hmmm

the man and i enjoy looking at cute and fat babies.

oh noes. 0_0""""

my baptism

it's been quite a while since i've updated anything cos i've been incredibly busy aka incredibly tired to blog at all.

anyway 16th Sept ( last sunday ) was my baptism :D
heehee.. been thinking about it for ages and finally took the time to go for baptism classes and really thankful that God provided me an opportunity to openly declare my faith towards Him and that opened my heart wide open to accept whatever i had to go through ( eg. ministry, etc. ) to prepare myself for baptism.

I was a rather nervous wreck on the day itself, it's a once in a lifetime affair and the whole congregation would be observing the entire process. But fortunately most of the baptism candidates were familiar faces ( having gone through the same baptism classes and made a friend Jo, during the Power Encounter Weekend at Gallery Hotel) and that I felt comfortable in the church itself.

I was also extremely happy, because not only were my parents and sister there to witness the entire event, but that my dad and mum were out together and that it's been ages since my dad stepped into the church ( since i was ard 7-8 if i remember correctly) and I was anxious to see his reaction and response to church again, having seen his rather negative reaction the other time round.

I was also praying that the message spoken to them would touch their hearts and that it was something that they could relate to. Fortunately, it did :) the message was simple, basically the testimonies of how 3 couples learnt to cherish their broken marriages and their journey together as a couple to recovery of not only their relationship with each other, but also their relationship as a couple with God.

As I couldn't sit with my family ( I had to sit with the other baptism candidates), N told me ( he sat together with them ) that my dad and mum were moved by the speakers and I sincerely pray that things would turn out better. I must remind myself to bring them to church again this weekend.

Ok so back to the baptism itself. First the pastor asked us one by one " Do you turn to Christ?" Our reply was " Yes I turn to Christ". Then we lined up towards the pool set in the stage ( ladies first in no particular order) and handed our name tags to the assistant. There was a male and female pastor who were submerged to the waist in the pool and each baptism candidate was to stand in between them. Suzie ( the female pastor) then took my right hand to put on my left chest and she said " In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I baptise "insert name" " and I forgot what else she said already -_-. I'd better check back and edit this part. :P

Then they both submerge each candidate BACKWARDS and out and tadahhhh~~.
Anyways water went up my nose and I was sorta choking when I came out. So that was it. Simple huh :P

So after we got changed, we got back to our allocated seats and worship continued. The 3 couples proclaimed their testimonies and then.. to my surprise, Pastor Derek called out all the baptised candidates to stand in front of the stage. 0_o""" machiam like celebrities like that. hahahah.
anyway the whole church clapped for us and welcomed us, and the various pastors went forward to shake our hands. Relatives of the baptised candidates then went forward and gave them flowers etc, but I was the most happy when N stood smiling in front of me and we gave each other a nice big hug :o) heehee

I was also surprised that N's dad and mum came forward too hehe.. and shook hands with Uncle and hugged Auntie. :P It was also slightly embarassing that I couldn't recognise Angela from the previous cell group gathering dinner thingy ( it was my first time there ) and she could see it etched all over my face that I hadn't the slightest inkling who she was. hahaha. :P But I'm so glad that she came down to congratulate me :)

Yup so that sums up the whole baptism service.
Anyway N told me that he feels that I have the gift of prophesy. heehee.. which I didnt really think about previously and I think it's rather true! :D wheeeee.. I hope that I'll put it to good use and be able to touch people's lives.

The pastor at today's service is an Englishman by the name of Michael Ross Watson. He was recently diagnosed with cancer ( of where I do not know ) and it was so wonderful to listen to his testimony that basically, if you put your faith in God and trust Him with all your might, God will provide for you. ( He couldnt pay for his medical expenses and it was miraculously covered for in the end. )

" If you try to defend yourself for ordinary events, God will say 'Get along with it'. But if God needs to defend you, He will protect you."

Alrightey that's the end of my story for today. Felt so excited just typing the whole thing out. heehee.. Hope u all feel touched by this post! :D

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Have been so busy recently that I hve hardly time to update the blog, but then my poor dear is more hard pressed for time than me as she is undertaking a project now. Anyway, just wanted today to be Moomoo Appreciation Day hehehe MAD day. And i jus want to tell C how thankful I am for all the support I have receieved and all the nonsense that she put up with all these years. And tonight, I would be waiting for you near your workplace till you finish work then I will bring you somewhere for dinner and we can just talk until the cows come home. Ok? heheheh.

Cooking lesson Again

Today’s dinner is 5 dishes but I shall blog on the more difficult ones. The two vege stir fry are as usual jus that long beans go well with garlic, onion, sliced big red and green chilli, spring onion and carrots (long slices). Soup is just hairy cucumber soup which uses the same chicken stock. Once again I practiced my cutting together and it is getting better already, wonder when is the day when I can cut like martin yan with the chopper hahaha.

Chicken with Cashew nut and dried chilli
1) Chop up garlic (with skin on) and onion (slices), Spring onion (small long pieces), ginger (long slices) and dried chilli (cut into half and soaked in water)
2) Fry raw cashew nuts in a small pan and leave it one side
3) Stir fry the garlic and onion till brown
4) Then add in the spring onion and ginger
5) After they are cooked, then add in the chicken, allow it to cook for awhile then add some stock to the wok.
(*Chicken marinated ginger, black sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, pepper, salt, one teaspoon corn flour. )
6) Cover the wok and allow the chicken to cook for about 15 to 20 mins
7) After awhile add in the hoisin sauce (one tablespoon) and one teaspoon of honey
8) Then allow the concoction to cook with the cover on
9) Then when it is about to cook add black sauce to the mixture
10) Then comes the difficult part of balancing the dish. Use salt, sugar and stock to do so until right taste is acquired.
11) Then add in the cashew nuts and you are done.

Rabbit fish steamed with salted beans
1) Cut garlic, ginger and onion in to small cubes. Then cut spring onion and Chinese celery into small pieces. Plus cut 3 small chilli padis into half.
2) Fry all the above in a small pan putting in sesame oil and pepper to taste and leave aside
3) Then put the cooked mixture above the fish and put the fish into the steamer for 5 mins and you are done.

More golden rules
1) Cook longer for long beans as they take longer to be cooked.
2) When you fry cashew nuts take them out the moment they turn brown, otherwise they will become overcooked.
3) Lesson learnt for the chicken is that hoisin sauce is sweet so can stinge on anything that adds to sweetness when doing the marinating

Nice Sunday

I am really too tired to blog liao hehehe. But this photo sums up the day. Nice family dinner together and i learnt how to cook fish head curry which is quite a complicated task. Hahah but know that i am armed with the secret recipe i can reproduce the same results anytime. And C can testify to how nice the curry is. hahaha. Anyway for the record the menu today was Fish Head Curry, Papadums, bittergourd stir-fry with egg, cabbage stir-fry with dried prawns and water cress soup. Will update with the recipe of the fish curry tomorrow haha. So stay tuned.

Cooking lesson Pt 3

Fish in swimming position (Above) and below is the fish when cooked

Today is cooking lesson number 3 and I have attempted to learn more complex dishes which involve more skills than just stir fry. Before I go into the recipes proper I shall pen down a few more golden rules of cooking.

1) Cutting
The first toy that a cook must buy is the knife. And it must be a knife that suits the cutting style of the person. Some people like to use the forward slicing motion while others like the backward motion. Some people prefer small knives while others prefer bigger ones or even choppers. So whatever the case the maxim perfect practice makes perfect works here as you really need to train and train to get cutting right.

2) Deep frying
Always makes sure there is enough oil to engulf whatever you are deep frying. Then if the wok is too small make sure u bathe the fish with the hot oil. When putting the fish in the oil make sure u open up the belly and place it in a ‘swimming’ position. Then after the bottom is cooked turn the fish around and cook its spine. And always remember that only certain fishes can cook deep fried. So to divers they identify fish by their latin names, and to cooks we identify it by whether it is to be steamed or fried. Haha. And for myself to remember, stir fry use big wok while deep fry use small wok. Dunno why but it works.

3) Sauces and flavouring
The key is to balance the saltiness and the sweetness of the dish. The best chef would not even need to add sugar or salt to balance the taste but to lousy cooks like me I have to play cheat and add either sugar or salt to balance the taste of dishes.

Ok now to the recipes before I forget them. First up we have the corn soup that my dear loves so much. It is really quite simple.

1) Boil the chicken bone till it is cooked
2) Add 2 x corns, 1 carrot (sliced), red dates, 1 onion bulb (Big)
3) Then as usual let it stew until it is damn nice.
4) Add salt and pepper to taste

Next up is the Pork Ribs with Bitter gourd

1) Marinate the pork ribs with cognac, 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce, pepper, sesame oil, cornflour (1/2 teaspoon)
2) Next remove the core of the bitter gourd then slice it up into rings.
3) Then throw one teaspoon of salt in it and stir it until the bitter gourd becomes soft
4) Cut up garlic, ginger.
5) Steam the ribs first in the steamer first to soften it
6) Prepare the wok and fry the garlic first (High Fire)
7) Then add in the ribs, stir vigorously and add water when necessary to prevent charring
8) Then add in light sauce, black sauce, black bean sauce, pepper then close with lid (Lower fire abit and allow the ribs to cook) *Cook longer if you want it soft and melt in your mouth feeling)
9) Then add in the bitter gourd and put in stock (whatever stock you have)
10) Lastly if you want crack an egg in it to add texture to the dish and wah lah you are done

Lastly the star player is the sweet and sour fish.
1) Cut up 3 colour bell peppers, 1 carrot, 2 onions, spring onion, Chinese celery, chilli padi, garlic and ginger into one bowl. (*Plus pineapples)
2) Prepare the fish by adding salt to both sides of the fish then flip it round and round
3) Add sesame oil and pepper to taste
4) Pour egg white over the fish then add corn flour to put the make up for the fish. Jus think of ladies putting on foundation before they start their make up.
5) Put sufficient oil to submerge the fish ¾ way
6) Then put the fish in with its belly open (*Need abit of skill and abit of enduring of pain when the oil hits your hands)
7) Constantly bathe the fish and allow it to cook thoroughly
8) The picture above will assist in telling you when the fish is cook. (Ie when it turns brown and crispy)
9) Take the fish out and place it on a kitchen towel. (3xkitchen towel folded into the size of one)
10) For the sauce, add in the veges that you put in 1 – First, the garlic and ginger, then onion, then spring onion + Chinese celery, and lastly the rest of the veges
11) Fry until it is cooked, then add in magi tomato and chili sauce. Then add abit of water to make the sauce thinner.
12) Lastly, add salt and sugar to balance the sauce. Please do taste the sauce before putting it on the fish and you are done.

Cooking pt 2

Steam fish with hua diao wine

Pork with Spring Onion and Ginger

Stir fry chye sim with garlic

Spicy Pak choi

Dinner time !!! haha

Today is the second lesson for cooking. I have learnt how to do spring onion with ginger pork which turned out quite nice. hehehe

1) Slice lean pork meat into thin slices

2) Add black sauce, light sauce, ginger, hua diao wine, corn flour (1/2 teaspoon), salt, paper, sesame oil to marinate the pork slices.

3) Cut spring onion, ginger, garlic, and chinese corriander and put aside

4) Pour oil into wok then fry the above

5) Then pour in the marinated pork, make sure the pork dun get charred by adding stock or water into the wok and keep the pork away from the wok surface.

6) After the outer layer of the pork is cooked, cover it with a lid. Wait for about 10 mins until water level/stock level disappears from the side of the lid
*ie the stock is drying up, then it is time to open up already

11) Add black pepper to taste

12) Then add half teaspoon corn starch mixed with water

13) Lower fire and then you are done.

Golden rules of cooking

1) Fire big when cooking, fire small when taking things out

2) Cover watever you are cooking - Steam coming out means cooking, water level gng down means thing is cooked

3) Never allow food to stick to wok, add stock/water to prevent sticking. otherwise prepare to eat burnt food

4) When cooking cabbage always put ginger

5) When cooking veges cannot mix garlic and onion together

6) When steaming fish, add chilli padi to kill the fishy smell - *fish would not end up spicy

7) always add sugar and salt to veges when almost cooked

*will add to the list when i know more.

Cooking lessons

Today is my first day to seriously take up cooking and i shall blog about wat i learn so that i can remember it.

Pumpkin Soup
1) Fill 3/4 pot with water and boil (High fire)
2) When boiling, add in wolfberries (one handful), red dates (another handful), ginger (small piece) and a chicken breast bone (Still High fire)
3) When chicken has cooked slow down the fire and add in the pumpkins
4) Allow the soup to cook under slow fire.
*Then boil as long as you can.

Spinach with ikan bilis
1) Add oil into the wok (*make sure enough)
2) Then when hot, put in a handful of ikan bilis and fry till brown (Still high fire)
3) Then add in the stalks of the spinach first. (Medium Fire)
4) Then add one quarter mug of water
5) Then cover for about 1 to 2 mins to allow the stalk to cook
6) After opening the cover, add the leaves in and stir fry.
7) Cover for about 3 to 4 minutes then take out of wok

Chinese cabbage with chili
1) Wash the wok with water, allow it to boil then throw water away into sink.
2) Put oil into wok
3) Add in onions, chinese celery, ginger plus spring onion + secret chili sauce(2 x tablespoon)
4) Stir fry evenly
5) Then add the cabbage in plus 1/4 mug of water
6) Cover for 2 to 3 mins

Steam cod fish
1) Marinate cod fish with salt
2) Place ginger, onion, chinese celery, tomatoes, chilli padi over it.
3) Pour hua diao wine to cover the base of the plate and a dash of sesame oil over it.
4) Then steam for 5 mins

Hoisin Chicken with ginger and spring onion
1) Marinate the chicken with hoisin sauce (2 tablespoons), salt and black pepper, sesame oil, ginger strips and corn starch (1 tablespoon)
2) Fry onion, spring onion, garlic (jus smash it without removing the skin), ginger strips and chunks into the wok. (High Fire)
3) Then add water to allow the concoction to boil (Medium Fire)
4) Then add the chicken into the wok and stir fry. Then add one teaspoon of honey
5) Then add more water until the chicken is almost all submerged in the water
6) Cover and wait for 15mins
7) Then when cooked turn up the fire and add hua diao wine into it again to spice up the flavour
8) Then you are done.

Surprises!

This is the big surprise that i got from my dearie last night. It is a David and Goliath Tshirt with my name on it coupled with matching socks that are all so cool. Hehehe. This really brightened up my otherwise sucky week due to squeezing pain in my eyes. Hopefully it will recover soon and i would feel better. Anyway, just to make a point, I think retail therapy really works to make one feel less stressed. *Retail therapy to me = window shopping and not actually buying things. But to be able to see the large array of stuff that is available on the market is jus so nice. Perhaps that was what i was missing when cheryl went to HK cos i did not have the chance or did not have a reason to go shopping at all. But now with cheryl back i can go and look at things whenever she has the time. Yeah. Once again Thanks dearie for the nice tshirt and socks. Really like the gifts, the thought behind the gift and most of all love the person who gave the gifts.

ramblings

since N's accident, i've been feeling rather skittish lately.
keep thinking about his wound, whether his eye's alright ( hemmorage due to the impact) and how long he'll take to heal,etc.

worse thing that he's got to refrain from all his hobbies for the time being and though it's been only less than a week since the accident / operation, the withdrawal symptoms have already started to kick in.

ho hum...
well i hope whoever reads this helps in keeping N in your prayers, i believe they help a great deal since my granny's leg is slowly recovering too :D ( she can walk now, just not quite stable yet and needs support)

yah and my lower back is hurting ( though not as much as before) from my over-zealous attempt at keeping fit. sigh.

anyway an update on my work-

~ just finished a submission yesterday.. whew! was on the tip of my toes the entire day yesterday.. and had to miss a dinner with my ex-sch mates the day before. oh well..

- hotel design's rather fun! hahaa. just that u gotta keep in line with all the stupid numbers and calculations that really.. make u rather berserk. ooo i hope my room designs are gg to be kept and i can't wait to see them materialise! :D

oh yah. my fossil bag ain't that pretty no more. zzz. the stitching's all coming out because they weren't finished properly ( thread tips / ends) and lao niang's gotta sew the bag up properly before it can be used again. bah!! so expensive and so cheapskate!!! >:( the stitches were unravelling in the previous bag before i discovered the manufacturing defect too. le sigh..

no more fossil. maybe only their watches. hahahahha. or not at all *blehh*
miendeedoobah! is ur wallet still holding on fine???

lalalala deeda deee.. blogging at work because i've got nothing to do and waiting for the very preggers boss and her hubby to give me work to do.. heehee.. till later~

Blue eyebrows

This may be a surprise to many and to C but I am bent on staying off soccer for the next dunno how many months. The reason is because I have a hole in the head as a result on a heads on clash yesterday during the soccer match. Although it was only a 2cm (verified by the doctor)/3cm (verified by the nurse cheryl) laceration but the pain was deliciously excrutiating. It was a dull and throbbing pain with a tinge of blue black pain. After the impact i got a shock when i saw the reflection of myself against the glass door of the qudrangle. The gaping hole was pouring out red wine, and the flap of flesh hung loosely as though it was sliced nicely for asthetic purposes on a french dish. Now i shall talk about my little adventure at the hospital.

First, we had trouble finding the entrance to the A and E dept of TTSH becos someone covered the sign with taupaulin sheet due to some construction works adjacent to the signboard. What a safety hazard for an ambulance who is desperately trying to find the entrance. But then again ambulance drivers should know all the entrances to A n E depts by heart. But if he is new? hehehe then good luck to the patient inside the ambulance. Ok after getting down the car, i felt like a superstar cos everyone kept giving weird looks hehehe. Then of course i politely returned their look of astonishment with a courteous smile. Think I must be quite a sight, a bloody mess smiling at them. hahaha machiam vampire who jus ate a nice meal and forgot to clean up. Then after registration I WAS ALLOWED TO CUT QUEUE in view of my serious condition. At first the nurse was like ok wait for your turn then i tactically put down the cloth that was holding the wound, and she was like ok sit down now. Then from then on everything was expeditious. From the admin work to the securing of an appointment with the doc.

Now let me talk abt the doc. He was quite good looking in the matured sense and he wore the same crocs as me. Hahah but he had a funny mannerism. Perhaps most docs are like that. Then he went on the diagnostic process with technical precision and non-chalance. He typed furiously and comically on the report datat sheet and described my wound as though it happened everyday. 2cm laceration over left eyebrow. Globe ok. Eye ok. Tetanus Injection within last five years. Stitches required. time of incident 1245pm. Pain scale 5-6 that is dull and throbbing. hahaha machiam like I am not in pain like that. And they even have a scale of pain intensity. Damn funny. They even had detailed descriptions of every number on the pain scale but i did not bother to remember. Then after the diagnosis he brought me to the operating theatre where i waited for damn long.

Now, in the operating theatre, I was welcomed by 3 nurses who were on ojt and 2 aunty nurse who were the experience sort. Then I was asked to lie down on the operating bed which was cushioned and the aunty covered me with a blanket that was steamed to a warm temp. Damn shiok cos I was cold from all the blood loss. Then the ojt nurses were like can i see the wound then i was like ok go ahead. Then they were showing off their medical jargon and were like oooh so deep, eh can see the ... and the ... watever those medical terms meant. Then I said that i felt like an exhibit then they all luffed. Then the doc started the op, he asked the nurse for the anaesthetic injection and commanded the nurse to give him the WIDE NEEDLE, then i was like eeks. After making small pokes here and there which felt like ant bites he proceeded with the sewing. While he was doing that he like whistle away as though he was sewing a tshirt. Hahah. Then after the fifth stitch i felt the medicine wear off and I could feel the needle going in followed by the thread and all. Seeing me in pain the doc asked if the anaesthetic had worn off and whether i want some more, then i said dunno becos either way i would still be poked. Might as well not prolong the agony. So after the sewing was done the doc gave some instructions on aftercare and i can remove the stitches in 5 days. Oh and he was boasting that there would be minimum scarring and the sewing was very well done. I am sure it was cos I felt that he tightened the flaps of flesh together quite securely. The nurse even commended the doctor that they never seen such nice stitching. Probably they saw the difference from the gaping hole transit to the sewed up masterpiece. Anyway after C helped me remove the bandage and I saw wat a beauty it was. Many thanks to the doc whom was so skillful in his craft, the aunty nurse who gave me the warm blanket, and the ojt nurses who provided comic relief and the WIDE NEEDLE. Finally, Thanks to my dearie for helping me remove the bandage so slowly and meticulously that i felt little pain throughout. But from this incident i realised something, medical care in Singapore is really world class. Imagine if this happened in a developing nation, first you would not have anaesthetic, second no antiseptic, third no 5 nurses and one doc to attend to such a minor injury and also no antibiotics to provide for a speedy recovery. That is why Singaporeans should not lament when the govt increase this or that tax, somehow such things have to be funded by the society one.