Like a Celebrity

27 Dec

Recently I carved Monument #11 from a block of Meranti wood, a four-tier piece meaning there’s four Citizens stacked on top of one another. And I shared the finished piece in a public owl community group in Facebook.

I was amazed and very flattered at the responses and numbers it garnered within 24 hours. There were so many likes, positive comments and shares, and it made me feel like a celebrity, totally great and very motivational.

But now I wonder if the stats increased after that moment of stardom died down. I should revisit to check… Hmm.

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Merry Christmas!

25 Dec

Every year we celebrate Christmas on the Eve with a sumptuous home dinner spread.

Everything on the table was home-made except for the Honey Glazed Ham and dinner buns. There’s the turkey, the main star, and the supporting salad, creamy baked cauliflower, baked potatoes with bacon bits, spaghetti bolognese and dinner buns. And of course, the ham.

After being stuffed to the brim, the first dessert came out – fruits in sweetened syrup. Then before we knew it, the second dessert was served – home-made cheesecake accompanied by coffee. Burp!

The family sans M1 who did not come home this year, had a really good time eating, drinking, chatting and merry-making. Exchanging and opening presents was entertaining and always appreciated.

Here’s wishing all my readers out there, friends and family a wonderful Merry Christmas! Peace, love and joy to all.

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In Full Swing

24 Dec

As work in the office is slowing down for the year-end holidays with clients being on leave, the carving at home is in full swing because I now have more time, coming home earlier than normal. With so many pieces to do all at once, the table is a mess.

There’s Gnomes and Whales to carve, Citizens and Monuments to varnish and new pieces to think about, it’s a never ending process but fun.

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My Friends Can Cook, Part 2

21 Dec

Friends are the best thing next to family. Friends who can cook for you are even better! It was a simple Moroccan Chicken Stew, home-cooked that was just heavenly. Coupled with the wine I brought, catching up with friends in the comforts of the home is good for the heart and soul. There were fruits after the meal to sweeten the chatter and laughter.

I could get used to this – more catch up sessions with girlfriends from yesteryears. Perhaps the coming new year will be apt to continue this.

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A sweet combination of longan, strawberries and persimmons

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Cab choice blended well with the chicken!

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My Friends Can Cook

20 Dec

Recently a girlfriend cooked Chicken and Lamb Briyani Rice for us, complete with side dishes and lovely garnishing. Hubby and I really enjoyed the meal and the company. It has been awhile since we had this dish, what more home-cooked. And this brought back memories of my first encounter with Basmathi rice when I was at college, the rice being the trigger here.

Over the Summer during the dinosaur era, I had a Pakistani housemate who took over the room from my previous housemates. It was a tad complicated as we were in between housemates but eventually, the living arrangements worked out.

Now during that time, the grad student would cook the one and only thing he knew, Basmathi rice and Curry Chicken. He had great skills cooking the Basmathi rice in a pot over the stove, with the rice always coming out fluffy and not burnt, and very yummy after tossing it in butter. But it’s the preparation of the chicken that I can still remember vividly until today.

He would cut the whole chicken to just eight pieces, no more no less. I asked why and he reasoned that it has to last him four days because he simply does not have the time to cook daily with his busy Summer schedule. With the chunky pieces rationed to one piece per meal for two meals a day, I thought it was the most convenient planning ever!

Compare that method to the preparation taken by the girlfriend on the meal she cooked for us, everything was bite size, flavored with exotic spices and very detailed in presentation. I’m not complaining but just marvelling at the efforts taken by her to ensure that the end results are perfect.

Whether the meal was cooked in simplicity for a hectic Summer schedule or meticulously for an afternoon leisurely lunch, both methods resulted in awesome tastes and I feel privileged to have friends who can cook for me.

Tonight another girlfriend will be cooking for me and I am so looking forward to the occasion and catching up with her on life.

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The final presentation complete with raisins, nuts and quail eggs

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Vege side dish

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Raita side dish

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Papadum side dish

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Dhal with lamb side dish

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The Last Session

18 Dec

Last week, I had my last therapy session for the Wrist Tendonitis and there’s good news and bad news. The good news is the tendon area has recovered well. I just need to continue with the strengthening exercises to ensure it’s strong enough for me to go back to playing golf next year.

Now the bad news. There was some tightness on the joint of the thumb! A new and unsuspecting development, stemmed from carving which I was doing extensively prior to going off to Penang. Sigh… I have to figure out the best balance and solution to this. Otherwise, horrors of all horrors, the carving has to stopped.

With Christmas around the corner, perhaps the carving can slow down or cease until the end of the year. We’ll see how it goes.

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Ugh! Monday

17 Dec

It’s always the case of needing another vacation to recover from the vacation that just concluded. Ugh! Monday.

The journey home yesterday took longer than necessary – five and a half hours, almost akin to our annual Chinese New Year trip back from hubby’s hometown up North. And this was from Penang which should be shorter. There were two stretches where the crawl was just so tiring and the rain didn’t help. After three hours, we changed drivers.

And the rain continued all the way home. Not feeling refreshed but quite the opposite, I did not even unpack, leaving it to today. Ugh! Monday and we have to be in the office.

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One Last Taste and Sight

16 Dec

We checked out and left Golden Sands Resort way before noon and much earlier than we normally would from a resort. For a change, it felt good not to rush.

We then detoured to visit hubby’s sister before we all made our way to Batu Lanchang Food Market. Finally we had our Char Kueh Teow along with other local fare (more Pasembur, Carrot Cake, Roast Pork, Otak-Otak and Fried Oysters).

After brunch, a quick visit to the Wet Market to buy fruits and experience some sights and smell before we bid Penang goodbye.

I pointed out to M2 the conventional way of how coconut milk is extracted, something teenagers these days do not get to see. I was equally amazed at the fruit stall selling bananas. So many variants!

By 2.00pm, we hit the new bridge and were on our way home.

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Know Your Breakfast Hours, Part 2

16 Dec

Today is our last day in Penang. Despite saying the night before that we will wake up early to have breakfast and a final round of sun and swim, we changed our minds this morning. As it is, the sky looked gloomy when we woke up. So we went back to sleep! But the sun did come out when we finally woke up. Oh well.

I think breakfast at this point is not important, doing what you like is better, which is to sleep in and not be in a hurry. Also I don’t think we can get an extension for a late check out if time was not on our side.

Imagine breakfast during the heavy traffic sector, I wouldn’t relax and might probably end up with an indigestion. There might not even be a table available and we would waste precious time waiting for one. Then getting a sun tan can’t get any faster because you can’t hurry the sun to burn you quicker. You know what I mean?

With the Resort’s occupancy at full capacity, they would want us to check out by noon and get the room ready for their next guest. Can’t blame them, it’s the holiday season.

So we took our time to pack, and will be having brunch instead at Batu Lanchang savoring local street food delicacies.

Goodbye Golden Sands, we had a good time. It will be some time before we come back again to experience your hospitality.

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Where Shall We Eat?

15 Dec

We all felt so lazy after the rain and just lazed in bed in the room until dinner time. And when it was time to go out, we decided to venture to the same area across the road from the resort opting for Chinese food this time.

It was simple choices of Assam Prawns, Mixed Vege, Sweet & Sour Pork and Steamed Clams. Sounds a lot for us with four dishes when we would normally order just three but I must say the portions were small.

The Clams had a tomyum oomph to it, laden with chili padi and enough flavors to tickle the tastebuds. And it was so strong that it overpowered the rest of the choices. Perhaps we ordered the others wrongly?

We were surprised to discover after the meal that the restaurant has Trip Advisor certificates! The certs were displayed proudly on the pillar in the middle of the place.

Put it this way, I certainly wasn’t impressed with the 30 minutes wait before our food was served. Hmm… we will have to give it another chance the next time I guess. Until then this experience aside, I must say we have had a fun and relaxing time this trip.

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