Lou Sang For Chinese New Year

For "hoi leen", that is the 2nd day of Chinese New Year, the dish Lou Sang is sort of a MUST... the dish means... prosperity and being alive... haha... (I hope I got the meaning right)

My sister in law sponsored this dish, imported from Kuala Lumpur.... it consists of mainly raw vegetables such as white carrots, orange carrots, ginger, pomelo, raw fish (true), crackers, peanuts .... (what else.. I cannot remember) but there were lots of stuff inside....

Before the syrup...

toppings with sweet syrup...

forking out together...
stirred high high

hmm....ready to be eaten at last....

(By the way, Michelle, can you guess whose hands belong to who? hehe...)

An Aftermath...

I M SO LAZY TODAY! Why? sigh.. back to work lo.. after taking 2 days off and having 7 days of rest, I m just too lazy to start work. Still in Chinese New Year mood, office is also quiet, thank goodness. No urgency, no contractors lurking around the corriders, no chasing of payments... at least...serene, can relax a bit especially after some late nights before.

Yesterday was an upturn in my life, I realise that I will miss my kids if they go off for their further studies when they reach 18. My son who was supposedly leaving home for KL to further his studies took a roundabout turn. An incident made him change his mind and he now realises home is still the best but then, of course, soon or later, he has to leave the "nest" and to face the world in a matter of weeks from now. But for the time now, he and I will continue to appreciate each other's presence in the house, never to quarrel, never to squabble ... right Andy? (*winks*)

Viral Infection

Was very busy during the CNY... during this festive period, when all of us were having a gala time, my Jingle Bell got sick.... no wonder he was howling and barking the previous night...
He was quite weak in the early morning and I saw bouts of his vomits here and there... oh dear..
Without wasting time, AA and I took him to see the vet, after an injection of anti vomiting, she told me that I could take him back. But if Jingle continues to vomit again, I must bring him back for drips cos he looked dehydrated.

After feeding him with antibiotics, AA and I prayed over Jingle... for healing to be upon him. Thank God, he was healed the very same day, he dint have any more diarrhoea and vomiting after that.... Now he is still as active as before... Praise the Lord!

Barking, barking, how to sleep?

oh gosh.. it is 2am now and I am still wide awake....Jingle Bell is still barking his head off... my neighbours must be "swearing" .. disturbing their beauty sleep...
Perhaps I better go down to take him in... or should I let him be? I guess I better go down and see what is happening... sigh.. it is not easy to take care of a pet, huh? Maybe I have pampered him too much and now the consequences...
alright...now silent...hope he is too tired to bark... oh gosh....here he goes again...
Ok, I better go down and check.... see anyone lurking around or not....

Reunion comes and goes...

Time really flies... 2 days of public holiday just came and went.. chinese new year is almost over for most of us and some have started to go back to their respective towns to start work once again. As for me, I have taken another 2 days leave, with a reason... Andy will be leaving for his campus on Thursday... hope everything is packed up and nothing he needs is left behind....
Right now he is still with his Dota game, no time is to be lost... according to him, let him play to his full satisfaction... well, let him... yeah...

Jingle Bell's Chinese New Year

CHINESE NEW YEAR is not only fun and enjoyable time for us humans... Jingle Bell, my doggie was not left out as well. During this festive season, he came to know and mingle with 3 new friends, 2 terriers from the neighbourhood and one from Johor who travelled all the way back with its owners.

At first Jingle Bell was all excited meeting up with his new friends, they were barking at each other and after awhile, they soon became friends and were chasing each other around my porch... it was fun looking at them playing "catch, catch"

Jingle Bell with his friend, Happy, from Johor....
"sniffing" each other up
before they become frens...

these 2 terriers were passing by
when Jingle Bell came out to say hello...

From IPOH To U.S.

To you, Michelle...
our chinese new year 2009 is not complete without u... so we hope that in 2010, Bruce, Bronson and you will come back and join us in this auspicious occasion...

wishing all of you,
"xin lian kwai lerk"

These were taken on the first morning of Chinese New Year...
Tomorrow is the "hoi leen" (opening of New Year) so there will be another sumptious lunch for all of us...Thank God for this auspicous occasion...

Chinese New Year in IPOH

ON THE VERY FIRST MORNING of CNY, we went over to mama's place to give our greetings, "gong xi gong xi, sun leen fai lok, sun tai keen hong" ... (wishing you happiness and good health)

After which, the best time for the kids were the receiving of ang paus....from the parents, aunties and uncles...

presenting of ang pow to Daniel
from sister, Amy..


Daniel scratching his head
thinking of what to say..
before he could receive his ang pow

andy already succeeded in receiving..

AA in full smiles...

mama and her grandkids..

mama and her beautiful kids...

MY 2 REUNION DINNERS....

TONIGHT IS THE REUNION DINNER PRIOR TO CHINESE NEW YEAR tomorrow....
First thing first, I went over to mama's place to see what WAS happening in the kitchen... quickly took out the camera and did a candid picture of the chef and the cooks who were so busy preparing .... and I? I am just a "TASTER".... naturally...

the cooks...

smile....


so.. this was what they were preparing..
butter prawns with lots of spices...

hoi.. my cheh cheh called me..
"don't leave me out,
I am also helping out here
squashing houseflies..."

steamed chicken a must ...

fried f00 yee chicken (SIL recipe)
"another must have"
kids' favourite...

lobak courtesy from SIL from KL...

the prawns before the dressing...
(i wasnt around when they were fully dressed)


singkuang
best eaten wrapped with lettuce...


stewed pork leg
with lots of accessories..


ok..almost all...
I got to go to MIL
so I couldn't wait for all the dishes to be displayed

MIL's house...
everything was ready when we reached there

Great dishes over here too...

I am truly blessed, I have 2 houses to go to during reunion dinner but alas, I was too full by the time I reached mama's house... but of course, there is always a TOMORROW...

To my "over-the-sea" family,
Bruce, Michelle and Bronson,
Happy Chinesey New Year to You!!

GONG XI, GONG XI, GONG XI NIE....

VISITING AND READING CHINESE BLOGGERS' POSTS gave me a "scare", causing me "panic" this early mor-ning morning... Lunar New Year Is TOMORROW? Yes, tomorrow....and what am I doing? Still walking leisurely around the house.... playing with my Jingle Bell and my PC here...

Now coming to think of it, my house has no decorations, no chinesey type of ang pows hanging here and there, no red big pineapples hanging in the air, no shiney wordings on the wall to usher in New Year, no ...no ..NO.....nothing... Spring cleaning is also not in the air yet... looking up to my ceiling, thank goodness, no alien's webs around... just dust dust.... and looking down to my hall, so many many unnecessary items lying around... aiyoh...

Panic or not? Ok, ok.... Stop blogging today la... otherwise just close one eye and become a NEVER MINDER... clean or messy, NEVER MIND, Never mind..never mind....never mind.

BEFORE I SIGN OUT, MY FRIENDS.... LET ME WISH YOU ALL....

A HAPPY BLESSED CHINESE NEW YEAR,
GOOD HEALTH,
GREAT WEALTH
TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!!

Chicken Rice Shop In Theatre Street IPOH

My colleague Lynn is 4 months pregnant... congratulations to her! She has lost 8 kilograms during the first 3 months of her pregnancy. Now as she is in her 4th, she vowed to gain back the lost weight... GOOD FOR HER..... BAD FOR ME....

Why? She can afford to gain, I cannot.... but then, pregnant ladies always have the first priority, when they want to eat, they must eat.... the others are secondary, either they follow or they back out.... but me being me, I WILL FOLLOW YOU....

she wanted chicken rice at lunch time...
3+1=4 of us went...

her favourite side dish
achar (pickled mixed vegetables)

sambal petai - spicy bad smell beans
(haha...direct translation)
anti-doxitant

a plate of chicken rice

there she is... so happy now...
for the sake of her baby,
we the "godmothers" must give way...

My Pet, Jingle Bell

There is a new member added to my family, he is none other than Jingle Bell, my dachshund pet whom we just brought home last December before Christmas. Why did we name him Jingle Bell? Well, when he was in the car with us for the first time, the radio was playing Jingle Bell and at that moment, all of us agreed unanimously that he will be Jingle Bell, suits him very well. "A long name for a long body."

Now with this pet pictures I came across in this website, I couldn't resist not entering Jingle Bell as one of the contestants. This contest is for those who have the funniest and the most "scary" face of their pets. I know Jingle Bell has a slim chance of winning the $500 gift certificate to Lowes or Home Depot because his face is not scary at all, cute, yes, because the way he walks, he sort of like "jingle" his legs. But, let alone the prize, logging into this website is fun enough, you can see the cutest and "scary" faces of pets that can put a smile on your face.

Belated Birthday

Ever celebrate your birthday 4 months later?? No? Then let me tell you that it did happen :)
This afternoon my colleague bought a birthday cake back to the office, she told us she bought for herself.... so naturally everyone wished her "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" ... I even started to sing the special song for her...

After taking some pictures and cutting the cake, she told us... "ACTually, my birthday was August last year and I am 25 years old ... but I don't want to grow old so fast, so I bought a cake to celebrate my belated birthday now." Makes sense? Oh... never mind, belated or not, we walloped the cake and said "terima kasih" (thank you)

Busy Afternoon

Had a very busy day especially in the afternoon.. hospital and the bank made me fumed....

2pm - Went hospital with Andy to get the Xray done...no problem with that but the doctor would only be around at 3.30pm to sign the report... sigh...

3pm - So instead of wasting time there, we went to bank to open account first...

3.20pm - Bank Officer checked through our application form for savings account... (he was using a ruler to check through line by line... (I felt like snatching the pen from him and asked him to hurry up!)

3.40 - My patience is up... I left Andy at the bank, I proceeded to the hospital to take the Xray report from the doc..
.
4pm - Went back to bank to fetch Andy BUT officer still not finished with Andy's account yet! WHAT THE....H@#$% WAS THE OFFICER DOING??? STILL CANNOT GET IT DONE YET? AHHHHHHHH.....

4pm - I left Andy there,told him to walk back, I drove to fetch Fernie from school...

4.15pm - Took her to the dentist for follow up with her braces

5pm - Reached home...finally.. at last....

But tomorrow I have to answer to my boss... where was I the whole afternoon?? Better give her my blog URL...hope she understands how busy I was :((

Honest Tag

Amy, here I am with your beautiful award... haha...you don't have to remind me anymore... Sorry for the delay.

Thanks to Amy, I have this "honest tag". She is my faithful blogger, keeping in touch with me almost daily despite her busy schedule. She is great, can handle few blogs at one go... I cannot keep up with her yet... haha....
Ok, now for the rules... (sigh....)

Honest Scrap Award Rules

When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real.

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!

10 things about poor old me...
1) My name is Claire Tham
2) I love to eat and eat and eat....
3) I have 3 kids whom I am well pleased with (at times)
4) I am a Christian and forever will be...
5) I sing back-up in church cos I am not good in leading
6) Started singing in the bathroom first
7) Singing is my passion
8) Blogging is also my passion
9) I love my bloggers and....
10) I love to write, paid or non paid posts...

Hope these will do...
Oh, my bloggers deserve this tag too.. I have no specific bloggers to give..all are equally good.. so do grab this tag if u feel u want to.... ( I am generous today....hahahaha)

Cheapskate Me...

Is recession really hitting us globally now?? For those of you who don't know me well, I never buy and hold newspaper for quite some time now.. Why? 1stly, I don't like to read the news written there ..2ndly, I have no time to read... 3rdly, the news are free online... thanks to some "outspoken" bloggers, they are really great... a lot of nationwide information are retrieved from their blogs... appreciate them a lot!

Call me cheapskate..... every cent counts now... u know why? Don't know whether to be amused or shocked when Ping Pong Piang offers "Cents" only for one opp. Why so Little? Then it hit me.... world economy has crashed and will still keep crashing...

Meanwhile, 50 or 60cents per opp... i still sart...sart.... I will accept them, with or without complaint...

Double Clash

Chinese New Year is around the corner, Andy's enrolment is just at the corner... what difference does it make? A lot of difference.. while others are busy shopping for cny stuff, I am busy buying stuff for Andy, it is like shifting to a new house for him, so much to buy.....
I wonder why the UNI has to choose this date for registration and orientation, knowing well this is the festive week.... sigh....

Johor Desserts, Taman Pelangi

Thanks to Andy, he gave me these pictures which he took on his cell phone cos my camera at that time "betrayed" me.. (battery conked out)

I envy Johoreans.. cos they can get these type of food in Pelangi Garden... (if i m not mistaken of the name).......oh.... I miss them... especially the one with the gingko... so yummy....

I am a "sadist", here I am torturing my readers again...but I cannot resist not posting them up, just to remind me to go there again if I drop by in Johor....

This stall was crowded when we reached there...

this creamy bowl is called chendol
Johor style...

Johor ice kacang
with cocoa toppings instead

I love this gingko very much..
Oh, how I miss it....

their popular tau foo with stuffings...
at first I thought they were toasted bread..
the stuffings taste like rojak sauce..
very unique.... hmmmm....

this is the stall...
come and taste it..

(do u think I should ask for advertising fees??)
:)

Cousin's Wedding Dinner

WE ATTENDED my cousin's wedding recently, my sisters and brother in this Tuck Kee Restaurant in Pasir Pinji, IPOH. All of us fit into one table, just nice... and of course, the food were even nicer....

Here are some of the dishes they served for the wedding.. for a price below RM500...

the first dish is always the most attractive...

the crab on this side...

when it was turned over,
it was actually stuffed with meat...

my favourite crab soup

cluck cluck....

fish, fish...

har har.... is a must..
prawns in chinese means laughter..

pulut rice.. glutinious rice...

desserts for the night...

AA, brother, cousin, uncle..