Scrabble

A game of scrabble? Why not. That was exactly what we did last Friday after exhausting new ideas to play with the kids. The game started with Michelle and I, later hubby and Emily joined in. The kids got bored easily and it ended up hubby and I played, the girls did the shuffling and selecting the letter that they like.. within 30 minutes into the game, hubby gave up and we "sau tong" (close shop) :( Anybody got any new games? I'm running out of games to play with my kids....

Deep thoughts on a Tues morning

Near my place is a national secondary school, "national" here means 100% fully owned, run and sponsored by the government. In Penang, national school also means school for students who do not fair well in government major examinations.

Every morning on my way to work, I will need to pass by the school, yesterday was one of the usual routine, I slowed down my car at the traffic light junction and saw that the school assembly had just over, some students were seen being held back for inspection/investigation by the prefects and disciplinary teacher (I guessed). As I observed this I wonder if this group of students will end up being "Mat rempits" (a famous term used in Malaysia for illegal motor racers/so call society problem makers) who eventually will be held for inspection/investigation by the police when they grew up (sorry for being so critical/judgemental).

As a parent, my heart sank looking at the students, they may not be my children but they are somebody's else children. I believe it is every parents' wish to see their off spring educated, well behave and be able to make a decent living when they grew up. I'm not denying that many who do not fair well in studies can still succeed later on in their career/life, but the fact is majority of these students will eventually drop out of school, roaming in the streets, exploring and fending for themselves and this is a target group for many vice operators.

I heard from many child specialists/teachers that a child's mind and character is more or less nurtured and formed by the age of 8, meaning if you fail to impart positive influences and what is right or wrong to a child by then, it's very hard for you to teach him later on. I'm not sure how true is this but this is certainly scary for parents. I believe a strong nation begins with strong family units, Malaysia is certainly lagged behind in many ways after 50 years of independence compared to our neigboring country. It's really high time our government wake up, realize and do some thing rather than spending time doing what they are doing now..(you will know what I'm talking about if you have been following up on Malaysia front pages).

Do you know some one who has gone astray?

More cooking

Since the huge hike of goods' price, I’m more cost conscious nowadays. I tend to cook more often over the weekends, typically we went out for a good meal once a week and each meal would cost us about RM40-RM60 depending where we go and what we eat. In addition MIL has borrowed a lot of cook books, she even made some copies so I’ve been trying new recipes and also improvised some of my own…. Would like to share some recipes for those who want to pamper their family right at the comfort of your home... I think most of us dread about the cleaning part not so much the cooking part right? As for me I normally do the preparation and cooking, MIL will take the back stage and do the cleaning job for me…

Wai Wai’s Chicken Teriyaki.

1)2 drumsticks with the thigh portion, de-boned

Marinate:
1)1 ½ teaspoon of sugar
2)1 tablespoon of soya sauce
3)1 tablespoon of “shau shing” wine

Sauce:
1)1 ½ teaspoon of sugar
2)1 tablespoon of soya sauce
3)1 tablespoon of “shau shing” wine
4)1 teaspoon of corn flour
5)3 tablespoon of water

Garnishing:
Slices of cucumbers/tomatoes

Marinate the chicken for ½ hour, heat 3 tablespoon of oil, spread the chicken with a thin layer of corn flour and grilled under low fire until both side is cooked. Pour out excess oil and pour in the sauce, cook until sauce thicken, shut the fire, remove from wok, garnish with slices of cucumbers/tomatoes.

Chicken Chestnut with Jellyfish Soup


1) ½ chicken, de-skin
2) 4 slices of ginger
3) 7-8 chestnuts (de-skin)
4) 4 bowls of water
5) Jelly fish (a handful), soaked for 6 hours to remove the salty taste

Bring items 1 – 4 to boil, remove and transfer into a slow cooker, let it simmer for 4 – 6 hours, pour in jelly fish and add salt to taste. Serve hot.

Linky Love

Kena tag by Ling...

This is another of those Linky Love game where you only have to tagged 10 person in one post but still there is no actual limit (you can tag more if you want!). Once tagged, you have to copy paste the link in this post, and make them grow!

BennyLiew
RamblinMoo
Mum & Kids In Wonderland
Everyday health and beauty
BabiesLZ
All About Baby Nicholas
Growing Up Together
Thirty something

I wanna tag Mamajo...

Just both of us

The other night, hubby suggested that we went for an escapee night out, just the two of us, catching up with one another, find a place and just talk. So we went to this new place called "Blue Sky", we strolled down the lanes, it was windy, found a quiet corner to sit down and just chat... it was a nice night out, thanks hubby for planning a random getaway night....

Budding artist

Hubby forwarded this to me the other day…



Later I found out that the art teacher has submitted the entry on her behalf


Wow my daughter entering an art competition…. Makes me feel that every $$ spent on her art class so far pays off, my hubby teased me that I’m so easy to be pleased… little things like that sent me to cloud nine….

Well I realized that my girls do have some artistic talent in them….. the other day I found this picture lying on the sofa:


I questioned the originator and it turned out to be a piece of artwork from Emily…. Hmm… you think I should start paying more attention in helping them harness and cultivate this talent? Who knows the girls may end up being the next Leonardo Da Vinci who not just a gifted artist but a sculptor, scientist, inventor, architect, musician and a mathematician (smack my head)……

Petai Craze

Last Saturday, suddenly I got this craze for "buah petai", the stinky beans. My mom used to cook this wonderful petai dish where it is cooked with sambal (a paste which comprised of grind chilies,dry shrimps, belacan, shallots, garlics, lime juice)and prawns cum thin slices of pork meat. It has been ages since I tasted this mouth savouring dish, it's not something mom cooked frequently due to the tedious preparation, mom used to grind those ingredients with a mortar (lesung in Bahasa)single handedly.


So on Sunday morning, right after our church service, hubby and I went for a quick lunch, I shared with him the petai craze and off we went to the nearby supermarket to get our "sambal buah petai" ingredients, luck was at our side, I managed to get all the ingredients - petai, onions, ready made sambal paste and shrimps. Unfortunately my kids don't share the same craze, I don't expect them to, anyhow it really stinks... ha ha

I cooked them for dinner and voila.... so super delicious... 80% tasted like my mom's, so fulfilled and contended....... I was so eager to try on it that I forgot to take a picture of it, anyway, it looked something like this - (picture courtesy of wikipedia).... do you like "petai"?