:: jotting the lines ::

Ok, so here I go with the answers of being food-tagged by Julian.

1. What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?

I cooked English breakfast when I was 10 years old. I fried egg, grilled sausage and ham.

2. Who had the most influence on your cooking?

My mother had the most influence on my cooking.

3. Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?

I didn’t take one, no digital camera at that time. But perhaps this pic can give you a bit more insights on what I had cooked, just take off the tomato and the beans.

4. Mageirocophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?

Of course I don’t. I don’t have fear of cooking!!! But I had got this intolerable experience of nearly burning down the kitchen by boiling 2 eggs. Again, it’s my forgetfulness…

5. What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest let down?

No let down for me, every cookware works exceptionally well, each has a role to play.

Pressure cooker & slow cooker. One fast one slow; like the name.

Pressure cooker leaves less stains on your kitchen wall, suits a lot of women who lives in a fast pace society. In fact you still get the nutritional value of food unaltered. Safe, easy use, low maintenance. Do you think you are a modern cook? Just check if your kitchen has a pressure cooker!

Slow Cooker – well this works terrifically if want some tasty and intense soup, provided if you got enough time to dump every ingredient in the slow cooker. Hey, doesn’t mean pressure cooker can’t have the same end result, ok?

You need to keep an eye when using pressure cooker; with slow cooker, just turn it on HIGH and Auto later.

Do u know I have difficulty in answering Q.5???

‘Everybody’ is a team player, how can I say which one is MOST VALUED? Every body is VALUABLE to me.

Look at electric food processor.
I can’t produce finest chili belacan in a timely manner without it.

6. Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!

Cold tofu topping with hot sauces.
Actually I do like to dip Mc Donald French fries with sundae.

7. What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without?

Live without??? Okay! If for the living sake…
I will choose…

· Canned food It must have to be canned food, I can’t be eating bread when I was stranded in the island…canned food would be the best choice. Hmm must remember to bring can-opener yeah. haha
· RICE lah!
· Burger King/ Hungry Jacks. Helloooooo…it will be doom days without their juicy burgers.
Any question you missed in this meme, that you would have loved to answer? Well then, feel free to add one!

8. Three quickies:

· Your favorite ice-cream… : Italian Gelato!!!
Flavoured with Lemon and Mint with choc chips!

· You will probably never eat… : Fish maw, sea cucumber, ‘snow clam paste’ and any internal organs!!!

· Your own signature dish… : Then it has to be – ‘Stir Fry Asparagus with Chili Belacan’

9. Who do you want most to cook you dinner?

(Is it every Mon, Wed and Fri?)
My husband, but I’m yet to get married…..emmm….I do miss my ex-housemate cooking.

And my own question that I would love to answer:

10. What dishes do you fancy the most?

All dishes in Italian cuisine, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnam, Malay, Indian, Siam cuisines that helps me NOT to gain weight and stay in sexy figure.

So, I have to pass the baton three other people. Here goes…

* Melalyn - Caramelo Drama Queen: Guess her answers would be interesting!
* Samantha at Strident: I think she likes food too! Let’s see if there is any culture difference.
* Kenny at kennysia.com: I don’t think he knows about me, but just try my luck to ping his website - Hey, he got the award of Blog of the Year 2005, Malaysia recently! A funny and nice chap. Don’t know if he will answer this tag!

Cheers~!!

最近不知何故地，脑袋总是在徘徊着去年在澳洲念书的回忆。真搞不懂是否太想念过去，就算它是吧。

驾着车，听着陶喆的歌让我有着百般的思绪， 有单纯的也有复杂的；有开心的当然也有忧愁的。

现在只想与大家分享这首歌曲- I Believe，陶喆作词，作曲。
希望这首歌能给你带来鼓励，只要有信心就能活得更精彩！阿门！

This is supposed to be a Chinese entry. I will do a translation since some of you may not understand what is written up there.

My mind seems playing back on a lot of memories in Australia, where I did my studies. Just assume I miss it too much.

There are many thoughts entering my mind as I play David Tao’s music when driving. His music unfolds a lot of the memories, both happy and sad ones chronologically.

I just wanted to share this song called - I Believe, music composed and written by David Tao.

I hope you can catch this song as an encouragement to you. Let faith breathe into your life! Amen!

请按此听歌。Click here to listen the song. (4.22mb)

请按此歌词。 Click here for lyrics. (Chinese only)

I should really give God thanks for protecting me all the while when I drive on the road, not only that, to thank Him for protecting me driving without carrying my wallet purse.

Gosh, this is not my 1st time doing it. Please, do not get me wrong. I did not do this intentionally, I just forgot to bring my wallet purse home. This is my 5th time that I had been so forgetful of bringing my wallet purse with me. The 1st time til the 4th time happened on the way back from office. I only realised I had forgotten about taking my wallet purse when I reached home. So I had to get my dad to drive me to the company to take it back. But there was a time I took the risk of driving back to office. I just hoped there wasn’t any road block or accident occured in the midst of it.

So what happened just now? I did not know I wasn’t having my wallet purse, driving license, my identity card and most crucially, of course, money!!! I realised it only when a guard of the neighbourhood where I was heading asked me for identity card for record purposes. I searched around my car seat where I thought I could possibly leave it there. I was puzzled because I couldn’t find any. But soon I realised that I had only carried my mobile phone and a bible with me.

You know I was chicken-out after knowing the fact that I need to drive extra careful and pray very hard that no police road blocks or whatever. This is no “play-play” man.

I was praying to the Lord on the way home,
‘ Lord, protect me and give me journey mercy. I will definitely blog about this incident to remind me of my carelessness, yet your grace and mercy is sufficient! Hallelujah!!!!’

I felt the sudden relieve when the moment my car was turning into the neighbourhood. I heard my heart crying to God ‘Thank you so much!!!!’

Hey guys, any ideas on how to make me more mindful? Or at least not too forgetful?
Much appreciated.

Did anyone of you experience seeing an image and you think you have seen it somewhere before? You have never been to this place but it seems very familiar to you. Or it is so happen that your tyre goes flat and you are standing next to your car…then you realise ‘Hey I have seen this before.’ It looks like you have been there but indeed not.

I’d see if I got the time to do some research on this topic. I have asked around and some people do have this encounter before, but not as often as I do.

Well, I have got another encounter which it scares me most. It happened in my trip to Bangkok. I was having my Thai lunch with a bunch of regional business partners in this restaurant - very old shoplot with wood furnished but served with delicious food. While all of us had finished our main course and awaiting for the dessert to be served…something crossed my mind. Yes! I was shocked by what I saw. I was very sure that I saw this bunch of people sitting around me, and what even surprised me was I could even remember the chairman was also sitting at the same place where I had seen. The waitress was serving us coconut ice cream which I could also remember very clearly that I have seen this scene before. Hey hey you know what am I talking about? I thought I was a psychic at a point of time. Because I can’t believe I have seen this scene before it happened. My heart beat so fast that I can’t believe such things happened.

And then a month later, I was squeezing my brain to remember the famous and costly champagne in town. I know it has got a winery in Yarra Valley, Victoria. And I know it is under LVMH group. But how come I couldn’t even recall the champagne’s name! I wondered. So I asked around my colleagues who are also wine lovers. They named me different wines but I still couldn’t recall. I was frustrated and refused to check on the Internet. So I let it be for a week. And guess what happened a week later? I dreamed of the champagne and what even strange was I heard the dialogue of me telling myself ‘Vicky, this is what you can’t remember….’ and then the image of the champagne (Moet and Chandon) appeared. Oh man, I’m not joking here. I could recall stuff I hardly remember in the dream!

Maybe the psychologist can explain why, i.e. the sub-consciousness laying underneath the consciousness.

Scary….both scenes are scary….

19 Jun 05 - Malaysia’s Father’s day. My sister and I had planned to give our father a treat. We always wanted to bring our father to watch a movie at KLCC. Well, my sis managed to get 3 tickets for Batman show yet it all turned out to be quarel and disaster. Why? I don’t really know the details as I was out to meet Michelle.

It was said that my father thought we couldn’t get the ticket for Batman and he claimed I don’t like watching Mr. and Mrs Smith or Kungfu Mahjong so he said might as well don’t go. I couldn’t understand my father some times, especially on his birthday or any special day to him. He just seemed “diao gei” (tarik harga); didn’t he know we just wanted to get together and have some family fun together?

The war ended when my elder sis comes home, she approached him to have dinner together. So all of us headed to Sri Hartamas for meal.

I didn’t want to spoil the mood despite I was overly mad about all of the movie arrangment.

At least this cheer me up a bit.

Sukiyaki - Hmmm!!!! My favourite!!!

And the dinner had probably makes everybody happier.