Happy Ox-picious Chinese Niu Year

Though this is a little late, but it is better late than never.


I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous Chinese New Year. May this Oxy year bring more prosperity, fortune, luck, peace, happiness and joy into your lives.

Since Andy Lau is also an 'Ox', here is his CNY mv.






Also, many, many thanks to those who continue to frequent my blog for updates which have been grossly lacking. I do apologize for having been disgustingly lazy. Will try to improve!

My Poor Hair

I suppose most Chinese out there are busy preparing for the Chinese New Year. Everyone I bumped into recently seemed to have a hair cut already. I thought of changing new hair style. Like I always did for every new year. The trouble is I have not made up my mind which salon to go to.

For the past year, I have been experiencing serious, I mean darn serious hair loss. Sob sob, I was truly upset. It is hard for a woman to accept boldness, as hair is very important for overall beauty. Thick and silky hair will certainly makes a woman look more attractive. Luckily, my bushy hair is quite thick in a sense. Thus, the hair thinning process is not so obvious for the time being, but not for long, I suppose. It is frightening to learn that female hair loss is especially apparent after menopause. Although that will be many years later, I think I better buck up and start sourcing for a good natural hair loss treatment.


It is common sense that our hair and skin reflects the condition of our overall health. If we are healthy and well-nourished, our hair or our skin will be more glowing and strong. Thus, proper amino acids, vitamins and minerals intake will help create beautiful hair. Besides, there are so called hair food such as nuts, soy beans, flaxseed oil, yoghurt, tofu, dark green leafy vegetables, wheat germ, raisins and other dried fruits, etc. Out of this list, the only thing lacking from my diet is wheat germ. Er... can I skip that?

Layered Agar Agar

Here is something refreshing for the tastebuds.

Nice colour and contrast, but time consuming though. I have to wait for each layer to be three quarter set, only then I could pour the next layer on top. The reason being if the current layer is fully set, the next layer would not 'bond' to it. Otherwise I would have to form some keys so as to hold the next layer, something like when laying screeding and floor tiles. Heck! What an analogy!

The tray of agar agar was gone, I mean consumed in no time.

At The Threshold of An Era II

I have been following the re-screening of the old Hong Kong drama series "At the Threshold of An Era II" on Astro Ch314. The drama was first broadcast in 2000, starred Gallen Lo, Ada Choi, Louis Koo, Roger Kwok, Flora Chan and Kenix Kwok. Frankly, I have watched this drama for the umpteenth time.

This series is a farfetched tale about revenge that is quite ridiculous. Some of the characters are out to avenge their buddies/rivals at all means. The series main villain, Cheung Chi Lik (played by Louis Koo), is forever conspiring to destroy the man, Yip Wing Tim (played by Gallen Lo), whom he believes to have caused the death of his half brother.

The whole series is about misunderstandings and a lack of communication between the characters since all of that revenge could have been resolved if only the characters cared enough to check out the truth first.

So, you must be wondering what was that which kept me glued to the set every evening? Well, it is the theme song sang by Gallen Lo. I just love this song and allow me to share it here.

天地有情

作詞：李敏　作曲：杜自持　編曲：杜自持

未老是天　但人會變

難道證實了天與地無情

說感情難明　感覺無形

誰又和跟我感應?

是你用心　用誠意對我

然後宇宙裡充滿了激情

明白我個性　陪伴我醉與夢醒...

如果彼此心中有情

如果決定擊倒宿命

請相信最後能戰勝就憑拼勁

可衝出這一個逆境

如果知道真的有情

存天與地間的生命

一股勇氣昂然一聲

我自有呼應

這心聲可得到共鳴　太動聽

From High Street Down To Memory Lane

From 6th January 2009 onwards, Woolworths, one of Britain's most loved High Street chain stores will disappear from the High Streets in UK, after enjoying remarkable longevity, almost 100 years. What a shame.

Despite its American roots, Woolworths somehow managed to assume a quintessentially British identity. The chain survived the austerity of the post-war years, the boom and bust of the Eighties and Nineties but the recent global financial crisis has finally brought the faltering retail gaint to its knees. It is hard to recall earlier recessions consigning such household names to insolvency.

Woolworths, a ubiquitous presence, was a childhood paradise of sweets, Chad Valley toys and 7-inch singles. It is also the home of the brand Ladybird. I grew up with Woolies, as it is commonly called. It is terribly sad that it is closing after a century in business.

My love affair with music started back in 1981 when I bought my first single from Woolworths. I have particular memory for many of my Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Wham purchases from Woolworths. Those were during my teeny days. I would saved up my pocket money and rushed to the local Woolworth to get the latest released single/album to add to my collection. Ha! I am showing my age I guess.

Not to forget the Pick 'n' Mix sweets counter where you were allowed to pick and mix your choice from a whole array of colourful yummy sweets. My favourites were Turkish Delights, Nougat, fizzy cola and miniature Bounty. Anyway, it really is awful to see somewhere I have so many fond memories attached to, disappearing forever.

No more pick 'n' mix. A bittersweet farewell to Woolworths!

Homemade Char Siew

Going through my photo memory card, found these pics. This is a very much overdue post.

Clearing out my fridge and freezer before the Bangkok trip. Found in the freezer some belly pork with not much fatty bits on, so it won't make good Bak Kut Teh. For the past week, my son has been asking me to buy char siew rice for his lunch. To satisfy his craving, I decided to try and make char siew.

Instead of using the ready made char siew sauce, I made up my own sauce. I marinated the pork with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey, sugar and tossed in a little bit of red colouring. I left it marinating in the fridge for a few hours.

Don't you just love the caramelizing effects!

Yummy and juicy

'Char Siew' actually means 'fork roasting'. The traditional way of making this dish is to skewer strips of marinated pork meat with long forks, and roast in a large covered oven using charcoal. I supposed my version, which was pan-fried with the help of a giant fork, should be named 'fork pan-frying', aka 'Char Jin'??

My boy loved it, he had a few servings until his little tummy bulged out.

The Reason for My Blog Freeze

The real reason I haven't been blogging of late ... Well, a lot has to do with feeling very tired, disappointed and fed-up.

I have long planned for this one week shopping trip to Bangkok with my kids during 2008 year end school holiday. Everything was booked, settled my mom back in Ipoh with my aunt, itinerary well planned, luggage half packed. The night prior to departure, I logged on to the Thai websites wanting to find out how the weather was like, and was stunned to learn that the Suvarnabhumi Airport has been sieged by anti-government protesters. In simple words, the bangkok airport was closed, no incoming nor outgoing flights!!

After breaking the bad news to my daughter, she burst into tears and wept the whole night. By crack of dawn, I called MAS but was told that flights were on schedule. Weird! I kept calling and calling every hour or so but kept getting the same answer. Only received call from MAS two hours before check-in time, informing that the flight has been cancelled. It was a real blow to the three of us. My daughter didn't talk for a whole week. You can imagine how disappointed she really was.

I could have postponed the flight to another date, but I have chosen to cancel it coz we couldn't have anymore free dates as I have to look after my mom. My aunt has been real nice to have taken annual leave so as to take my mom into care for that week, but she couldn't afford another week off work. Tough luck!

Then, the week after, came WORK! Yes, work, preparation of a claim submission. The documents should have come to us in October and we have anticipated to complete in 3 months time. Well, things never turned out the way you expected, the documents were only delivered to us end of November, albeit in piece meal manner. Worst still, my 'beloved' client expected us to finish the submisison in three weeks time.

Ha, what a joke! Three months truncated to three weeks! That was why I was working 16 hours a day for the most of December. That only left me with 8 hours to sleep, look after my mom, doing the household chores, cooking for the family. I haven't time to do anything else, not to mention surfing the net, or updating my blog.

So, Christmas, New Year, school holidays are all over. I have already cleared out the decorations. Kiddos are now back to school. I have finished the claim submission, hoping to move on to the next assignment.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I would like to see this year. 2008 was not a stellar year by any means. I don’t feel like I did anything of any great importance. No weight lost, no major money made, no personal revelations that changed my entire life. I just wish mom will rapidly get well and be able to move on her own more stably, so that I can go out of my little hut and get some real fee earning work.

Welcome 2009! It's a new year, a new era, a new beginning for many of us.

I would like to wish all of you a joyful and happy year ahead and may all your wishes and resolutions come through.

Looking back, 2008 has not turned out the way I would like it to be. Nonetheless, I won't be disheartened. I will put the past behind, keep counting my blessings and smile through the hard and good times, tough and merry moments.

I am sure many of you are looking forward to the new year though we are armed with much caution with the current bleak economic outlook. But whatever the financial papers, the experts, the feng shui sifus or the professionals are saying about what will happen in 2009, let's move forward with courage, enthusiasm, optimism, joy and hope.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009