Can't get Simple Plan outta my head :D

Listen to this....it's so inspirational!!!

I look around me

But all I seem to see

Is people going nowhere

Expecting sympathy

It’s like we’re going through the motions

Of the scripted destinyTell me where’s our inspiration

If life wont wait

I guess it’s up to me

Whoahh

No we’re not gonna waste another moment in this town

Whoahh

We wont come back, the world its calling out

Whoahh

Leave the past in the past gonna find the future

And misery loves company

Well so long

You’ll miss me when I’m gone

Procrastination running circles in my head

While you sit there contemplating you’ll wind up left for dead

Life is what happens

While you’re busy making your excuses

Another day, another casualty

But that won’t happen to me

Let’s go…!

Won’t look back

When I say goodbye

We’re gonna leave this world behind me

Gonna take what’s mine tonight

‘Cause every wasted day

Becomes a wasted chance

You’re gonna wake up feeling sorry

‘Cause life won’t wait

I guess it’s up to you

~ Simple Plan ~

I likey!!!!!!! I likey very much!!!!! Makes me wanna go out there and kick some butt NOWWWWW!!!!!

*hops around like a hyperactive rabbit*

Puff Pastry Chicken Pie - Comfort Food at its best!

A day after we came back from Singapore, we found our house flooded. Yes, FLOODED. And lest you think we're living in some dinky low-cost unit which is like a 100 years old in some dinky place, oh, maybe because of my bean counter frugal ways, let me set you straight.

No, our developer is SUPPOSEDLY (note the emphasis on SUPPOSEDLY) one of the "best" developers in Malaysia, the house is BRAND NEW - we just moved in a year ago and it is STILL under warranty!!!!, the location is prime, heck, the king is building his new palace across the street, we paid a LOT of good money for this place...and our living room STILL got flooded after a day's worth of heavy rain.

Ankle deep.

With our lovely new built ins and day bed and paintings and desktop which happened to be on the floor ruined. And oh, let's not forget the lacquered screen which came all the way from Vietnam. Ruined.

I. AM. SO. PISSED. OFF.

And it doesn't help matters when you march over to the management office to complain only to be asked three times "You mean leak only, issit?". No, I bloody am educated enough to know the difference between a leak and a literal flooding!!!!!!!!! And no, I don't have to prove my grasp of the English language to you bloody 3 times before an engineer is called!!!!!! ~Sheesh~

So anywayz, really needed the comfort food to calm hubs and myself down. And so we let a roll of puff pastry, a can of chicken soup, onions, carrots, potatoes, frozen mixed veggies, chicken work its destressing magic on us. Some days, you just need comfort food a little more than others.

Puff Pastry Chicken Pie

2 chicken breasts, diced or sliced, seasoned with a pinch of corn flour, salt and pepper

2 small potatoes, diced

2 carrots, diced

1/2 clove garlic, minced

1 large onion, diced (I prefer the sweet yellow variety)

1/2 cup of frozen mixed veggies if you have em, I just added them to add some bulk as I ran out of carrots and potatoes :D And the peas in em looked pretty too :D

2 hard boiled eggs

1 tin condensed cream of chicken soup (I used Campbells)

1 packet of ready made puff pastry - about 250gms is enough to cover a large pie dish.

Salt and pepper to taste

Throw in the garlic and onions and sweat. Throw in the chicken and stir around. Throw in all the veggies and mix somemore. Then, throw in the whole tin of condensed cream of chicken. Add a little water if it looks a bit dry, but not too much - you're not making soup here in spite of the ingredients you're throwing in. Consistency you're trying for is thick and rich. Let it all sit in there and cook til the potatoes, carrots and all are nice and cooked. Taste and salt and pepper according to your taste buds.

Decant mixture into a pie dish. Cut your hard boiled eggs into quarter and bury it in the mixture at random spots.

Top with the puff pastry (follow instructions on puff pastry). Bake according to instructions.

Dig in and feel yourself destress instantly :D

P/S: If you're in Malaysia and you're thinking of buying a house, and you're wondering which REPUTABLE developer we bought our house from, leave me a message in the comments section with your contact details and I'll reply to you personally. I'm saving my pictures to sue our developers if things don't get fixed to our satisfaction hence don't wanna post them YET on the public blogosphere.

Leftover Bolognaise Sauce Sandwich

OK, so it sounds gross. But it's not!

This is how it happened - I happened to have whipped up a large batch of my super duper bolognaise sauce. So much even hubs conceded that he really really really couldn't eat some more. So I'm a bean counter who has problems with budgeting portions. So sue me :P

So anywayz, I had heaps of bolognaise sauce left over the next day - yummy yummy bolognaise sauce. But no more pasta, said hubs.

So brilliant me went rooting in the fridge for more stuff and found some leftover bread (including crusts which I usually don't like but worked brilliantly here as they're a bit more solid when you pile on the sauce!) and lots of cheese (Hubs is a cheese man).

So all I did was butter up my bread (I suppose you can use olive oil for a more authentic bruschetta like / pizza like taste), plonk generous scoops of my super duper sauce on top, and grate heaps of cheese to cover everything. Then I grilled this til the cheese melted and the bread was crisp. Lovely and it takes less than 5 minutes to make :D

Waste not want not, eh?

Weekend in Singapore

Just came back from Singapore and still buzzing!! Singapore is so busy and full of people and life!! Though not much shopping as the sales haven't started yet cept for maybe the Tangs one so I was quite a good bunny *grin*

This is where I went over Easter Weekend...

1. Food Republic

Started off by going in search of Singapore Beef Noodles. On our past trips there, we used to frequent the one in Scotts Food Court on Scotts Road cause it's just down the road from Hyatt where we used to stay. Well, for nostalgia's sake, we went all the way down Orchard Road, and all the way down Scotts Road, only to find...the whole building torn down :( We finally located our beef noodles in Food Republic in Wisma Atria though. Nice place with HEAPS more food that the old Scotts Road place...Also loved the ice stall - shaven ice with sea coconut and shaven ice with almond jelly and fruit cocktail...MMMmmmmm really hits the spot when you're trudging halfway cross town in the tropical climate :D

2. Spring Court, Chinatown

Supposedly the oldest restaurant in Singapore. Food was great. Had a set dinner, and had a free peking duck, cause there's a promo now where you order a certain amount and get the duck free. The duck was really good cause it was full of flavour and not fat! Also loved this yam ring thingy in our set which came with a whole scallop inside. Must try!

3. East Coast Beach

Went to be a little beach bunny with my nieces. We spent the day digging large holes in the beach (which we didn't fill back) and were very proud when we found a live clam. Whoopee....Guess the water just off the busiest port isn't quite that polluted. Also celebrated my birthday with a LOT of candles *don't ask how many!* The whole beach culture thingy in Singapore is way more advanced than in Malaysia, and the whole place was really well thought out with lotsa areas for skating, biking, and just walking around. Nice vibes for a weekend, really...

4. Long Bar Steakhouse, Raffles Hotel

Went for steak here with hubs and family, and all I can say is, it's DISAPPOINTING. Really. Go for a steak somewhere else. It's THAT bad. I had a 200 day corn fed Angus fillet mignon, which was actually TOUGH and FLAVOURLESS. I am so not kidding :P And to add salt to the wound, it's bloody expensive (though sis in law picked up the tab, Thanks!) Go to Mortons. Go to Lawry's. Heck, go to Prime in Kuala Lumpur for half the price and double the taste. Just don't go here.

5. Creamery, Raffles Hotel

Now this outlet I loved :D They have this teppanyaki thingy where they mix different icecream flavours if you want, and the teppanyaki thingy actually re-chills the icecream so it's not mushy at the end of it. And you can choose oodles of condiments to be folded inside your icecream. We had this before at Latest Recipe, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur, but the ice cream there didn't refreeze so you just got a bowl of mush. Here it's executed perfectly. I didn't have icecream - I had a berry sorbet with hubs with macadamia nuts and fresh strawberries, and they really don't stinge. Worth it for SGD4.50 a scoop. And it hit the spot in removing the after taste of the Long Bar Steak :P

6. Clarke Quay

Went for drinks with ex-colleagues. First stop was our old fave, Brewerkz! Had the sampler set thingy, and beer was just as I remembered it - V.Good :D My fave now is the pale ale, but hubs loved the fruit one which is no longer strawberry but raspberry. Then went over to Lunar Bar which was interesting :) Had more drinks - there was this particular one a jagermeister red bull where the shot glasses were lined up over the whisky high ball ones and with one flick of your wrist you push the entire shot glass into your drink - jager bomb? Yea, yea, little thingies excite me and you can tell that I've been deprived of clubbing for quite some time :)

7. Jade, Fullterton Hotel

Easter lunch at the Chinese Restaurant in Fullerton Hotel. Finally decided on the set menu after LONG deliberation, cause hubs had this idea that he could try everything on the menu since there were eight of us, and food is served in individual portions. We decided we were all too hungry to wait for the kitchen to cope with all that individuality :P Particularly loved the fish which was done teriyaki style, and the dessert which was some strawberry custard thingy. Sis in law brought Godiva easter bunnies and eggs, which her son really had fun playing with :D

8. Ice Cream Prata

After all that food, was really in the mood for something nice and simple. Had dinner with my cousin and nieces, and went for roti prata that was REALLY fluffy! And one of them had ice cream inside, with hershey's chocolate syrup and whipped cream. MMmmmmm.....

Will be back again (soon, I hope), Singapore....it's been fun!

Off to Singapore for the weekend

It's a long weekend (well, sort of) here in Malaysia! Tomorrow's a muslim holiday, Awal Muharram, and I've taken Good Friday off...and then I'm off to Singapore for some much needed R&R. It's the first holiday of the year! YaY!

Have not been back to Singapore in something like 1 1/2 years. I know, I know, it's been a long time. Especially with it being so close to home and all. But there were just so many other places to see and go, and I'm no longer travelling crazily all over the place for work anymore...although I haven't quite made up my mind whether that's a good thing or bad :)

Anywayz, I'm sure I'll have fun there...I always do *grin*

Can't wait to check out

1. Brewerkz - Used to be our FAVOURITE haunt after work - yummy strawberry beer! And my friends tell me it's expanded since I was last there! o_O

2. Takashimaya and Paragon - Droooolzzzz at the thought of shopping even though there aren't any sales! It's always nice to window shop :)

3. Charles and Keith - I wanna stock up on cheap shoes!!!!! Dunno why there isn't a branch right cross the Causeway :P

Happy. Happy. Happy.

Mama's Orange Cake - Bestest Fluffiest Cake Ever!

My Godmother is an amazing cook. And when she cooks orange cake, everybody is ecstatic! It's light and fluffy and the taste is amazing. I kid you not, everybody who's tasted it keeps asking for the recipe. My neighbour used to be a General Manager at MAS, and cause his wife loved it, the recipe even travelled all the way to Korea where they were based for yonks...and yes, everybody there also asked for the recipe...

I did bake 2 for Chinese New Year, but they were finished off so fast I didn't manage to take pics. One went to hub's office, where everybody raved bout it too, and yes, requests for recipes also came in fast and furious.

So here it is folks....Enjoy!

Mama's Orange Cake

1 lb sugar
1 lb butter
13 oz flour
9 eggs, take away 3 egg whites
1/2 cup milk
1 orange (grate the rind and squeeze out the juice from the orange)
2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder

1. Mix sugar and butter and beat til creamy at high speed.
2. Add eggs one at a time (Beat the eggs a little before adding them in)
3. Mix well.
4. Add milk to the mixture.
5. Add orange juice and orange peel.
6. Sieve flour and baking powder together.
7. Add the sieved flour, 1/2 batches at a time. Beat at slow speed for a short while to better incorporate into mixture.
8. Remove bowl from mixer and hand fold in mixture.
9. Pour mixture into cake tins and bake for approximately 1 hour - start at approximately 200 deg Celcius, then when cake rises, turn down the heat slowly.

Try it, seriously :D Just watch out for the people who ask you for the recipe after they take a bite *grin*

Christmas Orange Vinaigrette Salad

Having been sucked into a vortex of work, have a lot of thingies to post up which happened what seems like eons ago :) Bear with me, k?

Christmas was at Pat's place and it was great to have a get-together. She made the place very...Christmassy with all the candles, wreaths and a HUGE honest-to-goodness Christmas ham *drool*

Hubs and my contribution were really cute cupcakes a friend's wife bakes and sells, which were decorated so nicely with Christmas trees, and wreaths, and pressies and all everybody literally just went ooooh...and didn't want to eat...The icing and the cake itself must have contributed greatly to the kiddo's hyperactivity, though, cause they were like on full throttle the whole day after that :D

To counteract all the sugary stuff, we also contributed a very healthy salad with an orange vinaigrette dressing which was just vinegary and sour enough to create a great balance against everything else. Reason for the rather unsual main ingredient was cause my mom gave hubs and I what seemed to be a million oranges, and we were just too plain lazy to go out and go shopping. Anywayz, it worked, and is on its way to being a staple dressing, judging from the many queries we got on what exactly went in there, how much of each ingredient and how we did it etc etc etc

So here it is, reproduced in all its glory:

Orange Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Juice from 5 oranges

Extra virgin olive oil, approximately 2/3 amount of juice

3 heaped tablespoons of whole grain mustard

2 birds eye chillies, chopped up finely seeds and all

1/2 clove of garlic, minced finely

Teaspoon of honey (optional - I like it to smooth out the taste a little, especially if oranges are sour)

Mix the juice, mustard, chillies, garlic and honey together, whisking gently. Slowly pour in the olive oil, still whisking all the while to emulsify.

We served with romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, rocket, slices of onion rings, matchsticks of carrots, cherry tomatoes, and generous handfuls of sunflower seeds. And we only tossed just before consuming the salad so the leaves don't get soggy. But that's just what we did - I think it'll work well with other greens, and even the Christmas ham thrown in for a heartier salad :D

And just in case any of you are wondering how my gingerbreadmen turned out, well, the hubs raved bout the recipe, but I thought it could do with doubling/tripling of the ginger and spices - I'll do that next time. And I'll probably bake them longer as well - the texture of this one was a little soft and chewy, which hubs loved too! But I like em crunchy...Baker calls the shots, dear *wink* They do look pretty though...

Stumped by my national language

I've been racking my brains all day. Just got the translated version of the annual report in Bahasa Malaysia (all 100+ pages of it) just to see the offending word "ia" splashed all over it.

In. Every. Single. Page.

And the agency wants it back tomorrow...

Now correct me if I'm wrong but I had it drummed into my head in high school that there's no translation for "it" in Bahasa Malaysia, and it's a common fallacy to assume that "ia" means "it". I remember literally getting whacked on the head by the teacher if I inadvertantly used "ia" in compositions! And I remember that sentence constructions which were gramatically correct had to be repeated in something akin to the third person if the object in question was, well, an object and not a person.

I.e. My dog is hungry. It is hungry because it hasn't eaten.

Should have been translated as:

Anjing saya lapar. Anjing saya lapar kerana anjing saya belum makan.

NOT

Anjing saya lapar. IA lapar kerana IA belum makan.

In spite of it being more concise and readable :P

Dilemma dilemma...Is it worth it correcting every single word?? Am I going to be perceived as a nit-picking compulsive obsessive weirdo if I ask for "ia" to be removed?? *OK, don't answer that!* Does anybody else besides me even NOTICE these things?????? There are lots of ia-s in there :(

*groan*

Going to do my civic duty on the island

I haven't been blogging for ages. Year end hit me, and it was not a pretty sight. In addition to the usual annual report / klse report madness, I also found myself trying to peer into my cashflow crystal ball and was stuck reconciling numbers. So not fun.

Anywayz, just thought I'd break the silence today by sharing that in spite of busy schedules, personal stuff going on and all, I'm making it a point to be returning to the Penang today to do my civic duty. I'm going to make sure I'm voting in this Malaysian General Election. Yes, I firmly believe that my one vote counts. Yes, I WANT to make a change.

And I hope you will too.

And if you've missed the boat this round (hubs included!), please, make sure you register immediately! I've talked to soOOOooooOoOoOooo many people who have said "yea, I wanna vote, but I was too late". Well, we're not Spain where the registration is automatic kie...Do something about it and register immediately!!!!! Otherwise you'll keep missing the boat indefinitely :P

And if you're like hubs who registered but never heard from the Election Commission, well, then I'd suggest BUGGING them bigtime :P Promise I'll go bug them for you, hubs, just as soon as I'm free-er :)

And just in case, you're interested, here're some of my favourite so-po links for your reading pleasure...

www.malaysia-today.net
www.malaysiakini.com
www.whatalulu.blogspot.com