DHLE MY Annual Dinner (North)

I did not manage to get any photos myself.. these are from our volunteer photographers… :D Well, that’s what happen when you are in the organizing committee, you are too busy to enjoy the event.. you don’t get to take much photos… you just need to be on standby at all time to make sure things going okay…. We actually have plenty photos… plenty.. but I’m just gonna post few…

The registration counter… with Nasha and Anna..

My office partners in crime…

Photos by.. Lini’s husband… she’s an ex-colleague, his husband do freelance photography and i didn’t her his name…

Kungfu Panda… :P 

Captain Hook wannabe…

With ECOM manager, Sean :P

Photos by Eric Ng from Upstage Photography.. He’s actually a colleague of mine doing freelance photography with few DHL folks…

 

  Registration counter…

The committee members….

Jyn, our event exec…

Photos by Khoo Lay Tiong… so nice of him to do this on voluntary.. :D

Nothing beats food from home….

Few weeks back when my dad was actually doing prayers at home with food offerings for my grandpa’s death anniversary, he cooked up a storm and mom made my sis bring back the food the next day for me and my bro’s dinner.

So I arrived home, and saw tiffin carrier on the table (dad cooked), few containers of home made raisin buns (sis made), brownies-like walnut cakes (dad made), and home made bengkang kuih (mom made). It’s like home cook feast! I went to bathe immediately cos I was already salivating when I opened the tiffin carrier to check out what is inside!

Then I laid everything out on the table… Scoop out the rice which is still hot from the vacuum container and start feasting!

There’s dry pork ribs curry….

Somewhat like inchee kebin fried chicken…

Stir fried assorted mushrooms….

Deep fried marinated pork slices with caramelized onions …

Stir fried potatoes, peas, carrots, prawns, chilies and pork…

Dad cooked all this…

It’s so yummy even Codie boy wants it… and I actually noticed that the tiffin carrier is a little bit cold, but I thought it’s because my sis drove all the way from SP and the food was in the car, so I thought it’s because of the aircond.. and because the rice was hot, and I was so hungry, I did not bother to heat up the dishes… only the rice and the potatoes are still hot cos mom put in in the vacuum container. Sis was not home, cos she came back to drop off the food and went out dinner with her colleagues…

But just right after finishing my meal, she came back and noticed I ate directly from the tiffin carrier… So she asked if I heated the dishes up… I said no, and then only she told me, all dishes from the tiffin carrier are actually out directly from the fridge! Mom packed everything the night before… but oh well, they were all heated up in my tummy by the time she told me… Then bro came back and i told him, the dishes are not heated up and it’s out from the fridge.. he was too hungry he did not bother either… and walloped everything up there and then.. did not even change or bathe first…  haha.. that’s the power of home cook meals… you just want to eat it now!!

Sis’s raisin buns…

Mom’s kuih bengkang and dad’s walnut cake… both also very sedap!

Homemade Baked Penne with Garlic Mushrooms and Chicken

I bought fresh button mushrooms on clearance in Tesco the other day, it’s like half the regular price and they still look fresh and good… I love mushrooms! Then I could not really think of what to do with them, I made pasta with the mushrooms and chicken, not to forget lotsa garlic too cos I did not have any pasta sauce at home that time, I flavored it with loads of garlic and Italian herbs!

I choose penne this round cos I have only spaghetti, fusilli and penne, and penne looks better when it’s cut out for serving… :P  Just put extra virgin olive oil, throw in lots of  finely chopped garlic, sliced fresh button mushrooms, chicken pieces and bombay onions. stir fry until everything is mixed up, put in boiled penne, continue to stir, sprinkle Italian herbs, salt and pepper to taste.  Remove them to a baking pan, and because there is no sauce, I beat 3 eggs with some salt and pepper and poured it over the pasta so it’ll help to stick them together… Then, grate generous amount of mozzarella cheese on top….

Snapped some photos while the oven heats up, then put it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes for the cheese to melt and turn into golden brown…

Tadaaaa!! It’s done!

Cut into slices, and serve…

See what I mean when I said it looks nicer after cutting it into slices…

It’s overall not bad.. haha… not too rich.. a little dry though cos there was no sauce used… I used to make something like this, using macaroni with local touch.. spicier with cili boh! I’ll make that again.. one day… :D

Penang Fruits Rojak Cucuk, Butterworth

Rojak cucuk simply means fruits in skewers, kebab like and to be dipped in rojak sauce (The dressing is made up of water, belacan (shrimp paste), sugar, chili, and lime juice. Ingredients vary among vendors with some also using hae ko prawn/shrimp paste, tamarind or black bean paste in the mix-Wiki)

We used to have this kind of stall in my hometown SP too, not sure if it’s still there.. This is the one in Butterworth, along Jalan Bagan Luar, right opposite Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Seberang Perai Utara. I used to patronize this stall whenever I’m in Butterworth, sometimes I just tar pao home… also because of hygiene purposes…

There were a lot of patrons that day… and i noticed that the price is now MYR0.40 per stick.. the last time I bought from this stall, it was only MYR 0.30 per stick… guess I have not been there for a while now…

Varies from different types of fruits, young mangoes, jambu air, turnips, pineapples, guavas, carrots, star fruits, cucumbers, umbras, cuttle fish, deep fried bean curds, deep fried fish balls, and also hard boiled quail eggs. All are cut into mouth sized and skewered. 2 huge bowls of rojak sauce on each side of the stalls, one regular and another one spicier, with a lot of crushed fragrant toasted peanuts. So everyone share the same 4 bowls of rojak sauce.

I was having my second stick there when I saw this girl, dipping her quail eggs into the bowl of sauce after “bathing” it with saliva in her mouth! So I decided to take away after that… drinks are also sold, from boxed drinks, to the ones served in metal cups, orange cordial or grass jelly drink, also known as leong fun/liangfen. You can tar pao it home and they of course five your fresh new rojak sauce with crushed toasted peanuts separately. You even get to choose how spicy you want it, they’ll mix it for you.

The stall is right opposite this Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Seberang Perai Utara

It used to be the only stall selling this rojak, then another stall opened few metres away,a nd now, there’s like 3 to 4 stalls selling the same thing… this particular stall however, is always having good business…

My dinner that day, these are usually my typical choices… washed them with cold water before serving…

Poured the sauce and topped with with lotsa crushed toasted peanuts! Yummy!

This is how you eat it at the comfort of your own home… you can do it like other regular rojak too, removed all from the skewers, mix everything in a bowl and pour the sauce over and top it with the peanuts! At any ways, it’s still gonna be delicious!

Loy Krathong reminds me of childhood time with grandma…

I remember my first Loy Krathong festival. It was actually my first and my last one.. I am glad to be able to experience it.. It was either 1990, 91 or 92. Can’t really remember the exact year, but it was during school holidays I begged my dad to take my to grandma’s, I wanted to spend few days staying with grandma at our kampung in Kepala Batas, where my dad grew up.

Dad agreed, I packed my bags, and balik kampung… and during that time, it’s really kampung house, wooden kampung house with a well for water source and grandma uses firewood to cook. I get to play with cats and dogs, climb up the strong big guava tree and even collect chicken eggs from the coop! I miss childhood at kampung, and I do miss grandma a lot as well.

Anyways, during that time school holidays are usually in November and we starts school in December.. We went a few of times, first time stay was along with my sis, our cousin sis took us to the movies, ran around the kampung and we took our first little puff of ciggie (without grandma’s knowledge of course.. grandma’s eldest sis actually smoked and then threw the bud on the ashtray without putting it off, so curious us tried a puff each, sis choked a lil, we laughed it off, and never touch any ciggie there after.. I was 7, I think) :P…

So I spent like a week in kampung on my last visit and and during that particular stay, grandma brought me over to a friend’s place, I’m not really sure where it is, somewhere in mainland, near the Wat (Buddhist Tempe) she was put to rest a couple of years later… When we were young, we go to the Wat a lot on different Thai festivals, occasions with grandma and my parents of course…

So we went with 5th grand aunt.. I think she’s grandma’s bro’s wife something like that… well, I need to check with my dad again on that.. :P I was too young to remember in too detailed… I remember her green car with plate WAT XXXX. So off we go on a journey, and we stayed over at a house, I think it’s their friends.. and they speak Thai.. grandma speaks Thai.. During night time while they chat, I sat there and ate a lot of quail eggs cos I don’t understand what they were talking and I’m the only kid around… Eating is my only choice… I don’t think they have TV cos I remember I was quite bored :P…

There were so much preparations going on the next morning, it’s like a big festival… grandma told me it’s called Loy Krathong… and I was introduced to Krathongs… the  pretty lotus-like arrangement with flowers like the below photos with candles and incense sticks, it’s lighted up and then released to the river… there were prayers, and then we get to feast :P Well, I don’t quite remember the whole thing but images of those time, still flashes in my mind sometimes.. sweet childhood time with grandma will always be fondly remembered…

Photo © thaiworldview.com

Loy Krathong at Lumpini park, Bangkok.
Photo © 2007 Grant Cameron

Potluck at work on a Happy Friday!

Oh well, I’ve been away and MIA again for some time and I’m back.. have been busy and did not really reward myself on eating sprees lately… and though I have some pending stuffs I have to blog with, was pretty tied up with work and stuffs…

Oh well, so we organized another potluck yesterday at work, it has been a while since our last one, and this round we involved the whole floor including the commercial team, and glad that everyone joined in the makan fun this round :) It was a success and yes, again with whole lot of food!!

2 types of fried bee hoon, on the left is very appetizing tom yam fried bee hoon from Teddy, enough to feed 50 people i think… haha… and on the right is by our very own IDM, fried bee hoon ala Alex Lee… which was surprisingly good! First time having fried bee hoon with tuna chunks.. Thumbs up!

*bee hoon = rice vermicelli

Clockwise, KFC from Kalaa and Allan, delicious cheese mussels by Eric,  yummy deep fried shitake mushrooms by Alex Seow and my garden pasta salad :)

Well, fast food is surely to be around at any occasions, KFC and also domino’s pizza from Irene.

Then we have nasi himpit from Maznah, with chicken rendang from Suraya, Sha helped her to cook because she was not well, and also chicken curry and roti jala from Sha. She made both the rendang and curry, and ordered the roti jala from her cousin sis.. all were very very good!

   Then we have jelly with selasih seeds from Justin, cream puffs from Si Mun, ban chang kuih and apom from Lean, egg sandwiches from Jennifer, bread sushi rolls which was cute and yummy too from Adeline.. I think she ordered from someone, saw the name card sticker on the box (Sin Ka Oon 04-8282062 in Air Itam.. need to check with Adeline to double confirm.. kekeke)… next time can make the order too cos it’s sedap! And also very sedap curry puffs from Eliezer and Reetha… everyone agreed that it’s really good… it’s from Kampung Kastam somewhere in Gelugor… with generous filling of chicken piece!

Kara brought fruit tarts and Ayu made this refreshing fruit truffles, with layer of coffee cake below, with pudding later next, then the fruit cocktails jelly layer, followed by another layer of konyaku jelly..  Served with vanilla ice cream scoops and evaporated milk… also very nice!

This round, we had variety of food, everyone was stuffed silly from the time feast started at 12:00noon to 5:00pm. We even invited the operations folks to join in the feast…  cos it’s just too much food! Even with that, we have to tar pao leftovers…

Our buffet spread!

Also not photographed individually, cos there we just too many things only when I checked my camera,  I noticed I missed out taking their photos are Kar Wai’s party sausages, Reetha’s muruku, Joe’s nyonya kuihs, Adrian’s mat kool ice creams and his sesat (lost) cream crackers!

It was fun, and also good, cos our office it not that big and we actually get to all sit together and enjoy food each other have made and brought, talk about anything except work for that one hour and laugh really hard at each other’s jokes…

  Adrian checking out the food! while other look on waiting for the party to get started!

  Everybody, dig in!!!

Nom nom nom nom…….

Our next session will be next month, Christmas gift exchange and makan makan… can’t wait! And there you go…. more pot luck ideas :P