To My Soul Mates

Oh, I'm going to post something which is not related to the title of my blog. But I don't care, because I want to share with all of you, how grateful am I to have special friends and soul mates and I always wanted to express my love to them. But, ermmm, you know, I'm not a good writer, and hey! I bumped into 2 poems that speak my mind today. So, I'm going to quote both of the poems here.



My secondary school mate... Chih Mun, Kitman, Chee Hong, Jenn Woei, Weng Hing, Qiao Yi, Pik Sim and etc.

I am so glad that you are a part of my life
It is a privilege - to know you, to share myself with you, and to walk together on the paths that take us in so many beautiful directions.

I had heard of “soul mate” before, but I never knew such a person could exist – until I met you.

Somehow, out of all the twists and turns our lives could have taken, and out of all the chances we might have missed, it almost seems like we were given a meant-to-be moment – to meet, to get to know one another, and to set the stage for a special togetherness.

When I am with you, I know that I am in the presence of someone who makes my life more complete then I ever dreamed it could be. I turn to you for trust, and you gave it openly. I look to you for inspiration, for answer, and for encouragement, and – not only do you never let me down - you lift my spirit up and take my thought to places where my troubles seem so much farther away and my joys feel like they’re going to stay in my life forever.

I hope you’ll stay forever, too. I feel like you’re my soul mate. And I want you to know that my world is reassured by you, my tomorrow‘s need to have you near, so many of my smiles depend on you, and my heart is so thankful that you’re here.

~ Carey Martin

A33 siao za bo... Siow Hui, Shook Fun, Keat, Ling Tze, Ti Min, Karen, Emily, Joanne, Jojo and of course due to our irresistible attraction, the group getting bigger and bigger.

Special people are those who have the ability to share their lives with others. They are honest in word and deed, they are sincere and compassionate and they always make sure that love is a part of everything…

Special people are those who have the ability to give to others and help them with the changes that come their way. They are not afraid of being vulnerable: they believe in their uniqueness and are proud to be who they are.

Special people are those who allow themselves the pleasures of being close to others and caring about their happiness. They have come to understand that love is what makes the difference in life.

You are a very, very special person who truly makes a beautiful difference in this world.

~ Deanna Beisser

My colleagues and friends... Elaine, Poh Yee, Winnie & Jeff

Thank you... my dearest friends, these are dedicated to all of you.

p/s: dedicated to soul mates and good friends who are not showing in pictures above. (mainly because I don't have nice picture of you, not because you are not my good friends.)

2007 Father's Day Present to My Dad

Mother's day I had cooked a dinner for my family as present for my mom, as you know, I am a typical Libra, I treat everyone equally, so, for father's day, I need to cook again as present to my dad la. hehe. But this time, I just don't know why, I didn't have much time to take my picture while I was cooking, this time you can only see the "result", but not showing you step-by-step how I prepared and cooked the dishes. Sorry!

Dish 1:
Pineapple Spare Ribs

Mix spare ribs with 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 egg, 1 tsp bicarbonate soda, 2tbsp shaoxing wine, 2 tbsp water, 2 tbsp corn flour, marinate for 1 hour.

Deep-fry the marinated spare ribs.


Prepare the pineapple bowl


As I'm not so skillful in it, it took me about 1/2 hour to do it.


Cook sauce ingredients (2 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp tomato sauce, 2 tbsp plum sauce, 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp chili sauce, 1 tbsp white rice vinegar and 150ml water) until thick, add in pineapple cube, fried spare ribs and stir-fry until well mixed. Dish up and serve.


Dish 2:
Kong Pow Fish
(No idea what's the name of this fish, but this was requested by my dad. This one really difficult, cause I can't find any recipe of it. I simply wrack only, but luckily the taste not so bad, still edible or better, haha)

Anyone can tell me what's the name of this fish?
The blood is very slippery, hard to wash away the slippery fluid.

Cut into pieces and marinate with Shaoxing wine and salt.
I'm not sure is that the way to marinate the fish. But the final "outcome" taste not so bad la. Anyone has better idea to marinate the fish?

(since this is cooked with fish, I didn't bring it to deep-fry, because it might spoil the texture)
1. Cut 20 dried chillies to shorter length, shake off seeds, then wash and soak them for 30 minutes or till soft. Drain.
2. Stir-fry dried chillies in a clean wok at low heat until turn to dark color and fragrant. Dish up.
3. Heat up 2 tbsp oil, saute sliced ginger until fragrant. Add in sliced onion, dried chillies and stir well.
3. Add in the fish, 2 tbsp light soya sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp chilli sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp black vinegar and stir-fry until well-mixed.
(if you feel the sauce is too water, you can add 1tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp water for thickening)


Dish 3:
Prawn Meat in Open-faced Omelette

1. Mix prawn meat with sugar (sugar made the prawn meat firmer) and light soya sauce. Deep-fry in hot oil for a short while until just cooked. Dish up.
2. Beat 4 eggs with the 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce and dash of sesame oil and pepper until well-mixed.
3. Heat up 2 tbsp oil, pour in beaten eggs and pan-fry until half set. Arrange prawn meat on top of omelette and fry for a little while longer. Dish up and serve hot.

Dish 4:
Chinese Spinach in Superior Stock
(OMG, direct translation, sorry la, my English not that "superior" ;p)

1. Heat up 1 tbsp oil and saute sliced garlic until fragrant. Pour in stock and bring to boil.
2. Put in Chinese spinach and cook for about 3 minutes (from my experience, 3 minutes is not enough, have to boil longer).
3. Add in seasoning (1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp light soya sauce, dash of pepper and chicken stock granules), century egg (diced) and bring to boil. Dish up.
4. Sprinkle fried ikan bilis on top and serve hot.

认真

Before I start my topic, I need to apologize to those who don't read Chinese. I will try to translate what I write later. But for the moment, I wish to express my feeling in Chinese, because of the fluency. Will do the translation either tomorrow or the day after.

今天早上，也不知道为什么，“认真”这词突然在我脑海中浮现。突然很想象以前上华文课那样，老师给了个主题，我们就必须在两节课的时间内完成一篇作文。好，那么，今天我的主题就是“认真”。

最近想了很多东西，大部分都是琐碎但又不得不去解决和必须认真面对的问题。所以啊，好想唱一段S.H.E.的歌曲-“我不想，我不想，我不想长大！长大后世界就没有花”。噢！好像要离题了咯！回到“认真”这主题，我时常认为，无论是男、女、老或少，认真生活的人最有魅力了。就好像，某一天我和我的同事一起吃饭，主厨以他那熟练的工夫认真烹调我们的酱蒸鱼头，即使，主厨的样子的确有一点抱歉，或换句话说他的成熟稳重不是我那杯茶，但是就因为他认真，所以我觉得当时的他特别有魅力。

再看一看自己，我好像也没有真得很认真做过任何东西，嘿！朋友们，我有认真为你们做过些什么吗？或，你们又看过我认真做事的样子吗？这让我联想起另一个问题，我的嗜好是什么？别人说，当你在做自己喜欢的事，你一定会花很多心思、付出你最大的努力去把它完成。我嘛，很多时候都是三分钟热度，所以都没有特定的嗜好。若勉强要我说，我爱唱歌吧！但都不是什么正经的嗜好，对我也没什么太大的帮助，顶多能够帮我减减压而已。

我所欣赏的歌手，如陶吉吉、力宏、张学友等，他们的共同点是，也对啦，是男人，但他们都有一些共同的特质，那就是他们很认真地对待他们的事业，他们的音乐还有他们身边的人，你看罗美薇多幸福！可能就是爱音乐吧，所以我很容易就会被玩音乐的人吸引。

上星期五我陪一位旧同事，Theresa，去捧她小时候玩伴，Martin，的场，他是一位玩爵士乐的鼓手，和几位同伴在Top Hat Restaurant驻演。对我这外行人来说，他们的表演让我对爵士乐有更深一层的认识。他们乐队的名字叫Bopli City。队长，Julian是一位Saxophone手，Trumpet手叫Eddie，拉Double Bass的叫Vincent，还有一位钢琴手，但我到现在还是记不起他叫什么名字。他们的fans也不赖哦，很多都是从开场就支持他们到散场，有些还是在大老远来支持他们的呢。中场的时候他们即兴邀请了一位从英国来的Jazz vocalist上台和他们飙歌，终场结束前连一位比较老练的Saxaphone手也忍不住上台小露一手。虽说即兴，但表演得非常赞，一点都不马虎。若说他们的表演无懈可击，好像太夸张了，但重点是，他们对爵士乐的热诚还有他们表演时那认真的神态就真的魅力非凡。请原谅我不能一一在这说明他们的魅力所在，因为我对爵士乐真的一窍不通，好听就是了。若你想体验他们的魅力，不妨在周末的时候到他们驻演的餐厅捧场吧！

你也可到以下网址查询：

http://www.top-hat-restaurants.com/

http://thetoproom.blogspot.com/


http://julianchanboplicity.blogspot.com/

你看吧，都说我一定会离题，可见我的华文和写作能力，甚至表达能力真的一般。但最后我还是那一句，认真的男人最帅；认真的女人最美。我也希望有一天我能够认真地完成一件什么伟大的事情。祝福我吧！我也祝福你们能够在人生中有所成就。

English:

This morning, don’t ask me why, the word “conscientiousness” just popped up in my mind. So, I was thinking to write an article about the topic.

Lately been thinking a lot of trifling stuffs, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Can I not growing up and stay innocent, so I don’t have to face it? Oh, seems like my above sentence doesn’t really match my topic. Ok, let’s come back to it next time. Talking about conscientiousness, I always think that, regardless you are guys or girl, young or old; when you live your life seriously, you will be really attractive. For example, that day, I was meeting my colleague for lunch, although the chef wasn’t really handsome, or say it this way, his type wasn’t my cup of tea, but when watching him conscientiously preparing and cooking our dishes, I think, at that moment, he is very attractive.

When I look at myself, I can’t remember if I ever be conscientious to anything. Hey friend, have I? This has also reminded me another question, what’s my hobby? Others said, if you like to do something, you will give your best to it. But, most of the time, I’m just hangat-hangat tahi ayam la, hahaha, am I spell the Malay sentence right? So, I don’t really have a long term hobby. Or maybe singing is my hobby. Not a serious one, but it can help me to de-stress.

Singer that I like include David Tao, Lee Hom and Jacky Cheung, they have something in similar, besides they are all man, they treat their career, music and their family or the one that they love seriously. Maybe it’s because I like music, I can easily being attracted to those musician or artist.

Last Friday, I was accompanying my ex-colleague to watch a jazz performance at Top Hat Restaurant. The drummer, Martin is her childhood friend. Honestly, I know nothing about jazz music, but the pieces that they played are very nice. The band named Bopli City. Band leader called Julian; he is a saxophonist, Eddie played trumpet, Vincent played double bass and there is another pianist which I don’t remember his name. They have great fans also; most of them came from far and supported them till the end.

During their second session, they invited a guest from UK and he is a jazz vocalist to jam with them. Before the session end, another saxophonist sifu also can’t help but went on stage to jam with them as well. Although that was an ad-lib, but it was absolutely a good jam. Ok, maybe I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but the point is, they are good and attractive due to their passion to jazz and their conscientious performance. Forgive me for not being able to describe why I think their performance is good, because I really know nothing about jazz, but if you would like to experience it, you can check on their schedule.

Check on the link above.

See, I think I’m out of topic, now you know I can’t really write a good essay and I’m not an expressive person. Lastly, like what I mention above, those who live their live seriously are gorgeous and attractive. I wish one day, I can conscientiously pursue my dream. Wish me luck! And I wish all of you live a successful life!