutrients from boiling it for so long.

And to cap off the meal, we had some dessert. We settled for Cold Longan and Tofu. The tofu here is not the tofu used in the normal main dish cookings but one that is specially for desserts. It's light and fluffy and this one was freshly made because of no preservatives. Very nice to eat but longan cannot be taken in great quantities as it's pretty heaty and will give you a sore throat.

That's my dinner yesterday with Em. Luckily, nobody mentioned all the fumes that I was giving out after my massage session. Although, my knees and legs were so shaky that I nearly couldn't walk down the stairstairs.

Well, all in all, it was a nice place to have a meal. Bear in mind those that it's not exactly cheap like in an open-air restaurant. However, it is a different kind of cooking and you do get to eat in an air-conditioned environment that is clean. Food is served from the Ground Floor to the 1st Floor via a dumb waiter. Our meal cost us RM58.80 (USD15.47) which is a little bit expensive than normal but the good thing is that the food wasn't too oily and that it tasted refreshingly different from the normal heavy eating at common Chinese restaurants. Plus, it was quiet compared to some of the places I've been.

The shop is still pretty new, having open 2 months ago. It's located along the same shoplot row as the Padungang Police Station but it's about 2 blocks down from it.

Contact Details

Fusion Cafe
Proprietor (??) : Grick Liew
Mobile : 012 910 3543 / 016 883 5485
177, Lot 38, Section 50,
Jalan Padungan,
93100 Kuching,
Sarawak, Malaysia.

I'd definitely go there again to try the other dishes and see how it tastes like.

: : Surviving 3rd massage session : :

2006-06-24T21:37:00.000+08:00

Today was my 3rd session with the Chinese masseur and probably the most painful for my legs. For my upper back, it's alright already except for the joints where my shoulders met my arms. That could be due to problems in my lower back which is getting a lot better but still having problems.

But like I said, it's my legs that are the most painful. The most painful parts are where my hip bones and knee joints are located. He doesn't massage the joints but the tendon and, I suspect where the main bloodlines are running.

Although, things does look good, according to him. My legs are not so lumpy as the last week and he said that it looks thinner. Because I have poor blood circulation in my legs due to the fat layer, a lot of "air" are trapped in the fat layer and that is why my legs are big.

Actually, I'm going because after the massage and 2 days of rest, I feel more limber and relax than I've been in years. Of course, it gets painful and tiring there. I was shrieking and moaning a lot, especially when it was my left leg. I ended up panting a lot but nothing else is damage afterwards so that's alright.

My cousin, who accompanied me, had a good laugh at my screams. Hopefully, I haven't been scaring the customers in the hair salon next door. Haha! Anyway, we went to this eating joint known as Fusion Cafe and it was a good choice. Will post pictures up when I can. Feeling a bit tired at the moment.

: : American Cancer Society ~ Relay for Life West County 2006 : :

2006-06-23T00:41:00.000+08:00

Helping a fellow blogger out. We both blog for a community MMO blogsite at Gamersinfo.net.

He will be there that night in a Stormtrooper Uniform with a bunch of other guys. They're all part of the Maryland Old Line Garrison : 501st Legion. Check out their website. Looks fun. And if I was a child, I know awed by people in costumes.

The funds are going to the American Cancer Society to help with their activities in counseling cancer patients and other activities. Even a few dollars would help.

Feel free to donate whatever amount you can. Click here to go to the donation page. And just because the donation target is met doesn't mean that they do not need donations.

: : Getting smaller : :

2006-06-21T13:13:00.000+08:00

By the end of this month, I would have been on my Weight Loss programme for nearly 3 months. Up till today, I've lost 7.71 kg or 17 pounds, depending on which unit you prefer to use. My BMI has gone down but still far far away from my target value. I went from 40.30 to 37.21. Target is BMI 22 / 54 kg. Very far away still.

I've also gain a lot of stretch marks that needs to be dealt with. Urgh.

And yes, I know, pictures. Patience, patience. Pictures are coming.

When I have time. ^_^

: : Back Banging Day : :

2006-06-19T22:12:00.000+08:00

I don't know why but today, a few people decided to give me a nice pat on the back. Unfortunately, due to my session with the Chinese Masseur, my back has been more sensitive.

Morning, at the entrance to work : A pat on the back by Miss E. For a small gal, she does pack a wallop.

Near noon : Another pat but this time on my lower back which was slightly coloured from some bruises. This time from Mdm. K. She wanted to see how much I've lost weight and so patted down my shirt. Wasn't prepared for it.

After work : Mdm. S gave me another pat but this time on my shoulder. Alamak!

Luckily, today wasn't as bad as Sunday. That was a lot worst. On a plus side, my back and legs are so relax that they're no longer as tense as they used to be before the massage. Phew!

: : Pollution & Google Earth : :

2006-06-17T15:34:00.000+08:00

Was just checking Google Earth after Mr. Wong was mentioning it to me yesterday. Yeah, we're that geeky but isn't it the in-thing to be geeky? Haha! Anyway, we were having a discussion on how cool it was but also that the pictures are a few years old. Seems like quite a fair bit of pictures available are old.

I took a closer look at Miri and Kuching. Here is a snapshot of the Baram River at Kuala Baram.

Makes you wonder what all those black stuff are. *Shudder* The Miri Port is there as well as the heavy industries. There's definitely something not write about that water when you see that further upstream, the water is a very nice deep blue or pale blue.

No wonder the newspapers were having a field day a few years ago about how badly polluted the rivers are in Sarawak. Even the Kuching River is black but because the pictures are old, I can't tell whether the river is better now. It's still the old picture because there's still a lot of silt in the River but that should have changed with the new weir at Sungai Sarawak Kiri.

So, errm... parents, relatives, friends and readers, if you end up seeing my face in the papers, well, errm... They wouldn't shoot the messenger rite? O_o. Oh btw, Dad, you might want to try this program out. It's very nifty and you can find people's houses there. Haha!

: : My Restaurant, Sama Jaya, Kuching : :

2006-06-17T12:38:00.000+08:00

Recently, I had a lovely, lovely meal at My Restaurant. It's located in Sama Jaya area, or rather just before Kampung Tabuan Jaya. The business is owned by Angela and Walter, with Walter being the previous Austrian chef at Cavary. They set up this restaurant since last year, specialising in pork. Yes, the oink-oink, piggy wiggy meal. Here are the some the dishes that they prepare.

For each table, home-made garlic bread is served. Bear in mind that this bread is literally dripping with oil from the butter. Believe me, it's a lot of butter in there. It tastes nice but the oil is a lot. Well, it's not oil, per se, just an overdose of butter.

I've always like Caesar Salad that is crispy and fresh and that is not swimming in salad sauce. At My Restaurant, they definitely do it better than some of the restaurants in the city. They serve it with a slice of bacon, rather than using bacon bits.

The picture here is the Grilled Porked Chop with Apple slices. If there's one thing good about pork, is that it goes very very well with fruit. The fruit is either fresh fruit, cooked fruit or some fruit sauce. Although, my Auntie Maria stays away from any fruit sauce as it reminds her of eating jam with meat. Haha! Anyway, the pork chop was done well and it's also a fairly thick slice. The grilled apple slices was a nice touch. Errm...and yes... errm... quite a fair bit of oil as well. So be forewarned.

Here is a mix set. I can't quite remember the name but it's made up of pork sausages, chicken, pork chop and bacon. This is dish that is for 2 people with all the meat and chips there. And ermm....definitely a lot of oil. I especially like the pork sausage because it wasn't a frankfuther/hot dog sausage but a real pork sausage. Yum.

Well, isn't oily stuff taste good? That's the problem with trying to keep one's weight down! Anyway, bear this in mind in case you're going to goto My Restaurant, for those who do not like oily stuff. It has other stuff to offer like chicken, beef and fish dishes but their specialty is definitely pork. One things for sure, nothing is rancid and everything is prepared fresh.

The restaurant details are as follows :

My Restaurant
Ground Floor, Lot 13186 & 13187,
Samajaya Commercial Center,
Jalan Setia Raja,
93350 Kuching.
Tel / Fax : 082 - 361588 (Speak to Angela for reservations)
Tues - Sat: 11 am - 2 pm (Lunch). 6 - 10 pm (Dinner)
Sun : 6 - 10 pm (Dinner only)
Mon : Closed

If anyone of you are going, please say hi to Angela. She's very friendly and will give you a good recommendation for your dinner.

Oh, another thing is that the kitchen is open to the whole restaurant so you get to smell and actually see Walter cooking. It's interesting to go up and see how your food is being cooked. However, I wouldn't recommend it if you're wearing your best clothes. As for the rest of the restaurant, don't worry about any oil stains. The kitchen seems to have very very good ventilation that you get the nice cooking smells that you really do get distracted during mealtimes.

Enjoy your trip there!

: : Food Hygiene : :

2006-06-15T07:42:00.000+08:00

Food hygiene has always been a debate in every country. Some governments take stern action, others just issue warnings (like in China recently) and others, nothing.

I just got a note in my mailbox about Fecal Matter on top of meat box packings. Bad bad. Larry Stone is following the issue in Florida closely. Sounded awfully familiar from someone else I heard. Cats for rats/mice pest control. Geckos for flies pest control. Wonder how are roaches controlled naturally.

Then it got me thinking : cats are sometimes kept onboard ships to control rats/mice in the cargo haul. *shudder*

Well, if the meat packing industries are not HAACP certified, time to buy from someone else. Anyway, it's always a good idea to practice some recommended food hygiene practices, at least for one's health and well-being.

And I can safely say that I survive 1.5 years in one of Kuala Lumpur's worst hygienic suburbs. Yes, it was a daily game of Russian Roulette, food style that is.

: : New PC : :

2006-06-14T09:40:00.000+08:00

I'm planning to get a new CPU during the IT fair at the end of the month.

Any recommendations?

: : Yippee! : :

2006-06-12T18:32:00.000+08:00

My body fat went down from 53% to 49%! Definitely good news! Took awhile but it's definitely going down.

: : Dead meat : :

2006-06-11T16:22:00.000+08:00

Now I understand why Aaron is hooked onto World of Warcraft.

With most people watching the FIFA matches late at night, the streamyx connection is blazing. Even this morning, it was quite a speedy connection. Got the WoW Trial download 2.7 GB by this Sunday morning from Fileplanet and updated and installed a few hours later.

I started out as a Night Elven Druid and ended up in a forest with music similar to Neverwinter Nights. It's uncannily identical, or nearly there. The songs and graphics are amazing. And even though the characters are cartoonish, it's still not too bad.

Plus, the game is abled to be played on my old heap of a PC and an old graphics card. Old as in a 32MB NVIDIA card. Well, the graphics aren't as smooth as it could have been but oh well. Still costs too much to upgrade this computer so I think I'll wait a bit longer.

BTW, PC fair in Kuching during end June. Ho Hum. ^_^

: : Fixing an old problem : :

2006-06-07T23:24:00.000+08:00

Today, I went with Fish Fish to her masseur. Believe me, he was good but here's the following conversation.

S : Aiya! Your back is terrible! Here *poke!* and here *poke!*!! Too much air inside. Your shoulder is not the major problem. It's your back. Plus your legs.

Wena : *Panting from aches* Ah ok...can fix or not?

S : Can can. You come see me once a week for another 3-4 more weeks than we see how. A lot of blood not circulating well. Bad bad. You sit too long at night playing games?

Wena : *Gulp!* Errr...yeah?

S : That is no good! Bad circulation for the leg. You come next week and we do again.

Wena : Ok.

It went on with massaging problem areas and even though I was achy afterwards, the muscles were surprising relax. I also had occasional pins and needles but this was not painful, just ticklist. He mentioned that it was the blood circulating.

Wena : Wah! I feel good!

Fish Fish : Yeah but when he does his serious treatment, maybe cannot walk for awhile. My Mum couldn't walk for 2 days. After that, she could walk.

Wena : *Gulp*... OK.

So, I'm in for the long-run. Let's see how's the outcome. Massage is the traditional cure here for aches and pains. Plus, this chap may be young but he does know his stuff, being taught by a Master since he was 7 years old. Now that's a very long time to learn about massage.

Next week, let's see if I can walk. The nerves that are trapped from my prolapsed disc will be release and my blood circulation may improve.

: : Blog-free day : :

2006-06-04T21:25:00.000+08:00

Well, not today but last Friday. It was so nice just not to take photos at all and write about something. When you've been doing it for so long (can't believe it's coming to 3 years), having a break is always a pleasure.

I met up with Fish Fish, Miracle8, Wilson and Kris for some food and we went traipsing all over Kuching for it. Here is Miracle8's posting about the meeting. The food is lovely.

Actually, I can't post anything up because I didn't take any pictures except for the Carrot-Green-Apple-Papaya juice drink at AHA Lounge. Ah well.

Oh, if you're wondering what's I've been doing, I've been busy blogging about two games over at Gamersinfo.net. I use a pseudonym known as Myremi and am currently playing two games. One is FlyFF (which I did mention about a month ago) and another one is ROSE Online. Note that for ROSE, there is a Phillipine, Korea and EU server. FlyFF also have the same, as well as a separate China and Taiwan servers. FlyFF is free to play but ROSE, you have to pay.

Both games are from Korea and ROSE is actually developed by the same company that did Ragnorak Online. Ok, so it's different from R.O. but I never got into R.O. Although, now I hear my younger cousins getting into Maple Story or GunBound.

: : Gawai Festival : :

2006-06-01T09:34:00.000+08:00

Gawai is here already. To all the readers from Sabah and Sarawak who are celebrating this day,

Selamat Hari Gawai! Selamat Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai!

: : Making Bak Chang : :

2006-05-31T20:44:00.000+08:00

Ooohhh! How to actually wrap Bak Chang, courtesy of Teckiee of the Food Blog Eat First, Think Later.

The relevant post is here.

On a side note, Pascal has been chasing me to admit that what I posted up was not correct. Looks like my Granny got mix up with the Chinese New Year beliefs rather than the correct one which is the Dragon Boat Festival. Oopps! Ah well.

: : Sales Notice in Oz : :

2006-05-31T20:35:00.000+08:00

My cousin is having a garage sale in Perth, Australia. So, if anyone wants some cheap furniture, electronic equipment, car (!!!) and other stuff, please drop her a comment in this blog.

Besides, it's a AUS$10 rice cooker! Ok, so it's a bit old but it's quanranteed to work for another 10 more years. National is a brand you can trust! Honest!

So, for parents and students and people who want to pick up a bargain, drop by her place in ~~Perth~~ Wollongong, Australia (so many typos these past few days).

Thanks eavies!

: : Update on the Bak Chang : :

2006-05-31T07:51:00.000+08:00

Hi all!

I got a note from WJ about the toxic leaves on the Bak Chang. This was a resultant of the news alert put forth by the Chinese Authorities warning of chemicals in food to make the food look better.

Now to clarify further on the pictures. It's actually not as green as the pictures. The bigger changs are actually dark yellowish brown with a hint of green. Probably the smaller dumping is more green but even that was yellowing. When I adjusted the pictures, I didn't tone down the green hue.

Another thing to note is that in Sarawak, people here use a broad type of pandan (screwpine) leaves to pack the Bak Chang and not the Bamboo Leaves that is used in China and West Malaysia. Only the smaller one is actually Bamboo Leaves.

According to Granny, the type of Bamboo Leaves used in China for making the Bak Chang is a type of bamboo which only grows to a short height of approximately 5 ft tall. Here, it's Pandan (Screwpine) all the way. This explains why it's so easy to tell when someone has eaten Chang in the room : the smell goes a long way.

Anyway, all of us at home (me, Granny, Uncle Cyril) do not eat Bak Chang regularly. It's usually just around this time of the year. So, we're safe and sound here.

It's also worth noting to point out that the Chinese government has not said what actions that they will take against these hawkers. Now you know why I'm really hesitant to even visit China. Never know what will happen when I get there.

: : Bak Chang! : :

2006-05-29T22:11:00.000+08:00

Oh yes, it's certainly that time of the year again. One of the highlights in any food calendar. And, there's a story (there's always a story in Chinese Mythology) about it. Bak Chang is to make the Kitchen God not capable of speaking badly about your kitchen when he makes his report to the King of Heavens. How us Chinese came up with that, it's beyond me. Still, Bak Chang is a very nice and tasty meal in itself.

Tasty, isn't it? These were bought from the Tabuan Jaya Market in the evening. There were many baskets full of the stuff. According to the seller, they're only selling today and tomorrow only as 31 May is the actual day of the celebration. Plus, they've just finished making 10,000 bak chang for sale! That number alone is pretty scary in itself.

These ones are small ones containing just the rice. There were version with Pork, Yam + Pork and just plain rice inside. Glutinous rice, that is.

Now this chang was expensive at RM1.90/US$0.50 each but well worth the money. There was definitely a lot of minced meat and it actually tasted good. Yum. Better than the chang that is found on usual days where there's little meat and it's more expensive. This one is good.

So, there's going to be a nation full of people munching on Chang for the next few days, that's for sure.

: : Pain, Pageviews and Cuteness : :

2006-05-29T07:15:00.000+08:00

While cleaning my face this morning, I somehow sprain my neck. There was this horrendous click sound as I turn my neck while drying it. Ack! Now, I'm just waiting for time to pass until the clinic opens. I can feel the ache in the far away distance corner of my mind but my entire neck muscles have started to get very tense. Definitely not a good sign. I've been having problems feeling neck pains since my episode a few years ago with a prolapsed disc (similar to a slipped disc but just one side is protruting). So, here's some pictures to keep you all entertained.

On another front, the number of visitors to this site has been declining steadily. But that's alright considering that I don't blog as much as I used to. It went from 700-800 a day to about 200-300 a day. Ah well. I had my 2-min of fame.

Oh, and some cuteness goodness today. A colleague of mine were giving out these cute itty bitty duck-shaped butter cakes. Japan definitely know how to market their stuff in wee little packages.

Sadly, again, I forgot to take a picture of how the cake look. But, it did look exactly like the picture in the little pamphlet.

How did it taste like? Well, don't hope too much that it tastes like the cake from the bakeries. It doesn't but for a taste of goodness, it was alright.

Now excuse me while I rush off to the doctors.

: : Blur : :

2006-05-23T23:49:00.000+08:00

Two things today that definitely fit into the meaning of being blur.

Pascale : You did know that Wena has a blog right?
K : Really? When did she start writing it?
Pascale : For a few years now! How can you note know about it? Everyone in the dept knows!
K : . . .

Another thing is that a few years ago, I misread the conditions for Creative Commons license. Ah well. Anyway, have converted this sight back to being Creative Commons license for Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs works.

: : Bunga Kantan @ Ginger Flower : :

2006-05-23T23:20:00.000+08:00

During my recent trip back to Miri, I caught up with cousins and aunties and uncles. And, of course, meals. Here's one that's very interesting.

This is an interesting flower to eat. Known as Bunga Kantan in Malay, it's also known as the Ginger Flower or the bud of a Torch Ginger.

Auntie C cooked the flower with some green chillies and onions. And, surprisingly, the chillis were not spicy at all because they apparently were young chillis. Hence, no kick / spicyness. But definitely a great favourite.

This flower is also used in Tom Yam soup as well. Seriously, it's very delicious.

Here are other links on Bunga Kantan @ Ginger Flower. (And I forgot to take pictures of them growing in my parents' garden).

Bin Gregory's Yard
Human Flower Project : Carrying a Torch for Malaysian Cooking
Ecology Photographic (2 left pictures)
Ali Baba : Anyone up to buying Bunga Kantan online?

On a side note, apparently there's an Encyclopaedia on Asian Food.

: : Trevor @ Baba : :

2006-05-21T21:04:00.000+08:00

Well, the Miri International Jazz Festival came and went. It was a blast and awesome too. Although, there was downside of the drink prices going up (something to do with the hotel increasing sponsored drink prices including mineral water... hmmmm?) half an hour into the 1st day of the festival.

Anyway, Trevor and the Universal Blues Band were a blast and definitely one of the better acts of the day. Here's some clips courtesy of Dad. I'm going to leave it up until Trevor or Danny screams at me to take it down. ^_^ The video quality would be better with better graphic cards (at least, I sincerely hope so!!).

The above clip is a lovely song that was fitting as it was also Mother's Day that Sunday. There's more in YouTube but I screwed up the uploads. So, now have to redo it and get it uploaded or something.

Oh, the comment about Trevor's relatives from Bario coming down for the concert? It was aunties, cousins, nephews and nieces as well as his Grandparents. His granddad sat on the VIP seat whereas his Granma went up in front with the rest of all the Kelabit relatives were. Where? It was on the lower right of the stage. His Granma was even dancing the night away! Sorry guys, no shots.

Enjoy people!

: : Elusive Chai Sim Veggie : :

2006-05-21T20:31:00.000+08:00

This happened during my trip back to Miri.

Dad calling me on the handphone.

Dad : Wena, are you still in Boulevard Shopping Center?

Wena : Yep. Wassup Dad?

Dad : Can you grab some Chai Sim (Chinese Spinach) for dinner tonight?

Wena : Sure thing.

I walked to the supermarket only to come across a problem. Calling Dad on handphone.

Wena : Dad, there's a bit of a problem.

Dad : Yeah?

Wena : Well, I know how Chai Sim looks like when Mah-mah (Granny) buys it but there's 3 different types here! Which one do you want?

Dad : It should be one of those labelled Sawi (Malay term for Spinach).

Wena : Errr...that doesn't help. Now, you've given me 8 choices in total!

Dad : Ha ha!

In the end, I bought the Sawi Bunga since that's the one Granny buys. Phew!

: : Polling tomorrow : :

2006-05-19T22:56:00.000+08:00

Hi readers!

Drive safely tomorrow and hopefully it wouldn't be too much of a wait to poll.

Sadly I won't be polling. I thought that it would happen while I was in Miri but it didn't.

SPR put my voting station in Miri when I ask them to move me to Kuching. Sigh. Oh well.

Next poll. In the meantime, it's just waiting and watching the results come out.

: : Bon appetit : :

2006-05-18T22:53:00.000+08:00

Oh, I wanted to post something simple up today. I was thinking about what DieHardX was saying about how bad the Vietnamese Buffet was at Marriot Miri during the April Promotion. How he mentioned that they didn't have much fare in terms of prawns, crabs or squid (sotong). Thinking back, I remembered seeing some Prawn Rolls, Crabs cook in something in the main buffet and I think there was a Squid Salad as well.

But you know what? Regardless of how I post about the food I eat or how DieHardX feels about it, it's going to be downright impossible to bring the actual flavours of, say Vietnamese food, out of Vietnam. Unless, you have the right chefs, of course. Another example I can take is that Granny's Nyonya Cooking is my favourite but that's just me. Some folks may not like it so much but that's alright.

For the dessert posting up the other day, to me, it was very nice because compared to what I've eaten elsewhere in Sarawak, of course Marriot would be better. Well, in terms of dessert buffet that is. So it really is a comparison of what you have already tasted before and comparing to what you have tasted before.

Now, before someone goes and yells at me, I can also say that on the evening of Friday 12 May 2006, that Thai Buffet at Marriot was alright except for the fact that the Tom Yam Soup had too much salt inside that it was inedible and one of the Thai desserts (sago with coconut milk) was also salty instead of sweet. I wasn't the only one that made this observation to the staff but other people as well.

However, on Sunday 14 May 2006, the Tom Yam Soup flavour was now better but not as spicy (no shiok) and the desserts tasted a lot better than before. So they do listen to the guests which is a good thing.

Speaking of which, need to put some pictures up but will leave that for tomorrow. I'm now moving my tush on an exercise ball in an effort to lose weight. It is now my "chair" while I use the computer.

As for dining again at Marriot, well, I have to wait until my next Miri trip. Good thing parents know the people there so we do get good treatment. Comes with always dining in that hotel.

: : Marriot : :

2006-05-18T00:01:00.000+08:00

Connection back on. Now, the following pictures are more than enough reasons to go and dine at Marriot in Miri. The desserts are as tasty as is shown in the pictures. It's mouth-watering enough for me to forgo the main meal. Well, close to anyways.

If you have the Premium Card, it's really worth the discounts. I mean, RM68++ per pax at the buffet at Zest (their coffee house) Restaurant and if it's only 2 people dining, it's an instant 50% discount. Of course, the more people, the less the discount until it caps at 25% with 5 or more people having a meal together.

More pics after I sorted out my PC and camera. Oh, PC problem was one of the RAM went kaput so put in a new one. Voila! Hopefully, this would last for a fair bit yet.

: : Back Home in Kuching : :

2006-05-17T13:17:00.000+08:00

It's great to be back in Kuching but I kind of miss my break in Miri. It wasn't really a break as most of the time, my brain is dead from information overload during the training session.

Still, it was fun to meet up with everyone, especially Trevor during the Miri Jazz Festival. It was a blast and everyone had fun.

The sad news is that my PC went kaput. Sigh. Suspected either the RAM or motherboard or harddisk. Pricey maintenance. Oh well. Let's see what happens next then. Until then, pics will be uploaded laters.

Toodles!

: : Eastwood Teaser : :

2006-05-10T00:47:00.000+08:00

I had dinner today at Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club today. The views were absolutely breathtaking during the sunset. I can see frequent wedding receptions by the lake.

The food pictures would be up tomorrow. In the mean time, here's a glimpse of the main building. The restaurant is open for public use so feel free to drop by for a meal now and again.

Address Details :

Eastwood Valley Golf and Country Club
Lot 1379, Block 17
Kuala Baram Land District,
98000 Miri, Sarawak.
Tel : 085-421010
Fax : 085-430515

: : Art in Spoons : :

2006-05-10T00:26:00.000+08:00

These beautiful lockets are made by Karin Collins. She makes these lovely lovely jewellery (all original) by hand and it makes me want to order one! And all from ordinary kitchen spoons.

You can find more information at her website : http://www.spoonfedart.com/ . However, note that a lot of the prettier ones have already been bought. :( So, be fast.

Her email is spoonfedart [at] arthlink dot net.

: : Guess who's in town : :

2006-05-03T22:26:00.000+08:00

Of course with a huge plate of midin!

: : Kelabit Food Fix Part III : :

2006-05-01T00:40:00.000+08:00

Amazingly, there's so much Kelabit food around this time I'm back, I'm totally flabbergasted. This time round, there was a Food Fair at the Krokop Evangelical Church. So, my diet plans were thrown out the window - well, for Sunday anyways.

Storage for the Nuba Laya. It keeps very well in this styrofoam container and remains warm for a few hours.

We also had some Stir-Fried Pucuk Ubi @ Wild Tapioca Leafs (young-uns). The leaves are first boiled in water to removed out the poisonous sap. Then, they are later pounded using the pestle and mortar before finally being stir-fried with garlic. This one was cook with pork skins. Shockingly high levels of fat but surprisingly tasty. Both my eyes were closed and the piggy wiggy skins removed.

This is a species of Jackfruit known as "Cempedak" in the local language. It's cooked with coconut milk and some curry powder.

Sorry to spoil the picture. I forgot to take the picture before eating. This is actually Minced Fish steamed with Banana Tree Shoots. Wrapped in the same leaf as the Nuba Laya.

There will be another food fair at the church in June. It's also open to the public so if you wish to get something, pop by the Church then. Will ask my Mum when is the next one and post it online. More on the KEC church here.

: : Babies! : :

2006-04-23T23:35:00.000+08:00

Aren't they sweet? Baby mangoes growing on the tree.

Well, it's my neighbour's trees but the branches was just outside my bedroom window.

: : Kelabit Food Fix Part II : :

2006-04-21T21:44:00.000+08:00

Parents came back from KL today and Sina' went for dinner. So, it was me, Dad and Adrienne.

Dad : Let's goto Fung Mung for a quick dinner.

Wena : (sad face in the PC room. Dad in the kitchen so can't see.)

Adrienne : Sure. But can we stop by the laundromat in town? I need to pick up my laundry.

Dad : Sure. Since we're in that part of town, let's eat at Sultana then.

Wena and Adrienne does a silent happy dance in the PC room.

At the laundromat where Adrienne was out getting her laundry.

Dad : So, where have you guys been eating?

Wena : Errr...for the past 2 days, we've been eating at Sultana.

Dad : Aik! Then we can eat at somewhere else.

Wena : NO NO NO NO NO NO! Sultana is fine with us. We were trying to think of how to persuade you to bring us there. Hee hee...

So, three days in a row, it's been dinner at Sultana. What can I say? The Nuba Laya @ Bario Rice is simply delicious. The good thing is that the Kikid @ Porridge and the veggie is rotated daily. So, it doesn't get boring at all.

Bamboo shoots with some ginger/garlic, coconut milk and cut chillies.

Kikid @ Porridge but this time cooked with Cangkuk Manis. Delicious and healthy for people with heart problems.

And.....minced fish again! Wasn't bad at all.

And, everyone went back happy!

: : Kelabit Food Fix : :

2006-04-20T23:01:00.000+08:00

Yes! Finally a shop with Kelabit food. Sultana is a Cafe that provides Kelabit food and is located opposite Cherrie Berries in Miri. And I've been having dinner there for the past 2 days.

This is their signature meal set : the Nuba Laya Set. Served with authentic Bario Rice from Bario.

The minced fish. Delicious although, ok, so it's fried. I think.

This is the Labo Belato @ Stir-Fried Wild Tapioca Leaves. Sticky ain't it? That's normal. And, just about every Kelabit child loves eating this vegetable dish.

And this is Smoked Meat. Could be wild boar. I'm not sure. Didn't ask. Was too busy savouring the entire meal.

And yes, this is porridge, otherwise known as Kikid. Tasty and pleasant. This is the vegetarian version that we were served last night. Tonight, it was with mushroom and equally delicious.

And, the gem of the meal : the Nuba Laya @ Bario Rice wrapped in Leaves. Definitely no sharing. One packet per person.

How it looks like once it's open. Ok, it's not your typical rice presentation but it's definitely soft and slightly sweetish. This is how they eat it in Bario.

Yum yum...

(I can hear someone salivating from Rotterdam and London)

: : Scrumptious Sweetness : :

2006-04-16T14:48:00.000+08:00

My little gran-nephew's birthday party as well as his two friends. This was yesterday.

And I only had a 2cm x 2cm piece of cake!

Then again, there was the buffet table as well... errmmm...

Ok, controlled eating on Monday! After Easter Sunday!

: : Comfort Zone : :

2006-04-15T00:10:00.000+08:00

I've arrived in Miri and am already in my comfort zone.

Plus, Dad received all the games I ordered last month so finding time to go through them. We have a guest in the house and she's now with my PSP and Neopets Petpet Adventures. Cutish game but I get the feeling that it'll be a monster treadmill again.

As for me, let's just say that I got more than enough stuff to seriously keep me occupied for awhile. So online gaming would take the backbencher for awhile while I'm sorting out my games.

These days, I'm playing more on non-violent games. Easier to think and less planning / coordination works needed. I get more than enough of it at work that I don't need it during my leisure time.

Cheerio folks! Some pictures up tomorrow. I forgot how seafood is cooked differently than in Kuching. And that it's such a refreshing change.

: : Danger Alert! : :

2006-04-11T11:59:00.000+08:00

WARNING WARNING!

Sensors have picked up high levels of addictive chocolate in the vincinity. Proceed with caution.

Deceptively small, these Hershey Kisses will make you crave for them more and more. Do not be deceived by their pretty wrappings. That little bit of paper sticking out will make you want to pull them open. Batten down the hatches to your mouth! Die your hands behind your back and high-tail it out of here!

Aik! In a sneak attack, a whole box of assorted Belgium chocolates blocks your path! They wave tempting chocholate bites in front of you. You see black and white chocolate swimming in front of your eyes. Your sensors detect hidden nuts and fillings inside some of the stealth chocs. In a desperate attempt, you take a running leap over the box and rush out to the exit!

SPLAT! You were tripped by another box of chocholates. Definitely the evil black and white chocolates are out to make you tempted to eat. However, you shall prevail! As you cover your eyes, relying on your sensors to help you find your way out of this sinister adventure, you race onwards. As you run away, sweet cute laughter are following you. The chocolates are diabolical and you get an awful feeling that they are planning to launch their secret weapon at you.

Suddenly, an exit appears in shining light. You race towards it, only to find a shadow. What is it now? Another chocolate? No, it's the sakura biscuit, come to guide you back to the mothership!

And there is the mothership. As you plonk yourself down amongsts friends, you can't help but wonder what else would the chocolates be up to. Falling gently asleep, you hear faint laughter in the distance. Is it all a dream or a beginning of a nightmare?

: : Throwing away inches : :

2006-04-10T07:10:00.000+08:00

Ohhh....I love the measuring tape today.

I've shrunk down since the last week I measured myself :

Bust : zilch, nada, nothing. Urgh.
Waist : 1 inch!
Hips : 1.5 inches!
Thighs : 2 inches!
Updates! Weight loss : ~4 pounds!

Phew! For a moment there, I thought I wouldn't be shrinking. Have to get my supervisor to give me my measurements that she measured during the first week.

This is the 3rd week into Wena's 2006 Project of Losing Weight. It isn't going to end until Christmas, I think. That's how much I have to lose.

Have I cheated? Oh yes. Dinner at Bla Bla Bla on Thursday and 1/8 slice of a pizza yesterday.

: : The Cooking Monster! : :

2006-04-08T17:07:00.000+08:00

Nothing from Sesame Street. It's another cooking blog where Jennifer Tai explores one of the joys of being at home with the kids : cooking.

And, there's a very nice and delicious-looking video on how to make steamed mushroom.

Gah, now I'm tempted again to binge.

Bad bad Wena.

: : Formal Lunch : :

2006-04-07T22:43:00.000+08:00

About a few weeks ago, I went to attend a function at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Hall. Well, not in the hall itself but in the function room. From the picture, you can tell that it was a very grand room and very formal as well.

On each table, there was a food warmer. There are tea candles at the bottom heating up the water in the middle, causing steam to rise up and gently head the small plates on top that has food on them.

Now this is the cold starter dish. Looks tempting doesn't it? See if you can match the pickled chilli jellyfish, baby octopus, prawn and fruit salad and some fish cake rolls. The only problem was that because the food warmer was already in the middle, we had to squeeze in this cold dish plate to the side.

Also served as Double Boiled Kampung Chicken (Free Ranged Chicken) with Ginseng and Dry Scallops Soup. Yes, in the midst of all the bird flu situation, I went and took this. Why? Because it's properly cook and at that time, no cases in Sarawak. Even to this day, there's none. So, I thought, why not? And I'm still alive today. :p

Finally the main dishes. The middle was Yam Fried Rice in Lotus Leaf (glutinuous rice is used). The fish was Garoupa cooked in Assam Sauce. Another chicken dish known as Meisan Roasted Chicken. And the vegetable is one of the traditional Sarawakian dishes : Fried Midin with Garlic.

Who was the caterer? Holiday Inn Kuching. Surprise? Actually, their food is actually quite good IF IF IF you eat the Meisan Chinese Restaurant. The Coffee House is not so nice.

And I ate this before the start of my diet. What caused me to go on a diet was the picture afterwards. LOL! It scared me so much that I decided to go and lose some weight. So, that was that.

: : Kuching International Airport woes: :

2006-04-07T12:28:00.000+08:00

Poor fish fish had her umbrella "misplaced" by an MAS staff at the Kuching Internation Airport recently. And after she was lending it to him. Hopefully, she didn't get wet from the rain.

I guess it doesn't help with this still hanging in the air. So, I need to be extra careful myself when I go through the airport next week when flying back to Miri.

BTW, that airport has a high theft rate so always good to be alert for snatch thieves. It happens fairly often at that airport. Even if it's no less different from any other airport, still the impression does last.

Next week, back in Miri for a month long break. And hopefully with more postings (very famous last words).

: : Making Dragon Whiskers : :

2006-04-02T23:43:00.000+08:00

These are old videos from 2003 Mooncake Festival. I caught on video the guy making Dragon Whiskers :)

: : Weight Loss is not cheap : :

2006-04-02T18:30:00.000+08:00

I bought this book for myself to do this year. And since Sina' was asking about it, was thinking of getting it again.

Eeep! Very expensive at MPH. I got mine for RM18.90 from Popular Bookstore during their Annual Book Fair at the Taman Kereta Carpark last month. It's the 2004 edition but I'm sure it's still doable. RM68++ is really expensive.

A great place to look for exercising books is at book fairs. Popular Bookstore may not have that many English books compared to TIMES but they sure are cheaper on hardcovers and other books that TIMES priced at very very high figures.

Anyway, have also started the liquid drink diet already. So, it's breakfast and lunch drinks with milk or soya bean milk with some salads. It's been over a week now and so far, things are okay. Clothes are a bit more lose although the weight loss is not so much. My colleagues at work tell me not to rush things and take it easy but I can't help it! LOL! I want to lose weight now!

Still, it's not too bad. Everyone is looking at me so now the pressure is on. And when I told my 13 year old cousin about my diet drinks, she said that is breakfast for birds. :) She definitely wasn't impressed.

Anyway, cheerio. I'll put another video up to cheer folks up.

: : Fresh Food for Eating : :

2006-03-27T07:02:00.000+08:00

This is a great tourist attraction. Huge aquariums of fresh fish at this Sabahan chain of seafood restaurant. This restaurant branch is located in Miri. I took the video last year during a dinner. There's some pictures to go along with it. Have to dig them up.

I'm having fun putting videos up online. Wheeeeeee!

Oh, side note, there were a couple of postings that I had to delete. Copyright issues. Anyway, just to sum up, I'm on the path of losing weight(again). :)

: : Cutting Salmon : :

2006-03-25T15:25:00.000+08:00

Salmon cutting at Tenichi, the Japanese restaurant owned by the Lok Thian family. The videos are loaded at YouTube (a free video hosting sight that seems to work faster for me compared to using Google Video).

I think I took this videos last year when I was still using my Canon G5. Now, with the Canon 350D, no more videos for awhile guys.

I'm going to try and put up more videos that I've taken of food preparation or food-theme stuff since 2003. Believe me when I say that I have a lot of them. Carrying around a small teensy weensy camera makes video taking very easy. Plus, the quality isn't too bad.

Unfortunately, the video quality of my handphone isn't that great so that's not much use for video taking. So, we'll see how it goes. :)

: : Drinking Coffee is an art : :

2006-03-18T08:00:00.000+08:00

Since drinking coffee is an art, why not also have some interesting decorations to go with it?

Check out this link : http://mplay.donga.com/dkbnews/2005/11/latteart.wmv

Thanks Justin.

: : Woof Woof : :

2006-02-27T13:07:00.000+08:00

My male colleagues is going gaga over a petite and yet beautiful lady by the name of Kiki.

: : Wena in Animal Crossing ~ Wild World ~

2006-02-25T18:10:00.000+08:00

Righty-ho. *Cough cough*

Wena is now in Animal Crossing online. So, if you would like to peep into her little town, please drop your email details in the Comments section.

I'm really good in fishing. Can't seem to run away from fishing in any game. lol!

Setting it up was pretty easy with step-by-step instructions. Provided you're near a WiFi hotspot or with an access point nearby. I struggled with this silly WiFi Max for about 2 days before finally managed to get it done. The PSP one also works on the Nintendo DS, regardless of what is being said on the packaging.

So, anyone wanted to come, do tinkle a bit. :)

Mind you, my town is very very BARE. Just started today! LOL!

: : Eating in Miri : :

2006-02-23T12:34:00.000+08:00

I've been getting a few requests about what to eat in Miri. Here's the standard reply and I'm ... ah... sort of lazy to post it up. It's actually for a Norwegian who is heading there to work.

On a separate note, I may be back in Miri during April - May. Have to see if the training is confirmed first before going.

hi there,

u're in luck. i'm from miri, actually. :)

there's many places to eat in miri but i may be a bit out of touch because i only go back twice a year and usually eat where my parents bring me.

depending on what's his budget and whether he's "adventureous" enough to turn a blind eye on the cleanliness of the area. i'll put a note on how clean each area will be.

miri city council is extremely pro-active in ensuring food hygiene in miri. each coffee shop would be given a grade on the cleanliness of its premises. plus, it's mandatory to boil water for any drinks, be it hot drinks or cold drinks so that's a good sign.

hmm..seafood eh? i usually eat at this seafood place called Apollo Seafood at Apollo Hotel. It's in the middle of town, family own business that is doing pretty well for itself. It's diagonal to the MAS office in Miri. note that non-halal so he can order pork if he wishes. House specialty is the Drunken Prawn. Ifyou don't mind the cost, they will throw in live fresh water prawn into Chinese rice wine and boil it. however, you can ask them to use frozen prawns which is cheaper. it's a must-have for me when i go back because can't find a decent restaurant in kuching that can cook it. other types of seafood, they prefer well as well.

there is an expensive seafood restaurant out of town, along the way to Bakam, past the Teacher's Training College. it's a chain from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Fish can be ordered fresh and is extremely delicious but at a cost. they do also have frozen fish too for those budget watchers but still more expensive than Apollo Seafood. Still, it's very very good food as the way they cook it is different from Apollo Seafood.

btw, whatever happens, tell your friend that he does NOT want to eat tourist food i.e. sweet and sour fish, fried rice , lemon chicken, mixed veggie that is only cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, sweetpeas. try something else, there are a lot of different types of food that does not have to be spicy. just, don't touch tourist food.

and if he misses food back home, Marriott hotel is nearby and they have a really good selection of food. chef is european i think but not sure from where. but, food is really good, to me anyways. and i'm an extremely fussy eater.

other places to eat : dim sum at grand palace hotel. the most expensive place to eat dim sum but worth it. to me anyways. can't get decent dim sum in kuching. in miri, grand palace hotel cooks it hong kong style so it's pretty good. he can also rough it out at a coffeeshop (open air) known as Wawasan 2020 (don't ask why it's called that) and have their dim sum too. 2020 is open everyday. Grand Palace hotel - weekends only and best to go early before the church crowds go. then it's packed, especially sundays.

he must try kolo mee i.e. dry boiled noodles. there is a specific shop that i used togoto with my parents at the old vegetable market in the middle of town. they are only open after 7 pm or was it 7.30 pm? they're mee is amazingly tasty. i need to check with my parents on the stall number and get back to you on this one. the steam chicken is also nice to eat.

cheerio.

Wena

: : Fruit Cookies : :

2006-02-21T22:22:00.000+08:00

Finally! Manage a picture up. Watermelon Cookies made by a friend for the Hari Raya Celebrations. It was delicious and scrumptious. Yummy yummy!

You know, one thing about living in Malaysia, is that all sorts of cookies starts popping up during the festival periods. I mean, this is just one type. The ladies would go out of their way to get the most delightful looking ones either by baking it themselves or buying it from other ladies.

On a side note, I got a new toy : click here. Ain't she a beauty? Jas helped me to get it from the USA so that there's at least some warranty to this thing. So, I'm now playing around with Kiki my little puppy. Sad to say that Wena got so excited that she trained the puppy until she became too tired to learn. Oh well. Now, the question is whether to get other puppies. Ahem. :)

Or probably borrow Abat's cartridges and get some puppies transfered into the DS unit. Anyway, that's for something back in Miri.

As well as Animal Crossing. Well, maybe.

: : Cuteness : :

2006-02-16T12:39:00.000+08:00

I'm still trying to wrestle with the issue of uploading pictures online. Bah! Weak connection streamyx in Tabuan Jaya, Kuching. You can tell when the kids are allowed to surf the net (6 - 7 p.m.). Then again, it also still slows down during the night time. Then it's adult surfing 10 p.m. till 1 a.m. Extreme frustration at Telekom at the moment.

Although at the moment, I'm amazed to actually to be able to log on to Flyff. Free game but massive lags. Once in a while, someone would scream something in Malay or Manglish/Singlish. I like the cute graphics though. Lag, definitely not. Kiddy cousins, ahem. Please do not nag your parents. It's too long a download (took me 3 days).

And for a free game of that size, there's only 4 GMs. Haiyo. First time I see a huge game with only 4 GMs and not enough forum moderators.

And I got messages from friends asking what's happening to this blog. Sigh. Until the line is more reliable for heavy traffic, will be posting picture-less postings until it's up and running better.

: : Free Gmail : :

2006-02-15T12:25:00.000+08:00

BTW, does anyone want a free Gmail account?

Drop me an email at myremi (at) gmail.com and I'll send you an invite. Note that for Hotmail users, I think it goes into the SPAM folder or gets blocked out completely so you'll need to drop me a different email address.

: : Newsflash : :

2006-02-12T23:05:00.000+08:00

Streamyx this weekend is so bloody slow. Bah. To the point that it's almost impossible to load up any food pictures these days. Bah! Ah well. Guess you all have to wait for awhile then.

On another note, here's a blog that I've been writing for awhile now. Been at it for about 6 months now. Yes, there is an online game I play, called A Tale in the Desert : Tale 2. Although, I haven't been at it for awhile.

On another note, trying to download Fly for Fun at the moment. Taking a really long time to do so. It's a free game at 410 MB but if you want some cool stuff, you have to pay for it. Well, actually you pay for potatoes (don't ask) which in turn you can buy some need stuff with it.

: : Blood Donation Requirements & Living in UK : :

2006-02-09T19:50:00.000+08:00

I've had several comments about this and I get the feeling that they are starting to feel offended.

Reason for this is that a lot of hospitals are concern about the potential risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease a.k.a. Mad Cow Diseases. Outside of the UK, a lot of hospitals in various countries will actually turn down people who have lived in UK in the past 10 or so years. It's a disease that may not appear until a few years down the road.

Actually, it's not 10 years but rather since 1980 for at least 3 months stay in UK. There's been reports about contaminated blood in blood banks so the hospitals are being more careful.

And for those who have commented, I'm assuming that you're either living in UK already or have not donated blood outside of UK. Else, from the questionairre alone you will be filtered.

: : Urgent call for Blood Donation : :

2006-02-08T21:50:00.000+08:00

A colleague of mine from work is looking around for a blood donor with O+ type blood. Her father is going to go for an operation tomorrow and the blood bank is out of this blood type. He will be having his operation tomorrow and needs another pint of blood. The hospital that he's at is Sarawak General Hospital (SGH). The operation is scheduled for the afternoon so if you would like to volunteer to donate blood, please do let me know. I'll pass your contact to my colleague. Drop me an email at myremi@gmail.com and I'll send you her contact number. Thanks.

However, note that if you are having flu, are on antibiotics, had an accident or cut, or have been to UK in the past 10 years since mid-80s, you won't be able to donate. I can't donate because of my study days in UK.

Now, before someone goes off and start complaining about the state of the hospital these days, the blood bank at SGH actually caters to a lot of hospitals in the Kuching division. That includes hospitals that are outstation and private hospitals as well. Also, note that blood banks are usually short of blood during a festive season.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, do drop me an email for the contact details.

: : WIFI for PSP : :

2006-02-08T11:41:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I went a little bit overboard and got a WIFI MAX for the PSP. Reason was because I needed it to be playable on both the PSP and Nintendo DS. The DS is a bit more temperamental and not all routers support it. The sad bit is that only the problematic routers are available in Kuching. Bah!

Anyway, after much pain and agony along with the brainpower of Wonderful Wong, we managed to get it working. Phew! That was a pain in itself.

And kiddies, please do not ask your parents for one. Take it from Cousin/Auntie Wena, you'll not be using it so much.