Chinatown Food Street

Went to Chinatown Food Street for dinner. At first, what I wanted to try out is the Tianjin Restaurant in Chinatown. But it changed my mind when me and Ah-Sha walked past the food street. This food street reminds me of "teh cangkung" (last time when you have food by the roadside, you squat and eat) hehehehe .... when I was young very young. The design and everything is really reminiscing - a recollection of the olden days. The food there looks really appealing. I hold myself back a lot since I cant eat crab. I wanted to try out the BBQ seafood. Looks real good. But too bad. Due to my allergies towards seafood, I have to restrain myself well. So the yearn of seafood switch to fried oyster instead. The fried oyster taste so so. After you get too much of it, you feel bored. No much of oyster found where there are some stall will give you a real big oyster. The chilli sauce was too sour. So didnt really like this one much.

Then, Ah-Sha came with stay on his hands. It's pork satay I think. Taste not too bad. But I would say the meat was somewhat a bit too dry. Sauce was nice. No wonder Ah-Sha finished up the sauce. As if the sauce was the soup. He just gulp it down. Hahahahhahahaha....

After our satay and fried oyster, we continued our food search. My, my what a surprise to find German sausage in the middle of Chinatown. I love this stall. The sausage taste the same as the one that I had in New Habour Cafe. And the man who is managing the stall is a German too... I think ....

A set of his sausages .... and it was pretty cheap too ...

We ordered the German Pork Bratwurst. And it taste good with the mustard and chilli sauce. However, it was too dry. Probably due to the repeating grilling of the sausage.

Hopefully, someday I will be able to travel to German and eat some real authentic German sausage there *wink*

Maternal Grandfather and Grandmother stories

Since I have started the stories on paternal grandparents, today I will be blogging about my maternal side of grandparents stories. Hmm... how should I put it for A-gong then ... He had already left us even before my sister was born (for your info, my sis is the eldest grandchildren in the maternal side of the family. Thus, this makes me number two *giggles*). I only know through one of his old pictures at A-ma's home. Meanwhile, A-ma's loves her story telling session but sometimes she will keep repeating the same thing. Hehehe ...

A-gong's Life History

I heard about A-gong from my mum actually. It seems that A-gong is the second generation in Malaysia. Meaning Great-grandpa (A-gong's dad) came to Malaysia from Fujian Province in China. They settled down in Muar since then. Since great-grandpa was a business man, that makes A-gong a little master. He rode on a car and wore leather shoes. Yeah, I know that cars and leather shoes are common nowadays. However, in the 1920s, car and leather shoes are only owned those who are really really rich. So , therefore, I guess A-gong life when he was young was very well to do. But, sadly, as you can see from a lot of soapie, A-gong spent most of his days placing bets on cricket fightings (that's what the rich Chinese do during their free time last time). He never really care in learning business from his father which makes the distant relatives to usurp his properties. He just signed everything blindly due to his trust to the relatives. I remembered that there were a piece of land that worth nearly 600-700 thousands in Muar now, in Malaysian currency, of course. Too bad that doesnt belong to our family anymore. Sad ... This makes him become a trishaw rider. Why did he choose to become a trishaw rider? Hmm... I am not sure about that myself but I guess, maybe that's the least hard job to do rather than labouring. In addition, I think A-gong flung his studies. That's why he cant land himself in a good job. I dont know... cos I didnt ask my mum about that. But his was still addicted to gambling. Therefore, life was really tough for A-ma. Poor A-ma .... According to my mom, A-gong was a very good story-teller. My mom loves listening to it but too bad Chinese at that time preferred boys over girls cos guys carried the family name. Thus, mom were not allow to listen. But somehow she find ways to listen to it. I wonder if A-gong will still think the same if he was to stay at current era. I wonder if he would change his perception. If he was still alive, what would he thinks about his grand-daughters whom all excel in their studies ... Hmm .... I dont know ... A-gong died at the age of 50plus due to lungs cancer. It's not genetic but it's because he smoked too much.

A-ma's Life History

A-ma is a half nyonya. Just in case you guys dont know what nyonya is, let me do a little brief intro over here.

Baba (for male) and nyonya (for female) are the Straits Chinese (Chinese that were borned in Malaysia) or known as "Peranakan" that adopted Malay customs partially or fully. This is because, the Chinese migrants from China (mainly Hokkien or Fujian) will take Malay as their wife. So cultures were not passed down on writings but rather they are passed down by generation. They have a different culture from Malay and Chinese. Some are similar to Chinese and some are similar to Malay. But their food are totally unique. You can check them out in the following link if you wish to know more detail info about them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan

Or if you are even more interested, you and watch "The Little Nyonya" drama on youtube. Although, it's in Mandarin, but they do have the subtitles. They have a good intro on their cultures over here and the story plot were very good too. Or if you want to visit these culture, Malacca is the best place cos most of the Peranakan settle down in Malacca.

Ok ok I have carried far enough. Time to get back to A-ma story. "Peranakan" are actually quite rich family if you have noticed. They are mainly business family. So this makes A-ma a missy too. Hehehehe ... However, a lot of things changed after the world war II. This story I will tell another time. But being a missy of a "Peranakan" family, you have to be very well in cooking. So A-ma cooking on hot and spicy food are really very good especially the curry. So that makes Ta-yi (Eldest Auntie) a very good cook. Well, my mum cooked very well too. However, the recipe of the dishes were not passed down cos not many of the youngsters nowadays love to help in the kitchen. Therefore, I love helping them in the kitchen whenever I am back to Muar (not on cooking but "sampling" the food the moment it's out from the wok). Hehehehehe ....

Being a Missy, A-ma stayed at home too cos according to "Peranakan" rule, girls cannot get out from the house till they are married. A-ma was a beautiful lady when she was young. She has got a genetically tanned skin. That explains why I am the most tanned among my family (cos the others of my siblings are really very fair ... ermm ... my sis and my bro skin are like soya milk or tofu ... hahahaha ... that makes me envy of them ... ). But not sure if she wear "kebaya" though. I know a little about great-grandma (A-ma's mother). It seems that she had a very very small feet (about 3-5 inches) I think. I am not sure whether this is a myth or a truth. It was said that great-grandma feet was crushed and wrapped in cloth for a long time. After she recovered, she will use two big pails of water to train the strength of her feet. Cos during the ancient chinese, it was said that small feet represent gracefulness of a lady. I wouldnt want to do that. It sounds sooo painful. My mum saw great grandma shoes before and she said, it's really really small like a 4-5 years old kid shoes. Gee... that's exciting. However, I never seen them before cos she said most things were thrown away during the moving.

Ooops seems that I detour again. Hahahaha ... sorry. Well, after the war, everything change. They are not as rich as they used to be then. So it's like a normal average family. Ladies started to step out from the house and work. Or else how could you survive, right? Therefore, uneducated A-ma can only do cooking and cleaning as she was born in a traditional "Peranakan" family. So she got a job as the hospital attendant. But the pay was meagre. Therefore, life got tougher after the war afterall. She worked till she retired and the government are still giving her pension. So that's sounds good, isnt it?

A-gong meets A-ma

How does A-gong meets A-ma? Well, similar to those old chinese traditions, they got married due to matchmaking session and was blessed with 4 daughters (my mom was the second) and three sons. Life was tough for them. They were staying in hospital quarters (meaning those who were working in the hospital can stay there for free together with their family). It was a rundown wooden house (I stayed there during my first 4 years but I cant really remember well though). The quarters were now teared down and rebuild into new hospital buildings. But still they are able to survive the conditions. Except for Ta-yi and mom, all other aunties and uncles were educated and they are doing very well in their career too. 3rd aunt is a nurse, 4th aunt is a primary school teacher. 1st uncle is a pilot, 2nd uncle is a lecturer and meanwhile 3rd uncle is a Major in the army. Hmmm ... due to the harsh conditions, I think the children understand that studies are very important to change their life. And indeed, they really did. Why mom and Ta-yi are unable to go to school? That's because first as I said, A-gong have gender discrimination (sorry A-gong, I didnt mean to be rude here) and second because life is too poor that time that they have to stayed at home and take care of younger siblings while A-gong and A-ma goes out to work. I guess things will be totally different if mom was able to go to school. Cos both Ta-yi and mom are really great people. Ta-yi can learn stuff in just one look (and she can even read official English and Malay letter by self-learning ... amazing huh) and mom is really a good debater, and frankly speaking, although she doesnt get out of the world much but she can talk to you about a lot of stuff ranging from education to health then to politics and her fav is newspaper and drama. But too bad I dont have the good traits of my mom hahahahhahahaa ...... but similar to her I really love watching drama and anime ... hahahahhaha ..... that's a bit saddening.

Paternal Grandfather and Grandmother stories

What I will be blogging about are someone who are still with us and had already left us. Yes, my A-gong and A-ma stories. *Giggles* It's sometimes great to hear those stories from our parents. See how our origin come about. Sometime ago, there was a prof from China asking which generation I am now in Malaysia. Calculating that I told him I am the third generation. Well, for Chinese tradition, you tend to follow your father side and not the mother side. *smile*

I will start off with my paternal side of the story first.

Agong Origin
A-gong (that's how I called my grandpa) was from Fujian China. He passed away 5-6 years ago.He was 84 that time or older cos A-gong didnt really know when he was born. As you know, in China that time, birthcert hadnt exist yet. It's about 1920s. Wow... that's really long time ago. Well, how does A-Gong get to Malaysia. I just recently found out this story from my dad. Cos I was curious and therefore, I asked. Dad said A-gong came to Malaysia all alone when he was about 12-14 years old. Travelling in the cramp ship for a few days. Penniless. That's sound very miserable. I wonder how he survived the condition that time. I guess our life now is way much much more comfortable than his. Later, he found himself a God-father (from the same province) and started working for him in Setiawan, Perak. I guess life was tough in China so that's why he had to leave his beloved family behind to find a survival outside of China so that he could send some money back. All I know is he had got a sister back in China. He did send money back to China even though he was already old and he still missed them and would like to do his part as a little brother. I guess, people that time have more sense of responsibilities compared to our generation. The relatives in China are mostly policeman or policewoman (that's all I know) - source of info is from my uncles. Ok ok back to the topic. A-Gong work in the estate that time. Tapping rubber. He worked in Perak for a few years before he moved to work in Penang. Then, he moved down south to Johor when he got married with A-ma (grandma). A-Gong was a really handsome young chap. Last time camera is too ex, so he got a drawn potrait. Still hanging in A-ma's house.

A-ma Origin
A-ma came from the same province as A-gong but they didnt know each other that time. A-ma came to Malaysia, specifically Johor with his relatives. I know A-ma stories better cos she will always tell us her stories to my mom and us sometimes. So the stories were first handed. You know what, when people are rich and they know their parents werent around, people will just abuse your kids. Well, that's what happen in the 1920s. The master abuse the maid that kind of thing. The parents thought that it will be way better for A-ma to come to Malaysia with relatives not knowing what lies ahead of her. That's very saddening. However, if A-ma didnt come to Malaysia, I guess I will not be here anyway. Hahhahaha ... Alright back to the story. A-ma was treated as a maid when she was here. She came to Malaysia at about 14-16 years old I think. Life was hard for her. She basically have to take care of housechores like cleaning, cooking, taking care of children, carry water from river for the family uses etc. Those might sound simple but think back it's back in 1920s and machines or tools are not that advance as now. No proper electricity, water and gas. So everything is really down to earth. YOu really have to use firewood to cook your food. During that time, A-ma had to wake up before sun rises and slept before sun set. No shirts for her only pants till the age of 18. Only given leftover meal a day and got beaten up if you do a slightest mistake. All this engraved very deeply into her mind. Even I as a bystander feel so painful for her. I guess if this happen nowadays people will called that abusing. Therefore, our life are still way much better now. Her life only start to get a little bit better after she married to A-Gong. A-ma was really a maiden that time too. Her looks are like those ancient China ladies. Sharp oval face, really authentic asian eyes, small mouth, thin, tall and slender. Really very pretty. Her looks doesnt really change much, just that her hair dropped as the time passes and wrinkles developed. She will be 90 this year and hoping she will have pink of health always. Hope that her health will not deteriot as time goes. Pray for A-ma *wink*

When A-Gong meets A-ma
A-gong and A-ma didnt get married like us do. It's all about matchmaking and their love are so strong till they are at their old age. I think A-ma still misses A-Gong a lot although he has passed away. They bickered so much but their love is soo deep. I still remembered that when A-Gong was about to leave us forever, the only person he can remember is only A-ma. He was so worried about A-ma and was reluctant to leave. However, when a person time is up you cant really do anything about it. Thinking this back I will see how fragile relationship is nowadays. People walk in and out of relationship sooo easily. Probably life is getting better and people start not to cherish about anything. I dont know. People divorce or break up when problem came. They started to push responsibilities to each other and blaming each other saying it's their fault when problem arises. Rather I think they should solve the problem and not blaming each other. We should accept and say sorry when we are at fault. Overcoming each other shortcomings as we are not a perfect soul. That's should be the way. Sadly, people nowadays always think they are superior beings and have higher expectations on the other half rather than reflecting about themselves. I really envy the relationship between A-Gong and A-ma and do really hope to have a relationship which is really long lasting. Enduring over hardships and love still grow so strong between both of them. Let's reflect what's the love like nowadays. Why cant they be just as strong as theirs? I really wonder.

Life after marriage
The life after marriage wasnt a smooth sailing or happily ever after. Reality is always a cruel situation. Both A-gong and A-ma has to work hard to feed the children at home. Both start off working as rubber tapper at an estate. Then, they started to save money to buy land. Land at the time was cheap but earning wasnt easy. A-gong and A-ma were very thrifty people even until now. It's was like if they earn a penny, it's a must for them to save two. So life wasnt easy for my dad either. Well, that will be dad stories so I shall not say a lot here. Hehehehhehe. During the rubber tapping, A-ma got a few miscarriages and she continued working despite her miscarriage on the spot!!! WHat will we do now? Groaning in pain and crying. Imagine, life was so tough that she didnt even have time to sit down and cry cos there were still children to feed at home. But she was blessed with 6 sons and 3 daughters though. My dad is of course one of them. Hahhahahaha .... Then, from the money they saved, they started to buy lands and other stuff. I do really salute them for their patience and endurance. I think people will strive their best when they are at their worst. If it wasnt because of the poor condition, people will not really appreciate what they have. Sometimes, listening to the old people talking isnt as bad though. You really get to learn a lot through their stories and feel really bless with our current condition that we are in. So never forget the good life that we are all having now in comparison to the time when our ancestor set our foot here. So do you have a story to tell too? *Wink*

Two little angels sent from Heavens

I was browsing through the British Got Talents in Youtube, where my supervisor introduce Susan Boyle. He said this lady was very very good. So I checked it out just now. This lady really stunned me with her voice. You really cant judge she can sing that well with her appearance. A normal aunties at her late 40s or even older. But really.... you will love her after you hear her sing. Even the judges thought this lady cant make it. But she did stunned them with her voice. Even, Simon Cowell who is famous in critisizing the American Idol praised her. Her voice is very very clean and pure. I love her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg

Then, I diverted my attention to the previous season Britains Got Talent Connie Tablot. Still remeber her? A little 6 years old girl without her frontal teeth singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"? I came across her video clip when she was performing in Korea. She sang with the little blind girl (around her age I think). This little blind girl didnt sing but instead she played piano while Connie sang. This video is soo cool and I thought it will inspire people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa-xLY5WEOU&feature=related

If we put our heart and soul into what we believed in (when there are a lot of people say you cant), eventually you can really make it! Cos no one has ever thought that blind can play piano!! Therefore, I am telling myself NOT to complain for the imperfections. B'cos sometimes, imperfections are just perfections in your life!! ^_^

Too Full and Sooo Sleepy

I am sooo full!! Just dont know why. Food didnt seem digesting. I ate healthy food today. 6 servings of vegies and fruits. But still how come I am still so full ... Or probably I am too tired??? Cant possibly be. Been sleeping for about 9 hours yesterday and should be more than enough .... Wah Paula (American Idol Judge) is sooooooooo Sexy today and the normal Simon condemning people hahahahhahaha ... sorry off track abit .... hahahahahaha

My usual schedule experiments experiments experiments. Hmm... judging from my vocabulary standard, I think it's not up to the standard yet. So now, while blogging I am reading some vocabs that normally appears in GRE. This is to help myself in both reading and writing journal papers. It's a good start and at the same time I will see the suitable words that i can use for blogging. It's time to further improve my English. Both in speaking and writing. Hahahahhaa .....

Nice Dinner at WCP

Dinner place tonight was at West Coast Plaza again. I cant really crave for school food cos having too much of them already for the past 3 years. Well, Pp (Shalom = Peace abbreviated P) suggested Viet Inn for dinner. We have not been eating dinner there for quite some time. We ordered pork stick this time. It tasted like fish cake ... totally off my imagination cos at first i thought it will be mince pork marinated in some seasoning, then make it into stick. Hmmm wait ... it tasted somehow like "ngor hiong" as well (chinese pork spring roll). Overall, not too bad. I love their sauce the most. This is the same sauce used in the minced pork rice roll (look out for previous post =) ... Happy searching). Sweet and salty ... hehehehe very nice. Somehow this sauce has some appetising agent that makes you want to eat. Hahahahhahaha ... Or I am imagining things .... hmmm ....

Main dish served was vietnamese fried rice. Pp love fried rice the most!!! Cos they have chinese sausages (lap cheong), fried onions, eggs, long beans, carrots, corn, green peas and luncheon meat and of course the main ingredients rice. Shouldn't be too hard to make this dish. I will make this if I have my own kitchen later. Since I dont have a kitchen now, cannot make it. Hahahahaha... Ok ok back to the review. The rice today however was not chewy enough. A little bit soggy. This didnt happen last time. Probably they didnt dry the rice well or use overnight rice. But the fragrance makes you drool!! It's a good dish to begin with and you will definitely ask for more.


We saved some space for the dessert of course. And we go back to our Waffle Place Cottage. I still love the environment. Love the sticky post that people post their comments on the waffles, ice cream and environment. Today, we sat at the couch at the corner. This corner makes you feel homely and cozy. It's as if you are in another part of the world and you wont feel like in a shopping mall at all. I like this concept best. In addition, it's quite heart warming to see all sorts of people from different stage of life wrote their comments. I love reading it and so do Pp. Hehehehhe ... They designed in a way where they filled all the corner of their shop lot. Plus they have discounts for students!!! That's the privilege being a student. Hahahhaha ... No wonder I love to study sooooooooooooooooo much!!! Muahahahahaha....



At the same time you can see how people are working. They are using the open kitchen concept too. Actually, I would like to take the handsome guy on work. But too bad he notice me and I was a bit shy to take his pic so openly. So secretly, I snapped one while he is at work. Gosh he is HOT!!! Pp kohtot na ka~ you are still the BEST though ... Hehehehhe .... =P

Our order is Couple Fondue. They have waffle (a must or else it wont be able to call itself Waffle Place Cottage), five different random flavour of ice-cream (imported from US if I remember correctly), marshmallow (Pp's favourite), apples and banana. The must have is definitely Chocolate fondue and peanuts. It depends on how you eat it. Since I love chocolate, I will full cover everything with a thick layer of chocolate. The best thing here is you can keep refilling your chocolate and the boss is sooooooooooooooooooo NICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Very friendly and they really take care of their customers well. Good service dude!!!

All and all, I really had a great meal today. Gochiso-sama (Thank you for the food in Japanese language)!! *Yawn* Look at the time.... it's past midnight and it's time for bed. Good night folks and enjoy testing out if you guys ever pass by West Coast Plaza. Alternatively, you can try to search for their branches. I am very sure that Viet Inn have their branches. Not too sure about Waffle Place Cottage though. You guys can try to google it ..... OK that's all for now folks! Nite nite!! M.U.A.C.K.S M.U.A.C.K.S!!

Antz on the move!!

It's weird to see ants busy-ing themselves looking for food. I have been observing this situation since last week. At first, I thought they are shifting their nest. However, I started to get suspicious when the shifting doesnt end after more than a week (where normally it only takes two or three days). Besides, I dont see any ant larvae or the Queen being moved around. That's why I took a closer observation on it. To my surprise they are moving food. As if they are storing up for some event that is going to take place.

I know I know .... It may sounds a little crazy here. But still remember the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" where the animals are moving their destination and go berserk? Or you guys just treated it as a movie which is not even worth remembering? I wonder what's going to happen when the ants stop piling up the food. In the myth that my grandmother passed down, she said that when ants are moving their nest there will be a heavy downpour. True enough, when the ants finished moving, indeed a very very heavy storm (that lasted two or three days till it causes flooding) followed. I wonder what it is this time. Storing food and stuff. Does that mean there will be a heavy downpour for several days or the temperature will drastically change? When winter is drawing near, insects and animals will stock up their food and go for hibernation. This also reminds me the tsunami event that happened a few years back. Animals will keep moving to a higher place before the tsunami really happen. Hmm... I really really wonder what will happen when the ants stop their moves. Hmmmmm......

Little Tortoise Pictures Gone!!! Arghhhhhhh!!!

What a luck!!! Initially, I would like to blog about Egg's two little tortoises. BUT there is always a BUT my Olympus camera went crazy and I need to reformat the SD card. I am not sure whether it's the SD card or the camera is malfunction. Just dont know the reason!! Grrr........

Those two cute little things ... unable to post their pics here .... so sad .... I love them a lot guys! You will love them when you interact with them. Both of them are super hyper dyper active!!! They will keep digging and digging non-stop when they sees a hole in front or a pitch black stuff in front of them. They will just dig. Or at times, they will flip themselves upside down and turn themselves around again. They are really totally AWWWESOME tortoises. Love them sooo much and I started to miss them you see... hahahhahahahaha.... They love to wander around a lot. Just take them out from their home and they will walk really fast around here and there ... digging and digging ... again and again .... such a cute little tortoises .... just tooo bad that I am unable to post their cute little pics here ...... wonder if they will be around again. thanks to that camera that i am unable to post the pictures here. there were some good shots of their cutie little expressions over here .... I am soo pissed off with the camera ... sigh ... useless ... sad....... arggghhhhhhhhhhhh .................................

Labmates Food Outing - Fortune Cuisine

James organized a lab gathering for the old and new WS2 members. We had our gathering at Fortune Cuisine. I read some reviews on this restaurant and it seems not too bad. This was reviewed in "I eat I shoot I post" blog too. Some reviews by the food reviewers are quite true. Replenishment of food are not that often especially at the sashimi area. You dont get a lot of salmon but tuna. And the sushi variety are not much in comparison to Sakura International Buffet. In addition, others variety is not that much too. The selling point of this restaurant is the freshness of its uncooked food and the way they marinated the meat. All the meats are very tender, juicy and chewy. The marinate sauce are homogeneously absorbed by the meat. Therefore, the meat are not tasteless. Best meat I would recommend is beef!!!! It will give you the hmmmmmm and umph kind of feeling. If you dont take beef, chicken is not bad too. Very very very fresh meat! Apart from that, they have very fresh seafood (flower crab, fish, scallop etc) and vegetables too. I assure that all are really very very fresh!!!! Much fresher than what you can get at Sakura. Just love the scallop. However, to prevent my allergies relapsing I have to restrain myself from eating too much seafood. Didnt even dare to touch prawn. See I am a good girl, isnt it? Hahahahahhahahahha

Since we are students, prices are of course different than regulars. Hehehhehehehehe..... That's give us the priority of not spending too much Hahahahhahahahahhaa.... However, Lunch buffet are cheaper. So maybe you guys can think of coming to have it during lunch time ... Definitely wont regret.
Upon arrival, all chose their seats. Since you dont see me in the photo, well I am the photographer, obviously. Hehehehhehe... Pictures might not be very good cos this is the second time I am taking on night mode. Need more practice on it. -Nodding my head vigorously-

Now they are playing, now you see and now you dont game. All are gone for FOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!

Here they are back again with a table FUUUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLLLL of foood!!! And of course, as a photographer, you get the privilege where people get you food. Hehehehhehe. Thanks pals!!!
Here are some of the mouth watering food (hmmm... maybe not in the context of the photos) Hahahahahhahaha ....... These were what are offered at the Japanese section.

The steamboat comprised of four types of soup and you can choose two. They have chicken, seafood, spicy and tom yum soup base. So on our side, we chose seafood and tom yum. Everything was dumped into both soup base. Shimmer shimmer, boil boil, munch munch, swallow (does it sound similar to you? If you dont, find out from the anime monster .... hahahahhahahaha)

Then, they have charcoal grill. You can basically grill anything on top of it. The first things that we grill are satay and chicken wings. A lot of them were burnt. So we learnt our lesson well. Someone need to keep tossing the meat. I volunteered to become the Barbeque Girl. Grilling the meat, satay and chicken for the table of 4. Very fun cos it didnt burnt and the meat stays juicy. Yay~~~ Success!!!

This was the set of prawn by other end of the table. It was nicely arranged. Therefore, cant resist to take the pictures.

Grilling crayfish on our side ...

See how busy is james eating his prawns. He was also busy unshelling the prawns for most of us. hahahahhahahha ... I wonder if the prawn taste different due to his fingers .... hmmmm .... hahahahahha no offence here ... just kidding ....

Jin Le was the Queen of eating. She really can stuffed a lot of food into her stomach though she looks really really very thin. Salute her!!!!!

The three guys are playing some sort of games.

First was the loser have to eat raw salmon with a lot of wasabi coated on it. Ewwwww ... just cannot imagine how the feeling of the gushing wasabi along your throat to your nostrils.... Wasabi brain freeze .... ewwwwww........ scary ....

Next was a mixture of different sauces and soup bases. You have to drink it. It smell very very weird.

We have 4 inaris too. Well, it didnt seem much. But it's definitely A LOT if you have to eat it when the food is already at your throat. Really cannot imagine how the guys can gulp it in. Hahahhahahaha....

Overall, that was a fun gathering. Had a great time with the gang. Hahahahhahahahhahaha. Even now my fingers still have the smoke grilling smell. Hahahhahahahahhahaha..... My stomach is BURSTING.... Why arent the probiotics work!!!!

The Blind Girl - Life is really a gift!!

Fook forwarded me this story. And I think that it's a great thing to share with the readers of this blog.

There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I will marry you.' One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend. He asked her, 'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him. Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.' This is how the human brain often works when our status changes. Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.

Life Is a Gift

1. Today before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.
2. Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.
3. Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out for a companion.
4. Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who died too early on this earth.
5. Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren..
6. Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.
7. Before whining about the distance you drive, Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.
8. And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.
9. But before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us is without sin.
10. And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and think: you're alive and still around

Life is really a gift for us. Therefore, don't misuse the life that we are leading now. Think simple, act simple, live simple! That's the key to happily ever after ^_^

Menichi, Jurong Point 1

Last Friday, went to food eating session with Shalom at Jurong Point. The initial plan of having at Jurong Point 2 (JP2) changed when we see people flocking at the restaurants over there. So we walked down to Jurong Point 1 (JP1) where they have some sort of like Japanese Gourmet Town at the basement of JP1. We decided to chose the one where there was no one on the queue cos I my stomach really rumbling like what!! Since I departed from school, well of course need to make myself tidy and need in the toilet. Here's another toilet pics Hahahahhahahaha ....

This is the main page of the menu. They have a Menichi sign. The main dishes on the list is mainly ramen.
Pics taken by Shalom while I was browsing at the menu. Look at my gluttonious look. I know you guys are shaking your heads now saying, "Aih... this girl really is a glutton. her eyes sparkle whenever there is food" Hahhahaha well, that's basically me!! My eyes really sparkle when I see food on the table. Totally unable to resist food hahahahha
The menu was really presentable. Hmm... there is too much choices... awww........
See again .... not only serving ramen but others little side dishes too ....... Therefore, we decided to go for one ramen and two little side dishes.
While waiting for food. Same thing .... I am taking the pics of the cutleries .....
Here comes the food. Pork slices salad. Served as appetizer. The taste of the vinegar is very very strong. Pork slices were tender and nice. Vegetables were very very fresh!!! Nice one!!
Next is the omelette with crab meat. Not only they have crabmeat, shittake mushrooms slices were inside too. Topping with the Japanese sweet sauce, the combination was really great!!! Not too salty too. I think in the egg, they do add something inside but I am not sure what kind of seasoning is that. NICEEE!!!!
Lastly came the Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen. Let me explain why we only ordered one ramen. This was because we saw that on the next table, the ramen are quite large in portion. So in order not to waste the food (it's not a good thing to do) we decided to go for one plus other side dishes. This ramen soup base was very good. Although, it's spicy and hot, the spiciness and hotness didnt make you choke or make your stomach go burning. It makes you yearning for more. Char siew (slices) are very good very tender. Combination of black fungus and bean sprouts make the noodles taste fresher. Noodles are springing and smooth. A very good dish that I would recommend. This definitely worth the money cos it costs about SGD25 for two persons. Compared to the Korean BBQ Chicken, this is way much much much MUUUUUUUUUUUCH better. Some contributions to be acknowledged are the side dishes and my glutton look pictures were taken by Shalom W. Thanks! Had a great dinner again! Satisfying my taste bud. Hehehehhehe ...... so what's next? Hmmmm.... I wonder ...

Korean BBQ Chicken S.U.C.K.S.

After a hard day work running between two labs to and fro a few times a day, I would like to induldge myself in some good food at West Coast Plaza. Though it's so near my house, I have not been there like for a month. Therefore, decided to go there and search for some food. Of course, tagging along with me was Shalom W. Initially, I wanted to try at Paradise Inn. After checking out the price, it was ex. So decided to change the venue. Went to Dian Xiao Er... it might be expensive to. Since the Korean BBQ Chicken looks so good in picture, we decided on it!!

Look how pretty and colourful the menu was. Take note on the Best Quality!!!!

So both of us browse through the menu and to our surprise it cost more or less the same as Fish and Co. So the anticipation of the food was quite high~~

They have pasta too aside from all the fried and grilled chicken.

Drinks and desserts page. Not cheap too. Since we didnt really know how it tastes like, we restrain ourself from ordering too much. Just in case.

After ordering our food, I played around with my camera and Shalom snapped 3 pics of me and only 1 can be used.... I like this style of me. Never done this pose before.

Then, I took a pic of Shalom. As usual, he will never did the right pose when you are snapping photos of him. In order to take his pic, usually you have to do it candid-ly. Else the pictures just cant make it.

While waiting for the food to be served, both of us tried to solve the puzzle on Shalom's NintendoDS. A very interesting game.

Finally, food was here. This is chiken strips if I am not mistaken .Well, taste not too bad. Similar to KFC spicy and crispy chicken or McD chicken wings. But didnt taste as great as them. Still on the ok side. Since it's not too expensive, we didnt really hold a very high expectation on this.

Next served was the fish cutlet. This was REALLY REALLY A VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED dish!!!! Just look at the fish cutlet. Charging about SGD12 I expect it to be more or less similar to Fish&Co fish and chips! Grrr... but the fish are like those you can find in Engineering Canteen (NUS) where it cost $1 per piece at most. Sauce not good. Salad just taste so-so. Fries not good. This dish ABSOLUTELY UNWORTHY of the price it's charged!!!!

Third dish was the HOT DRUMS. Even worst!!! Cant even beat KFC spicy and crispy. Cost about $12 too where KFC only cost about half the price!! Tasteless chicken... REALLY SAD.... wasted my stomach. The only thing that taste good here was the potatoes. Sigh....SIGH.... SIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGH!!!!!

Overall, we paid 40 bucks for this meal. I REPEAT TOTALLY UNWORTHY!!! So folks, dont waste your money on this. KFC is way way way much better than this. The only one thing that they won over KFC is KFC winglets cannot make it. Too dry~~~ So be reminded: Not to go to this shop to eat again unless you wanted a "high class" environemnt and to flaunts how much money you have got. Or else I DEFINITELY WON'T RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. It really really really sucks!!!!!!

Yi Xuan's Birthday

31st of March was Yi Xuan birthday. Had a little celebration for her on her birthday eve. Ser Ying bought the chocolate rainforest cake for her. Since, it's a surprise, she passed the cake to Sherine after she bought it. Yi Xuan never even notice or feel something amiss. At about 11plus, Sherine and Hao Xing came over. Quitely we brought the cake into her room doorstep. Then, we knocked .... Yi Xuan was surprised seeing the cake!!! There was only 2 candles because time stops at the age of 20 for girls!! So we are forever 20 instead of forever 21 -Grins-

See that's Yi Xuan with her blank face ^_^

After the birthday song, Yi Xuan make her wish. While, we gave her our blessings hoping that she will find her Mr.Right soon!!


A lose up on the birthday cake (still have two slices in the fridge). Hahahaha....


The birthday girl served the cake for us. We were really honoured =D

A close up on the cake cutting ceremony Hahahahhaha ...

This was my portion of the cake. Just look how well the decor is. Very very good. The cake was nice. Not too sweet and creamy. Like it!

While having the cake, picture is a MUST have!!!

After all the birthday hoo-ha, we all went back to Zzzzzz...... cos everyone is working on the very next day. Therefore, cant really stay up too late like what we used to be during undergraduate studies. Miss the birthday during that part of time. That was the best.

I remembered that during that time, birthday girl or boy was the subject of being teased by the coursemates or clubmates. Either on the cake, candles were pushed down (depending on how old you are, if you are 20, 20 little candles will be put around the cakes or only two big candles, depending on how the friends were really like) to the bottom and you are forced to pick up using your mouth one by one. The dangerous part was whether you can escape the last one. Cos they will just smack your face down the cake and in the end it will be a cake war instead of cake eating session. Or when the clock strike 12am, we will do a pseudo-birthday celebration. We will call out the birthday person, then some of us will hold one uncooked egg and some will have a big hand of flour. We will surround the birthday person in a circle and sing birthday song. Upon the end of the birthday song eggs and flour will be thrown onto the birthday person. That's the cake that we gave to them. Thinking back, they can still make me laugh. It's like how daring and crazy I was during my undergraduate years. But as years pass by, you dont see that anymore. Not sure if there are people out there still play this kind of prank on that birthday person. Hahahahaha... For younger generation, you guys can try it out. It's really really fun especially when you do the egg throwing stuff by the seaside!!! Hahahahahhahaha .... But the birthday person was really pathetic. Instead of having the BEST birthday, it might ended up being the WORST birthday (very much dependent on the personnel who is the victim -Beams + Grins -)