Holiday 8

After being through so many sleepless nights, I've again started to get used to going to bed late. This will definitely take its toll on my health but for the time being I'm making good use of my late night movie session. Haha

Here's a recent update on the more interesting happenings in my daily life. As dull as it can be, the rather more attractive part would be food, isn't? Lol

Today's breakfast. Self-made scrambled egg + luncheon meat croissant

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. Our family for one, is not the kind that paid much attention on celebrations and wishes. But being as plain already, I decided one good meal would at least spice things up a little. Won't it? Hehe.

Mum was away for some dinner gathering, sigh, so the both of us went for a nice decent dinner at Xian Ding Wei (鮮定味). It is located beside Sakae Sushi in Queensbay Mall. I like and cozy ambience and specially the comfy chair. Hehe.

Mixed Fruit Tea. The tea had a hint of tangy, fruity flavour. Refreshing!

Dad's order of Taiwan-style Sweet and Sour Pork. It came with 3 side dishes (caramelised yam strips, deep-fried fritter and kimchi), a soup-of-the-day (radish soup) and a bowl of rice (braised pork rice)

I opted for their Taiwanese Supreme Chicken in 3 variety sauce. The chicken was served hot. I like the gravy which tasted a combination of savoury and sweet. Hehe

We both enjoyed the meal and I will be sure to come back for more. Hereby I wish my lovely and ever caring daddy, Happy Birthday! May he be of best health always so that I can have the chance to look after and provide him a comfortable life, hopefully in the near future.

Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room
2F 50-51 Queensbay Mall
100, Persiaran Bayan Indah,
11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang.
Tel: +604-6461332

**********

This Tuesday, out of random, my parents decided to go for Bak Kut Teh. We went to the not-so-newly-opened Yi Xiang Bak Kut Teh (益香绑线肉骨茶) at Macalister Road. I've saw this outlet before at Auto-City and read reviews from other bloggers about this place. Finally I am here myself.

The restaurant is clean with the wall nicely decorated with big pictured menu, the chairs and tables arranged neatly. Nothing like the traditional, rather messy bak kut teh stalls or shops we usually frequent. The biggest difference about this place is the way they serve the Bak Kut Teh.

The different parts of the meat was placed in separate mini bowl-pot on top of a burning flame to keep every dish warm. However this dried up the soup rather too quickly.

From the many parts selectable in the menu, below were our choices.

Mini meatballs

Ruan Gu. I like this part the most as they were very tender

Pai Gu. There were four big chucks in a bowl. These very tender as well. I bet they cooked them for a long time.

You Cai drizzled with oyster sauce and fried shallots

Overall Yi Xiang serves nice Bak Kut Teh. However, I would prefer it if they were to add another extra bowl of soup so that we don't have to scoop the soup out from the already filled-to-the-brim bowl of meat. Anyway, its better not to drink much of the soup as it was quite heavy laden with MSG, resulted in me very thirsty after that meal.

Yi Xiang Bak Kut Teh
88, Jalan Macalister,
10040 Georgetown, Penang.
Business Hours: Opens daily from 10am-3pm; 6pm-11pm. Closed every fortnight Tuesdays

**********

The following is dedicated to The Duck. I deeply miss the noodles she cooked me for breakfast during my visit to London. So this was what I cooked for lunch yesterday.

My 'geh liao' version of Ibumie Penang Har Mee

Holiday is nearing its end! Argh... Now I am not ready to let it go...

My Bakings

I am soo HAWT!!~

Haha. Pardon me. This sentence above doesn't best describe me myself but the current situation I am in. (Btw, just curious what's the definition to a hot girl? Hmm....) Hell knows what happen to my beloved Penang, perhaps everywhere around the world. I had been sweating, sweating and more sweating. Be it under the scorching sun, in the room, even right out from shower! It is totally DEVASTATING as I am sweating like a cow now as I am typing this very sentence with the fan blowing right into my face!

However, this somehow reminded me of how it feels to be burning in an oven, transforming from a soft dough to a well risen, golden brown goodies. It would not do them justice if I didn't give them the chance to 'show face' here right? Hehe

The evolution of my road to success in baking. No, I have yet to reach there.

My 3rd bread, a wholemeal bread this time. Though it was badly coloured, at least this was thoroughly baked. No lumpy dough in the middle.

Next up was the Peanut Butter Loaf. This was better than the last as the texture is more bread-like, but a little too sweet.

Coming next was the Butter Loaf, which smelt owh-so-good even before getting out from the oven. It was soft and fluffy, just the way a bread should be.

The Milk Loaf which brought a hint of fragrance from the milk, but not too overpowering. Nice to be eaten with any spread of your choice or just dip it into a cuppa hot coffee or Milo.

A Banana Cake would be nice for tea or breakfast. I just love the crack above.

Another Milk Loaf with a different recipe. As this called for more milk, the bread was more soft and cottony. My new baking tray allowed the bread to rise higher, looking prettier.

Coming up next was this chocolate cake in a mug. This simple cake allows one to curb their cake-rush in a matter of few minutes. Awesome!

A healthier Chocolate Yoghurt Cake. This cake was fluffy and soft, tasted even better after storing in the fridge. Can be served with a scoop of creamy ice-cream on the side.

My latest baking. Behold the Cinnamon Swirl Bread. The smell of the cinnamon was simply divine. The oozing cinnamon syrup was calling for you to take a bite. Okay, I might be a little exaggerating here.

I can conclude that practice really does make the wonder. From an idiotic baker like me I can manage to at least come up with something which actually looks appetizing if not alluring. Ahaha. If I can do it, so can you. Hehe.

As I am writing this, more sweat trickles down my back. Guess it would be nice if I had a bowl of cold Chendol now. ^^ (Hinting. Anyone else would be so nice to bring me? XD)

Penang Road famous Teochew Chendol. I don't have it now. This was from my picture gallery some time ago.

Maybe it's time I go get yet another bath, or just forget about going green and switch on the air-conditioner to a 16 degree? Haha

Have a nice day people and do take good care of yourselves in this very BAD weather. Nice day ahead!~

Holiday 6 . Peanut Butter Bread

I am BACK! With my long and naggy entries. Or perhaps let the pictures do the talking? Haha.. This is just a random entry on my daily encounters.

Psst, kindly anticipate for the latter part with me. Hehe...

I assumed that a lot of you would suggest that holiday is the best time to rest and nurture a good complexion as there would be ample time to do whatever treatment and one can even wash their faces anytime they feel like it. Or is it just me? Cause apparently everyone is busy working or at least not wasting time. Sigh~

Anyway, despite the time hiding at home from the scorching sun, I am a half breed vampire now, I still face pimples pop-out!! I suspected its even worse than when I was in campus. Why so I wonder...

Showing off my new bought mask, 我的美丽日记. Hehe. I could afford this only after a promo at Guardian. Lucky~

Bulgarian White Rose Mask. This is suppose to result in white radiant skin.

What's the big hit in cinema lately? Yes! Absolutely. Transformer 3 - Dark of The Moon. So being quite a 'kiasu' fella, this is one of darling's favourite movie as well, I would definitely not left behind to catch this.

Bought this the day before, therefore we got to pick the nice seats. ^^

Short advertisement. Share out some nice bread I always grab at Continental Bakery. My all time favourite.

(anti-clockwise) Danish croissant, cinnamon bun and graham cheese bun

Back to Transformer 3. It was indeed a nice movie. Despite the new heroine is slightly less attractive compared to Megan Fox, she has a really nice bod and I like her accent. Movie wise, I personally think this is a must watch. Preferably in cinema with the superb sound system and comfortable seating.

After a nice movie, we had dinner at Kim Gary. This is one of my favourite restaurant. Yummy food but slightly big portion.

Purple theme for Kim Gary at 1st Avenue

As my parents thought it was a cold night, they had hot 'Yin Yang'

My honey lemon tea

Dad's honey pork ribs vegetable rice. The sauce on the rice is very flavourful

My 101 Big Bowl. Curry Fish Fillet. The fish fillet is very crispy and not a tad oily. However I do find the curry too spicy for me. My level of hot tolerance is slightly low. XP

Mum's choice of spaghetti with white corn cream. There are chicken and pork steak, ham, sausages and vegetables on the side. My mum commented that the sauce is a tad tasteless and she thought the sausages are cuttlefish as they were cut in such shape.

Now I am getting excited as we are almost near the topic of the day. Hehe. Before going there, my breakfast today is this Pandan Layer from Rotiboy. Nice especially chilled. Haha. And also some chilled durians. Hehe..

Rotiboy Pandan Layer

Now behold~ The most exciting part I wanna share. It has something and everything to do with me and my baking love. Haha. If you think that I had stopped during this period, you are wrong! Muahaha. I had baked a wholemeal bread and a spongecake in between. Hehe.

Recently I am more into bread baking. Since it is more healthy compared to baking cakes. This is my second attempt on making bread. I attempted a sweet bread this time. Being quite a peanut lover, I knew I just had to try this recipe when I came across it at Honey Bee Sweets. Ok, I know mine doesn't look anything like her's, however, mine turned out nice as well despite its ugly looks.

Peanut Butter Bread. Smells heavenly the moment it is out from the oven.

The glaze does look kinda uneven. But why bother? Haha

Can't hold back and wait for it to cool, so I took a slice. See its texture? Hehe. Not so very fluffy but good enough for me in the meantime.

What's better than a slice of hot self-made bread with a cuppa fragrant white coffee?

I realised that what is better than waking up to a sweet message and positive thoughts on a sunny day. Hehe. Thank God I am well and alive!

' This is the day, this is the day

That the Lord hath made

We will rejoice, we will rejoice

And be glad in it

Cause this is the day that the Lord hath made

We will rejoice and be glad in it

This is the day, this is the day

That the Lord hath made '

Owh if you did, if and only if, wondered where I was on my long hiatus, check out my Kota Kinabalu trip at darling's and Moo's blog. I guess I am too lazy to blog about it. XP

Life is a bliss if you don't try hard enough to be satisfied with things around you. Happy Tuesday!~ ^^

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