Holiday 5

It's Sunday!! I woke up feeling energize and a surge of liveliness pumped into me. Yes!! I am gonna keep that bubbly-ness. Mark my words!! ^^ However, I hate it when I always fail to wake early, late for church and worse, hazy through the sermon. >.<

Back to my failure yesterday. My dad is the only one who doesn't give up hope on it. Awww... So sweet.. He kept eating 1 slice after another. He actually finished half of it ALONE. Salute. Don't get me wrong, it tastes and smells really good. Just that all the work having to cut them into small pieces and bake all over again just kills my mood. This taught me a great lesson, 'If something seems too good to be true, it most probably is'.

This is dinner for last night. We went to Soon Lai Seafood which is not far from my house. Google and you can find quite a number of reviews from different floggers. I find them all nice. One of my favourite choice as well.

Belachan Kangkung (马来风光) RM5

Pohpiah which is only available on weekends RM8

Sweet and sour pork (咕噜肉) RM8

We were lucky as we arrive earlier before the crowd poured in. To avoid waiting too long for your food, try to arrive before 6.30pm or call for reservations.

Address:

Soon Lai Seafood Restaurant 顺来本地海鲜

15, Lintang Batu, 11600 Greenlane, Penang

Tel: +604-6589799 / +6016-4413666

Business Hour: 6pm to 12am daily

This is what we got this morning at the market. Can't find it in any hypermarket. With this, one can spice up a dish up to par with the restaurants. Hehe

So I have decided to bid baking a short farewell. No more baking until I got over my phobia. In the meantime, please excuse me as I have some cooking to do. XD

*edited

Again I am feeling a little smug. At least I didn't mess up this supposed-to-be Father's Day meal. Nothing goes wrong with a good sauce. Hahaha

Stir-fried bean sprouts, sweet and spicy fish and fish crackers

Wishing everyone HAPPY FATHER'S DAY and a good week ahead! ^^

Milo Chocolate Chips Raisins Bread

That was so dumb of me for not realising it was Friday yesterday. SO much for TGIF. Guess everyday is the same for me. But someone commented that a normal day is good enough. Hehe. Okie then.

So it's Saturday. But having waking up with no one in the house, my heart sunk. There goes my plan to go for my favourite Chee Cheong Fun somewhere at at coffee house in Farlim. That place makes the best Chee Cheong Fun and the last time I had it was years ago. So much for the disappointment.

After having breakfast and watching the evil penguins, for those who watched 'Madagascar' should be able to recall the four evil penguins which came out with a lot evil plans. Quite a nice one. I missed the old times kids' show such as 'Oggy and the Cockroaches', 'Pinky and the Brain', 'Barney' etc. These are no longer showing on TV.

I was (might be still) the eating machine, and now I am the baking machine. Haha. New name I got from sis. And yeah you win, I did bake again. Wahaha. My hands are so itchy to try out my second bread. I told myself nothing must go wrong this time!

I tweaked the recipe a little again, taking out all the nuts and dried fruits, leaving only raisins. I added in chocolate chips and two tablespoonsful of Milo. XD

Alas! This time the dough didn't rise nicely. Just a little, or even that was my hallucination? Doesn't matter. I cannot stop halfway. I proceeded to bake my bread, and it smells so good before it was even out from the oven. Haha.

This does looks better, but lets hope it tastes as well too. Lets hope the smell doesn't deceive.

Top view. I wonder why it cracks.

Side profile. more bread-like eh?

Last and final one. Haha. Please taste nice...

* Edited

My bread which looked pretty turned out 'raw' in the middle!! WHY?!!! This is so sad. In the end we had to cut out slices and bake again before consume. Duh~

Just wanna share this very nice pasembur sold at Batu Lanchang Market. I had been eating this since I was a kid and the taste is ever so lovely. They start business at early morning till late noon.

Big portion with sliced cucumber, 'mengkuang' fried tofu, prawn fritters, crispy crackers and jellyfish. RM3.70

Poured the sauce over. Absolutely DE-LI-CI-OUS!!

Meanwhile, you can easily notice that nowadays I don't eat to live. I live to eat! I am such a slothful glutton. Sigh. Where goes my positive aura?

Fruity Nutty Bread

Yet another day.. Oops, a wrong start.

Thanks God that I am still alive and able to help with the household chores, run errands for my house, cook delicious food for my loved ones, eat more good food, and the list goes on. XD Owh yes, I am gonna sweep all the bad thoughts to the very corner of my thoughts. Nah, don't even think of slipping out. I am gonna concentrate and create more good stuff so I can look forward to. Muahaha. Lets hope this last.

Waking up heavy-boned this morning, I thought yah, I will just read some newspaper, have an egg tart and some cake I made yesterday. But alas, by noon, after finishing my baked french toast, generously spread with cheese and chocolate chips, ugh, so much for the weight watch, I unconsciously started to flip through my recipe book (my book where I jot down recipes from others XD) again. Lol

The cheese oozed out, mixing with the egg and milk mixture. Tasted like pudding. Haha

Me and my baking craze. It's really an addiction. Despite half of the pumpkin soft cake still sitting in the fridge, NOTHING can stop me from baking. Hohoho. And this is my first attempt on making bread, without a bread maker. We used to have one, I am sure it is still lying somewhere in the storeroom. Just wait till I get my hands on it. *evil grin

And here I am, pretty smug of myself as the dough rise nicely. I added in a cupful of dried fruits and the remain almond strip yesterday.

Behold, my fruity nutty bread. The oven doesn't bake equally resulting in the uneven colour of the surface. Or is it my fault for forgetting to brush a layer of butter and egg yolk on top?

The texture is somewhere between bread and cake. This better be good!!

Now, shall I decide on what I should spice up for tomorrow? I am starting to miss some savoury treat.

Tomyam Pineapple Fried Rice . Soft Pumpkin Cake

Today is a beautiful day. 'This is the day that the Lord hath made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it.' Hehe. Nowadays I try to think positive and no way emo me is coming back. It is really a matter of how one thinks and takes things that happened around.

Woke at 7.30 in the morning and I failed to get back to my beauty sleep. One of the things which motivate me to wake early is - breakfast. Hehe. So you can be quite sure that breakfast today is gonna be decent. You are right! Egg tarts! Yay~

Adventist egg tarts. Among the best in Penang Island. I like to chill em before eating. Hee

My daily life is kinda a routine. It follow the flow. So I did the laundry, made some cleaning and off to run the errand. I went out empty handed but came back with lotsa 'ka can' (tools). Hehe. I shall show em to you.

As I was greatly motivated yesterday after successfully steaming a batch of cakes which actually rise. Not in lumps like my first few attempts. So while the fiery passion is still burning wild, I decided to go for it. Attempting baking instead. Therefore, the 'sampah' in my house increases.

Measuring tools, baking pan and baking paper. I like going to Tesco. Hehe. Cheap and near. No, I didn't get advertising fee from them

Baking powder, vanilla essence, chocolate chips, instant yeast, golden raisins and almond strip

Perhaps its due to all the free time, I like to try cooking my own meal. This includes all the stupid yet creative (*giggles) from me. This is my lunch. Emily style tomyam pineapple fried rice. XD I practically threw everything in, one of the reason I like to cook my own meal, and whipped out this dish. Hmm... Its actually not bad. The sweet pineapple complement the savoury tomyam.

And of course, you won't find any fried rice sold outside with this much ingredients. Haha. But I will cut down the amount of tomyam paste, else my kidney would sure to fail some years later.

Remember the pumpkin bun which kinda looked like poop I made some time ago. A whole big chunk of the pumpkin still remains in the fridge, threatening to rot. My mum kept pester me to do something with it. So what else, hehehe, perfect for my experiment. And tadaa~ Another successful product.

The pumpkin cake is really soft and fluffy. By the time I opened the oven to get it out, it smells so nice! I topped some almond strips as decoration as well as to enhance the taste. It doesn't taste pumpkiny at all. So for those who don't like/hate pumpkin, I dare you to try this. (*evil grin) Darling, are you up for it? Heee

Though the cake doesn't rise tall. It is still fluffy. Daddy can't stop eating. Haha. Thanks so much for his support.

Baking craze! Somebody please make me stop!

Steamed Mango Prune Cake

Here I am! I noticed I have so many things to blog during the holidays. Or is it perhaps I had nothing else better to do. Anyhow this is better than waiting for an hour early in the morning to wait for some stupid site to open so that we can register our courses for the coming semester, not that I really care, and some failing to register for English. Sucks. This is definitely low productivity for a so called APEX university which is supposed to be at par with other known international universities in the world.

Okay, let us put the bad things behind. Not gonna let this ruin my day. So much for me wanting to cut down on my food intake, I made more food! *slaps self. But that's part of the reason I am happy. Though I just rejected a job offer, which could take me out of this boredom and of course, CASH! Again, I'll let it go.

Treated myself to this self-made french toast. Looking nice? No, I flipped over so you all can't see the burnt side. XD

I am happy cause, thanks God, I managed to pushed and squeezed virtually and get myself and darling a place in the English class, which is the reason why everyone NEEDS to register the first moment the site was opened. And of course Moo the cow got a place too. Hehe.

My second reason would be this, my tweaked version of steamed cake. Wahaha. So we have all heard of usual steamed chocolate cakes, banana cakes and I did got hold of a very easy-peasy recipe from Chowtimes which is perfectly made for someone like me. I have yet to succeed in any of my cooking!

But then again, I am not a big fan of banana but I love mango. So what do I do? You are right. I changed it to a mango version. I even added some Sunsweet Pitted Prunes which I cut into small pieces in place of the raisins. So much for the substitution. I just get to use whatever available in the house.

Here comes the end product, behold my Steamed Mango Prune Cake!

Don't they look just lovely?

Out from the wok, waiting to be savoured!

The cakes are just fluffy with a tinge of sweetness. I should have put in more sugar and cut down a little on the baking soda as there is a hint of bitterness. You could also steamed them as a whole so that you can taste more on the texture.

Anyhow, this is good enough for me. I am motivated now! And yeah, I realised why sulked when you could choose happiness. It's just the matter of your heart which could turn tiny little things into happiness or nothing in the wide world could make you smile.

So what do I have after that? Nothing could go wrong with more mango! I noticed I just love yellow stuff. Mango, pineapple, durian, Spongebob, my surname means yellow and what else? BUT, darling is no where yellow, that's for sure. Or not? Hmm... Owh, another discovery, when I am in a good mood my entry tends to get long winded and full of nonsense. Lol

Yummy, juicy, pulpy mango in a golden shade. Best eaten chilled. My way

Now, I need to think of someone to give these little goodies to, cause I love to cook but I don't like the idea of taking care of the eating part. XD

Holiday 4

Say hello to the eating machine. That's right. Me!!

I had been having this super gross appetite since back from Bangkok. I would chomp down all the junkies while my poor tummy desperately screaming on top of its lung for help. There I was polishing off the durians my dad bought while I was still bloated. That's the disadvantage of being the only one who could eat durian in the whole house. They were meant for you and you alone! *grin..

But halt!! I am not coming up with anymore excuses. Action speaks louder than words. I would need to stop this unhealthy eating habit soon before I ballooned up. Saving the best image to see my sis. Wahaha. And I bet darling won't like my meaty version. Definitely not myself. I have yet to show him my new closet collection. Hee~ Can't wait. Countdown countdown! I have so many countdowns to do. Please let the time goes faster. I am an impatient girl/lady, choose whatever you want. But not so fast as I don't wanna go back to that bloody hell.

Again, a minor decision making had troubled my whole day. Just hated why I can't make any choice any faster. Why would I have to think through and through without even coming up with a better solution? See? I don't have an answer to even this question. Pfff..

Just hope I made the right choice. Speaking of countdowns, I'll have to wait one more month and another 3 more months. Sobs.. Told ya I am impatient. >.<

Spongebob still looks cute even though puffed up. I am sure I don't do the same.

Yah.. This is more like me. Feeling spuddy already. Diet diet and needa get my ass moving.

Wong Zhao Jun Restaurant 王昭君鱼头米粉

Have you ever heard of the story of Wang Zhao Jun (王昭君). She was one of the four great beauties (貂蝉, 西施,杨贵妃 and of course王昭君) in ancient China. The Chinese proverb, '沉鱼落雁，避月羞花' was meant to describe each of them. '沉鱼落雁' means the fish in the river would swim away and the flock of birds flying on the sky would fall after witnesses their beauty. In poetry, the moon and the flower represents pretty object. '避月羞花' means even the moon would shy away and the flowers are ashamed of themselves compared to these beauties. That was how good looking they were.

Sidetracked, back to the topic. It has got something to do with what I mentioned above. Hehe. Today is yet another hot day. No rain, not windy, makes me super lazy to step out of the house under the fiery sun.

My dad still suffers from shingles. Don't know what went wrong but he sought three different skin specialists already, each telling dissimilar stories, prescribing different medication. Anyhow, I pray hard that he gets well soon. Especially now that the school holiday is over, he had less time to tend to his own health.

Since we Chinese belief that when one is sick, there are certain things which they should not eat, such as chicken, eggs, yam, nuts and some other cooking materials which are considered 'poisonous'. Don't really have any idea how they categories them.

Anyhow, the most secure should be pork and fish. Lean meat porridge is mostly recommended for sick patients right? Therefore, off we go to Wong Zhao Jun for some fish cuisine.

This restaurant is located by the roadside of Rangoon Road. Though kinda shabby looking, one could not miss it from the crowd pouring in especially after 12pm. It opens everyday from 8am till 2.30pm, except Tuesdays.

There is no menu given, you can ask the workers taking orders for the dishes available. And here's our orders.

Fish meat hor fun at RM9. Recommended! I like this best. Too bad we got there kinda late and they ran out of fried fish fillet.

Fish meat bihun soup at RM7. The spices add in flavour to the soup.

Stir fry braised pork noodles at RM7. My parents love it. But for me the chef kinda gets too heavy on the MSG.

The dishes above are of the portion of one person. You can order a bigger portion to share out if going in a big group. But make sure you are early or else avoid weekends.

Appetite is growing nowadays. So must have a walk after the meal. Went to Sunshine Farlim and did some shopping. Saw Dell is holding an earth friendly campaign where people can sell their old computer or gadgets to them for 50cents per kg.

Tropical fruit feast! Pineapple and mangoes. Yummy!! How can a mango looks so pinkish? XD

Since its the last day of school holiday and perhaps I had been a really good girl these days, my mum decided to cook her best dish. I don't know what this fish is called but it is really good. The end result, my stomach still bulges, even bigger and I am determined I must move like the whole day tomorrow to burn off the excess calories. Haha. Hope so.

*some late updates

My parents have lived half the decade and they are finally having a laptop of their own. Thanks to the old one (secondhand from my sis, thirdhand from me) which broke down at a very wrong moment when my dad was desperate to rush for his work stuff.

The new 'baby' in the house. See it sparkles..

Dell. Pure brand loyalty shown

Being half an egg tart fan myself, just to show off some tarts I got from John King at Queensbay Mall. Creamy and eggy. How can one resist em? Hee

Durian egg tart and oatmeal berries tart in cookie crust (top)

Original egg tart in pastry crust (bottom)

Some says life is like a dollop of shit, shaped into a cake. You can choose either to sniff hard for the disgusting smell or imagine the wonderful sweetness.

Wishing everyone a nice week ahead!~

I Confess

FT Island - I Confess

I now confess my heart to you

Only heaven knows my heart

I'll tell you what I have kept so preciously in my heart

It's hard to say it, tears are coming out

All the memories passed me by

There would be no today if it wasn't for you

I unabashedly wish to see

That your heart stays forever the same

I'll try harder for you everyday

The day we first met

I was bewildered and young

The times you waited just because I asked you to trust me

At times I broke your heart with my mistakes

But you never once blamed me

"It's okay, it's okay"

You smiled and it made me strong

Whenever I upset you by saying I am busy as an excuse

You could have resented me

"Don't worry, don't worry"

You said that believing in me

The memories you and I made together

The times we cried and laugh

I'll remember them until the moment I die

Have I ever told you that I love you?

There is no other way of saying them

"I love you, I love you"

I let them out because there are no other words

I'll say them again, I love you

My heartfelt confession today

Please never forget it, I love you

Bangkok - Penang Day 5

The last and final day started off with a hearty breakfast. We are supposed to left for the airport at 10.30am and since all the malls only started business at 10am, we didn't linger around anymore. What else to do other than camwhoring in the hotel. Haha

Ruenton Coffee Shop where we had breakfast

The view from outside our room

At 10.15am, the bellboy came and collected our luggages. Its then time to leave. We reached the airport about 15 minutes later. After checked in again its camwhore session. The airport is really large and one might get lost since we don't read Thai. Haha. Joking. The boards usually comes in both English and Thai. The staff there can understand English too. So fret not.

Our group photo

Memories of Thailand

Drum of victory

At 1.15pm Thai time, we boarded the plane and reached Penang International Airport at 4 something in the afternoon.

To sum things up, I've watched tiger show, elephant show, pig show, etc. You name them. Owh and for those who thought boxing show is kind of an adult show, you are so wrong. It's basically Thai boxing. They can do it all night. It's no different from watching the football league.

Despite the hot weather, it was indeed an enjoyable trip as well as a getaway from my boring holiday. Now it is again time to seek the meaning of life by not wasting more time, and of course, EARN SOME CASH!!

Pattaya - Bangkok Day 4

The day started with yet another lousy buffet breakfast at the hotel. There was nothing to choose from as the fried rice tasted plain, the bread were kinda stale, the cereal choice were only koko krunch and cornflakes. I only fed on the bull eye egg and pineapple. The only edible things. Hehe. The pineapple were super sweet, just the way I like it.

We left Pattaya and headed back to Bangkok. On the way we stopped at the elephant farm where tourists can ride on an elephant for 200 Baht per person. I skipped that.

Local fruits of all variety

Two people per elephant

The next stop is a snake research center where they uses parts of the snake and made into medicine for different purposes. According to them, there are only two research centers in the world, one in Thailand another at Brazil.

The staff did some stunts. He put the snake's head into his mouth. Eww.. But no fear, the snake's teeth were removed so it won't bite.

Safari World and Marine Park was the next destination. We were brought around for a tour in our bus and the animals are free to move around. There were deers, oxen, birds, tigers, lions, lyger (mix breed of lion and tiger), peacocks and many more.

Then we headed for buffet lunch, which has nothing worth mentioning. By the time we finished lunch we missed the dolphin show. Having no choice we opted for the spy war show, a James Bond-like show where the hero was on a mission against the villain.

White tiger

Set up for spy war show

Another parrot paradise in Safari

We took another 1 and half hour ride before reaching Bangkok. Since it was too early for dinner, we went for a little shopping at MBK, the shopping paradise. The 1 and half hour shopping session was definitely not enough to satisfied our urges. We need more!! But its good as I am in tight budget now. >.<

Outside MBK

My bag! This made me a happy girl. ^^

Cashew nut. Another one of my favourite. It's so hard to get it here compares to Hatyai where everyone is selling them.

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel, the same one we accommodated on the first night, Montien Hotel.

Me posing with the bell shaped hotel key. Too bad it can't be seen clearly.