sukiyaki

Why sukiyaki? Because it's a one-pot-cooks-all kind of meal. My kind of meal! Hahaha!

Ingredients:
1. Wong bok or chinese cabbage, or any vegetables that you fancy
2. Thinly sliced meat with some fats (I used pork belly, otherwise can use beef for shabu shabu)
3. Mushrooms (golden mushrooms, shimeji, or whatever that you like)
4. Chikuwa, or fishcake or yong tau foo (anything that you fancy, just to have some variety)
5. Grilled tofu (or any other tofu that you like) - Optional
6. Negi (or chinese leek) - forgot to buy, so don't have this today

raw ingredients

For sauce:
1. Mirin
2. Light soy sauce
3. Sugar
4. Sake

But, looking at the price of Mirin (which costs like some $6 to $7 per bottle), I've opted for a cheaper alternative; the Sukiyaki sauce.

Ta-dah!

sukiyaki sauce

downside is... MSG alert!

it promises to be easy, with tasty end results!

Well, didn't really check the ingredients in the sauce till after I've reached home. As my home used to use Ajinomoto when we were kids, so I guessed that I'm not alergic to MSG...except to be thirsty thereafter...

The preparation before cooking was just get some water boiling in the cooking pan, or a pot. Cut and wash the vege and mushroom. Cook the vege stem in the boiling water and add some of the sukiyaki sauce. When stem has soften, add the rest of the vege and mushrooms. Wash the pork belly and add it last. Add some more sukiyaki sauce over the meat and simmer till meat is thoroughly cooked.

pork belly sukiyaki

yums

finished the vege, now the meat!

clear soup

tasty, but it has MSG (and it rhymed...)

Pork belly was really nice...Tender yet retained some chewiness and the fats just fills the mouth. Yumms. Next round, hmmm...wagyu beef?

invasion of the foamy kind

Was out for a job at about 830am this morning. Everything was pretty normal, except that the canal was foaming. You know when someone had accidentally put too much washing powder onto the water and everytime the water was disturbed, the foam gets bigger and bigger...well, it looked exactly like that. The canal has water continously gushing out, so the foam gets bigger and bigger.

Didn't put too much thought into that, and didn't have my phone with me, so just went on with the jog. After like half hour or forty five minutes or so, I was on my way back. Took the shaded path (a path lined with trees, just behind the private houses) and was surprised to see big chunk of foam on the path. The distance between the canal and this path, was at least a few metres, and there were trees separating the canal and the path, so that was quite a surprise.

Continued on, and subsequently was even more surprised to see the foam has flown off from the canal and onto the traffic! Whoa. Cars had to manouvre themselves carefully, since the foam was a hazard to visual.

Here're some pictures taken sometime after I've returned home, at about 10am.

foam flying in the air

smaller foam chunks flying everywhere

zoomed-in view

Not sure what's the cause of this, but hopefully the foam poses no threat to health. And hopefully it can clear off, without causing any traffic incident. This is the time, when one wishes for the rain...

Jimmy Kimmel, I Told My Kid I Ate All Their Halloween Candy, Again

Didn't know kids took their candies so seriously, seriously! The one who fell on the floor was very very funny!

Loved this one.

alice in wonderland

Just watched Alice in Wonderland on tv, not a while ago. Wonderful fun, it was. And quite mad. Yes, quite mad.

One can find Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in most of Tim Burton's movies. Brilliant. Anne Hathaway as white queen was flighty and flimsy, while 'Professor Snape's voice can be heard as Absolem, the blue caterpillar.

Liked this dialogue from the movie, where the (Mad) Hatter said, "Have I gone mad?" Then, Alice placed the back of her palm against his forehead for a while, and said, "I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are." And then, they smiled. Endearing.

Quite liked Dormouse too. Spunky!

After the show, was wondering. Hmm.. what could be the moral of the story behind "Alice in Wonderland"? Come on, I mean, all children's tales would've a moral behind the story, doesn't it?

Googled and found out apparently, Lewis Carroll (or Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), the author of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass", had said it himself that these two books "do not teach anything at all".

So there we have it. Just nonsensical fun.

KL work trip

Was called to the office in Shah Alam early this week. Flew by AirAsia and the ticket was so cheap. Costs them less than $100 for return ticket! Now, I can say that I've flew with all three budget airlines! Jetstar, AirAsia and Tiger Airways! WoOoohOOo!

I think Jetstar seats are most spacious. Tiger has the worst delays ever and AirAsia's check-in was pretty fast. On Monday, AirAsia flew managed to touch down at LCCT-KLIA 20 minutes earlier than scheduled! Wah... But unfortunately, on return trip, it was delayed 20 minutes pre-departure. -_- 

Its self check-in kiosk at the airport was very convenient. Much more convenient than doing an internet check-in. It prints out the boarding pass pretty fast once you keyed in the booking number. BUT, all passengers are supposed to verify their documents and get their boarding pass stamped 30 minutes before departure time, at the AirAsia passenger desks inside the boarding area, otherwise, they might not be allowed to board the flight. I feel they should at least print this instruction on the boarding passes that was printed out from the kiosks, for first-timers may not be aware of this requirement. Only found out through the announcements made. Yes, I do listen to announcements in the airport...

The taxi fare from LCCT-KLIA airport to Shah Alam office, costs MYR 84, and the journey took more than an hour. Didn't know which taxi to take, so bought the taxi coupon from airport. That should be the safest bet, right? Then, move towards the taxis that are outside/opposite of Coffee Bean. Almost like the far-end as opposed to the coupon counter.

For accommodation, my colleague jokingly said that I'll be staying in Klang (same area as the senior manager's house). I was like, "Nah.. can't be..." 'Coz all these while they've put me in not too shabby hotels like Holiday-Inn, or boutique hotel like Ruemz at Subang. Turns out, my colleagues were right. My stay for the night was at Panmour Villa (sounds like a motel, right..) in Klang. Room rate was MYR70 per night. Very very cheap compared to the usual hotels! Hahaa!

Nevertheless, the hotel room was ok. The bed was queen sized, there's a functional bathroom although it came without toothbrush nor toothpaste, and only half a roll of toilet paper (budget probably..), has a TV (local channels only) but best of all, it still had wifi. Better than business hotels where internet connection is chargeable!

soft bed with very limp pillows

desk, but power socket something wrong

toilet

shower area that's just next to toilet bowl

no bottled water, but have coffee

Malaysian TV channels (channel 8 and NTV7) has a fair bit of Chinese shows (TVB, local and China-Taiwan productions). Local news on that day reported that two young men jumped to their deaths after being rejected by their girlfriends, in separate incidents. Haisss. The lawyer show that has Shaun Chen is also shown and it's almost ending in Malaysia whereas in Singapore, it's slower.

All in all, thanks to Senior Manager for arranging the accommodation and the transport to hotel, and back to airport for return.

boutique

The doors looked intimidating. For one who normally looks at stuffs from supermarkets, Uniqlo, Metro.. the experience of walking into a higher end boutique, was.. well, quite nerve-racking.

Nerve-racking? Exaggerating much? Aren't all consumers the same? Well, probably its the packaging. If someone looked like a million dollars, the doors would've automatically open. If one looks like a hobo, then guessed those same doors would've remained tightly shut...

Hahaa. So there I stood, in my usual tee-shirt and jeans. Peering outside the black door, with an uncle watching it. Walked right up to it, and made eye contact. The uncle opened the door slightly (enough for him to peer out but not enough for anyone else to enter) and with a look that says, "Ok, stop right there. What do you want".

So, I state my cause and throws in a couple of keyword with regards to the merchandise, and voila, the uncle deemed it valid, and opens the door. Whew. Then, the door man (or bouncer?) beckoned a younger chap to attend to this 'customer'.

So, tried to ask some general questions and the young chap was nicely patient enough to explain things. Was quite obvious that I know nuts about this brand, but yet, he was kind enough to provide some information. There were just two large jersey bags on display but the rest were at the lower level. (I was thinking, wow.. like a secret chamber somewhere for exclusitivity?). He was wearing a glove when handling the display bag, so I just had to ask, "Can I touch the bag?" Can see one of his eyebrow raised in question. Maybe no one asks? I don't know. So very gingerly, I touched the bag. Probably leather would feel nicer.

All in all, it was a nice informative trip. Maybe I should work on my exit. It does seem kind of hurried.

nothing new

Watching too much TV shortens your life-span. Yadda-yadda-yadda. Yup, saw the report recently. But a search on the internet revealed that this piece of information is not new...

Here's one that's dated August 2011. And this one, dated July 2012. And this, the latest dated October 2012 which says that every hour of TV could shorten life-span by 22 minutes.

funnies II

Typical day in office, with the exception that boss and xxx were in town. Left the office but my bosses decided to stay back.

'twas some hours after office hours officially ended...
One missed call from the boss, like half hour ago. So, sms'ed him back. Here's how the convo went...

Me: Sorry, just realised there's one missed call from you. Wassup?
Boss: Did you pass the office keys to auditors?
Me: Nope. Someone else has it.
Boss: Ok.

I kept looking at my mobile for the next five minutes, waiting for continuation. Can't be my boss just wanted to ask one single question bah...

After five minutes.

Me: That's all?
Boss: Yes. Actually, the lights were still on and the auditors might have left something on the table. But we decided to lock up and leave anyway.
Me: Oh, ok. As per my understanding...the auditors have xxx contact number, so if they've left anything important and can't access the office, they'd call xxx.

After some thought, I sent another sms.

Me: Unless the thing that was left behind, was the mobile phone, then too bad lo.

After somemore thoughts, sent another sms to my boss.

Me: Boss, are you sure you didn't lock the auditors inside our office?
Boss: Haha.

macadamias

front

back

coated with caramel

crunchy nuts

best bits

Each macadamia fruit only contains one or two seeds. Best to savour it slowly...

the ones that i grew up with...

fav shows

Does any of it ring a bell? Hahaa, if it does, then you know you're an oldies at heart! The soap box (aka the television) was my best companion, one that I grew up with.

The Six Million Dollar Man (or Bionic Man) starring Lee Majors, originally ran from 1974 to 1978. Guessed I watched it later, because didn't think Malaysia's broadcasting unit bought screening rights to overseas shows as soon as it starts. Well, not at that era anyway unlike now.

My mom recalled that we vied for the channels with my grandma because grandma would want to watch her Tamil shows, while I would want to watch this. The show was fascinating because a critically injured man was given mechanical parts to replace his arm, his eye and legs. Hahaa, Lee Majors was kind of gruffy good looking at that era and had a perpetual scowl on his forehead, but that's ok. And I think I did thought that why would an ang mo have the same surname as mine....

Also, bionic parts in human is already a reality by now. So, the idea was really mooted long, long time ago...

The Wonder Woman tv series ran from 1975 till 1978, starring Lynda Carter. It was equally fascinating to watch a skimpily dressed well endowed pretty lady fighting villains. Wonder Woman is also similar to Superman, Spiderman, Incredible Hulk, living the superhero lives by having a normal alter ego.

Loved Charlie's Angels too. Ass kicking, witty and beautiful women and the mysterious Charlie.

left to right: Jaclyn Smith, Farah Fawcett and Kate Jackson

"Here's Lucy" was a comedy show. Funny and hilarious, starring the funny gal Lucille Ball. Here's a link to an episode that has Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.


Have you heard of "Little House on the Prairie"? One of my favourite family drama. Probably shown around 4 or 5pm those kind of timings. American western story of Charles Ingalls and his family. The tv series was adapted from a children's book series of the same name, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Favourite character from the show gotta be the cute Laura Ingalls character as played by Melissa Gilbert. She was just 10 at that time and spunky!

Melissa Gilbert as Laura Ingalls

Then, when night falls, we had shows like "The Love Boat" (1977 - 1986) and "Fantasy Island". Both of these shows have romantic and comedic elements in them.

"The Love Boat" centers around the cruise ship and it looked impressive at that time. Never thought that today, cruise ships can be seen easily at Harbourfront.  Here's an excerpt of the lyrics from the theme song:

Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard. We're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/theloveboatlyrics.html

"Fantasy Island" was most memorable with its opening sequence where the plane flies over the beautiful island and Mr Rourke and Tattoo (Ricardo Montalban & Hervé Villechaize) opening up their arms and welcomes you to "Fantasy Island~". Feel good endings, always.

"Twilight Zone" by the incredibly talented Rod Serling, is darker, morbid and has a sinisterish approach. There is always a lesson learnt, at the end of each short stories.




note: all pictures, credit to their original creator

no wonder...

Scenario: Crowded lift, post lunch time. Me at one corner, and my bosses at the other corner while in between were other people that we don't know.

Finally, lift was empty except for us from my company.

CFO (female): Hehehe...

Boss (male): Yeah, he's quite tall la...
Me: (looking blur)
CFO to me: Did you see that guy?
Me: Which guy?
Boss to me: There.. the tall one that was in here just now
Me: Huh? Never noticed...
Both of them to each other: She didn't see him la..
Me (out loud): No wonder I'm still single...never noticed..
Both of them: Hahahaha...

coffee milk

Coffee milk from Takashimaya Autumn Hokkaido Fair. Only 200ml. Small and cute.

comes with a super short straw

look how it extended!

ready to drink

art in town

Several interesting and beautiful art pieces are on display as part of the Timeless Masterpieces and Richard Macdonald - Magical Energies exhibition, outside Orchard MRT station, along the stretch of the road leading to Wisma Atria, Ngee Ann City. Many life-like sculptures that depicts fluid movement, beauty and grace of the human body, can be seen.

Three Graces Half

The three Graces symbolizes radiance, joy and blossoming life (in Greek myth).

The Trumpeteer, Draped, Heroic

from a different angle

detailed expression of the Trumpeteer

Next, was a piece titled "Transcendence".

Transcendence - Man's struggle against gravity

There's also another piece similar to the Trumpeteer, titled "Joie de Femme".

Joie de Femme

beauty and grace

Then, there's this piece titled "Blind Faith, Heroic".

Blind Faith, Heroic

reminds me of Cirque du Soleil

All of the sculptures are pretty cool.

Autumn Hokkaido Fair October 2012 @ Takashimaya

It's official. All these Hokkaido Fairs at Takashimaya (been to Spring, and now Autumn.. and soon Winter..) are dangerous for the wallet. Mine, especially. Hahaa!

What did I get from Autumn Hokkaido Fair this time? Ta-dah, picture as below.

loot from Autumn Hokkaido Fair

It was very easy to overspend. A little here, a little there... the total can be quite a lot. Blame it on the Taka mailer that they sent. The pictures really looked good. But sometimes (or maybe most of the time?), expectation and reality do differs.

expectation

reality

Hahaa, presentation was not as nice/impressive as advertised, but technically, all items are accounted for! ;)

Seafood Mix Bento @$27

In actual fact, the Seafood Mix Bento was rather enjoyable. Had it for lunch. The rice was adequately vinagered, the fish roes provided that interesting texture and little bursts of saltiness, and enough seafood variety to keep the tastebuds happy.

There was one customer at the bento stall, and he wanted to get the "Triple Variety" (has sea urchin, ikura and crab meat shreds) but without the crab meat. The chef quoted him $40 for this customization. Hmm, probably crab meat was the cheapest of the lot. A box of ikura is usually sold for $20.

Didn't get any cheesecakes from 'Farm Designs' because the cake slices were really really puny for that price...even the puddings were tiny this time round! But still ended up with something from this producer. Rather curious to try this new vendor.

shio (salt) caramel cookies

This time round, Joli Creer brought in colourful puddings.

trio of puddings (@$6 each)

Got some milk to try as well. The small packs comes in 200ml size @$1.90 each. They have a one litre pack for the non-flavoured milk as well.

milk (front) and coffee milk (behind) @$5.50 for 3 packs

Shiroi Koibito from Ishiya Confectionary are also being sold, but I didn't get any. Bought something like a baumkuchen cake instead.

Ryugetsu Sanporoku (maple flavour) @$14

There's a 10% discount for the sanporoku cake when using Takashimaya credit card.

new friend

His name is Monterey, and he's beautiful. This relationship comes with strings attached.

make yourself at home

nice to meet you

the mechanical bits

but Monterey has its flaws...(in fact, so many of them...)

And most of the times, he'll be out of tune. So Monterey needs a little assistance from his best friend, Enya.

Enya always listens

and affirms Monterey's pitch when he's right

Haha! Got them both from deal.com.sg, costing about SGD$42 in total. Yay! My very first, stringed instrument.