Tuesday, March 25, 2008

New Birthday New Beginnings

Many things have happened in the past 6 months. In my circle of good friends, our gatherings have been marred by a glaring absence until our two gatherings in March. The first one was about 3 weeks ago, where we celebrated Shin Yen's (belated) birthday and one 4 days ago where we threw Jeremy a (supremely belated) birthday party. I'm just so glad to see Sheau Ching returning to join us in our birthday rituals. Hey, next celebration will be his birthday!


A delightful birthday cake to celebrate Shin Yen's birthday! Wishing that this year will bring her better days and a speedy recovery for her beloved hubby!


Hmmm....i wonder what's in there? Actually we gave her a little lunch bag cos she always carries her handbag to lunch with her colleagues, so a little lunch bag would be a good change, it also comes with a set of matching necklace and earrings.



Hey Sheau Ching, say cheese!


Eventhough Sheauching was back to joining us, there were several absence haha...so it wasn't full attendance at this birthday party... such a shame...

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

It's Harvest Time

The school holidays has just come to an end. I bet Lele had lots of fun this March holidays. After all, it was harvest season just last week in Kuantan. What goodies did he manage to bag as a warm-up to Easter ?

Looks like these jambu are ripe and ready to be picked! Wow, looks so juicy and mouth-watering, begging to be eaten...

How many men does it take to harvest our jambu? The answer is 2! One to pick and the other to pose for cameras!

Oh my oh my, will you take a look at the bursting basket? They are like the sweeter version of strawberries and juicier, albeit uglier.

These are the mung beans Lele was so carefully nurturing for a meal at the end of his visit. Throughout the days he was in Kuantan, he was given a duty to make sure these mung beans are ready for consumption before he left for Singapore.

And he did it! They've magically transformed to bean sprouts!

How many people does it take to harvest my mother's vege? The answer is 2! One to pluck the vegetable and the other to stare into space.

Look Ma! Who says kids don't like to eat vege?

Thursday, March 13, 2008

A Different Kind of 12-hour Shift

Many who know of my working schedule would know that i pull several 12-hour shifts in a week. Sometimes my precious snoozing time could be cut down to 4 hours for any work days. Several Saturdays ago, me and some of my other 12-hour shift colleagues decided to pull a different kind of 12-hour shift together, the kind that is definitely more fun and bonding.

12 pm
The day started at 12 pm on Saturday. Me and my boss #1 & boss #2 ( the three of us who live in Singapore despite two of us being Malaysians) met up in Singapore and crossed the causeway. Thank God this was before Mas Selamat escaped, so there was no fuss in crossing the checkpoints. In fact, it was such a breeze we only spent 30 minutes to get from Marsiling to City Square in JB.


1.30 pm
After a brief coffee break, our Malaysian colleague finally reached City Square and whisked us off in his new car to his new home... haha... Spent some time looking around his house, his guava and apple tree, and also playing with his son. Look at this little tot running around in our shoes!


Doesn't his house look nice?


2.30 pm
Finally it was time for lunch! Another of our colleague joined us at this point. This place was highly recommended by them. We had the famous abalone beehoon in this place which has grown from a shack to a 3-shop business in Aminah.


4 pm
What's a trip to JB without shopping? We visited the largest shopping mall in JB, Tebrau City. We spent about 20 minutes just to look for a parking space!

Shopping here felt a little different. The people here dressed more simply, the crowd not as kiasu and the shop attendants are not as 'atas' as those in Singapore, which made me feel at home, really. Another colleague met us here, making up the total number of people shopping together to 7 (plus one toddler). Even though 7 seems like a big number of people to be shopping together, it was surprisingly easy, considering everyone was enjoying just looking at stuff. We managed to squeeze in ANOTHER coffee break in Lavender ( a famous bakery chain in Johor).


7 pm
We all drove in 3 separate cars to Danga Bay, a seaside entertainment hub with theme parks, pasar malam and live performances. Actually, the journey from Tebrau City to Danga Bay was pretty eye-opening cos one of my colleagues was telling me about the virtues of one-night-stands... haha... We started with a slow walk and a tram ride to see the outline of the place. We also tried some of the rides in the park and completed the evening with a nice dinner of Malaysian hawker fare.
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12 am
Reached my home in Singapore. Now, this is a 12-hour shift i wouldn't mind pulling once in a while.


Friday, March 07, 2008

Puffyrazzi's Family Hainanese Chicken Rice Part Two

Hi guys

After a few post on the upcoming elections (tomorrow!!!!! ), i've decided to continue with my family's famed recipe. Here goes the 2nd part :



Back from the previous part, the chicken ought to be put into the fridge after it is cooked. My guess is that this way, the meat will be more supple and the skin has a nice chewy texture. Wow, look at the colour of the chicken, looks divine eh?
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While the chicken is resting in the fridge, this is what we're gonna do. Stir fry some ginger, garlic and shallots till fragrant in oil.
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Next, add in uncooked rice along with pandan leaves for a bonus flavour.


After that, transfer the rice into a rice cooker. Instead of using water as normal, use the honest-to-goodness soup left from cooking the chicken. Proceed to cook like normal rice in the rice cooker.
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Remove the chicken from the fridge and chop them up into smaller pieces for easy consumption. Everything is almost ready to be savoured (or should i say ravaged) by the family now!
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And here goes the scrumptious dinner for the Wee family. Do not forget to dip the chicken in the home-made ginger sauce. One meal will make you ask for more....
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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Ubah Gaya Hidup

This election, vote wisely =)

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Puffyrazzi's Family Hainanese Chicken Rice Part One

Today, in view of the upcoming elections, i will celebrate it by sharing with everyone my family's recipe which took many years to master to perfection : THE HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE!!! I will share everything except how to make the ginger sauce (which happens to be the best part).

To make a unique dish, obviously we select premium ingredients. Supermarket chickens will not do. Look how big and succulent the chicken is!
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Bring water to a simmer in a pot (big enough to fit the chicken you have shortlisted =P), add a little ginger to give it some extra taste.
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Place the chicken in the pot, and cover the lid for 15-20 minutes. If the water does not cover the whole bird, ensure that you occasionally turn the chicken over so that no part is left uncooked.
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When the chicken has been taken out, remember not to discard the soup. This part will be recycled for later parts. I'll write up till here today, please tune in for Part II, coming out in the next few days.