Today's tea break

The tiramisu I made the other day tasted fine. : ) Not as horrible as my previous attempt. No more experimental ingredients for me.

Today's Dinner and tomorrow's dessert

Cooked szechuan hot and sour soup for dinner after tasting a horrible version in Taipei. Food in Taipei is generally good but the one I tasted was really a 'what is this again' version. Bad especially because it was my last meal in Taipei before I headed for the airport. Tsk tsk.

Soup and noodles eaten together with cold appetizers I prepared, cold sesame cucumber appetiser and sesame garlic spinach.

and DESSERTS!

Made tiramisu to eat over the next few days. I will find out if this is any good tomorrow. The last version I made has too little alcohol, I hope this version will be yummy. Left it in the fridge for the flavours to develop overnight. There goes my diet. More double classes  at the yoga studio.

Szechuan hot and sour soup

Good dose of Woh Hup concentrated chicken stock, I think it's 4-6 tbsp as I poured from the bottle. Taste the stock to check whether it is salty.
4 cups water, 960ml (includes the water used for soaking the mushrooms)
1 cup of dried black tree ear fungus 黑木耳, soaked and sliced into thin strips
1 cup of fresh bamboo shoots, cut into strips
1 cup of dried shitake mushroom, soaked and sliced into thin strips
1 carrot, sliced into thin strips
1 cup of siken tofu, cut into strips carefully
1 large egg, beaten
3 tbsp white rice vinegar
3 tbsp Zhejiang black vinegar 浙江黑醋
1 tbsp chili oil
1 tsp sesame oil
½ cup cornstarch liquid (water and 2 tablespoon of cornstarch mixes)
salt and white pepper to taste
2 stalks coriander as garnish

Cut shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, black fungus, carrots, tofu into strips. They should be cut evenly. Add Woh Hup chicken stock into pot of water together with the soaked mushroom water. Bring stock to boil over high heat. Add carrot, shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoots, black cloud ear fungus. Reduce fire to low heat, and simmer for 20 min.

Add in chili oil, white rice vinegar, black vinegar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 min. Add tofu. Bring to boil.

Stir in corn starch until consistency is slightly thickened. Stir carefully since the fragile tofu has been added.

Turn off the heat. Add beaten eggs and slowly stir into the soup. Garnish with coriander.

I shall try a vegetarian version another day.

When do you walk out?

  My mind was so stretched. No lolling hills, swimming in the sea or my fav walking-through-clouds-up-in-the-himalayas memory this morn. This picture was taken in Munnar, India. I usually think about enjoyable memories my mind took a picture of while going through difficult yoga sequences.

One word. TOUGH. It was a really tough yoga session this morn. 2 hours worth of inward battle with my mind. 1 hour into the session, the question popped in my mind, "Should I walk out?"

Not one who walks out of a class, I checked the time and discovered to my horror that only one hour has since passed and I was already mentally and physically spent. So much for wanting to make my money's worth to attend Sunday's 2-hrs Purna Yoga class as I was away for hols last week. I soldiered on and cheated in a lot of the sequences. Cursory stretches...hehe but Saumik noticed, came over, and pushed me into deeper stretches. Ouch.

It was not a cardio workout but my muscles and joints were screaming in pain (not in the life threatening way) but they were so agonisingly stretched that my mind and body were numb. The body opening stretches were very intense. Intense is a kind word, not forgetting the choice swear words I was mumbling under my breath while going through the sequence. It started with, 'Oh God' when Saumik readjusted my split. then it slowly became, "#!?#@" as the 2 hours slowly crawled by. Normally, I will just swear in my mind during challenging sequences but the pain was almost akin to twisting and stretching my limbs out from my joints. A good lesson in pain endurance and proper alignment. No worries, my mutterings were very softly uttered, no angry vibes were given out. The gentleman next to me couldn't possibly hear me. He was also fighting his inner battles.

Daniel Wu Infomercial for "Fresh Air" (Clean Air Network)

Of ants and lizards

"Are you clearing the dead ant's nest?"

"No, why should I? I am instilling fear in their troopers. Leave the dead ants there."

Horrid little buggers are nesting in the cupboard's drawer again. They nested there before but are back again. I wonder which clever ant decided to nest at the same spot again? Totally brainless or they thought the most dangerous place is the safest place? Doesn't the smell of Baygon strike fear in their little hearts?

Die, die, die. DIE!

I am also trying out a new remedy to repel ants in my home. Tea tree oil works but is just too expensive in the long run. A spicy mix of pepper and cloves along their favourite trail is the new but cheaper weapon of choice. Ants apparently do not like strong smelling herbs. Go away. Really, far away please.

Anyway, dead ants release a chemical scent that will alert their fellow friends of danger. In times of attack, they will scatter but will regroup when they sense the danger is over. They will always collect their fallen brethren. They are very loyal friends. Maybe, they will learn to never nest at that spot again.

A different perspective to my Ito holiday pics

Put things in a different perspective...

After watching the disturbing images of the recent tsunami and earthquake in Sendai, Japan on NHK world, it does really put things in a different perspective.

As a Singaporean, I have never seen a tsunami warning sign before till recently, honestly I am rather clueless what to do during a tsunami or an earthquake. Not to mention a Ritcher 8.9 earthquake and 10m-high tsunami? Just numbers to me? But to the victims or survivors, it's a matter of life and death. The Sendai earthquake is a notch lower than the Ritcher 9.2 horrific earthquake in Banda Aceh (2004) but it is equally destructive as seen on the news. The Sendai earthquake is the largest earthquake to hit Japan and the fifth largest in the world since recording began but thankfully not the deadliest. A very frightening thought.

wikipedia

Not just an interesting sign anymore. It's life or death.

Today's dinner and others

Today's dinner. Dumplings soup.

Lately, I have not been cooking or photographing the food I cooked. I guessed it's just too much spring cleaning. Seriously, I can't believe I have so much belongings and I am ashamed to say I am a hoarder. But here are some of the food I cooked and remembered to photographed before I ate them.

My fav spinach, wolfberries and dried scallops dish

My vegetable and hummus wrap with lots of chilli

Sauteed pumpkin and baby corn.

Bimbibap with lots of vegetables. The ugly fried egg
is the result my decision on giving up non-stick pans
for health reasons.

Tofumisu. Instead of Mascarpone cheese, I used silken tofu
and white chocolate. Subtle taste of tofu with the rum-soaked
sponge fingers. Desserts nightly, it's not that sinful afterall.

The Power of the Korean Wave

Was in Tokyo over Christmas. On a nice Sunday morning, we decided to head for the quiet of Yoyogi Park before we hit the shops near Omodesando dori. An hour of peace and quiet in a big open green surrounding is good for facing the massive crowds at the malls. Yoyogi Park is usually crowded with people having a picnic or having their own street performance.

We didn't see this

Or people lazing on the grass

Instead we were faced with massive crowds when we exited from the JR Harajuku station. This station is usually very crowded on any given day because of the proximity of Harajuku and omodesando dori's shops but on that day, it was unusually crowded.

A crowd that consist mostly of young women which I pointed out to R. All heading towards the entrance of Yoyogi Park or so we thought. But with all the din we were hearing and announcements over speakers in the distance, we were clearly mistaken. Then we spotted this across the street at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.

Queues. Hordes of people.

People, and more people crossing the 3-directional bridge.

Seriously, the bridge was vibrating under the weight
of all the people marching towards their destination.
I did wonder about the loading limit of the bridge

 

Young girls, women in their 20s -30s,
you can feel their excitement.

They are gone?

Had been a few days since I came back from the year-end holiday. I just realised the ants are gone. Gone. Public enemy no.1 in my balcony garden and home is gone! Had not been bitten or seen an ant for the past few days in my balcony.

Did the neem oil really work or was it the tea tree oil, or the baygon? Or was it because I sent my two pots of rosemary and basil to my mum's place while I was away? The herbs were the ants' favourite haunt...

Will look harder tomorrow morning when it is brighter. Maybe they are hiding? As what my 5 year-old nephew says when you can't find certain things, yes, maybe they are hiding, waiting to spring their latest attack on my unsuspecting toes.

The revenge of the red buggers

Look! Some of the stubborn ants who refused to give up.
Voldermot and Dumbledore are interesting to these ants. Hate them!

Ants, the bane of my life at the moment. I usually read before I sleep. A week ago, I wanted to read Harry Potter and Deadly Hallows (just watched the movie). Something entertaining and brainless before bed for sweet dreams. Dump the book on the bed, took my shower.

Climbed onto the bed and flipped opened the book. Tiny red ants rained onto my hands and body!!!!!! Ok, they didn't rain but a lot of them fell out of the book onto me. How fast can a person leap out from the bed? Very, very fast.

The resourceful little ants were building a new nest in my sis's Harry Potter! OMG! I picked the book from the bed and ran at top speed to the balcony and started knocking the book frantically attempting to shake out the colony and brushing the red ants off me. Gross, tiny red ants and eggs. Arrrgghhhhhhhhh!!!! Adrenaline rushing. Snuffed out every single ant including the queen ant. I assumed she is the queen since she was the biggest.........not a peaceful night.

The battle has begun

The horrid little red ants are on the move again.

My long standing battle with those spiteful ants have begun again. This time, my weapon of choice is tea tree oil. Aha, they are running, running, scrambling, scrambling, running for their life. I can feel their panic. Wahahhahahahahah! Die! Die! Die!

My home and balcony garden is home to an unwelcome colony of spiteful red ants. I have tried baygon, ant bait, pepper, plant pesticides (both systemic and contact), neem oil and now the miraculous tea tree oil. Boy, do they dislike the oil, bet it hurts. Ouch. I don't think I can live with ants that keep biting me all the time. Their bites packed a punch.

The ants are avoiding all the spots with the oil smears. I have dotted the known ant nests and ant trails with the oil. I have also drenched the soil with diluted tea tree oil and water and rimmed the flowering pots with the oil. The ants are running, they have lost their organisation.

Insert really really evil laughter...

What to do when it is public holiday and you are at a supermarket?

Day 1
We ended up in the supermarket after the rain dashed our afternoon at the botanic gardens. Since it was so cold and gloomy,  we had sukiyaki hotpot at home. I love hotpots on cool nights. The sukiyaki sauce was from a bottle. Added more water even though the instruction said otherwise. It was extremely salty without added water. Vegetables? Tung-o, golden mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, pumpkin, beansprouts, leeks and bamboo shoots. Meat? Pork and scallops. R insisted on buying the scallops. A hearty meal.

We had sukiyaki at home in front of the TV.

The food

Gorgeous vegetables. More in the fridge.

Day 2
Leftover steamboat for dinner. Stewed the rest of the bamboo shoots, added white radish, leeks, pumpkin and carrots.

 

The leftovers steamboat and more side dishes.

My fav stir-fried bean sprouts. This is with tomatoes, king
oyster mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

Closed up of the stew.

The doesn't look great seaweed, carrot and soya bean dish.
Seaweed is very good for detoxifying the body
and a good source of iodine.

To eat or not to eat?

Steamed I think it's coral grouper
cantonese style. Very yummy.

An omnivore's dilemma. To eat meat or not to eat. I ate. R doesn't have any problems eating meat. I do. I prefer to eat vegetables but eat meat once or twice a week. I find eating meat more of a social habit than a dietery necessity. If it is served, I will eat it. It is about being grateful for the food especially if an animal has unwillingly died to be on my dining plate. Being wasteful is really a big no-no for me. I usually do not go all the way out to eat meat unless it's my once a month Ayam Penyet at the hawker centre. It's that beautiful combination of moist fried chicken and that sinful sambal. Shilin fried chicken and Arnold's fried chicken too! My, my blood thirsty cravings.

Why do I choose to eat less meat? Firstly, it's healthier diet. Nuff said. And of course, less guilt. Do I feel weaker from eating less of meat? No, in fact, I believe I am stronger with this diet preference. Whole vegetables, nuts, fruits and once-a-week meat works for me, I am more alert and have less allergies.

What about fish? I don't about you, have you dived before? Fish like groupers do not come in big schools. They come in two or threes, or are loners. First, you have to understand how fishes are caught. Either they are trawled from the seabed or are caught from a long drift net. Of course, you will not get only edible fish per catch. You get a lot of bycatch. I mean a lot, a lot of inedible bycatch. If I didn't remember wrongly, it's almost 70% of the total catch as written in a National Geographic magazine a few years back. Consumers will never see the wasted bycatch as they are thrown away by the fisherman. You must see the pictures to believe the amount that is wasted. Then, I didn't give a thought about what I was eating, never questioned what was served, it was just food to me. We humans are very good at emptying our once bountiful oceans...

This fish was given by in-laws. Looks like a coral grouper to me. It was very delicious and fresh. I steamed it with ginger and after the fish was cooked, I drizzled it with hot oil and the soya sauce/ mushroom sauce/sugar gravy. Super yummy.

Steamed fish, fish soup, chicken rice, fried chicken, satay, why do you make it so hard to eat less of you? I am so thankful I like vegetables. Can't imagine if I don't, mealtimes would have been a chore.

Walking with Dinosaurs, the Arena Spectacular

Dinosaurs in my brain. Reread Michael Crichton's Jurassic park and The Lost World in the last 3 days. Moving on to my National Geographic dinosaurs articles next or maybe I will watch the dinosaur dvds.

Going, going, going. : P Let the countdown begin. I must behave like an adult in front of my nephew. No to sudden roaring or slashing in mid air.

Mmm, I think it's only when you are a young child you learn to spell and pronounce those difficult dinosaur names. Repeat after me! Velociraptor! Stegasauras...etc

Going to see these or check out the website here. BTW, the navigation buttons on the website roar when you click on them. Cool.

10 large dinosaurs
Plateosaurus - 10 ft tall x 31 ft long
Stegosaurus - 18.5 ft tall x 36 ft long
Allosaurus - 14.5 ft tall x 43 ft long
Brachiosaurus - adult 36 ft tall x 56 ft long and young 29.5 ft tall x 48 ft long
Ornithocheirus - Wing Span 38 ft
Ankylosaurus - 12 ft tall x 34 ft long
Torosaurus (2) - 13 ft tall x 30 ft long
Tyrannosaurus Rex (2) (one spare) 23 feet tall x 42 feet long

5 suit dinosaurs
3 Utahraptors - 8 ft tall x 14 ft long
1 Baby T-Rex (one spare) 7 ft tall x 14 long
1 Liliensternus - 7.5 ft tall x 16 ft long

So exciting. Pardon me, while I get to know my dinosaurs. Oh yes, I have already checked out the merchandise online. Good for kids only.

For Dino fans, children and those who wanted to be a paleontologist when you were a child:

Walking with Dinosaurs, the Arena Spectacular is showing at Indoor Stadium from 1 December  2010. Book your tickets from Sistic. http://www.dinosaurlive.com.sg/

An email you need to read

Have I?

Excerpt from The 4-hour Work Week, Timothy Ferriss. A portion of an email the author received from a terminally ill girl in a New York Hospital which he reread repeatedly. 

Slow Dance
Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?

When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
do you lie on your bed

With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say, "Hi"?

You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It's like an unopened gift thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower.

Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Raising a Stink

Stock Photo AP.
You can't be serious, that's a big heap of s...compost!

What is wrong with these people! First, they stockpiled sand, now compost or ****. Finally, a picture of the 200 tonne of 'compost' that had it's stench perfuming the neighbourhood for the past 2 weeks.

Had my first whiff sometime back. I was like in the bathroom, I went, "Is there something dead in my home drainage system? Time to buy the drain de-clogging chemical?" I lowered my head and sniffed at the drain traps. Eewwwkk... grossed out behavior. Then I stepped out of the air-conditioned bedroom into the living room. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Did a sewage pipe burst or what! It was really a major stink. That puzzling stench came back again and again over the past two weeks. Then, I found out from a forum that there is a mountain of compost fermenting in the heat and rain less than a km from my home.

3 Laws of Gardening

Moved this big pot of plant into this corner of the balcony today.
Took me 15 mins. My back is killing me.

Came across these 3 points in Elle Decoration. Rings true.

• Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding out until your back gets used to it.
  
• God made rainy days so gardeners could get housework done.
  
• One of the best ways to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out easily, it is a valuable plant.

Durians for lunch?

I wonder what got into me? For lunch, I ate a box of durians all by myself. I counted, six rather big seeds. I think that's not a lot or am I deceiving myself? I am feeling super duper heaty now. To counteract the heatiness, I ate a 水梨 and a kiwi and it's really not working. So, I made a pear, tomatoes, almonds and rocket salad dressed in balsamic vinegar and the rosemary oil I made. I hope it helps.

Pear, tomatoes, almonds and rocket salad with rosemary oil and balsamic vinegar.

I think pears and rocket are a match made in heaven. They taste divine together with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Forget about the tomatoes and almonds. Shaved parmesan cheese will taste great with the pear and rocket. Ummm, trying to cut down on my dairy intake, so no shaved yummy cheese.

Urgh, too much durian! What other cooling food should I eat? No mangosteens at home and am too darn lazy to brew herbal tea. No more durians for me for some time.

I want to eat Yong Tau Fu

My take on Yong Tau Fu with sauce. Mine's a mushroom sauce.

I have to go Sembawang to eat at my favourite Yong Tau Fu stall.

Yum yum, better than Ampang in the east coast area.

How far do I go to satisfy a food craving? First, I attempt to cook it. Devour it, than I spend the next few days thinking about the real deal. Heck, went down to Upper Thomson Rd (nearer to sembawang) to eat at my favourite Yong Tau Fu stall on Saturday. Yes, right at the far end away from Hans. Where are my favourite Yong Tau Fu stalls? Ngee Fou Restaurant (Hakka) Ampang Yong Tau Foo, Ampang Niang Dou Fu in the east and the Xiu Ji Ikan Billis Yong Tau Fu in Chinatown Complex.

My version wasn't too bad either but I much prefer eating at the coffeeshop. I can read my papers while looking at the tall trees across the street and watch the parking antics of my fellow Singaporeans.

Basil from the Garden and Breakfast

Basil from my Thai Basil pot

Instead of the usual fried egg with basil and tomatoes. I had
chee chong fun with basil and mushroom floss (Myco Farm).

Rocket, apple and passionfruit smoothie too!