Chicken Char Siew

Sometimes, the itchy hand just want to try on some new recipes and here is one:

1. 2 no.boneless chicken thighs ( good for 3 person )
2. coriander leaves
3. about 2 glasses of water

marinate for at least 1 hour (3 hours preferably or more) :
- about 2 tablespoon of light soya sauce
- pinch of salt (I love to use oyster sauce instead)
- pinch of pepper
- pinch of 5 spice-powder (really, just a bit!!)
- 1 teaspoon of rose essence (I use 红谷米 instead cause I don't have this rose essence thing. It is a kind of red rice, can be obtained from Chinese Herbal Shop)

To cook:
1. Put the marinated chicken into in a wok straight, low fire (note: no oil here ya!!), cook till some oil started to drip out from the chicken itself ( as I did not remove the skin )
2. Then add in water and put to low medium fire, stir occasionally. Since I am using 红谷米, I wrapped it up in a cloth to boil in the water, the 'rice' gives a bright red hue to the chicken)
3. Stir more often, take out the wrap of 红谷米 and lower the fire till the water eventually dried up. You will see again the oil starts to drip out again!
4. Dip out, cut and serve with leaves.

Best to eat with fresh cucumber!!

Easy and healty!!

Bangkok

Yes, we just came back from a short trip to Bangkok!! We means hubby, Jien, MIL, SILs and families. All in 11 of us!!

This is my 3rd trip to Bangkok. My first was still the best which I went there during my 4th year in Uni with a lovely junior, Nina. We were there for 2 weeks and we had visited Bangkok, Pattaya, trekking and river rafting in Chiengmai and have a lovely boat ride and a nice leisure cycling tour at Kanchanaburi. My second trip was just a stop over for a day trip in Bangkok after my Beijing trip.

This one was more of a 'family' trip, not the expedition/adventurous type. And the highlight for this trip for me is of course the Chatuchak weekend market in Bangkok. I was totally absorbed in the shopping - the extend of the market is enormous, I think we covered less than a quarter of it. The arrays of products sold were just jaw dropping!! They sell from clothings, bags, food, cushion covers, arts and crafts up to pets!! And best of all, the products that they sell differs from one shop to the other. So my advise is-if you like it, grab it, ask for a bargain - normally around 10-20 percent as the price is already at wholesale low and proceed on as the market is just so HUGE, you can't afford to turn back!! Arhhhh!! For my next trip, I will gear up myself with the best sport shoes and a few big shopping bags! Hahaha...:P

How was my boy? Well, he was fine and such an angel there and did not make a fuss except when it was time for nap and this mommy's eyes were still busy scoffing for goodies...He loves eating the Siam rice and enjoyed his meals there (or did we starved him too long before meal time? kekeke...)We brought along his stroller at the very last minute and that REALLY helps a lot especially when we were at the malls and having meals. NOTE: most restaurants and eateries have no or very limited baby chairs.



> at the Grand Palace.








> at the piazza of Siam Paragon.











> SIL at the famous floating market.






> My lil one enjoying himself in the bath-tub-less hotel. We make do with a pail hubby bought from a nearby shop. My boy enjoyed his bath afterall!! :)



Ah.......so I suppose this marks the end of my 'temporary' freedom till end of next year.....hmm...


p/s : we did not witnessed any riots there and were lucky to escape out before the closure of the airport the very next day!

Tales in the Kitchen

I am cooking for more than a month now. Yes!! Finally back in my kitchen or I will die eating the same food again and again - my maid loves to just fry fish and vege, that's all!!

With her help in preparation and washing, I have been storming the kitchen lately with no repetition of the same menu in a week if not 2, except for stir frying the vegetables. Let's see, we had grill squid stuffed with potatoes, grill pork, grill fish wrapped with pandan leaves, steam boat, steam fish with spicy sour sauce, sushi, Penang Tau Eu Bak, stir fry fish with leek (mom's recipe, I have not eaten this for so long!), Baked Chicken fingers sprinkled with oat (so easy and healthy!!) and the next on the list would be Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Honestly, I have not cook up one even though I love the steamy garlic fragrance rice. I have yet to get the 'recipe' and tips from my aunt but I have prepared something in advance instead to go with our steamboat the other day - the chili paste!! Hahaha!! This is my first and when it was done, I realised that I forget to blend in with 'bawang kecil'!! Alamak!!

Hmmmm, look at the colour.....so bright red and I can't wait to start my first ever nasi ayam!! :P

My 'A'

About a month ago, little Jien started writing his favourite letter big 'A'.

I said it is his favourite because whenever he is with his drawing board, he will ask anybody to write an A and draw an apple for him....hihi, funny.

My other Baby!

They say when you are so into something, you are literally carrying a 'baby'.

So this is my other baby- a bungalow which is currently under construction, around 60% complete. When I was there yesterday, the roof was up with shingles. I looked just like what I had envisioned it to be. The owner wanted to change the pitch and I insisted NO NO NO. I don't want the roof to look like a fully packed 'nasi lemak'! Good thing he took my advise.

If the lousy contractor were to be a grade A contractor, the workmanship could have been better and the work could progress faster in the earlier phase and I could actually see my baby 'born' before the actual 'labor' by end March. I am rushing to help the contractor in terms of problem solving and all other design matters, including the ID work as much as possible now before CNY and before my separation from this baby next year for a couple of months!!

I just hope that I will have yet another satisfied client. I like this house! I just can't wait to see the roof up for the living area and when the HUGE fish pond and external jacuzzi pond is ready!! Hmmmm, so much excitement!

Boy, so?

Actually, I have to say that I did not see the 'sausage' myself. Hubby saw it during the detail scan and then the doctor. But then again, hubby was not sure himself that what he saw was indeed the 'sausage'. He said it might be other thing as it was not as clear cut as the one we saw with Jien even with the normal ultrasound scans.

But I had sort of accepted the fact that I am going to have a boy. There are so many wonderful stories with mothers having 2 boys or more and I am sure I am going to be one too.

Last weekend, the questions started to pour in asking for the sex of the baby from friends and relatives. And when the answer is BOY, they all went, 'AIYA!!Boy again!!???' ..............

Oh well, hello! I am no GOD. I cannot decide the sex, OK??!!

But one thing for sure, if He decides the baby is a BOY, then that must be the best choice for us. I believe.

And BOY, so what? Ah bah then!!?

Our second child

As a result of me being a big prawn head, we had missed the blood test for the triple test (meaning checking for percentage of a down syndrome child). And I am quite reluctant to do the amnio-test which the doctor will use a long syringe to poke into the placenta and pull out the amniotic fluid for testing. Gosh, just the thought of it, make me see stars!! ****** And the biggest 'what if' occurs to : 'What if my baby had a sudden move and the needle poke my baby??!!' Ahhhhhhhhhh!!

So we asked the doctor for other options for checking if any. For one, we weren't sure what we were to do IF it happens to be one. But at least, we thought we want to be better prepared, mentally. So the doctor suggested a detail anomaly scan which will give us not a 100% but 80% result. Well, as far as I know, none of the result is 100% except for the freaking amnio-test.

We went for the scan yesterday. It was a state-of-the-art kind of machine. Thanks to the modern technology, we can even count the number of the vertebra bones, each of it!! We could see the heart beating clearly with zoom-in function up to seeing the 4 rooms in the heart. We could see the brain, and actually seeing the celebrum(not sure if spelling is correct....heck). And as the little one move frantically and playing pick-a-boo with the doctor, it was pretty hard to see the face. Got a few shots of the 4-D scan too.. :)

We moved on to find the 'sausage' as the doctor called it and AHHHHH....there it is!! Ahhhhhhh.....well, a little bit disappointed to be honest. We were really hoping for a girl!!

Nonetheless, we went off happily. We both understood very well that we are not the one to decide what sex. We leave it to the BIG GUY up there. Hubby said it could be a blessing from the ancestors since most of his close cousins got 2 boys straight!! Oh well, to me, the very important thing is the boy is healthy. He is so active and he could be a good playmate to Jien. And best of all, all the nice nice baju that we bought for Jien can be recycled!! Hahaha!!

So the question now is : Are we going for the 3rd one?? hmmmmmm.................................???

The 'Messer'

Now I know that a lot of boys are a bit messy and when they play, it will mean a huge mess. NORMAL.

What about this:
1. Before playing, he needs to pour out all, yes, ALL the toys in the bucket / box.
2. He kicks and 'swim' with the toys before the actual playing.
3. Even if he needs ONE of the cutie toy, he still pours out the whole lot.

Jien still does not know how to keep things back properly. We have taught him so but he is just so reluctant to do it (unless you coax him with computer !!) So it is always a 3x tidying up session in the house. One in the morning, one in the afternoon, one - night. Sigh!

Have you ever found your kids toy lying in the refrigerator? A Thomas for example??

or

Have you ever found an apple in the drawer or under the TV console??

or

Have you ever found grapes lying on the colourful carpet and be part of the decoration on the floor??

*smack forehead*

Sharing

Last weekend, I had decided to give a surprise visit to a friend of mine ( a contractor , :) ). He is hubby's age, a nice guy, very energetic and a workaholic. I just wanted to have a view (keh poh) of his new house (ahem, I did the renovation plans for him) and also to say hello to his lovely wife since it was about a year since I last saw her.

Lovely house indeed. My Jien was happily running and roaming the house whereas his son was carefully watching every move of this little monster. He then pulled out his lego to play, and Jien being a 'friendly' little brother, joined in. Well, the problem was, this boy was a careful and delicate one; He took out the lego one at a time and my boy? He always poured out everything in the box before playing and to add to that, he would also '洗牌' and make sure everything is messed up before he plays!! And seeing this, the boy gave a sudden cry and started wailing!! OMG!! I felt so bad for that...

So to divert Jien's attention, we asked him to play with hubby's handphone. He took the phone and was struggling to get down from papa's arm. He then made his way to this koko (elder brother) and showed him the phone. The boy stopped crying instantly!! Jien then swiftly and confidently pressed for his favourite Pocoyo show and actually 'sharing' it with koko.

I was truely happy and proud. My boy has always been the one snatching the phone from his cousins and this time, he cared to SHARE! :) I wonder what went on his head that day but whatever it is, I am so lucky to have him.

An inch or a foot?

Do you have a maid at home?

We do, for 2 years now. And she promised to continue with us for another year. Good for us, we thought, since there will be new addition soon and I really have no time to train another.

Now, we have been really lucky in having her. She is quiet and she is a quick learner. Best of all, she really takes good care of my Jien.

We on the other hand are not bad as well. Let's see...

. For one, she said she is going to settle the agent's and permit fees, but it took so long for her (or her sister, to be precised) to cough out the money, so at the end, we said we are going to pay la-4k ok!! Well, it is ok, we thought, but we made a deal that she has to fair her own ticket home by end of 1 year, she said ok.

. After a year, we booked the ticket online for her, and naturally we pay for her. Nowadays the permit for a Phil maid is a year, so she got to fly back. We said it is fine since she is continuing with us for another year....

. When she was back for 2 weeks, we did not ask for any salary deduction. We gave her a full month's salary plus a month bonus without her even asking!! We separated the bonus to 2 months, one before X'mas and one after, so that she can have money to spend before and also after the very important festive to her..Considerate leh?

. I gave her son an ang pow. Amount? 2 digit...The blue colour note..

. We gave her Sunday off and most of the public holidays- off!

. She got her half day Saturday off since most of time, we are back in hometown.

. Our house is very small, very easy to maintain. Plus no serious washing or drying coz all done by the machines!!

. We gave her salary increament without her even asking...

. On Saturdays, we either bought her or made her nice breakfast. If we went off earlier and can't able to send her to station, we would give her lunch and taxi allowance...

. She got a nice bed, not a mattress on the floor.

. Whatever we eat, she will get her share. No matter how expensive is the fish!! You know how expensive is the 'mah yau' fish and salmon?

. We celebrated her birthday last year and

this year, we celebrated her birthday again, with a lovely cake. We were thinking of giving her the ticket back again as a gift.

The problem lies HERE. Now, we had discussed it earlier that it has to be during Chinese New Year cause that was the time that there would be public holidays and we could take some extra days to be with friends and families. She said ok. So when we told her the dates, she said she needed to celebrate the son's birthday. Being considerate, we push the dates slightly so that she could at least be there for her son. So instead of a 2 weeks break, she now will have around 16 days off. Plus, instead of flying Air Asia, we are upgrading her to MAS airline so that she can have proper meal and also since the arrival airport is closer to her hometown.

BUT she still give us sour face! HELLO! We are working couples! We are not staying at home waiting for money to fall down from the SKY! We ourselves don't even have a 2 weeks straight break! Sometimes we don't even celebrate our own birthday! This is so rediculous cause what if the son's birthday fall on mid year? Does this mean that she needs to fly back twice?

So till now, she has not given us the answer because she said she needed time to think. Think she could but if she takes any longer, I will just tell her - FLY KITE!!

Is this how she repay our kindness to her? Does she even know that her absense means that both me and hubby have to take turn to go on leave to take care of the little one? Does she even notice that by February, my stomach is as big as a basket ball? Does she even THINK? GOODNESS!!

Hubby said : Some people, you gave them an inch, they want a foot. Serious ah? I think in this case, a FULL YARD!

Mrs Big Prawn Head

This morning, me and hubby had a refreshing breakfast at Lucky Garden and were all in anticipation in meeting my new gynae for my 4 months check. Previously me and hubby were just too 'lazy' in a way, we went to a GP who did the first few months checking. She was ok, best of all, no waiting and her clinic is only 10 mins drive away.

Now, everything went well except for one thing, the doctor asked me to confirm my due date. I said end April. He was puzzled. He said the scan shows that the baby is at least 3 weeks bigger in size. Oh-o!! Now what? Am I going to have a gigantic baby? He continued to explain that we had missed the best time for him to gauge the 'age' of the fetus which is around 6 weeks old. GREAT! He continued professionally to explain that after that a lot of other factors come into play into affecting the size of the baby - genetic, food that I consumed etc etc etc. OK OK....my fault, so now I have 2 due dates.........almost 1 month apart!! Gulp!

As we were chatting over lunch, hubby asked me again when was my last period, I said July 15. He said again, 'Not the date you missed your period, I am saying the date of your last period....' My head started to spin, oh-o!! I immediately burst into laughters as the date I told both doctors were the date I MISSED the period, not my LAST period!! It was utterly BIG HEAD PRAWN of me!! The doctors must be scratching their head seeing the fact that the baby is HUGE!!

Now I missed the triple screen period, which kept me and hubby a bit agitated. But on the other hand, I am so so happy because I am actually almost 5 months into pregnancy, that means my weight is fine, my mysteriously big tummy misery is a history and I am looking forward to have my baby earlier in end of March instead!!! Wahahaha!! :)

Festive Mood

I am now in holiday mood. Not much work, not taking anymore new ones and I am all RELAXED..........

So one of the tops that I bought seems to disclose my mood now. It is so 'Chinese New Year'! I love the prints!!

Oh, by the way, my boy started to hum and sing!! Though very 'slurry' but it was like an angel singing! So we are thinking of teaching him some X'mas and CNY songs now! Any good CD to recommend for a boy like him?