L-e-t u-s t-a-l-k!!!

Early this week i got a call from my mum , who is really so so cute without even trying!!! She started the conversation about the maid. Somehow she thinks the maid can understand both Hokkien and English now! ( thanks to dad who regularly teaches her a few English phrases!) Anyway her conversation started like this ~
QUOTE <
The m-a-i-d got a l-e-t-t-e-r from her m-o-t-h-e-r today and she wants her to buy a h-a-n-d-p-h-o-n-e . She also wants her to go back in M-a-y. I told her that the a-g-e-n-t says they arent allowed to have h-a-n-d-p-h-o-n-e-s . In the night i heard the sound of a b-e-l-l in her room. It makes the sound r-i-n-g r-i-n-g , like the b-e-l-l on your anklet! I asked her what it was and she said that its the r-a-d-i-o. And this morning , she was cutting the s-t-a-r f-r-u-i-t , and she was cutting it the shape of s-t-a-r-s. i told her to stop cuz we dont cut the f-r-u-i-t that way! But she refused to stop. And she even cut up a ton of g-ar-l-i-c to keep . i told her that those dont keep well but she insists they do!! >
UnQUOTE
The conversation was longer than this but believe me it sure felt really really long cuz it was not easy deciphering all her spellings! Its not that i cant spell , u try it out and see how difficult it is to listen and make out spelled out words like that. NO wonder we talk like that when we dont want our kids to know what we are talking about! Heck even adults cant decipher it!!! LOL i tried it with my sis and she was like huh?? what?? wait wait , spell it again , h-a-n what??? ...and what's g-a-r-l-i-c? ... Phew!!! But that is my mum for u!!!! So next time u want to tell a secret and don't want to whisper u can try this , it sure makes it tough for the other person to get your drift. By the time they figure out what m-e-n-o-p-a-u-s-e is , i would be 70!!!!
K-N-O-W W-H-A-T I M-E-A-N ????

E-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d-!!

Auntie, that's me !

With nothing better to do, since it was pretty quiet in the office, I logged into my niece’s blog - one which I am not supposed to know exist. There are pictures of her in her graduation gown, for rehearsal purpose, I reckon, as her exam results will only be out today. (ie. Thursday, 29th Nov.) If she does well, she’ll soon be wearing her cap & gown for real. 21 already? She looks so cute, doesn’t she? (I curi curi cut and paste her photo… shhhh…) Does she look old enough to be a graduate?
(P.S. At time of writing results were NOT out yet… but it has taken me days to write this and at time of publish, yeap, she got through and will be graduating next month, I think. Congrats !)



Mei Leng ‘s kids came back for their holidays and the family came over for dinner last Monday. As always, each time they come back for holiday, the boys bring me crossword books from Australia. Do they do it out of a sense of duty or are they really fond of their Auntie, me? Hmm… I wonder?

After the visit from them and whilst browsing through Sue Li’s blog, a feeling of melancholy struck me and I kind of, felt old. How big they’ve grown, my nephews and nieces! Thank God they have matured to become such fine & decent young people. Not like some kids, boys with long messy hair etc … shudder .. shudder !! I would never say it out loud, but I really am so proud of them and yes, I am fond of them too, more than they will ever know or guess!

What impression do they have of me? When they were young, I guess I wasn’t much of a doting aunt. Kids scared me (and still do) and the best thing I could do was ignore them. Whenever I speak to kids, it always comes out sounding harsh, and they end up terrified. Yes, best thing is to ignore them! Besides, come to think of it, Mei Leng’s kids were brats when they were younger! Mei Mei’s were so quiet that you hardly noticed them. What more, when we sisters get together, its difficult for anyone to get any words in edgewise as we will all be babbling at the same time. Blah blah blah… If everybody’s talking at the same time, who is listening? I remember clearly the 2 girls following Mei Leng’s eldest around - as if he was a much adored idol. That was so cute. Must have been uncomfortable for Cheng Rui though. I doubt he appreciated the attention he got from the 2 girls at his age then.

Kids, you have lived such charmed and sheltered lives. Everything has been taken care of and paid for by your parents so far. Soon though, you will have to venture out into the world to make a living. I fret and worry about each of you, how will you cope being exposed to the harshness & realities of life? What do you know about survival in the outside world? I pray that whatever challenges and trials you go through will serve to strengthen you into becoming responsible and caring individuals.

What words of wisdom can I bestow upon you? Have I set any fine examples for you to emulate? (snicker, snicker .. what ? a die hard cigarette smoking gambler???) Maybe, by way of example I may have failed you guys totally. But I want each and everyone of you to know, I will always be here for you. That is my promise to you. Just so you know.... I am afterall, your aunt.

F

sawadeekah........

SAWADEEEEEEKAHHHHHH.......

Day 1 - 19 Nov 2007

Yup, I am back.......from my holidays and also to blog after such a long absence. Like the title suggest..... (in hokkein) 3 wah ti kah ... hahahaha... (get it ???). Thats another way of learning Thai. I was in Krabi / Trang, Thailand last week for 5 days holidays with my family. We flew Air Asia lah.... - Now everyone can fly mah. Our flight from LCCT was on time :-) but we have to wait for 2 different families that were late on board. The plane could not take off as these passengers have checked in and their names have been manifested, somehow or rather the plane have to wait for them. Macam lah VVVIP. We waited for about 10 mins for them and the pilot was not happy at all. He waited for them at the door and stop them from boarding. They were questioned as to why they were late and he gave them a good lecture. So once everyone was on board, the runway pulak jam... aiyooooo...... runway oso can jam... how lah. There were too many planes landing and taking off, so have to wait in line. We waited for about 20 mins before our flight was permitted to take off. After take off, the pilot announce that we could have arrived our destination earlier but because of these passengers (irresponsible), we had to queue for take off. Then kena lecture again on what time must check in ..blah.. blah... blah....

Wah din know, Krabi airport is so much better than our LCCT. Betul betul.. cannot imagine. Spanking new and cantik. Anyway, we went through Immigration with breeze and on the way out, already saw my name on the placard liao. Our transport was waiting for us. We were on our way to Trang which is 1 1/2 hour drive from Krabi. As our arrival in Krabi was almost to lunch time, I tried to tell my guide but he cant even speak english. Alamak... die die..... how lah. So have to use Universal sign language. First show the time on my watch, then my left hand act as a bowl and my right hand like scouping food into my mouth. Then I have to rub my stomach and viola.. he smile.... which either meant I look stupid or he understood. No words was exchange and I told my family c lor...... its like chicken and duck story... hahaha... finally when we were almost reaching our hotel, the van stop outside a cafe. !! He understood.... yea yea..... food.. food..... So, we quickly whisked ourselves into the cafe and sat down. Menu was placed on our table. When we open the menu, my children says.. mummy, I cant understand what is written on the menu somemore no pictures to point and order. Oh boy,,, what a way to begin our holiday. So luckily one of the waitress came and I said - No understand thai... English only. Thank god, she understood and quickly came back with the English version. We ordered 3 x fried rice, spagetti and 2 x noodles and whack everything down in a jiffy. :Luckily food came as quickly as we ordered. Hungry visitors....... Lunch approx. RM50. With our stomach fill up, we were looking forward to checking in and resting. So arrived the hotel which is approx. 10 mins drive from where we had lunch. Another adventure, as the front desk says No reservation under my name.... aiyooo.... apa jadi lah. Quickly called my agent and after a few blah blah..... then finally...... yes got room. When the front dest asked me if I have any written confirmation, I answer "no hap" My girl was wondering why suddenly my english has gone "berserk"....hahaha.... Wah.. finally dapat jugak room. We didnt wonder too far from our hotel as we need to get ready for dinner. Agent has kind enough to buy us dinner - what dinner and where we oso donno. If we all really kena kidnap, may God help us - we are all sitting ducks and chicks. When we arrived, the place looks like hangout for the locals, serve bar-b-q, seafood. Wah... betul betul kenyang.... ada prawns, otak-otak, squid, tomyam, clear fish head soup, veggies, fish.. aiyo makan until tak boleh masuk... burp.... The food kept coming......

Day 2 - 20 Nov -The next morning, we had leisure breakfast at the hotel. By the way, the hotel is Thumrin Thana hotel. (according to locals, it is the best hotel in town). Not 5 star lah. We were all adventurous to try some of their local food and there were quite good. They only charged my kids - THB750 each. Damn cheap !! We checked out right after breakfast and the island resort, Koh Ngai resort had sent in their pick up to fetch us to the pier. From the hotel to the pier took about 45 mins. Once we arrived at the pier, we had to pay marine fees of THB200 each adult, children was free. They normally charged THB100 for children. Maybe got promo for kids...hehehe.. The ferry ride took about approx. 40 mins from the mainland to the Koh Ngai resort. Ah... adventure begins the moment we arrived Koh Ngai resort. The ferry could not reach the beach due to low tide, so we had to transfer to smaller boat. Our luggages was transfered to another boat as well. Almost reaching the beach, we had to jumped into the water and walk to the beach - kaki ayam. Fun begins already... Arrived the hotel with welcome drinks waiting for us. Wah... cold cool fruit cocktail. Checked in and then it was time for lunch. Wah....hungry stomach and luckily food came pretty fast. Presentation of the food was good and taste also good. Will try to put some photos in later.

Day 3 - next blog.

food ... from a different perspective

I've been hounded & badgered by a certain food connoisseur to contribute to the blog. Nag, nag , nag... So regardless of whether I have anything interesting to write about or not, I better come out with a post today.

I was sort of whining to a friend the other day that I was out of topic... If I write yet another dog story, I sure kena hantam-one.That caused me to hesitate even tho' I was bursting to tell anybody willing to listen - how I rescued 1 of 2 puppies from a manhole despite the obstacles, and how, today the 2 of them are named "Ah Sar & Ah Kiew". (after the HK singers, "The Twins" - Gillian Chung & Charlene Choi.) So cute leh.

My friend said it was natural for bloggers to write about their passions, E about Food and me about Dogs. As for S, she doesn't keep reverting to 1 particular issue so guess she is inscrutable where her passion is concerned! Miss Mysterious.....

It is strange that 4 of us attended the same buffet dinner and whereas E can go on and on about the food, I was walking around and around and around wondering what to eat ! Oysters to me is yuckks-tastes just like mud. Suchi and all those uncooked food are doubly yucks! Basically I am a meat person and it has to be 'well done'. It was a sad day for me when I reached the end of the food counter and learnt that there wasnt's any roast lamb or chicken wings/chops or steak. Aiyoh, satay pun tak ada!

How to get my money's worth leh? Even at half price, it was still about RM 43.00 per head.. tsk tsk.. many packets of cigarettes. I couldn't tapow any food for the strays because M moved our seats from a secluded corner to somewhere really conspicuous - next to the coffee/tea counter manned by a waiter throughout the evening. I then thought to myself, "nyak-ah-ah, (sneaky laugh) at least I can drink 7 cups of coffee!" But alas, even the coffee was too bitter for my liking and goodness gracious, I only drank 1 cup!

Sigh ... the only consolation was seeing the rest of them enjoying plates after plates of so-called goodies! One man's meat is another man's poison... how true... Having said that, do I get to choose the venue for my birthday treat next month, do I, do I? And please don't anyone dare tell me that they are on a diet then!

F

Chocolate overload

It's November and by the looks of it , no one seems to want to post anything yet AGAIN!! So i took the liberty to start off a post for November since its one of the FEMS' birthday this month. By the way its the inactive FEMS member who just turned ...erm... ok , don't worry FEMS i wont disclose OUR age! 3 of us down , 1 more to go b4 we hit the MID-life whatever!
Let's start off with the 1st Sunday of November. We had a chiapkoot session at F's villa with only 3 FEMS members and my youngest sis-in-law who happens to be a keen kaki. I only found that out after she left the country for a few mths to pursue some illegal activities ( hahahaha) in UK! Oops, ... hush-hush... i can still hit the delete button but never mind la, she is back safely here now :) but none the wiser! HAHAHAHA! Anyway back to that Sunday, it was a fun and profitable session for me ( and S) . We planned to have another session on Thursday ( Deepavali ) and said that we would finalise that later.
Monday came and i had to skip my workouts in the gym for M's birthday treat. We went to Sunway's Sun N Surf for buffet dinner since we had a good deal, using the UOB credit card and getting 50% off the bill!! The spread was ok ~ i would say the main courses were nothing to shout about BUT the dessert spread was to die for!!! U know me lah, i am Miss SWEET TOOTH , so the sight of that chocolate fountain had me grinning from ear to ear! OK lah, the appetisers are kind of good too . I ate about 8 raw oysters, some sushi and sashimi, a California roll, a tom yum soup, some main courses and then jumped, skipped, galloped and danced my way to the dessert table over and over again :) I had the cheesecake , the apricot pudding , the choc fudge cake, the black forest cake and tartlets. yes yes ALL that. And M was asking me why i only brought ONE dessert spoon with me .... Little did she know that i was NOT sharing my desserts!!! Helloooooo, got many many cakes there la , u go get yourself la, My plate full already!!!! hehehehehe! M nibbled a bit off my place ( yes she went and got herself a spoon and ate off my plate!!!) When her spoon came back for more , i had gobbled down all my "sweeties" and she was like WAH u finished all ???? YESSS :) And i went for more! This time i played with the chocolate fountain :) dipping the marshmallows and strawberries into the flowing chocolate. DROOL-ICIOUS!! And M had a better idea which was doubly chocolatey! She dipped the choc fudge cakes into the choc fountain too! Wahhhhhhhhhh, sinfully ecstatic! Needless to say i was all chocolated out that night. I came home and suffered the consequences like a kid who overdid the candies! I went to bed with a tummy ache , and felt the same nauseous feeling the next day! I dont think i can look at another chocolate for ....let's see...... a week???? HAHAHAHA!
( i really didn't want to make this a food post, HONEST !! ..... but FOOD is my passion ~ what to do? )

Ex-chocoholic ( for a week)

The Melting Pot

The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which homogeneous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures, races and religions) are combined so as to develop a multi-ethnic society. In this post , though, the melting pot is Me, or rather to be more specific , its my tummy!

The last week had been yummy-licious where my palate is concerned. I had a wonderful combination of different food. Our multi racial country has provided me with a wide array of friends from every race , so i had the pleasure of savouring all the delicious food from each culture.

Being Chinese but a terrible cook, i always look forward to eat-outs! And when i was invited to a Chinese dinner by some friends , i was delighted. It was just a simple dinner , but the company was good and the food , though simple, was drool worthy! I think i ate like i was a starved refugee but then again i just got out from my gym ( which is alot like a boot camp!! Phew!) Steamed la-la, fried tofu with minced meat , fried long beans ( the shorter lean ones!) and fried rice were served and i gobbled all that down. My friends seemed to eat like birds , maybe it was cuz they saw how dangerous i looked and were afraid to venture into the food for fear that i might fork them with my utensils!!! Hehehehehe, sorry ah??? Greedy me! But thanks for the dinner , G! U know who u are :)

2 days after that face stuffing , i went for an open house ~ malay style!! Its the Raya open house and we sat on the floor around the mats. The food was totally malay in nature and i loved it all!!! The beef rendang was my fave and i had 3 helpings! Once again , pardon the PIG! The fried noodles , wahhhhh, very unusual .... with a strong aroma of serai (lemon grass) . MMMMMMM, love it! i asked for the recipe and even "tapow" that home! The malay cookies look too good to be destroyed in my mouth but pigs don't usually appreciate art! So gobble gobble! The curry puffs were to die for , and the girl who brought that said that her mum makes those to sell. So i know where to order divine curry puffs from now on .... and cheap too! ( 40 sen FYI) . Oh and one more thing that i cannot omit from this post ~ the home made cakes!!! WAHHHHH, the fruit cake ( most definitely steamed cuz it was so moist and succulent! ~ the fruits lah i mean , how can cakes be succulent!) I am the food expert u know! :P And then the kek batik , wow... soft but not too sweet with the sinfully rich layers of chocolate! AMBOIIIIII! ( i think i have to wear a bib now! ) Moahs to the GYM friends!

Another 2 days later, it was time for home made Indian food! AYOYO, ah-mama!!! One of my friends is married to an Indian and even tho she is Chinese , her cooking skills puts my other Indian friends to shame! Her fish curry was out of this world! We finished the whole pot of fish curry and one of us even sucked dry the fish head , spitting out all the tiny bones. Well , at least the fish died for a good cause!!!! The mutton curry was indescribable and the good thing was 2 of our friends were fussy eaters and they don't like the smell of mutton! SMELL , what smell!!! its all aroma la!!! BOD! Hehehehehe, less men more share, so its yayyyyyyyyyyy!! The rest of the food were some pumpkin chutney , this is the first time i had that , and i thought it was potatoes . I am not a pumpkin lover ~ i thought pumpkins were only for Halloween carvings!!! And there was the dhall curry , and fried veggies. Then came cookie time, and my sweet tooth never refuses these. The corn flakes/cocoa pop cookies were good but my fave was the choc almond cookies. The ladies were watching their weight so i "hantam" their share!!! Hey, come Deepavali , we are invited over there again :) Thank u, P!!!

Then yesterday night, ooooooooooo, my line dance student handed me a nice huge container and in it was scrumptious Apple crumble! I must have died and gone to heaven :) I ate half of it , topped with vanilla ice cream for supper , and finished the rest for breakfast this morning. Sigh, i am now watching my weight so apple crumble was WITHOUT ice cream this morning! HAHAHAHAHA! Hey, every calorie counts , ok???? wink wink! KONON!! .... Specially for Betty: A million thanks to Miss Sarawak!

E-lated tummy!

cooking porridge on the phone!

Our local Telco has been advertising their "puas puas" talk package and i didn't really pay much attention to it. i am a very sceptical person and don't really trust any new, free or special offers. But when they happened to call me up to tell me that i should try out this package, i was not even home to take the call. My oldest girl was home tho and she took the time to listen to all that blah blah involved. She took down notes and said that she will calculate the savings i can make IF i do take up this offer. It took a while to move this stubborn procrastinator but i did eventually move my butt to the local Telco office and got some stuff done. I had procrastinated a long time ~ but i finally cancelled one unused phone line that i pay 25Rm for every month, terminated my very old dial up line that i pay 20-ish RM for annually, upgraded hubby's office Internet and last but not least , i got this new "cooking phone porridge" package all for RM68!This new move meant i can make free and unlimited local calls till like forever , i think !!! As for nationwide calls, i can make the same unlimited and free calls too , from way up north to down south Johor :) inclusive of sabah and sarawak. This will only be applicable till the end of the year. So i have about 2.5 mths to enjoy that.My first free nationwide call was to my mum and dad who are up north. That call didn't even last 4 min cuz they had guests to entertain. My next victim was my sis , also up north , and she was at work . That call didn't even last 2 min!!!! Sigh, so much for cooking porridge!!!! My sis called me back later on her mobile phone and we talked for 15 min ( she paid for it !!!! nyah ha ha !) Later that night, i phoned my dad again and he picked up the phone and just laughed!!!! He said that he knew it was me when the phone started to ring! Yeah yeah, that's the free-phone-calls kiasu one! He said he would make a list of people i can call all over the country ~ most of them would be relatives. I am sure all of them will be wondering what got over me and why i am harassing them!!!! So needless to say , up till now, i have not called anyone yet. i don't want to be a pest!!!Its been 11 days since i activated this package and the porridge isn't cooked yet!!! Ah well, as long as i am paying less for my phone bills every month , its ok. Cooking rice is just as good a reason to get a new offer package!

E-xpect a call from me!!