Sunday, April 22, 2007

Chawan mushi

I was introduced to chawan mushi by Sakae Sushi. It costs just S$2 for a hot, steaming cup of Japanese egg custard and I have never failed to eat one whenever I was at the restaurant. But in Houston, although the Japanese food here is absolutely creative and yummy, not many of the Japanese restaurants sell chawan mushi.

After being here for more than a year, I have learnt that although the egg custard is not on most of the restaurants’ menu, we can actually specially order it off the menu at some Japanese restaurants. But the thing is we can’t order just a cup, usually an order of minimum two cups is required, and each cup costs more than US$4. So after taking into account the sales tax (8.25%) and tips (minimum 15%), two cups of chawanmushi will cost around US$10! How expensive is that for a dish that costs so little to make!

So what did I do? Not wanting to let the restaurants earn my money anymore (giam kana @ work), I looked online for the recipe. Voila!




They looked even better than the pockmarked steam egg I blogged about the other time. I didn't have shrimp, chicken or mushroom, so I took whatever I could find in the fridge and throw them into the bowl - I put fishcake, fish tofu, and crabstick. Can't see the crabstick in these photos though.
Now I will never order chawan mushi in a Japanese restaurant ever again!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Is age just a number?

Some random thoughts after reading my friend's blog entry about how he thinks age is just a number….

Well, to me, age is not merely just a number. Age comes with certain implications. It signifies the maturity of one’s thinking and how he has grown over the years. At age 13, one would, and I hope should be, leading a carefree life. All the kid has to think about is just study and play. But at age 28, although one could still, hopefully, be leading a carefree life, the number comes with it heavier responsibilities. One would have to be more responsible for his actions although he can absolutely choose to be otherwise.

At this age, one has to think about work, marriage, children, money, among many others responsibilities. The most important of all now, at least to me, is how to bring the dough home. There are just so many decisions to make at this age which one doesn’t have to think of when younger that could affect the rest of his life. One can’t possibly still be running back to mummy for every little thing and do anything according to one’s whimsy. Whatever decision one makes at this stage of his life would have a great impact on the rest of not only just his own, but as well as the rest of his family’s lives. No matter how one might think he has not changed, the fact is his outlook in life would definitely be different compared to just 5 years ago.

Even in the eyes of the law, age is not just a number. Teenagers that have gone onto the wrong side of the law at 14 would be tried at the juvenile court and have a chance to repent, while someone who commits an offence at the age of 21 would be sent to jail if found guilty. This shows that people are indeed treated differently at different age. There are greater expectations of you by your family, friends, and society as one ages. So, although to some, age may just be a number, it is definitely not so in real life.

Physically wise, when the number becomes higher, one also tends to become weaker, even if you like it or not. That is the fact of life. Your metabolism decreases as you age. Your skin looks duller, you don’t look as good compared to when you were just sweet sixteen. You tend to fall sick more easily, your immune system is not as strong as before. You begin to experience illness that you used to associate with the old and feeble. But all these are now all happening to you. Hair loss becomes a norm among your peers, you can’t seem to lose weight no matter how hard you exercise. Wrinkles start showing on your face despite the time and money spent maintaining it.

The fact is with age, not only does the number become bigger; one ages too, both mentally and physically. Although behavior wise, one could still be as childish as before – playing tricks on friends, but one’s thinking and appearance certainly would have changed. So with that, I feel that age definitely entails much more than just being a number. And hopefully, with age comes wisdom too.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Blow it again and again.

Here's a video to help explain my predicament last weekend:



Aside from having to listen to the worst rendition of Happy Birthday ever, I had to endure the humiliation of blowing out the candle again and again and again. To make matters worse, I was actually the one who bought those candles for Tze Ying's birthday a couple of weeks ago.

HOWEVER, I believe something good came out of this. You know how they say you have to make a wish before blowing the candles and then they'll come true? Well I think I must've blown it around 7 times then. Just ask Roma.



PS: Today was a good day to be a United fan.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Circus, Circus.

Can you remember when was the last time you saw a circus?

Well despite the many clowns that I have met over the years (Zhanwen, Mel, Jo, you know who you are...), I really can't remember much about the last one that I saw. All I can vaguely recall is that the only time I was ever at one was the Great Moscow Circus during it's run in Singapore and I must've been only 5 or 6 years old at that time.

Anyway, just last week, I finally made it for a Cirque Du Soleil show here in Houston, called Corteo. Yes yes I know it's not exactly a circus per se, but still, it pretty much was one to me. Complete with a real Big-Top, lots of clowns, acrobats and entertainment, it really was a sight to behold and I don't remember being so impressed by a show before... well maybe not since Blue Man Group in Vegas of course.

That being said, I want to encourage you guys to watch ANY Cirque Du Soleil shows if you ever get the chance. I remember those orange Alegria notebooks they used to give out in Goodybags back in my NTU days to raise the awareness of Cirque Du Soleil but I don't remember ANYONE ever seeing it.

Check out the Corteo website to find out more and do check out some of the youtube videos by searching for Cirque Du Soleil and Corteo and you'll catch a glimpse as to why we're all so impressed by the show.


"Joke of the day: I have a double chin."

5 things I learnt on my 28th Birthday

1) Advance birthday wishes don’t always come true. (Portsmouth 2 – 1 Man Utd)

2) Teppanyaki is called Hibachi in this part of the world.

3) Candles that re-light again and again are irritating as hell.

4) This is my 11th birthday with Sharon. Almost half my life!

5) There actually IS a limit as to how much I can eat.


There goes my last "single" birthday. :)

Saturday, April 07, 2007

My bridesmaids

With the wedding drawing near, I am finally feeling a little more excited. I recently got started on finding out more on wedding stuff like heels, ring bearer pillow, wedding bands, hairstyles, veil, flowers, corsages, bridesmaids and their dresses.…I bet most brides would have done all these eons ago. But just like if I were ever asked to talk about one of my weaknesses during a job interview, I would say, “Although I like to procrastinate, I work well under pressure.” :P

Why the sudden excitement? Well, one fine day, about a month ago, Zing began asking me tons of questions on wedding planning after reading a wedding magazine. I couldn’t really answer many of her questions as I have never bothered thinking about those wedding details. So it suddenly dawned on me that I better start planning. If not, it will all soon be over and I would not have had a chance to enjoy the planning process.

Oh btw, when do you think Zing’s wedding might be? Feb/March 2009 – two frigging LONG years from NOW!! She is really not leaving anything to chance, or should I say she is a gan chiong spider? Haha…

Anyway, so I finally got started….I chose my bridesmaids and spent quite some time picking the appropriate bridesmaid dress. In fact, I spent more time on their dresses than my wedding gown because it was so hard to coordinate being so far away and the time difference did not help either. What’s more, it was extremely difficult to get everyone to agree on the design since each of them has her own idea about the perfect dress. But we did finally settle on the design after a couple of weeks of discussion.

Here’s an excerpt of the first email I sent to my jie meis introducing them to one another….

Hello Angels,

You have been specially selected to perform a special task on 69, 2007. It is of utmost importance that you keep this secret mission 'possible underwrap. From now on, we shall coin this mission, Project SuperStar.

First and foremost, let me introduce each and everyone to your fellow angels:

1. Ah Mei aka Da Jie Tou - A very fierce lady. Pls dun catch her when she is in the bad mood. She will EAT you ALIVE! Oh, did I just unwittingly anger her?

2. Zina Ang aka Didi - Her name is Hong Xiudi. She hates her name since the beginning of time. Note that only I and I alone can call her Xiudi. If you dare to call her that, be prepared that you may not live to see tomorrow. Didi, hor??!!

3. Peiwen aka Evil Twin - She is not known as my twin for nothing. She has almost the same character like me. We love to scold our boyfriends or rather fiancés! And sometimes, we help to scold each other's fiancés too!

4. Shumiin aka Ms Mok - She is a person whose everything also must be mei mei (pretty). Teeth must be mei mei, hair must be mei mei, clothes must be mei mei...Please remember not to be more mei mei than The Princess on the actual day, k?!!

5. Karin aka The Mummy - No, no...she is not the Egyptian Mummy. She has recently been just promoted to become a real mummy to a cute little girl, Gabrielle, who is beginning to look more and more like her daddy, Hmmm.....I am wondering if that is good or bad? Oops!

6. Jacquelyn aka The Torturer - She has only been a jie mei once before this and she said in her own words that she scared the hell out of the groom and xiong di. So definitely look for her for some SM ideas!

So I hope everyone is now familiar with your fellow teammates and their unique peculiarities. In the next 3 mths or so, you all are gonna work very closely to ensure the success of Project Superstar. Please try to accommodate one another's time when meeting up as I know you all have a sideline each as a cover-up for your true identity. The rough timeline for D-day is as follows:

0730 - 0800: Be at the Princess' castle around this time. Prepare for action!
0815 - 1000: Prince arrives with his entourage. Action time!
1000 - 1030: Travel time to church
1130 - 1300: When two become one....
1300 - 1400: Shooting (photos) & eating (lunch lar, not your kill)
1400 - 1800: Rest & Relax
1800 - 1900: Prepare for next course of actions @ Marina Mandarin
1900 - 2030: Pretend to entertain guests while keeping a lookout for gatecrashers.
2030 - 2300: Eat, fun and mArry.


Now, to get things started, we must first find you all a mei mei outfit for the occasion so that you can blend nicely into the crowd and surrounding without being discovered.
I am suggesting for everyone to get this outfit:



[This portion of the email has been deliberately deleted to keep the bridesmaid dress in mystery.]


So let me know what you girls think and get back to me asap. Suggestions of other outfits are welcomed but not tolerated. (kidding lar, dun be so serious can?) We have to work fast and furious. Below are the contact details of everyone:


[This portion of the email has been deliberately deleted to keep the bridesmaids’ contact details confidential in case all the buayas start calling them up.]


Thanks a zillion everyone!!!!

Lotsa love & misses,
Charlie

Oh did I mention that I was so motivated to get things moving that I wrote the above email while in office one morning and it didn’t take me very long to write that. So it seems that when I am determined to do something, I will get it done. If I don’t feel like doing, no amount of nagging is going to get me started. Now, who has been nagging me?