Xmas treats - failed

A friend threw a X'mas party at their house on this year Xmas. It wasn't a potluck dinner, but I just wanna whip something from my kitchen. Been staring at cooking website for days before the event. Bought SO-MANY ingredients - sigh, I know this's my "bad" habit; was planning so many cute sweet holiday treats...(such as meringue, berries in chocolate, etc) but...

The 1st disaster was the mixer didn't work (it was a gift, brand new, but it's a lousy one)

Then the oven's knob simply broken, so I couldn't make a guess of the temperature - couldn't adjust it. Haha.

I even couldn't melt chocolate properly, it just turn lumpy and sandy. Tell me why??!!!

Whole day of kitchen disaster.

I didn't give up, I went to my maid's house and made a mess there... She has a decent mixer and an oven, which works. This's so lousy, why me as the boss don't have anything that works properly? Hahaha

Anyway, the only "successful" things was this "Cupcake with Strawberry buttercream, topped with Strawberries or Mulberries"

My in-law insisted to bring it for the party, I didn't make much, so it's only natural that it's all gone. I wouldn't say it was a hit. It's obviously not. 

The only part that I am proud of is the mulberries, it's our garden's produce. Harvested the day before X'mas.  

Look how pretty they are - just like a blunder of black caviar :)

Feeding Frenzy

Chocolate and her 4 boys. They are about 1 month old now.
Cute, huh?

Tape Singkong

This is my first successful experience to make tape/tapai (fermented cassava).

So, this is how I made it (thx to Ling for teaching me how to make it + giving me the yeast tablets) :

1. Prepare a cassava. This one was freshly harvested from our garden, I just love the size!!! Of course you can just get it in the market rather than growing it yourself. Haha.

2. To de-skin the cassava, make a long slit vertically, and (pic 3) push your finger through the slit; the the skin will just come off easily, leaving you a white cassava rod. Wash with running water.

4. Cut to smaller pieces; preferably cut in in shorter rods. In this pic, I simply cut it into quarters, which isn't aesthetically appealing :( Oops...

Next step is:

1. Steam the cassava for about 10 mins or so (just try to stick a skewer, if it's easily poked, it's done)
2. This is what mine look like, it has a transparent edges, but the mid part is still white, but soft enough for a skewer to go through.
3. Prepare the yeast. What I have comes in tablets, so I need to grind it into fine powder
4. Then it need to be sprinkled evenly. In this pic, I put way-too-much yeast! It won't do any harm, but please just sprinkle lightly and evenly.
5. You need to put them in closed container, keep it in cool dark place for about 3-4 days. So how can you tell if it's done or not? Poke it with a skewer again; by now it'll have a texture similar to boiled-eggplant. Soft, but still holding up its shape. 
6. It tastes sweet, abit acidic with a slight alcohol punch. Yum!

Jasmine

I guess the most productive plant in my garden is Melati Putih - JASMINE.
I started it from a cutting, and it now turns into crazy bushes and still growing.
Almost everyday I harvested a box of these fragrant jasmine. I only pick the bloomed ones. Some people harvest the buds rather than the blooms; said that buds has stronger fragrance - well, only true if you are after its oil.
Usually I'll put it in our vihara's altar.
Pretty. Fragrant. Calming.

PS: According to Mr. Google, the jasmine in the picture is belonged to Jasminum sambac - Maid of Orleans.
I dunno why it named that way, not even originated from there; it's local, it's Indonesian's. It's even our National Flower :)

Seedless Guava

Guava with seeds

Have you ever had guava? The usual one will have a core of thousand little seeds. Such a mess, hate it! especially when it has more seeds than the flesh.


But not Dad's Seedless Guava :) it's literally SEEDLESS.
I love it when it's not fully ripe, just when it still have the "apple" crunch; it'll taste so sweet with abit of sour hint.

Of course you can consume it when it's fully ripe. It'll have softer texture and tastes just sweet, without tartness - not my fave, but some people prefer it this way



Here are some pics of the fruit stages:

1. The flower to be, still very tiny.
2. All swollen up, ready to bloom in 1-2 days.
3. The beautiful white flower. Only bloom for 1 day, need helps from some bees to fertilise it. Bees love it :)
4. Sign of successful fertilisation: the flower will lose all the petals and it'll grow some hip.
5. Still growing :)
6. At this stage, the fruit is huge enough to start releasing enough scent to attract fruit flies; start wrapping the fruit to avoid the attack.
7. Dad wrapped the fruit with plastic bag (inside lined with papers). Plastic is actually not a good wrapping media cos it'll trap moisture - paper is a better choice; if you still wanna use plastic, poke some holes for sufficient draining.
8. Here what's they look like when dad harvested it. Plump!
9. See!!! I told you, it's totally seedless :)

Red Srikaya

A sweet surprise in our garden. We had a Red Srikaya, member of Annona squasmosa family.
This's the first time the tree bears a fruit. We didn't expect it to be red.
And it tastes awesome, just like the green ones.

 I guess it was our mistake that we hardly label our seed-initiated plants.
But, it's always a nice surprise to see what they turn out to be :)

Series of Fortunate Events

On 2 of Dec, one of my customer's parents passed away at nearby town.
Since my parents weren't around; being polite, I attended the funeral myself (+ my manager ofcz)
We tried to fit in all schedule in: visiting other customers at that town.
But series of fortunate events showed up:

• I managed to meet up with my dear friend
• She took me to visit their vihara, 1st time ever to visit this place :)
• She also showed me which place to have nice Nasi Kapau

things are getting better!!!

• Ling recieved a sudden call: Bhante Jinadhammo Mahathera is approaching (I wasn't sure that I could catch him, but "luckily", my staff still stuck with his customer, leaving me just enough time to meet Bhante)
• I managed to meet Bhante, and invited Him to stopover at Padang the next day (all happened in 10 mins, then I had to leave)
• Arrived at Padang just in time to take care office stuff. Fuih... lucky 

At night, I recieved a call from other Bukittinggi friend, saying Bhante changed His mind about visiting Padang, due to landslide on alternate road. Well, I didn't put much hope that He'll come... so be it

But right in the morning, I got a call, Bhante is on the way to Padang!!! OMG!!!
I rushed my staff to harvest some fruits and veggie for His lunch.

• And there He is, in Padang :)
• I had a chance to prepare his lunch.
• I felt more honoured when He decided to stay overnight at our vihara. HUA!!! 
• He also asked me to prepare His breakfast next day (I woke up at 4 to prepare it :)
• During His short stay in Padang, He visited a few laymen's residences. He didn't do any blessing on my premises, but I guess it's not important :)

I am very grateful that He accepted my invitation; very grateful of all the opportunities that I had to serve, to accompany and to discuss with Him.

Things can't be more perfect :) This's really a series of fortunate events.

I forgot to add up, Porkie just had a near-fatal-incident. Porkie is fine, but I'm glad that Porkie didn't even get a scratch :)   Lucky you, Porkie...

Yummy Nasi Kapau

Had "Nasi Kapau" for lunch today at Uni Er's stall. Guess she's quite famous, since her stall is the most crowded one compares to others at the same venue - Los Lambuang, Pasar Lereng, Bukittinggi.

Btw, this place was recommended by Ling, a local Bukittinggi-er; well, if the locals are crazy about it, it must be really nice, right?

I am not a connoisseur, so I can't really tell how and why her cooking sells better than her competitors. But overall, I had a good and satisfying lunch.
I heart for the sweet-potato bits in her chicken rendang.

Here is some of the picture:

1. Here she is, Uni Er (= sister Er), the owner of the stall

2. Bowls of gulai Kapau. Uni Er will scoop your orders using her long wooden spoon

3. Ikan Raya Batalua (Fish with roes cooked in Kapau style) I wanted to have it, but I didnt. Next time I will.

4. Tambunsu (Intestine stuffed with eggs and tofu). I know it looks scary, but it wasn't as sinful as it looks. The intestine was just like a sausage casing - some people removed it before eating the stuffing.

5. Gulai Kapau, this's what differentiate gulai Kapau from other Padang cookings. Mixture of local cabbage, snakebeans, young jackfruits, bamboo shoots, etc in light coconut curry. Yum!

6. This's my plate. This's how Uni Er served it.  Simply Delicious.

Note: There are more dishes than what I showed here. Check this site out for more info.

3-D chocolate!

Look what I've got today: Cute 3D chocolate figurines :)
Thanks to dear friend, Ling. So generous :)
Btw, I don't dare to eat it yet... Too cute

Note: more pics on Ling's blog entry here

Like us, there’s more to them than meets the eye

Received a msg from my manager about the Angry Birds cake yesterday night (ard 10pm).
She mentioned about her son's bday TODAY!!!
With such limited time, I can only make one, small, undetailed figurines, using left over fondant from Bro's bday.
Yet can't think of anything for boys.
Then a friend suggested "Transformer"... Optimus Prime for the cake topper.
Surely a boy will love robot, rite?
So, I decided to make a cute chibi-version of Optimus Prime :)

Here's what I've created for hours today

I put the figurine on a muffin (just like bro's). The figurine is around 7 cm tall.
I tried to do as detailed as possible. I guess hardcore fans will find some mistakes here and there.
Somehow I couldn't make a nice gun, so I just omit it. Less violent, haha.

Thanks for the jams, Ling

A dear friend, Ling sent me 2 bottles of home-made jam: dragon-fruit jam and watermelon jam.
She packed it nicely too. Looks very sweet, isn't it?

The dragon-fruit jam has a nice colour and texture. I particularly like the feeling of those seeds inside my mouth.

And the watermelon jam kinda looks like marmalade, right?

Look how pretty when the light get through the dragon-fruit jam.

Sweet!!!

Happy 32nd B'day, Big Bro!!!

Made these Angry Birds-themed cupcakes for my Bro's Bday today.
What a struggle :) but it turned out not too bad for someone who doesn't have proper tools. *I don't even have rolling pin. Haha*
I didn't make the chocolate-muffin bottom, bought it off the shop - just didn't have enough time to finish the fondant figurines.
Basically, I made the whole figurines for... say... 6 straight hours? Arrgghhhh
Here they are:

And here are the details look:

Note:
My Bro is not really crazy about Angry Birds. It's me who loves them. Hahaha. 

Welcome Puppies :)

Chocolate - the dog at office just gave birth to 4 cute puppies. Here's a glimpse of their look.
This's her 2nd batch of litters :)
So, that'll make Ah-Ge and Ah-Pui "Big Bros" now :)

Bite Marks

Saw a nice ripe papaya on our tree today

Thought it gonna be sweet and nice
So I picked it off the tree

But look what happened??!!!

See the bite marks?

Dunno who is the culprit: fruit bats, rats or birds?

Most likely fruit bats, I think :(

RIP lil' bird

Found this lil' bird on basketball field. She's already dead.
Maybe she fell off from the nest.

There are plenty sparrows here, some of them made a nest on warehouse's roof.
Poor little bird.
I buried it under my pomegranate tree.

Hope you'll be reborn again in better place, dear lil' birdie...

Sweet Potato

Here's a picture of our sweet potato, harvested last week.
This's the biggest among all. It weighs 1.4 kg.
This giant one fills my whole hand. Not too bad at all :)

I don't dare to cook it yet, but I've tried the rest - their taste was so-so, not as sweet as expected
Maybe cos we harvested them during rainy season
Maybe I haven't cure it long enough
Or maybe cos it's not "real" Cilembu variety (I got some off Carrefour and plant it here)

Better luck next time; this time, I am satisfied with the giant size

11 11 11

I purposely didn't want to write about 11-11-11 on the exact date. I don't want to follow those people who worship the "unique date". So what about those repetitive numbers???
Anyway, I know many people wanna get married on that date.

BUT...
"Guys, let me warn you. You'll have trouble finding excuses when you FORGOT your wedding anniversary. Good Luck!!! Haha!!!"

- did i just ruin all of your romantic fantasies? yes? ow... you're welcome -

Yes, they are huge!!!

Aunty: Ming, you boobs look so big!!!

     Me: Can’t be, auntie, I am wearing loose shirt now

Aunty: Can’t hide such quality, u know

    Me: (try to cover up with my cardigan)

Aunty: Hey!!! You think my boobs is smaller than yours??!!!! Huh??!!! (sounds upset)

    Me: Eh? (confused)

Aunty: Mine is not smaller than yours, you know?? Look! Look! (pulling her neckline down & boost up her chest; whilst one hand pulling mine to ensure I look at her assets)

   Me: Oh yes. I can see that , auntie. Very nice

Aunty: I know *grinning*

In this kind of situation, I can’t do much but to be nice.
But what’s wrong with these aunties? Do they praise you just get praised back?
I am so sorry, auntie; never mean to look down on you.

YES, YOUR BOOBS ARE HUGE. And MORE THAN A PAIR, TOO. (pic shown)

Toilet Stories

Bending over into seating position; rear pouting back; one hand reaching forward, pressure applied on its palm and fingertips. Heart racing, Eye widening, ears alert , breathing heavily, focus. Focus on fingertips pressure, focus on mind, focus on tummy breathing. 

Note: Sometimes, heavy breathing is not applicable at all; as you might breathe-in some toxic fumes from your neighbours.

Other hand reaching back with some paper on its finger. Do back and forth movement, repeat if necessary. 

Note: Sometimes, this position is initiated with the hand holding a piece of paper, placed over nose and mouth just to ease the breathing. (it also works to prevent puking during this exercise)

The above description is not about exotic yoga moves. I have to admit that I do this exercise most of the time while I am in public toilet. I am not being ecstatic about yoga in toilet, but sadly this position is about me: trying to answer my nature call whilst ensuring no one break- in.

During my travelling time, visiting the ladies toilet is one of the main destinations, of course, queuing is unavoidable. Ladies for some unknown reason would spend at least 3 minutes in the toilet. I usually take less than 1 minute; I have no clue what they are doing inside. For my speedy pee-ing, I once received a comment “Did you clean yourself thoroughly? Why are you so quick in the toilet?” (--> this comment is from a man. WTF?!!!)

Of course the long queue moves slowly, for some people with loose sphincter might turns rowdy, they bang the door impatiently, yelling people to be quick, or the worst act is to BREAK IN !!!

Here are some of my experiences:

1. Just entered a toilet, suddenly get a knock-knock.

        Me: Yes, please wait. I am still inside

        Ma’am: O… sorry dear

(trying to open the door, and more louder knock)

       Me: I am still here. Please wait!!!

       Ma’am: O… sorry dear. I thought you are done. Why are you still inside?

WTF. There’s only 1 door at that tiny cublicle, where else I can go? I flew? OMG!!!

2. Just entered an exotic restaurant toilet. No lock. Big room. Ms.ABC (not real name) just finished her business, and suddenly without any voice, without any knock. My fellow travelling partner pushed the door wide, looked at Ms.ABC and said “HAHA, I saw you V”.  WTF!!! Lucky it wasn't me, I would've killed someone.

3. An absent-minded-aunty broke into my hotel room (and I dunno how she entered without key, I swear I lock it). I was in the toilet washing my hands, when I heard the room’s door is opened. I rushed out and put the security chain. I pretend that I dunno what’s going on. But when I went out to gather with the group. She boasted that “Ming2 was shitting, and I almost caught her”. WTF!!!

And many more gross stories about breaking in into toilet.

But my best experience is when I was in Holland. Stupid me, when I was given laxative pills, I took it. And guess what, I had a terrible bowel movement. Lucky me, we were on “shopping time”, the whole group was concentrated at  one particular shop. I ran off to the neighbouring shop, asked for a toilet and do my business. Feel so peaceful afterwards. Suddenly, the door was banged rudely. And I quickly get out. There were 2 ladies covering their nose promptly looked at each other. And as I go out, they were arguing: 

    You go first!/ 

No, you go first/

    So smelly/

You flush again/ 

    You…. (and they speak Medanese Chinese damn loud)

HAHAHA… The most satisfying "unloading" experience

me and make-up

What do you think of this picture? Hair stylist at LieKuang Semarang did some curls and bump for my hair. I look totally different. Kinda like it. And for the make up, the stylist helped me to put on some faux eye-lashes, the rest I did myself. Not too bad.

Btw, it was for Metta and Bailey's Wedding. Happy Wedding, dear friends :)
and for Superman, hope you enjoy your porkie day ... Don't fly too fast, k?

Braces vs. BJ

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Brace it !!!

Here is the picture of my teeth, before and after the braces was installed yesterday. There's a gap on my lower teeth that I wanna fix.
I doubt that I can withstand it for 1.5 years. The pain I can endure, but I can't stand my inability TO EAT!!!
This's a big torture for someone who likes to eat :(
Maybe I'll have it removed within days... we'll see 

ROC Centennial Celebration

When I decided to go to Taiwan for its Double Ten day, all I had in mind is, I wanna take pictures. I didn't think much nor plan about it. So, on the 9th, I was cluelessly went to register myself for an event called "庆祝中华民国建国100年国庆四海同心联欢大会" a celebration of 100th year of Republic of China with overseas Chinese. Btw, this's my 1st visit to Taiwan.

It was true that it was attended by overseas people, a lot of them (said was attended by 22,000 ppl); all swarming at Taipei Arena. The event was somewhat grand, they have some belly dancers (tell me why?), Japanese singer, Hong Kong singer, and of course some Taiwanese singers and performers.

Anyone remember Alex To 杜德偉? He was performing as the representative singer from HK, while the young ones were so bored by the song, there were a small glittering crowd that cheering non-stop for him: it was the belly dancers: fit for the seductive song 脱掉. Hahaha.  Another Taiwanese singer, Wan Cai Hua 王彩樺 was singing BoBee 保庇 (Bless Me), the young were cheering and singing along with the super silly song, but the elders were either away for toilet-break or complaining for the irritating voices. The situation changed when Judy Ongg 翁倩玉 sang, the elders were singing along, they know every single words she sang, obviously the young ones complained about the lullaby-ing songs, about to doze off there. Hahhahaa. I can see there are generation gaps here :) 

ROC flag inside Taipei Arena//Samingad-singing her Aboriginies song//President Ma//WangCaiHua performing her BoBee//dance performance (look at the lyrics, saying 中国人!!!)// young Taiwanese singer-who?// the whole performer on stage//Ms.Judy Ongg with her super slow songs.

Despite the whole grand performances, the true star of the event was of course, President Ma 马英九.

The Whole Reason of being at Airport

A young family walked into airport, suddenly the little girl stopped and called her mom “Mommy!!!” and she demanded hugs and kisses from Mom. Mom hugged and kissed her.

Mommy:  Baby, You are so sweet (holding her hand and keep walking)

   Baby :  Daddy, why Mommy not going?

Daddy : Hum? What do you mean? We are going together, three of us

   Baby :  But I wanna kiss Mommy good bye

(Overheard at Sydney Airport)

Chocolate Alive!

Who would expect worms-invested-chocolate if you get it from Italy? Well, I wouldn’t, I always thought these European countries are so developed that there won’t be such case. Plus it's from a reputable branded chocolate. Anyway, I bought these chocolates from petrol station somewhere in Italy, bought a few packs home.

One day, I munched another piece of chocolate; I get some tiny chocolate sands on its wrapping. And then I saw something moving. Oh, no!!! Wriggly Worms!!! I checked all chocolate in that bag, and they were all infested by the worms. Good nutritional addition, but urgghh, maybe not. They were all went into the bin. Btw, I checked the expire date on the pack, it’s 2 months away (in food tech world, this is still a safe period for quality and health issue)

I never heard any worm in chocolate case before. Try to google it, although I found some entry about it, but it’s very rare. Apparently it’s a moth’s larvae, it feasts on sugar and fat (that’s why they are so plump). Suspected the chocolate is contaminated before wrapped; or maybe some moth laid eggs while it was kept in my kitchen cupboard. Maybe Mom was right, chocolate meant to be kept in the fridge. Sigh… 

LPR

Isn't life funny? When you want it really bad, begging for it; yet, life didn't give it to you.
But when you finally give it up and forget it, life then surprise you with those things you really wanted long ago.
I was begging for it 2 years ago.
Now I don't even know what to do with it.
Should I keep it or should I just waive it?

Before: Eggs

Here were 4 types of eggs that I cured for salted eggs. To get the idea of their size, see the picture below.

For the brine, I didn't check the salinity, all I did was to make a super-saturated salt solution (basically I just dissolve as much salt as possible in boiling water). Cured them for about 2-3weeks :)

from top CC: goose, duck, quail, and chicken egg :)

Salted Eggs Fiesta

I believe that you will have a big grin when you see this post :) Remember the days when you picked those salted egg yolk for my congee? See, I told you that I'm low maintenance. I'll be happy just with a bowl of congee and multiple egg yolks :) I'm so cheap!!!

Salted Goose, Duck and Quail Eggs

Yes, for my love of salted egg, I made some myself. This time, I use: goose egg, duck egg, chicken egg, and quail egg. 

After 3 weeks, the results are as in the picture.

     1. Goose egg. 

Notice the big air sac? I think, that's my mistake, cos I didn't manage to drown the whole egg in brine. There's a part of it still floating, thus resulting in the air sac. The taste was not as salty, as predicted, due to its big size. The yolks is not as fatty as duck's, but still, it's not too bad.

     2. Duck egg. 

The standard one. And to my surprise, it was the saltiest among all kind (given same curing conditions). So this must be the reason why ppl use duck egg rather than others, it absorbs the brine in most efficient time.

     3. Chicken egg. 

Not as salty as duck's. The yolk is not too fatty, not too salty. It's just perfect. I wonder why chicken egg is not popular as salted egg.

     4. Quail egg. 

I was expecting quail egg to be the saltiest among all. But nope, it pars with chicken egg, though its yolk has a greyish hue. It's quite fatty too. Perfect saltiness. 

Salted Chicken Egg vs Quail Egg

Note: 

Apart from goose eggs, others, at raw states has form the ball yolk. Perfectly salted usually have a ball-y yolk. Look at this tiny quail egg yolk. so tiny compare to chicken's. I didn't have a chance to check raw goose egg, since I only have 1 of it :)

Raw salted Quail egg vs. Chicken egg

Next project will be: free-range chicken egg :) let's see how it'll turn out to be!!!

Moreton Island - Tangalooma Resort

This act is called sand-toboganning: climbing up to a steep sandy mountain, get a piece of board, kneel down, and slide to the base of the steep mountain. I did a good job that day. I am proud to say that I was sliding the furthest from the rest of my batch. Too bad that no-one video-ed me, but I swear that I was performing very well :)

At night, we fed the wild dolphins. I fed Storm. I had to queue in a cold and windy night. Can't wear any jacket with the wet-pants on, plus you need to dip your whole arm inside the water to feed them (see pic). But it was all worth it. Dolphins are wonderful creatures, they are so friendly. I wish I could play with them, of course they don't allow us to do so. They are wild ones, don't want them to be dependent on humans. 

Stinky feet in economy flight IS a disaster

Before I write any article about my last holiday in Australia, I wanna write about what happened on the flight from Sydney to Jakarta. It was an awful 7 hours flight. And it's all because I was suffocating throughout the flight; thanks to my fellow passenger who has the most awful-smelling-feet.

I found this picture on the net. And this pretty much resembles what happened during the flight. 

I am not someone who likes to pop sleeping pills on a flight, so as usual, I watch the inflight movies. Then suddenly I smell something funny, I kept looking to the lady sitting next to me. She didn't do anything. She's fine. So, I rest my body to the seat again, and had the smell again! I looked at my arm-rest, and to my horror, there was a huge-bare-stinky-feet-with-stubby-toes from the passenger sitting behind me. HUAAAA!!!

So, that was the source of that awful-rancid-smell. I tried to be polite, cos he is an Indonesian, and Indonesian usually happy to torture someone else; I didn't want to confront him, so I need him to remove his feet voluntarily: so I kept fanning the air and his feet ~ happened for at least 2-3 minutes. I know he got the idea, but he insisted not to remove his feet. But as I said before, Indonesian are happy when someone else is having trouble. Your problem is not my problem, they said.

I was reluctant to criticize his feet, but I couldn't stand it; so pressed the "help" button. I need flight attendant to rescue me. And before the flight attendant arrived, the OZ aunties (sitting opposite me) who has been staring, winking and smiling at me took an action. She asked the guy to remove his feet from my handrest. Of course, the guy was pretending not to hear nor understand what the lady said. But she insisted, making gestures that his feet was about to make others puke.

He did remove his feet. Finally!!!

Maybe I was becoming paranoid, or maybe his feet was super smelly. Cos for the rest of the flight, the smell was still lingering. I end up putting mask and small towel on my face, just to filter the air. And never felt happier when we finally landed in Jakarta.

Black Lily

I found this tiny beautiful flower early this morning in my garden.

It looks like Voodoo Lily (Amorphophallus) minus the awful smell, so it can't be it. Voodoo Lily should be gigantic.

Near the flower was a small leaf looks like yam's leaves; and the patch was used to grow yams.

With the help of Mr. Google, I found this link, seems like yam have lily-type of flower too.

Nature's Own Roasted Corn

Some accidents can lead to nice surprises. Just like this corn of mine. It should be normal yellow sweet corn. But maybe it get contaminated by last season's Red Aztec Corn's pollen (I dunno how it happened!!! I used Time-Isolation-Method to avoid cross-breeding). At the end, we end up with "Nature's Own Roasted Corn" look. Btw, it tasted just like normal sweet corn. Nice!!!

Bags of Pleasures

For straight 10days of my Italy trip, all I see from them is the urge to get those branded bags. They were more excited when they entered those boutiques rather than entering a tour site.  They were not eyeing for the latest model, but the higher the price the more tempting it is. I am talking about those high-class ladies that I know. Even the beauty of the exotic islands couldn’t make them blink from those blings. 

Observing them, what I see were:

• When they planned what to buy, they couldn’t even close their eyes – those were jovial sleepless nights. 

• When they hunted for those bags, they ignore all the pain of long walk. When they plunged in the shop, I can see the spark of excitements in their eyes. 

• When they were carrying those big wrapped bags, you’ll know that they were walking in cloud nine. 

I always envied them. I envy the “pleasure” that they get simply by possessing those branded bags. How I wish I could taste the same pleasure. Some will walk tall carrying those bags, some can’t stop studying the beauty of their newly bought bags, some won’t stop smiling, and some will even boast non-stop about their bags. I tried it before; peer-pressure got me into it. I know I am not a bag person, but I still got myself a fancy expensive bag. People all “greeted” me for choosing an expensive piece, but yet I didn’t get those excitements; making me more and more remorse. 

I am not against expensive bags, it’s just that I wanna ensure I get the pleasure that I deserve from spending big amount of money. On this trip, I get a little wiser; I didn’t force myself to buy anything that I don’t like.  All I did was watching them turning on their built-in GPS system on tracking boutiques without knowing a single word in local language(!!!), asking the bags they want by using body language and pictures saved on their Blackberry-s (smart uh!!!) and witnessing them jumping joyfully to get their early Christmas gifts (Yipppiieeee!!!). How I envy them, how cheap it is to pull a smile on their pretty faces. I am yet to find out what will make me smile like them. Maybe a whole cart would. Hahaha.

FYI, I was the only person that didn’t queue up at the tax-refund counter at the end of the trip, and am very proud of it 

When In Rome

Trevi Fountain

The weather was damn hot. So many humans standing on the side of the super famous Trevi Fountain, there was barely a spot without human - at least there are 500++ hanging around there.  The fountain was so huge, so grand; the whole thing is made of marble. The statues and carvings are so alive, very amusing.  The crowd looked like stranded whales – they hardly moved and were happy to expose their skins to the sun; but not me, I tried to cover up to avoid sunburn, trying to get away from the crowd after a few snaps. We only spent a few minutes there; soon our tour leader was herding us to the other spot, Spanish Steps.

Spanish Steps

The Trevi Fountain is one of the must visit spot in Rome, fountain was even showed in the super cheesy movie “When in Rome” – throw a coin, make a love wish, it’ll come true (or throw a coin, to ensure your return to Rome). Hahhahaa. Of course I didn’t throw any coins there. I better spend my coins on yummy gelatos near the fountain, I took 2 cones. Hahaha!!! J Trust me, real Italian gelatos are amazingly yummy – I am such a slave of my own tongue, yearning for delicious tastes.

But the real reasons why I didn’t wanna spend a coin and make a love-wish are: first, I don’t believe that it will work; second, at this moment (at least at that very moment) I wasn’t interested to find any love. I don’t hate my ex-es, I didn’t have any traumas, and last time I checked I am not lesbian… yet. I am just not interested.
Plus, I believe I’ll come back to Rome someday without throwing any coins. 

Live this Moment

Do not dwell in the past, Do not dream of the future, Concentrate the mind on the present moment  ~ Buddha

I definitely can’t let go my bitter past yet. Hopefully I can, somehow
I wouldn’t care about dreaming of the future; I am worried about it. I do not have a slight clue of what is going to happen. Damn it!!!
And by writing all these stuffs, I am certainly not in present moment.

Obviously, I am not a Buddha

Bullying Past

The high school boys were practicing their act for the day. I was watching parts of their rehearsal. I could see that they were trying to get my attention. Somehow, I could sense it. I am much older than them now. I know I am looking attractive and confident.
I was fascinated by the idea of being idolized by high school boys. But when they started to approach me, I retreated. I was scared.

I know they couldn't and wouldn’t do anything bad to me. And I know they wouldn’t really woo me. I guess they are just curious. But still I was scared. I notice my feeling – scared. I suddenly just wanna run away and hide. And I wonder why?

I looked at them and realized the idea of “cute boys” were missing from my past, my high school past. There were no cute boys woo-ing me before. In fact, those “past boys” were bullying or calling me names for being different, fat, and nerdy. Although I know that it’s all in the past. Why can’t I make myself walking away from it? Why are those memories still lingering in my mind? Why am I still scared? Why am I still afraid to be mocked by them?

UP

Watch this, then you'll find yourself smiling and flying UP UP and away... Rite, Mr. Carl Frederickson??? see more here

SiChuan Getaway

Tomorrow I am going for another China trip, yet I haven’t write any about my last Sichuan trip. So, I’ll make a quick one about it.

sleepy toddler panda

It was my second trip to SiChuan, 5 years apart. Of course, things were completely different back then, we took train, stayed in 2 star hotel accompanied by cockroaches, and had almost vegetarian meals throughout the trip. We were not vegetarian, but our budget was quite tight. But it was fun and memorable, things that cannot be duplicate – travelling with lovely friends; we were young, fun, fearless, curious and thrifty. Hahaha. Not that my recent trip wasn’t fun. It was. But you somehow recall those sweet memories. Anyway, let’s start.

So, we arrived to the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu. It’s 3rd largest city in China, nice place, nice weather and nice food. It is the home of Ma La Huo Guo, famously known abroad as “Chinese Hotpot” – they put the Sichuan pepper too inside. Chengdu is developing fast, last time I was here, I remember that its airport was decently nice, but now it’s so big and they are still continuing the construction.

SiChuan operas

We visited ShuFengYaYun Tea House on Qinghai rd. Here they have daily show of SiChuan opera, traditional music performance and the super famous “Changing Face”. Note that Changing Face is originally comes from Sichuan, its secret passed down through generations, and so far, no spoilage. Btw, they serve some tea and peanuts; my advice is please have the tea, but leave the peanuts – kinda old. Here I show you some of the pics I took that night.