Mom's 56th birthday at home

Went back last weekend for mom's birthday... suggested that I will cook for dinner instead of going out for dinner like previous years... little did I know, my mom's friends will be coming over that day.... and I cannot back off last minute... haha..  mom's friend will be returning to UK soon... so she went to my hometown to just have chit chat session with my mom and another friend who is now staying in Kulim. 3 of them previously went to England for nurses courses, training etc.... so, they are pretty much good old friends... catching up with each others progress and updates in life, at the same time trying to recall the good times they had previously... Both of her friends came to over night as they have planned to chit chat the whole night... haha...

I cooked a simple dinner with no plans in my head.. as initially we planned a small party buffet style with bbq, but mom in the end said she's a bit lazy... so we canceled the whole thing off.. the menu planned was slightly different.. so I just have to rethink of what to cook.. worst still.. I woke up late and did not manage to go to the market for fresh supplies... went to nearby Giant instead... so in the end... I came out with ................... jeng jeng jeng....

Shrimp paste "Belacan" fried chicken wings... mom's favourite part of the chicken... mine too.. :)

Fried wantan.... initially I wanted to cook soup.. but I don't know what was I thinking... I just deep fried everything.. shessh! in the end, no soup! worst of all, no mince pork.. I minced chicken instead... wantan skin bought in supermarket... cannot go... it's either too thick... or something... next time I shall buy it from the wet market :( luckily still edible.. just the texture is not very right... I prefer pork :P

Tofu with minced meat and peas....

 

Mango fish... mango chicken would taste better but already have chicken.. so substitute with fish instead.... worst of all, not much fish choice in Giant that day.. they don even have bigger fish for me to fillet it myself... benci.. in the end have to opt for the dory fish which I personally don't really prefer due to some weird smell and taste it has... I think due to the water it was frozen with.. Good thing with sesame oil, it manage to cover slightly the smell off...

Vegetable, "Di Huang Miao" they call it... blanched topped with oyster sauce and fried garlic..

Full course... with soup missing.. simple homecook that cost less than RM40.. muahaha...

Honey dew pudding.... I shall never ever buy this flavour again.. haha... I'll go back to mango... It tasted not very bad.. but the colour itself... urmm.... did not expect it to come out jade coloured... boring... hmm.. mango it is, the next time.....

Everyone enjoyed dinner... fortunately... or maybe just bagi mom face only.. hahaha... i shall plan things earlier and get all the ingredients... tak boleh harap hypermarket/supermarket in SP.. cos they don't have pork (ok.. I'm like stressing pork a lot of times here...).. and sometimes the particular ingredient you want.. like my fish!! Maybe Tesco has it.. it's just I'm too lazy to drive up north... kekeke...

Savunthari's Wedding - 1st March 2008

Was invited to my colleague Savun's wedding last week. It was my first time attending an indian wedding.. well.. maybe second.. but first time getting to witness the colourful indian wedding ceremony... it lasted around 2 hours...Started around 6:30. Entering 2nd hour, everyone kinda got hungry and start feasting already... so we follow suit... haha... So, typical me.. I took lots of photos.... it's gonna be a lot of photos posted.. so it's gonna be a colourful post :) Let the photos do the talking now... hehe....

Chocolate baby cupcakes as wedding favour....

Nicely decorated and lit with decorative light bulbs on the stage, where the ceremony took place... and I tell you... it's very hot up there... too many lights.. it's like a alternative tanning machine... :)

Food served.... buffet rice, with chicken, mutton, vegetables, fruits, chapatti and ice kacang too! See.. my ice kacang has a heart.. ~ :)

Here come's the bride.... not dressed in white though... :) in her pretty blue/orange saree... and there's 2 musician there.. hmm.. they played for nearly 3 hours non stop... 

Towards the end of the ceremony....

Blessings....

I can feel that it's very heavy... all the accessories on her head I mean... but pretty.....

The beautiful bride.. Savun....

That's another colleague of mine, Chinnu with her daughter... isn't she pretty?... look at her huge round eyes....

Myself and my other colleagues, Anba, Eddi and Punitha.....

Chicken Breast MEET? meet what? meet who?

Hmmmmmmm......... came across this at one of the bakeries.... guess where... :P

 

Lunch time.. let's go!

I supposed that I will not go near all these for at least 2 months to come.. wahahaha... well..  gambate me! I must resist kau kau!! I must I must I must!!!!

Here's some the lunch we had to couple of weeks back.. now it's just going to be something I shall see but no touchy! :)

Buffet Lunch at Pinang Fisherman Wharf, situated very near to our office... first time there.. RM12.00 per head... variety wise... well.. it actually looks like that 3 star hotel buffet type.. typical fried rice, friend noodles, chicken rice, vegetables, deep fried chicken, fish, squid balls, lala, etc... i think they have soup too or was it noodle soup or something.. did not check it out.. they have salad bar also... well.. cannot complain for RM12.00 la... and everyone get one stick of paddle pop ice cream too... hahaha... well... not very impressive.. but somewhere you might wanna go if you're in a rush, really hungry, not particular with food and don wanna eat zhap fan... you can go in, grab your plate and dig in.. they have ample parking space to....

They have acrobatic fish too.. swim backstroke.... or maybe the poor fish don't have enough space to turn its body back to normal position.. too packed in there... it looks like drowned fish.. well.. if only fishes can drown... hahaha.. then it's gonna be one hell of a weird fish... cause of death... drowned... : S

Steam rice next to Snake Temple....

Another place for lunch if you're in a hurry... the uncle have 3 types... chicken... as above photo, spare ribs, and urm... salted fish I think.. haha.. forgot.. go check it out yourself... it's basically cooked rice placed in a bowl and the main cooked ingredients (chicken/spare ribs/salted fish) on top with sauce and steamed...  go to to the uncle place your order... your food will arrive in less than 5 minutes... RM4 per bowl... and the rice portion is pretty big... carbo carbo carbo.. :P

Lunch at Sakae Sushi.... this shall only happen once in a while.. I don't work to eat Sakae everyday :P Well, we had Sakae Sushi last week before my 2 months sentence of diet diet and diet plan... wahaha.. basically.. well.. I still eat though.. portion trying to cut down... I have not lost any weight this week... sheesh.... but gambate!! Shall be more strict to myself next week.... Alright.. back to Sakae.. hmm.. Jo and Aaron had the teppanyaki set, chicken and beef respectively... it comes with miso soup, potato salad, stir fry sprouts + onion, the rice and of course the chicken/beef.

I had the chicken bibimba... the portion is huge, you can share else it's very hard for you to finish it.. I can't finish mine... waste food :P one thing also cos it's piping hot, have to eat it slow.. by the time you're going into the second half of the portion, you are already full up to your throat... and Yen had the chicken katsu don....

Other food from the kaiten belt... edamame etc... and green tea of course... :)

The next day, Irene one of the account managers treated us for lunch.. she went there previously with her friend who supply spices to this outlet. It has quite generous of choices for set lunch... 8 choices of poultry, seafood, fish, pasta(spaghetti) and curry + rice. It comes with a drink.. green tea and mushroom soup.. (not sure if they change from time to time).. RM10.80 ++ if I'm not mistaken...  The place has limited tables, and therefore, call and reserve for a space if you're planning to go there... According to Irene, the chef is from one of the top hotels in Penang who ventured out to start his own business... so Macedoine Dining was born... I seriously don't know how should I read it.. Ma-ce-doine or Mace doi-ne or Mace-doine or Ma-ce-doi-ne or Mac-e-doine?? whatever... I can go on and on.. I keep quiet now... :P

Clockwise from top left, deep fried seafood basket, grilled fish, chicken chop and frilled chicken... Presentation wise, not bad.. the grilled fish portion is very small though... taste wise, average.... or was it because I was not very hungry that day....

 

Went to check out the hippest toilet in Queensbay Mall... hahaha.. open air and cleaner...

Colleague, Neela's birthday... sang her a birthday song and everyone get a share of the cake... :D

More photos to come.... went to another colleague, Savunthari's wedding and went home for the weekend and mom's birthday.... Eddi's farewell dinner at ikan bakar... hmm... gimme some time..and stay tuned...... I've gotta go get my rest now.... General Election later in the morning... Aren't it supposed to be a public holiday? Sheesh... have to go work somemore :( lotsa shit to clear.... bluergh..... i hate you all.. give me so much issues and troubles!!! takde kerja lain meh?? KNN!!!!

It's March already!

Currently in the midst of looking thru the photos taken last week... during lunch at Sakae Sushi, a colleague's wedding, home for mom's birthday... well.. it's a new month and so many things to do... sigh... work is never ending... my ultimate diet plan has just kick started, photo editing for my posts.. a lot of banking to do...and well... it's a new beginning at work too... :) it's sad to see some of my close colleagues leaving to pursue advancement in their careers... It seems that suddenly turnover here become very high.. everyone seems to be very eager to leave... Anyway, congratulations guys... best wishes from me to you and your future and definitely hope we'll keep in touch...

A lot of plans made for the coming months... my best friend is coming back and today she sms-ed me.. announcing that she have just became an aunt today!! Her brother and wife just welcomed their newborn today. A baby girl.... congratulations to the Tan-s! She's gonna be spoiled I tell you! Like my best friend said, her title as the princess at home is now being transferred to the new born baby girl.. not sure if they have decided on the name yet :)

Can't wait for the next gathering with my girls.... in May! Initially we planned for trip to Bali/Bangkok but have not confirmed. Alternatively, planning to have road trip down Cameron/Genting and KL. Also not confirmed... haha.. looking forward to the day!!

Speaking of gathering, I have not met my ex HSBC colleagues for months now... 4 of us should go out again... the last time was... urm.... October 27th 2007. gosh.. nearly half year ago... We went to Machang Bubok for steamboat and then some drinks... now i realise that i have missed out posting the occasion.. guess now I have extra photos to edit.. wahahaha

My ex UOB colleagues to.. the last gathering we had was in Chilis but only few of us... our last in huge group outing was October 2006.... drinking session at Carmen. Also must organize for some gathering again... it has been more than a year!

So many things, too little time!!! I should catch some sleep now.. long day at work tomorrow.. sigh... shall update soon!!