Not At All Inspired

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Yes, I know, I haven't been updating my blog as often as I used to. Not that I was superly busy or bogged down with work, I was just ... er ... darn lazy. Or should I re-phrase it to 'I was not at all inspired lately or I experienced brain freeze.'

Glance around my living room, it certainly needs some sorting out to be carried out. I need a new settee, a glass cabinet to house my son's trophies and medals, some new curtains, perhaps. I just couldn't drag my feet to go to the furniture mall.

The year end school holiday will be starting next week, I have not booked nor planned for a vacation, be it locally or overseas. Even though I have booked the air tickets to Taipei for this coming January, I have yet to plan for the trip, i.e. excursions and hotel accommodation etc. Not to mention to register my kids for holiday programmes.

Both my daughter's and my notebook have passed its useful life. I have yet to carry out any research on the various choices available in the market. Bearing in mind that to benefit from the tax exemption, I have to basically 'move fast'.

My mobile phones have also passed its age. I am eyeing the iPhone and the Blackberry. Wonder when I will physically go to purchase them, ..umm, before they eventually phased out, I guess.

I have been cooking and baking quite a lot, but reluctant to take out my DSLR to capture what I have cooked/baked. Even I have managed to take some pics using my point-and-shoot camera, I was lazy to transfer them to my notebook. Excuse being, my notebook is seriously exhausted, might as well wait until I have got my new notebook. Another Catch 22 situation!

It has been months I haven't been to the malls to do retail therapy. Gosh, This cannot be me!!!

Almost everyday, I have something to do or somewhere to go. I spent a lot of time sending/fetching the kids to and from school/activities. All these errands do suck up my energy and time.

All in all, I am just ... NOT INSPIRED. No mood to do anything.

This is what we had for dinner last night. Simple chicken curry with rice. Ha, I did throw in some nachos to fill the plate.

You see what I mean? Absolutely pathetic!

Mastering The Art of Being

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Feeling stress lately.

I feel as time goes by, I become more vulnerable to the effects of emotional and physical stress.

So as not to let the stress build up, I am taking a short break, in between work and other commitments.

Am practising deep breathing method. A long, slow breath energizes the body and mind, improves focus, and help eliminate toxins.

It cools my nasal passages, clear my mind, leaving me feeling positively ... Zen.

A Lazy Afternoon By The Lake

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I sit by the lake on this wondrous day,

sipping the sweet iced red tea,

watching the reflection of the lush green bushes.

The wind softly whispers through the trees,
I feel a peaceful feeling overtaking me.



This reminds me of a poem written by an Irishman, William Butler Yates, entitled, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree". For those of you who have kids taking PMR would definitely have come across this poem in their English syllabus.



I will arise and go now,
And go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there,
Of clay and wattles made,
Nine bean rows will I have there,
A hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.


And I shall have some peace there,
For peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning,
To where the cricket sings.
There midnight's all a glimmer,
And noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.


I will arise and go now,
For always night and day,
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore,
While I stand on the roadway,
Or on the pavement gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.





A lazy afternoon, lunching at Secret of Louisiana, an interesting restaurant at Plaza Kelana Jaya's waterfront. The restaurant claims to serve the best Cajun style seafood and steak in town.

Al Fresco dining

The indoor dining area

The menu

With a lake view

Iced cold red tea

Sonoma Red Wine Chicken (RM23.90), chargrilled chicken boneless leg with tangy red wine sauce. Tasty, tender and juicy.

Hawaiian Pizza (RM23.90)

Something penne with Cajun Chicken

I love the atmosphere. Well, I love any place with the sound of water lapping. The food is quite decent, worth checking out this place. If you coming along LDP towards Damansara direction, it is behind the now defunct Kelana Seafood Centre, full address as below:

Secret of Louisiana

Block D-01-01,

Jalan SS7/13A,Plaza Kelana Jaya

Petaling Jaya 47301

Tel : 03-78755230

My Sausage Buns

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Since two days ago, my car was having much difficulties climbing up ramps, or even surfaces with slight gradient. I wondered why? Only then I realized the major servicing of my car was loooooong overdue. I only phoned in last week to fix a date for this week. To be safe, I thought I better stay put at home and not going into the office, excuse being the ramp leading up to the car park of my office block is darn steep and I doubted my car could make it.

Umm... not bad lazing at home on a Monday morning. Finished watching all the installments of the drama series on Astro-On Demand, I was getting bored and agitated. Suddenly the thought of having homemade buns was roaring in my mind. Checked my kitchen cabinet. Yes! the ingredients needed to bake buns were waving at me. But then, what about fillings of the buns? I had only a couple of sausages left in the freezer and have run out of stocks for pork/chicken floss. Well, I supposed I could do with some sweet filling buns instead of savoury ones by using Nutella and kaya.

Mixing the dough was easy. But when it came to kneading the dough, I wished I could lay my hands on a heavy duty mixer or a bread machine. I gave up after a solid 15 minutes of continuous kneading in a boiling hot kitchen, no joke! Then I covered the dough and left it for proofing. Only that I realized the weather had suddenly turned breezy and cold. What the heck!!!

After an hour of proofing, my bread dough had almost doubled in size despite the temperature. Punched out the gas and let them rest for another 15 minutes. I divided the dough into 10 portions and stuffed in the fillings. I ended up with some sausage rolls, sausage twists, kaya buns and chocolate buns. Another hour of proofing was required before shoving them into the oven.

A mere 15 minutes later, TaDa, here comes my buns.

The sausage twist could do with some rosemary sprinkle or cheese. Was I too generous with the egg wash glazing? Come to the texture, they weren't as soft as those on the shelves of Bread Story or Bread Talk. Considering the fact that I was not in possession of a bread kneading machine and did not add in any bread improver or softener, I was happy with the result.

I find breadmaking quite therapeutic considering the time required for repeated proofing and resting of the dough. I thoroughly enjoyed this session.

Take A Breath

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It is 2nd October 2009.

Time really flies. I am not entirely sure how that happened. It seems like only a minute ago I went to China in May to 'offload' mom at my brother's place. And at the blink of the eye, mom was already back for over a month after a three month stay in Panyu.

Received an email from a friend the other day enquiring after my well being and suddenly realized that I haven't been blogging for over a month.

The truth of the matter is that I’m fine – indeed, we all are – but the inclination to blog, which has been on the wane for some time, seems to have temporary left me. There is so much on my mind now, so many choices to make, so many bills to settle, so many promises to fulfil... Argh!

Life is short and moments like this frustratingly few and far between.

Sometimes the most important thing is to ... STOP!

Step outside.

Take a breath.

Look around.

Do whatever it takes to be fully in the moment.

Then you will probably realize.

It really is a beautiful world out there.

Am I Happy?

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Happiness is believed to be one of the most important criteria for good health. However, how to be happy?


Obviously, we gain happiness when we are satisfied. Sometimes a simple satisfaction is good enough to make a lady smile.


It seems women are easily satisfied. I suppose that is the reason why women generally live longer than men.


Normally she will be happy when:

1) Her loved one says "I love you".

2) Her loved one gives her presents.

3) She goes shopping.

4) Her juniors hug or kiss her.

5) She has savings in the bank.

6) Someone says “You are so young and beautiful”.

7) Someone says ” You have a good husband or boyfriend”.

8) She adds new decorative items into her house.

9) Someone says ” You kid(s) is lovely or intelligent”.

10) She sees flowers.

Needless to say, I, as a woman will be much happier if I get a chance to be put up in six star Presidential Suite, chauffeured driven in luxurious car, wear designer clothes, carry a Hermes Birkin, slip on a Jimmy Choo and live in a bungalow with beautiful garden and big swimming pool.

Of course, I can live without all these luxuries. But, who doesn’t like to be pampered like a princess?

Electrical Power Cables vs. Fettucini

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My work these two weeks involve the reviewing of a counter-claim against an unscrupulous contractor, in relation to the supply and installation of electrical services to a shopping podium and tower blocks. For days, I have been straining my eyes reading sheets after sheets of schematic drawings, wiring diagrams, shop drawings, site photographs, etc.

Now that whenever I close my eyes, I can still see tangles of cables running endlessly in the air, be it Polyvinyl Chloride Insulated Cables, Steel Wire Armoured Cables, Mineral Insulated Cables, Impregnated Paper Insulated Cables or Fire Rated cables. I can see nothing else!! They even came into my dreams, turning ALIVE and started creeping in all directions! When I opened my kitchen cabinet in search of ingredients for dinner, I saw cables and cables! Oops, hang on, those are not cables, but fettucini, spaghetti and angel hair. WTH. I remember reading from somewhere that the most practical technique to overcome a phobia is to relax, calm down and gradually FACE the object/situation.

Well, that's is just what I am going to do. I am going to cook this cable-like thingy for dinner and gobble it all down.

Voila! See what I've churned out - Egg Fettucini and Chicken in Carbonara Sauce

Carbonara, an awesome, traditional Italian sauce that majority of you will not say 'No' to it, right? This is a simple dish to make but tremendously sinful, considering the amount of cream added.


Well, the more sinful it is, the more I love it.

Only If ...

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有意

【烈火雄心3】電視劇插曲

主唱：鄭嘉穎、胡杏兒
作曲：周永恆
填詞：陳詩慧
編曲：Johnny Yim
監製：鄧智偉

歌詞

男：尚未學會怎麼開口示愛　並沒自信恍惚早知大概
女：等　無論被誰愛　面對你感覺　我也知道你是我心愛

＊男：樹下是我翻開手中日記　落葉密佈草地心想著你
女：等　從來沒離棄　就當我希冀　也許總有暗號要推理

合：我們原來心裡也在意　既無台詞只怪我大意
男：若然是愛我可以
女：盡情地表示
合：沒情話再試一次　就吐盡我　自己心事

合：既然從來主角也熱熾　既然從來心裡也在意
男：若期待與我相處
女：盡情地表示

合：若然是對我關注　如你在意　是否真事

Snowflake

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Snowflake.

The Taiwanese Dessert Secrets.

Ever been? It's located opposite Asia Cafe in SS15 Subang Jaya.

Ice Monster @ Sunway Pyramid, Mill Wheel Pao Bing @ Metro Prima Kepong, Charmy Snow Ice @ 100 Yen Shops and Snowflake. Which is better? I guess it's what you prefer of the texture and flavour.


This Snowflake dessert house 雪花栈 is owned by a Taiwanese couple, specializes in natural and authentic Taiwanese desserts.


The deco is humbly simple with giant colourful illustrative boards. The self-service counter is right at the end of the shop. There are 3 types of different series to choose from, grass jelly, soya and shaved ice. You can pick your favourite base and then choose your toppings which vary from red beans, grass jelly, peanuts, taro balls, sweet potatoes balls, pearl sago, etc, etc.

Once you have placed your order, you will be given a beeping UFO, which is a special device that will flash and vibrate once the food you ordered is ready for collection. Darn high-tech gadget.

The serving is really huge and is definitely worth the money. All desserts cost less than RM5 except the bestseller which costs RM5.50

Of the three series, I luv the shaved ice topped with taro and sweet potato balls. It is divine...

Even the guys gave the thumbs up.

Boots Botanics - The Power of Plants

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I have scraped the last bit of my Victoria Secret's Rose Body Cream out of the tub. But then, I am well equipped!! During my last trip to Bangkok, I was overjoyed to find that my fav chemist Boots has dozens of outlets spread across Bangkok and have thus went wild and almost 'sapu' whatever were on the store shelves. Last year, when I was in Hong Kong, I was so disappointed to find that Boots has since moved out of Hong Kong and eventually have to resort to Sasa and Bourjour.



The Boots Botanics products are generally awesome. I just love them to pieces. I hope the Bangkok stores keep stocking them, so I don't have to fly to UK with an extra suitcase once a year just to bring back a luggage load of creams/lotions. (not exaggerating.)

The Nourishing Body Butter contains honey and Grapeseed Oil. It is a rich emollient that moisturizes and softens. This cream works wonders on dry skin and has a pleasant "earthy" aroma to it. The honey helps bind moisture in the skin whereas the Grapeseed Oil is hydrating and rich in linoleic acid, which helps reinforce the skin's barrier to stop skin drying out.

The skin is the biggest organ on our body and using only organic/botanical cosmetics could be just another step towards living greener and healthier. Its important to take into consideration what we put in our bodies and on the outside as well. The powers of plants are evident when you try this line. You can't beat the prices and I can guarantee you will never go back to anything else once you try them.

Angels From Maidenhead, UK

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Present to you, my two pretty nieces from UK. Since the start of the months long summer holidays, they have been jetsetting around Asia and are now stopping over in KL.

Angel #1 - Michelle

Angel #2 - Tia

They came round our place and all the four Tran's babies went swimming. After much fun at the swimming pool, the kids were hungry. I suggested to go to TGIF, as I thought kids might prefer cajun chicken, chips and soda. Much to my surprise, Michelle was craving for Korean BBQ. So, we went to my all time favourite Korean restaurant - Korea House in SS2 PJ.

For BBQ, I ordered a serving of Joomooluck (marinated beef) and Samgyeopsal (marinated pork). The meat was fatty, tender but absolutely yummy. Not to mention the Banchan, (i.e. the side dishes, in this case there were twelve side dishes) which come free and are refillable.

Yasmine would never skip her favourite Dolsot Bibimbap, mixed rice in hot stone bowl. I also ordered a beef soup which the Korean name skipped my mind.

Dokbokgi?? Never mind, this is fried Korean rice cake with spicy bean sauce. It was sweet, spicy and savoury. To be brutally frank, neither Yasmine nor I like it.

Michelle really enjoyed her BBQ whereas Tia seemed to be a small eater. The two little angels were so attached to Yasmine that when their dad came to pick them up, they didn't want to leave and kept clinging on to Yazzy. It was so touching.

Resuming My Kitchen Duties

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The past two weeks, I got bogged down in work by the thousand pages of surveying data, joint measurement records, final valuation etc. in relation to the laying of pavement works for a main road. My colleague and I were actually racing against time to examine, compute, compare and analyse all the available data, that means having to sacrify our sleeping hours for the sake of the eventual findings. Hence, I have been neglecting my kids' well being. I had no choice but to resort to unhealthy fast food or instant noodles.

Now that I have finished the task, I can resume my normal duties at home. The following are the dishes I churned out yesterday for dinner.

Spicy Eggplant With Minced Pork

Eggplant is not easy to cook, as it soaks up all the oil. There is actually a way to overcome this. To soften the eggplant, just sprinkle it with some olive oil and sea salt and bake in the oven for say 10 minutes. Leave it to cool before stir frying it with the spicy sauce.

Fried Bittergourd With Eggs

I love bittergourd but my kids don't. I still cook it hoping that they can gradually accept it. Bittergourd is supposed to be effective in lowering blood sugar levels. I usually cook this veg by frying with thin slices of beef fillet, or with a spicy soya bean paste. Since the dozen of eggs is still sitting miserably in my fridge for more than a week now, I thought I better make use of them.

When I chanced upon Suzie Wong's cooking show, I learnt that there is a way to choose a less bitter fruit. (For those who are unfamiliar with Suzie Wong, she is the host for a Hong Kong TVB cooking show called 'So Far 蘇 Good', which is broadcasted on Astro CH311 every Sunday 7.30pm) The trick is to choose one which is pale and has bigger and more uniform bumps.

The Best Antiques Are Old Friends

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Last week, met up with SH, a long lost friend. I mentioned 'long lost' coz we haven't seen each other for ... umm... 29 years??! I also managed to convince Tiara to come despite a short notice and having to drag her up from her beauty sleep.

Prior to the meeting up, I was half expecting a half bald middle aged man with sunken eyes and a waistline that might have metamorphosed beyond recognition. Heck, wasn't I wrong!!! In its place was a well proportioned man with a healthy smirk to match. What a suave gentleman he is now. He has taken care of himself well and didn't look a day older since 29 years ago. He is all browned with a really toned six pack (don't ask me how I know), looks every inch a successful professional. He seems profiled like a handsome, mysterious millionaire with a tint of grey in his hair.

The initial few minutes when we exchanged greetings, it did feel a bit awkward. Once the ice was melt, the spirit of camaraderie rekindled. Thinking back, he was shy and a bit of an introvert, kept much to himself. I sat and marveled at him. He now exudes new confidence and seemed happy that we could still remember him, despite him having spent years hibernating in boring cold Leeds, Yorkshire.

He is still happily UNMARRIED, so this is open season for anybody reading this. I can assure you, he will make a good husband and lover as well. I am asking myself why he has not re-surfaced until 25 years too late.

After our nostalgic reminiscing, it was soon time for au revoir with the promise to meet in the not too distant future.

"Each friend represents a world in us,

a world possibly not born until they arrive,

and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

- Anais Nin

The Magic of Chong Qing Hot Pot

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Hot Pots or Steamboats are associated with winter season. However, dozens of steamboat outlets are mushrooming in perpetual HOT climate Malaysia. I am always puzzled why one wants to eat something 'hot' like that in an already hot weather. It is definitely no fun, let alone the super duper spicy Chong Qing Hot Pot.

I was in Guangzhou recently and I was treated to Chong Qing Hot Pot. This Hot Pot restaurant which is located in the Hua Du area is owned by my nephew. Here is the name of the restaurant in Chinese. Mind you, it hasn't got an English name, but the best direct translation I could think of is this : "The aroma fills the world".

The Hot Pot originated from Chong Qing, China 重庆麻辣火锅. It has few choices of soup base, the 'Ma La' soup base, the traditional chicken broth, the mushy soup base, etc. The 'Ma La' soup base definitely provides a very peppery spicy challenge.

A wide variety of meat, seafood, noodles and vege are available. Nephew MH tried to introduce to us some rare but unique ingredients rather than those overly processed food. The ingredients are all prepared meticulously such that each ingredient would take the shortest amount of time to cook. This means that meat ingredients are served in ultra thin slices.

The sheep intestines

Wafer thin bamboo shoots

Beef tripes?

Luv the fatty bits

To prevent the taste buds from getting too numb, there are wide choices of appertisers/side dishes to choose from. Or perhaps order a jug of cucumber juice to help alleviating the effects caused by the 'Ma La' soup.

Not every person likes to talk during dinner. Having steamboat is likely to keep the quiet people like me feeling fully occupied.

Although I ended up sweating buckets, it was undeniably a good opportunity that gave the feeling of family and togetherness.

Childish Behaviour and Nutty

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I felt totally disgusted.

Never have I witnessed such childish behaviour from an adult with such disrespect and rudeness to other people. Instead of carrying out his humble little duties, he makes conceited, sardonic, insolent comments towards those who are simply kilometres more superior than him.

He seems to believe he is entitled to get his own way, he therefore feels free to abuse anyone who thwarts his desires. Supposed to be a respectful professional, but he is so immature to believe that having such power gives him the right to treat others the way he likes. Not to mention his bad command of English and the constant usage of obscene words.

On top of that, he is such an attention junky who wants all eyes and ears focused on him. This behaviour is actually rather pathetic, since it usually reflects a deep-seated lack of self-worth and self-confidence, may be as a result of an unhappy childhood or a broken marriage. If the person is a smart aleck because he feels isolated or unloved, he may actually work harder at being a smart aleck if he feels ignored.

I doubted that his ratio of estrogen to progesterone sways too much one way or another. So far, I think the only missing juvenile antic from him would be inserting whiteboard markers up his nostrils. Well, having said that, I wouldn't put my money on him!

So much about my rav. Carried out a thorough excavation into my kitchen cabinet and found half a bottle of peanut butter and half a bottle of Nutella which were both near the used-by-date. No choice, I altered a basic muffin recipe and came up with this variation:

Peanut Butter and Nutella Muffins

Imagine when it is straight out of the oven and it is still warm. Sink your teeth in the lava-like filling... ooooh

Ultimate Bliss!