The Best Way to Destress

is to gorge myself silly. I just had my dinner of century egg congee 2 hours ago, and now I am craving for Myojo's Char Mee. I keep telling myself that I have to finish reading my notes before I can leave my seat and head to the kitchen. However the craving is so distracting that what normally takes me 30mins to read is taking me more than an hour now. Ggrr..... Tmr's the start of my finals and here I am chatting away on msn, blogging about food and surfing for the most updated news on Swine flu.

Swine Flu

Because of what was reported in the Straits Times yesterday, Daddy is extremely relunctant to allow Mummy and Geri to come as planned. With all flights and hotels booked for our LA, Vegas and New York trips, we're going to incur a huge loss if they're really not coming. 10 more days prior to their departure, and I hope there will be no more new cases of the Swine Flu reported in the US. At least Daddy will be more convinced to allow them here for a visitation. Sigh... I so wanna show them around, have them here for my graduation, and have an all-girls' trip to Woodbury!

The Battle with Silkie

Silkie is the official name for our locally-known Black Chicken. Black chicken soup as long been hailed as a reinforcement to one's immune function, combat fatigue and restore youth. For sometime now, Chinese food scientists have confirmed that the black-bone silky fowl contain high levels of a substance called carnosine, which is a powerful anti-oxidant and is taken in supplement form in the West to improve muscle strength and alleviate the effects of ageing.

Mummy got us some herbs to make silkie soup, and the chinese supermarket happens to have a 20% discount on the normally-expensive frozen black fowl. With the exams just round the corner, it is now the perfect time to replenish all my drained energy with a bowl of herbal soup.

Defrosted the frozen silkie last night, and horrors of horrors, when I was trying to untie the knot of the plastic bag that contains it, I saw a pair of deadly-looking eyes staring straight at me!!!!! The worst part was that Silkie's head was just directly beneath the knot and I'd poked it unknowingly while trying to untie the bag. OMG, the thought of it now still send cold shivers down my spine. I threw it back right immediately into the fridge, and never ever wanted to deal with it again. I never had thought that the bag of silkie actually still had the head n neck intact. If I'd known, I'd never had bought it in the first place.

Anyway Hubby had to deal with it this morning, else we would have to waste the $8 spent on the black fowl cos over my dead body am I going to handle it.
The brave hubby chopped off it's neck, and the disgustingly-still-intact feet (think toes with claws!!). All the while I was hiding in the room, not wanting to even hear the noise made by the chopper on the chopping board. He dug out whatever remnant organs that were in it and Silkie had a good bath before I agreed to return to the kitchen. Then I got Hubby to strike a pose with Silkie, as a remembrance of his bravery. LOL!

The sight of an uncut black fowl still nauseate me much, and that 1-second touch (through my trusty pair of gloves) by just throwing it into the crockpot make my hair stand. I think I just can't handle uncooked whole chicken, whether it's headless or with its head on. It feels so much like manipulating a live animal. See the yellowish slimy weird thing near the opening after chopping off the neck, and blood on my chopping board? Yucks yucks yucks!!!!

However, I still want to restore youth and reinforce my immune system by consumming black chicken soup on a regular basis. So now I have to think of ways to humour Hubby into battling Silkie for the remaining months.

Me, off to preparing dinner...
















*Updated on 04/27/09: Hubby commented that the soup was tasty, and I took that opportunity to ask if he's willing to chop n cleansed the silkies whenever I buy them. Of cos he said yes! Woohoo!

Down in Dumps

Either my life sucks big time, or I'm battling the premature mid-life crisis. I feel emotionally strained, from I-don't-even-know-what. Lost is perhaps the best word to describe what I feel now. Why can't I be bestowed with the things I want in life? Why is my world not perfect? I wish everythig in life was much more simpler.

Uniquely Singapore

Dinner this evening was PRATA! The Singaporean Indian dish. Chanced upon the well-known Singapore brand, SpringHome, in the chinese market and I just had to grab them. SpringHome roti prata is commonly found in NTUCs, and they are just the next best alternatives to the Jln Kayu's jewels. We used to buy them occasionally back home since it was extremely easy to prepare, without even a single drop of oil required.

If you are not aware by now that Roti Prata is unique only to Singapore, check out Wiki. It evolved from Pakistani and Indian Paratha, and the different flavours (cheese, tissue, paper, ice-cream, etc) are only available in our very own hometown!




















Crispy fragrant pratas with yummy curry. Nice! Who says you have to be a great cook to enjoy delicious home-cooked food?

I wish I can find ready-made Bak Chor Mee, Hokkien Mee, Fried Kway Teow and all the local delicacies here too...

Last Burst of Spring

We're a month into Spring! How time flies. I wish it'll be Spring forever, though I sound kinda lame. Anyway, the highlight of this entry are on flowers. I wonder why flowers don't remain on the trees throughout Spring, why do they only have s short life span of approximately 2 weeks. It was such a nice sight when everywhere was lined with trees overcrowded with flowers; a pity the sight lasted only a fortnight.

The trees at the entrance of Olin Business School were blooming full of flowers. I had been comtemplating if I should lug my heavy camera to school just to capture the pretty sight. However, the lazy bug hitted me and I decided to just use the lousy camera on my iPhone to snap some pictures last Saturday, before the flowers started to wither and green leaves sprouting out on the branches.

The tree on the left of the entrance, full of pretty white flowers with tulips underneath it.

Whereas its friend on the other side of the entrance has breezed past it glory days. We see more young green leaves on it while its flowers start to wither away.

The entrance to Olin, with the same species of trees in two different stages of its life cycle.










P.S. The flowery tree has finally started to shed itself of its glory, when I saw half the tree covered in green leaves today.

Boo HooHoo

It's that time of the term AGAIN! Sheesh.... I just have to endure 2 more weeks, and I'll be able to breeze through the rest of the year. I can't wait!!!

I think I worked too hard for the first half of the race; I feel so burnt out and unmotivated now. I guess it doesn't really matter much either to pass with distinction or to pass with moderate marks. Either way I may end up just as another digit under the unemployment chart.

More Food

Ju Shin Jung is gonna be one of the must-hit places when I land in SIN in June. I've read many marvellous blog posts on this Korean place, and I really really wanna go!

What's for Dinner Tonight?

Finally I get to clear the la-la (or clams) from my freezer. Supposed to cook it earlier in the week, but we had been eating out quite a far bit (since the sio bak episode) as Hubby won almost $700 in the Pokerstars tourney, by coming in 1st in the competition. Anyway back to the main topic. La-la isn't exactly anyone of our favourites, but I thought the recipe I chanced upon from the net looked really easy, so I wanna try my hands on dishing up something exotic.

With lots of chopped garlic and shallots, as well as big red onions and sambal, nothing can taste awful, seriously. I added a dash of fermented black beans (tau cheo) and ginger, and this is what we had for dinner tonight. Hubby said it's awsome, but I suspect anything with sambal is yummy to him.

Out of boredom, I took a not very appetizing pic of his lunch box for tmr. Green beans with minced pork, yet another of his favourite. I never liked minced pork from STL, cos of the pungent pork smell. Regardless of the duration I marinated it for, the smell just won't go away. Yucks!



P.S. As mentioned, Hubby won some money from Poker, and I am finally allowed to buy my Summer footwear!
Had been eyeing on it for 3 long weeks! At a hefty $50 price tag, I've been forbidded to own it, until that faithful Monday night... God is good! *chuckles*

Roast Pork Belly and Laksa

Pork belly is something which Hubby can have for a few consecutive days. Being the most doting wife ever, I decided to try my hands on preparing one of his favourite dish. This is especially so when he aren't be going back to SIN with me for the next vacation.

Roasting in the oven with lots of coarse salt on the top.

Nice crackling skin.

Yummy! Hubby, Shaun and Say Kwee gulped them all up with the yummy home-made chilli.









Cooking a nice dish is indeed a very good way to de-stress. Though it was close to midnight by the time we were able to sink our teeth in the pork belly and I had to work through the night to get my assignment done before tmr's meeting, it was time well spent in the kitchen. Especially when Hubby exclaimed "好吃!". In fact, I'm impressed with my own skills too. =P Oh and yes, meeting in school tmr on a Sunday, what's new.

In case any of you out there are keen on having home-made roast pork belly, here is the super easy recipe. I recommend 1/3 tbsp less of fine salt, if you prefer your meat to be less salty. I sprinkled a tablespoon of garlic powder on the meat too, to make it more fragrant and scored the skin with a sharp knife (like how u score squid) before roasting it at 470F for 35 mins. Thereafter, I pressed the skin down on a non-stick pan for a good 5 mins under MEDIUM heat for a nice crispy skin. Superb!

Laksa is more of my favourite than Hubby's. However, see the fishballs? These DODO brand fishballs are Hubby's fav, that's why you see them in a bowl of Laksa when they don't normally go very well with the spicy gravy. Added more Taho brand sambal and it's delicious!


Not that I am turning into a "yellow housewife", but I do now understand when women say one of the most satisfying moments is when your Hubby appreciates what was prepared to fill his stomach.

New Hobby

I enjoy whipping up an EASY, healthy and yummy meal recently. Extremely sick of burgers, steaks, ribs and fast-foods, I had no choice but to cook more often than I will like to. With limited cooking skills, Hubby mentioned sometime ago that we had been having the same dishes over and over again. One of the ways to be a good wife, is to satisfy the man's tummy, isn't it? So I started surfing the net and digging out my recipe books, and I marvel at how easy it is to cook nutritious and finger-licking good meals.

The 1st investment I got for myself was a food processor(left), followed by a slow cooker. With the food processor, we are finally able to enjoy our favourite mum's-style spicy chili with ginger and garlic paste. On the other hand, the newest kitchen addition really does wonders, and save me lots of time monitoring over the stove. My first attempt with it was beef stew with red wine. Other than the long 8 hrs of stewing, everything else took me less than 15mins. The outcome? Not too bad for a first-timer. Hubby and I thought if the amount of tomato paste in the recipe was reduced by half, it would be divine. Tomorrow we're going to have ginseng chicken soup and stir-fried clams (lala)! All I need to do is to de-skin and remove fats from the chicken, dump it together with the herbs into my newest toy before I head for school, and viola! We'll have pipping hot nutritious soup awatiing for us when we get home. It's gonna be my virgin try with the clams, but looking at the idiot-proof recipe, it should turn out nice unless I'm really an idiot. =P

As for Sunday, we're going to have..................... LAKSA!!! Yes, Singaporen-style laska all the way in the States! Well, all thanks to the genuises in Prima Taste. Wahaha. Had 2 packets of Laska paste shipped, and so now we can't wait to sink our teeth into the spicy broth with toupok and yellow mee. Yum Yum.

If I had more time, I'll whip up a storm every evening and make my hubby fatter. LOL!

I'm so into cooking, that I've actually prepared a list of food to cook for my family when they're here to visit in a month's time. I'm so excited that I can't wait for them to try my novice's expertise!

I'm gonna have fun with lamb stew, braised ribs/ wings (western style) and clam chowder soon! So, till then.

Good Days Are Just Ahead

I'm counting down, to the end of the most hectic term ever, and to the arrival of mummy and geri! Four more weeks to endure and I'll be pretty free for the rest of the year! Though full-time classes will resume in September after my long break, I foresee pretty light workload since I'll be taking only 2 courses in each of the last 2 terms. I cross my fingers and say my prayers.

Mummy and geri will be here a month from now, and we'll be heading to LA and Vegas together! I can't wait and am hoping they'll stay for 3 weeks, so we can comb the outlets together during the Memorial Day weekend sales! Geri wanted to go Woodbury, NYC, the largest outlet in the US. I haven't decided if I wanted to go. I mean of cos I will love to shop at the Chanel, Prada and Saks Fifth Ave outlets, but I'm extremely worried that I'll burn too big a hole if I were to go. Chances of me getting a job when we head back next year are awfully bleak. Thus I'm not sure if I should concede myself to an ultra mega shopping spree. On one hand, I told myself that it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to get discounted nice bags, and that once I've a kid coming along in the future, I probably will not have anymore spare cash for my dream bags. On the other hand, I'm worried that I'll have to survive on bread and water for months before I am able to get a job, what's more one with good remuneration. Sometimes I convince myself that I am spending future money but with good discounts, since I am buying what I will want to buy (when I have that spare cash) in future now, at a lower price in the outlets. Yiak yiak... I'm in a dilemma!

Anyhow, I am also hoping Daddy will be able to attend my commencement ceremony, though he's laden with pile-loads of work commitments. Sometimes I wonder how is it possible that Daddy still has all that drive and energy after working so hard for donkey years. Here, his daughter dream of everyday is to lead a tai-tai life. I thought people used say how much I take after my dad, in terms of characters and looks? That is so untrue...

To digress, our second and last shipment finally arrived safe and sound on April Fool's Day! We were informed some weeks ago that our container had been selected for inspection. As no food products were allowed to be shipped from SIN into US, none of us pinned much hope of having local delicacies for the next 9 mths. However, thank God that everyone's boxes were intact and we're all able to enjoy our curries, herbal soups, laksa, sambal and what-nots. I now wonder what form of inspection was done at the customs, not that I am complaining. =P

An update on the weather in STL:
I had mentioned before that Spring has started 3 weeks ago. Weather bas been good with the temperature hovering around 15 deg C on most noons, but it snowed on the 2nd weekend, and 2 days ago there were snow flurries! Bizzare bizzare.

Pictures taken at 1.30am, on Mar 29th, on the balcony. We thought we could build another snowman the next day, but when we woke up at 12pm, the snow was long melted by the blazing sun.



Snow/Ice accumulation on the ledge of our balcony.

Sunset Quest

Campus is towards the East of STL, while WH is in the West. On a Tuesday two weeks ago, on my way to Steak 'N Shake to meet hubby for dinner after school, I was bestowed by one of the most beautiful sunset ever. Driving back towards the West definitely has its perks of the nicest views, especially during dusk. Having a camera by my side is an additional bonus. Though the roads were pretty busy then, it did not hinder me from being trigger-happy. I'm glad I have good psycho-motor and multi-tasking skills, which enabled me to concentrate on the pedals, the wheel and the camera all at the same time. I was trying to drive as fast as I could, so that I was able to get out of the car and take more focused pictures when I reached my destination. But alas, by the time I arrived at Steak 'n Shake, my Sunset had been hidden by the dark sky.

Here are some of the many pictures I took while I was on a quest for the most beautiful view of Sunset ever.



















These pics may not exactly depict the actual beauty of the Sunset I saw, espcially in the eyes of a professional photographer. However, they will undeniably inflict a sense of nostalgia in me, when I look back at the pics of my daily life in STL, some time later.

Come to think of it, I pretty much enjoy the daily long drive home. I make use of this time to day-dream, to ponder over my assignments, to think of what's for dinner, to think about my life back in SIN and my family and friends, and most importantly, to have some quiet time to myself after a hard day. The peaceful, uncluttered (pretty much) and "jam-less" surroundings and roads make my drive very pleasant on most days. Throw in an occasional "Sunset Quest", it's way much better than the driving condition back in SIN. Sigh... I don't want to go home, yet!

P.S. 9 months had just breezed by, since the day we stepped foot on STL. Another 9 more months and we will be back home for good. Should I rejoice or should I fret over the impending the departure?

** I think I will fret a alot more than to be glad that I am back to my family and friends.