生日。2010

今年生日过得还不错

先是跟朋友一起去Nando 吃晚餐

过后还上J家去坐

上她家去坐是假的

唱生日歌吹蜡烛吃蛋糕才是真的

原来J亲手做了蛋糕给我

这也是她第一次做到蛋糕

好惊喜、好高兴、好感动哦

玲刚从埃及回来、也买了一条围巾送给我

还有阿升送我的手表

谢谢你们、谢谢玲和J陪我渡过生日

至少今年不用一个人在家

开着温岚唱的‘祝我生日快乐’！

At Nando Chicken

J 亲手为我做的第一个蛋糕

Ling 从埃及寄来的明信、送的围巾和书签


阿升送给我的手表

Chicken Curry + Udon Noodles 咖喱鸡加乌东面

搬过来Aberdeen 快一个月半了，仍然还无法适应这里的天气。

以前住在贝法时还常抱怨那里的天气变换无常，怎知这里的天气是无法预测的无常！
贝法的冬天，我还能穿着牛仔裤、短袖加件冬衣在路上行走。
Aberdeen 的冬天，除了牛仔裤和冬衣，我还需要多穿裤袜和长袖再加手套。
大风的时候，还是会觉得很冷。
也许这里是英国的东北部，所以气候也比较寒冷。
寒冷的冬天，最想念的食物，就是那碗热腾腾的汤， 来保暖保暖。
肉骨茶、咖喱鸡、火锅等都是在冬天里最期待的食物。
那天心血来潮，煮了咖喱鸡来吃，味道很好，又简易（因为是用市面上调好的咖喱酱料煮的）。
咖喱汤又热又辣，阿升和我吃了都还想再吃。

这次用的是虾面酱料，和咖喱鸡酱料的味道不同。我还是比较喜欢用咖喱鸡的酱料来煮咖喱鸡，阿升却喜欢这个味道，他说这个有“虾味”， 比较香。



前面这碗是我的，后面大碗的是阿升的。


这次用了乌东面，口感还不错，吃了还想再吃。

材料：
鸡腿 6个
马铃薯 4个（大）
button mushroom 10 颗
蟹柳 6条（依个人喜欢）
芽菜 1饭碗
洋葱（中） 半个

煮法：
1）将鸡腿、马铃薯和button mushroom 洗净，把鸡腿切一半，马铃薯切成小块，button mushroom 切成四份一大小。先把切好的马铃薯浸泡在盐水，以免发黑。
2）把洋葱切碎后， 热锅。
3）放入油，把洋葱炒香后放入鸡腿块、马铃薯和button mushroom炒熟。
4）加入虾面酱料，再炒一会。
4）煮滚开水，加入炒熟的材料，焖煮30分钟或直到马铃薯变得松暖。
5）把乌东面谈烫熟，放入碗里。
6）把蟹柳、芽菜煮熟（要保持芽菜的脆度），倒如放有务东面的碗里， 最后把咖喱鸡也倒入碗里。完成、上桌！

Hainanese Chicken Rice

I was invited to have lunch in one of my friend's house last two weeks. The lunch was so nice and impressive. we had had Hainanese chicken rice with the soup, cranberry, pecan and white chocolate cheesecake as dessert, all were prepared and cooked by my friend. She is really a wonderful wife!

The Hainanese chicken rice cooked by my friend, Ling. It is nicely decorated. The chili sauce is hot and spicy, it complements the chicken perfectly.


Cranberry, pecan and white chocolate cheesecake, made by Ling.

Alright, it is my turn now! First of all, I am not a good decorator and neither in photography, I only "focus on eating", haha! It takes about 3 hours to prepare and cooking it. There are divided into three steps, first: cook the chicken and then put it into a cold water bath; secondly: use the chicken soup to cook the rice; third step: prepare the chili sauce. The recipe was taken from the Steamy Kitchen.

The Hainanese chicken.

Chong likes bean sprouts and therefore specially cook this steamed bean sprouts together with the chicken rice. This became our home-cooked "Asian" Christmas meal. He likes it very much and keep asking when will I cook again.

The snow and sub-zero temperature

It had been snowing heavily before and after Christmas. The snow on the ground and the untreated surfaces are too icy, it tends to make people fall. The temperature was just below freezing but with a brisk wind, the chill factor will probably make you feel bitterly cold more like -9^oC.

The streets are so crowded during this time of the year (Before Christmas). Everyone was busy with their Christmas shopping. I had been busy shopping for food a few days before Christmas having realised that the shop will normally close earlier on Christmas eve and Boxing day. No shop will be opened on Christmas day. I remember the day when I arrived in one of the local supermarket, I was shocked as all the poultry in the display racks were sold out. I then ran to the other supermarket for poultry. The journey was prolonged as the icy roads were slippery and I nearly fall for some times. It was really tiring. I was thinking then to invest on sensible footwear to keep me balance.

The streets become quiet during Christmas day, you can hardly hear the sound of the car pass-by. All shops were closed. Everyone were at home celebrating the cold Christmas. The traditional Christmas dinner would be roasted turkey with some trimmings. Instead of sitting at home doing nothing, I cooked the Hainanese Chicken Rice for the first time. It was successful. Chong said, “Thumbs up”. I will upload the photo someday later.

Snows- The magic blankets, it hides those ugly and makes everything beautiful.

The thickness of snow on the ground impede motion, prolonged one's journey, it is at least 10cm.

We normally saw this in the freezer (the older version), but I saw this in the car park beside train station. The effect of supercooling!



I was so excited and dreaming about the white Christmas when it started to snow, however, it actually snow before and after Christmas!



Row of small Christmas trees were covered by the snow.

Uncle Tan, You'll be fine!

昨天在Facebook 看到表哥的留言，心里忽然酸了一下。

姑丈在前天晚上的晚餐后，

突然晕倒，目前还在医院的加护病房里。

听表姐说他昨晚有醒来一下下， 但还未完全清醒。

我们都很担心，也不知所措，

医生说这可能是中风的状况，需要再详细的检查，

姑姑也担心地哭了。

表姐和我都在国外，没办法及时赶回去见家人，

这也是我们留在国外最不方便之处，

我好讨厌那种感觉，

每当家人或亲戚发生事情时的不安，

我什么都做不到，

只能默默地祷告。。。。

昨晚也发了个简讯给弟弟，

问他啊妈有没有打电话去问候姑姑，

啊妈说姑丈到现在都属于昏迷状况，

我好希望姑丈能快点醒来，

希望他平安无事。

I am praying hard for my Uncle Tan,

Wish him get well soon,

He is a tough man, everything will be fine,

He will recover soon…

Christmas Market Belfast 2009

Christmas market signified Christmas is around the corner. This might be my very last time of visiting christmas market in Belfast. I will be moving to Aberdeen this coming Saturday, for goods. Anyway, Belfast Christmas Market is considered the best to me, as I never been to other christmas market in the UK. Traders from various part of Europe are gathered in the market. There are a variable mix of things to buy in Christmas Market, e.g. gloves, hot water bottle, candy, christmas decorations and food from their country. I planned to visit Christmas Market this afternoon, and therefore I went on an empty stomach (so that I can try those food!)

This is Dutch Pancake, with baileys and icing sugar as topping. There are also other toppings such as honey, toffee, strawberry, whisky and so on. All sweet sweet topping.

In Malaysia, I can only buy chicken burger, beef burger; or the famous one so called "Ramli" burger. In Christmas Market, I get the chance to try these "Meat of the World" burger, however, I only buy my Kangaroo burger everytime when I visited Christmas Market.

In Malaysia, you don't see pork selling publicly, but you can get it here. Instead of chinese roast pork, this is the European style roast pork here. Chinese eat roast pork with rice and other dishes while European eat it with bread (sandwich). I dare not and never try it, because I couldn't bear the strange pig's smell.

This is the music bar. Everyone seems to enjoy the music and drink inside. Drinking a beer during the cold winter time may help to warm you up. Too bad, I am a lousy drinker, I feel dizzy even for the very first glass. Luckily a cup of hot coffee with one shot of baileys help to keep my body warm.

爸爸妈妈

看了刘墉的 <<疼爸爸妈妈>>博文，心里感触了。。 我真的很想家，很想能够回到那温暖的家，跟家人、亲戚朋友聚在一起。离家至今，快两年半了，每当过节过日，打电话回家，听见家里热闹的欢笑声，我又更想家了。

很多人说外国的月亮比较圆，刚到这里念书时，我也这样觉得，这里的月亮的确大了一点，哈！无论月亮怎么大，我还是处在“别人”的国家，“别人”的地方，少了亲人的陪伴。

还记得两年多前， 我将要来英国的时候，刚从英国回家的表哥问我，“英国真的那么好吗，为什么要去那么久？” 我当时只是笑笑地回答，“我也只是过去念书而已，两年很快过的！” 一转眼，两年过了，而我也毕业了，想法也变了，现在的我，又想在这留多两年，想试试看这里的工作环境， 又开始忙找工。每次打电话回家，啊妈就会问我几时回家。我总是回答说“现在经济状况不好，我得先找份工，一找到工作我就会回家看你们了！” 这句话，从我还没毕业前几个也说的，说到现在，不但没找到工，家也还来不及回。年老的外婆问我，“本来说好两年，现在又要等多两年，要多少个两年你才要回家”。 我真的很内疚，我应该在毕业时，就回家探望他们。 年老的外婆在今年六月末的时候，过世了。那天一早接到弟弟的来电，整个人都傻了，哭得很狼狈！爸妈叫我别伤心，外婆知道你有心就好。

过后，在表表弟妹的生日会的照片里，看见了爸妈，他们真的老了很多， 白头发也多了。我真的不好，他们拼命的省钱，拼命的赚钱来养孩子， 我却拼命的帮他们用钱，还想要买好的、用好的、住好的、什么都要最好的。我之后打电话回家，告诉了啊妈说明年新年， 我一定会回家！她却担心我回了家，工却找不到，要我慢慢来。我知道她一直都想我回家，但却不想我耽误了事业与清途。啊爸也叫我想清楚。我会回家！我要回家！爸爸妈妈，我想念你们！