Recipe: Steamed Seabass

My family loves steamed seabass. We just had this yesterday. So, I'm sharing the recipe here. It's a mixture of Chinese style and a bit of Malay style as well.

Steamed Seabass

1 seabass - cleaned. Make 2 long insertions on the body.
2 inches on ginger - julienne
3 garlic - finely chopped
2 lemongrass
1 kaffir lime leaf
2 bird eye chilies
some chopped spring onion
1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon oyster sauce
Half cup of water
Salt & pepper to taste

Put vegetable oil in wok, fry garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and chilies. Add oyster sauce. Pour water. Add salt and pepper. When sauce is boiled, put the fish in and cover (to steam it). Cook for 3 minutes and then flip the fish to cook the other side. Cook for another 3 minutes.

In another wok, put in very small amount of vegetable oil and mix with sesame oil. Heat the wok. Fry ginger till golden brown.

To serve, put fish in a plate, pour the sauce over. Then pour the hot ginger and sesame oil on top of fish. Garnish with chopped spring onions. Finally, squeeze lemon on fish.

5 Online Quizzes to Waste Time On

There are times that we just feel like wasting time. Have you ever had that "oh so wasted" feeling? We just read gossips, troll postings, hop from one blog to another... Know what, here's a way to totally waste time! By taking online quizzes. Let me list you 5 websites for that ultimate waste time effort!

1) MyLifeTime Fun Quizzes - from personality tests to career... even quiz on whether you are easily fooled! So, what's your 80s hairstyle?

2) Quiz Rocket - go quiz crazy with quizzes such as When Will I Die? and Am I Fat? Take the Am I Dumb Quiz to see how dumb smart you are!

3) All The Tests - all the quizzes you can think of. There's even one to test whether you're going to have a fart real bad! Do you need such quiz anyway?

4) Fun Trivia Quizzes - take quizzes on brain teasers, sports, even video games and religion. I kinda like the Literature quizzes. Take quizzes on your favourite author. Well, look at it this way - literature majors can use it as revision help. So are topics like History and Geography!

5) Action Quiz - how about taking quizzes against computer opponents and see how you fare? At least it feels like participating in a TV game show!

What Happened to Renee Zellweger?

What happened to Renee Zellweger's face? She is unrecognizable!

When asked, she said things about being in 40s, and being healthy, and being happy. But those didn't explain the drastic face change.
Ok, I looked at a few photos available online and at certain angles, she does look like her old self. Especially the way she pout her lips.
I believe she did something to her face. People's face don't simply change even as we age a few years. Let's see... slightly bigger eyes... slightly fuller lips... I don't know.
Or, she wore very little make-up! That might explain it! (Yeah right!)

Recipe: Banana Prata

What is Prata? Prata or roti prata is fried flour-based pancake famously known in Malaysia and Singapore as Roti Canai. There are many varieties of prata - with butter, cheese, eggs, onions.. There are even very thin and broad ones served with syrup and condensed milk. Prata is usually served with curry. But since it's a very versatile dish, you can actually do anything you like with it!

Here's a way of serving prata - my daughter style!

Banana Prata
1 frozen prata (you can get them at frozen section)
1 banana
Some brown sugar
A bit of cinnamon powder
Some butter
Some shredded cheese

On a frying pan, heat up some butter and place the prata. Cook over low heat. While the bottom is being fried slowly, the top will get soft. Slice the banana and arrange on half side of the prata. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon powder. Then put some butter and shredded cheese.

When the bottom has started to brown, fold the prata into two. After about 2 minutes, flip to the other side till cooked.

To serve, cut the half-moon shape prata into 4.

Recipe: Garlic Parsley Potatoes Kenny Rogers Style

Here's a very simple recipe of garlic parsley potatoes. I used to love Garlic Parsley Potatoes at Kenny Rogers. I wonder why they took it off the menu now. Anyway, I simply tried doing my own version one day and the result turned out to be very, very nice. And very similar to Kenny Roger's Garlic Parsley Potatoes. So, here goes!

Garlic Parsley Potatoes
2 potatoes - quartered. If you like them smaller, cut into smaller pieces
2 chopped garlic
Some butter
Olive oil
Parsley (fresh - chopped or use dried)

Boil the potatoes with some salt until tender. Drain.
In a pan, put in some olive oil and butter. Next saute the chopped garlic until slightly golden. Put in the boiled potatoes and mix well. Season with salt and black pepper. Lastly, add parsley.

A very nice side dish to roasted chicken or steak.

7 Sure Signs He's Cheating On You!

Trust your instinct. Trust your sixth sense. Here are seven sure signs that he's cheating on you!

1. He takes his phone everywhere. I mean, literally, everywhere. Even to the toilet.
2. He takes forever to reply to your messages.
3. He can't be reached for questionable hours and even he can be reached, he blames the phone - network not good, battery died, etc
4. He changes sexually. Either he's more into you, or he's not into you much anymore. And blames it on his medication!
5. He hides his credit card statements.
6. He's always hanging out with the guys. Yeah right!
7. He lies. You catch him lying. And he lies some more to cover that lie.

7 Reasons Why You Need To Lose Weight

I'm giving you 7 solid, valid reasons why you need to lose weight today. (And I am motivating myself too!)

1) Reduce risk of cancer
2) Elevate your mood
3) Workouts can be enjoyable
4) Get sick less
5) Able to think clearer
6) Save money on food!
7) Have a healthier body, heart and soul!

Sore Throat Lozenge Review - Which Is Better?

I'm having a bad sore throat and I'm coughing like crazy. While at it, let me give you some reviews on two types of lozenges I have been taking - Fisherman's Friend and Eumenthol Jujubes by Hudson's. Which one is better?

 I take the "classic" flavour. You can find lemon flavour too. Not sure of other flavours. It's quite strong to the tongue and throat. Gives you relieve instantly especially when you're having very bad sore throat and cough. The aftertaste of menthol can linger for at least 15 minutes after you finished sucking it. Very soothing and refreshing. 

When others fail, you can rely on Fisherman's Friend! I take the sugar free mint. For obvious reasons! Very strong mint taste. Compared to Hudson's Jujubes, this is like 3-4 notch higher. I only take this if my sore throat and cough get worse. Reason being, taking these lozenges can give me kind of "wind" to my stomach. If you don't wish for any stomach discomfort, avoid this. But gives you instant relieve to bad sore throat and cough. Just a couple of lozenges are enough to last for a few hours.

Shards of a Broken Glass

May your heart be crushed to pieces like the shards of a broken glass. Where you will struggle to piece them all together to no avail. And you will remember the other heart you so badly broken. Just like the pieces of glass in your hand.
You will fall apart and feel the pain.
And you will know that such pain can never be healed.

Lord of the Rings Medley

My daughter loves The Lord of the Rings. And now that the final Hobbit is coming in December, she is too well excited. She found this and shared it with me. It's violin medley by Lindsey Stirling.
Not only the music is beautiful, the scenery is breathtaking.
Amazing I must say!

Recipe: Potato & Beef Patties (Bergedil)

I'm sharing the Potato and Beef patties recipe. Or as we Malays call it "bergedil". My Mom used to make this but she substituted the beef with mackerel (boiled and deboned). Very delicious.

Potato and Beef Patties
10 medium potatoes - peeled, quartered and fried until golden yellow
250grams of minced meat
1 clove of garlic - peeled and finely chopped
1 yellow onion - peeled and finely chopped
Some coriander leaves - chopped
Some spring onions - chopped
2 eggs - lightly beaten with a pinch of salt
Salt and pepper to taste

Pound/mash the potatoes. Put into mixing bowl.

Saute garlic and onion. Then, add in the minced meat. Cook for about 15 minutes. Add some salt and pepper.

Add the cooked minced meat in the mixing bowl. Next, add the chopped coriander leaves and spring onions. Season with salt and pepper. Mix the ingredients well and then make into small balls.

Heat vegetable oil. When ready to fry, slightly press the balls into patties shape and dip into egg mixture. Fry the patties until light brown.

What It Feels Like When You Know About The Other Women

What a long title!

Men, do you want to know how a woman feels inside when she got to know about your affair?

I picked this up from the movie - The Women. It's the scene when Meg Ryan went to see her mother to tell her about her husband. She then brushed her mother saying she can't possibly know how she feels, and the mother said, "Let me try...".

This honestly tells how it felt when I got to know:
"It feels like someone kicked you in the stomach, feels like your heart stopped beating, feels like that dream, you know the one when you are falling and you want so desperately to wake up before you hit the ground but it's all out of your control. You can't trust anything anymore, no one is who they say they are. Your life is changed forever, and the only thing to come out of the whole ugly experience is no one will be able to break your heart like that again."

RIP Robin Williams

Mork has returned to Ork...

One of the greatest actors in history is now gone. And such an irony. He spent his life entertaining people. Making people laugh. But little do people know that he was battling depression. Sad.

As an English major in the late 90s, one of the must-watch movie was Dead Poets Society. He inspired us to read and love poetry and seize the day. The boys of our batch even named themselves Dead Poets Society! And who can forget his amazing comic portrays of Captain Hook, Mrs Doubtfire, Teddy Roosevelt, Genie and many, many more. 

Upon reading about his death, I could only imagine him as Mork, the alien we so associated with in the early 80s when I was a child. Nano nano! And that three-stuck-together handshake. 

You will be sorely missed Robin Williams. RIP. You are free Genie!

3 Reasons Why You Should Take Up Cycling

Here are 3 reasons why you should start cycling.

1) Burn those calories!

Cycling might look easy but those slopes and hills can really test your body. And burn calories too. You can burn 120 calories on a 30-minute cycle.

2) Reduce Carbon Footprint!

Go green! If you just want to buy a few stuff from the grocery store, just ride on your bike. You save on petrol, you work out, you reduce your carbon footprint. Save the environment girls!

3) Gives You Time To Think!

When I cycle, I actually use the time to think on solving problems. And believe me, you do find the solutions.

Recipe: My Mom's Simple Yellow Cake

Here's my mom's simple cake. I don't know what it's really called. I just name it Yellow Cake. I guess you can call it Pound Cake.

When I was little, I love helping her prepare the cake. The reward is the leftover batter smeared on spoons and the mixing bowl. I would scrape off the batter with my fingers and lick it dry! Delicious!

Simple Yellow Cake

1 cup margarine or butter
1 cup castor sugar
1.5 cup flour
3 eggs (small), 2 if eggs are big
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
A few tablespoons of condensed milk (no specific measurement!)

Cream margarine/butter with castor sugar. Then add the eggs one by one. Mix really well.
Next, add flour. Finally add vanilla essence and condensed milk.
Pour batter into greased pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

For varieties, can always divide the batter into 2 bowls. One mix with cocoa powder. You will get a simple marble cake.
Or, can sprinkle the top with chocolate rice or colourful sprinkles.

Recipe: Easiest Cheese Cake Ever!

Here's the recipe for the easiest cheese cake ever. Simple cheese cake. Easy to make. And delicious too!

200grams digestive biscuits (mc vities) - grind finely
80grams melted butter
4 eggs
180grams castor sugar
500grams cream cheese (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
Optional - juice of half a lemon and lemon zest

For the base: mix the digestive biscuits with melted butter. Press mixture to the bottom of a spring form pan. Chill in fridge.

Beat eggs with castor sugar. Put aside.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese till smooth.

Then, mix both mixture. Add vanilla essence.

Pour mixture into spring foam pan and bake at 165C for 30-40 minutes.  

Note:
- Do not over beat the cream mixture. This might result in cracked cake.
- Oven temperature must not be too hot. Cake might crack too!
- When cake is cooked, do not straight away take out of the oven. Just let it cool by opening the oven door.

Cat Blending In

My cat decided to give a stern face and thought she blended in inside the pot.

Recipe: Dark Moist Choc Cake

Here's a fool-proof dark moist chocolate cake recipe. I usually make this into cupcakes.

Dark Moist Choc Cake

2 cups sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup cocoa
1 cup milk
1/2 cup salad oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup hot instant coffee

Sift together dry ingredients. Add milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well and add hot instant coffee. Beat well. Batter will be thin. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Got Married? Good Luck!

I was driving home yesterday when I saw these lovely newly-weds by the roadside. They were stopping by some rough-looking grass area to take photos. That's the trend nowadays apparently - to take artistic looking wedding photos. 

Anyway, as I pass by, I looked back at them from my rear-view mirror. The bride so radiant in her wedding dress, the groom so handsome looking down at his new wife with so much love. So young, so much in love... So naive, so inexperienced...

And I said to myself - "good luck!".

I'm Back!

It's been such a long time. But I'm back!!!

In Loving Memory

Such a cute cat. And smart too!