Near ahmah's house, we have to stop for gu (cow) to koi kae lor (but Ping actually haven't seen any gu around there the last few trips back). Here, at Trappers Cove, we have to stop for 'go' (Canadian goose) to cross the road. They are actually pretty 'gong' because they will still cross when they see a car coming.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Canadian goose crossing the road
Near ahmah's house, we have to stop for gu (cow) to koi kae lor (but Ping actually haven't seen any gu around there the last few trips back). Here, at Trappers Cove, we have to stop for 'go' (Canadian goose) to cross the road. They are actually pretty 'gong' because they will still cross when they see a car coming.
potluck dinner
We used to have potluck dinner at Western every time there is a birthday or any M'sian holiday. It was always at Edmund's place - probably coz that's where the bachelors are? hehe...or maybe because Edmund is always willing to clean up afterwards (remember all the talks after that? really miss the times when you would come over and just hang out...but of course you barely talk to me unless BK is not around *grins*...thinking back, you barely talk to me every time BK is around..even during Burnham days!!）
It is not so often here at MSU since the M'sian community is much smaller. With potluck, there's always too much food and sometimes the combination is totally out of place...like the one we just had last weekend. It was a small one - the regular M'sian gang, some friends from TT's lab and a few 'rarely seen' people.
Ping brought the chap chye. LP made cha ye tan, TT brought herbal soup anｄ 菊花, Jo made chicken with mushroom gravy. We also had some tandoori chicken, fried rice, some vege dishes,
and salad. For desserts, there was some kind of pie and brownie with icecream.
It is not so often here at MSU since the M'sian community is much smaller. With potluck, there's always too much food and sometimes the combination is totally out of place...like the one we just had last weekend. It was a small one - the regular M'sian gang, some friends from TT's lab and a few 'rarely seen' people.
Ping brought the chap chye. LP made cha ye tan, TT brought herbal soup anｄ 菊花, Jo made chicken with mushroom gravy. We also had some tandoori chicken, fried rice, some vege dishes,and salad. For desserts, there was some kind of pie and brownie with icecream.
chap chye
When not sure what to eat and don't feel like cooking, chap fan is one of the best thing to get. Back in M'sia lah. Here a bit sien. No matter where you go, it is the same choices - burgers, wraps, pizza, subs - all got some kind of flour - Chinese, Mexican, Korean, Japenese - a bit high on the price scale and they usually serve enough to feed half of a family in M'sia.
Chap fan is also known as the economy rice in M'sia. It is suppose to be a pretty cheap dish but it seems to be getting more expensive, at least in KL. They usually have about 20 different type of dishes laid out - from vegetables to different kinds of meat to seafood. They will give you a plate of rice and then you can pick any combination of the dishes. Chap fan is very convenient because when you're hungry, you can ask for more rice, when you're not so hungry, you can ask for less rice. It is also one of our family favorite choice because all of us get to eat our favorite dish instead of all of us eat the same thing. Ping used to eat chap fan for lunch everyday during high school because it is also faster and mummy only get one hour lunch break. The best one in Penang is the corner one at one of Green Lane's kopitiam. Didn't go there the last trip home as there's also chap fan near our house at Sungai Emas but Ping still prefer the one at Green Lane - more choices.
Last week, Ping wanted to char tang hoon (glass noodle, 冬粉) - like the regular ones that you can get from a char kuew teow stall. But then Ping started to think about chap fan and one of Ping's favorite dish from chap fan is the chap chye - tang hoon stir fry with or bok nee (black fungus, 黑木耳) and tau kee (beancurd strips). So Ping made a trip to Oriental Mart and get some stuff to make chap chye!
Ingredients:
tang hoon (soaked in hot water for a few hours)
or bok nee (soaked in water overnight)
hiow kor, black mushroom, 香菇 (soaked in water for a few hours)
kim chiam, lily bud, 金針 (soaked in water for 10-20 mins)
tau kee (soaked in water overnight)
or tau eu, black soy sauce
dissolved chicken stock
First stir-fry the tang hoon (mummy, the tang hoon didn't liam lah, instead was easily chooi, maybe chim chui siow ku) with the dissolved chicken stock. Add the tau kee and allow it to simmer until soft. Then add in the rest of the ingredient and stir-fry.
Easy leh. Actually, Ping didn't like the kim chiam at all but without it, seems like something is missing so Ping add it in but always pick it out. It would taste even better if there is teak gah kee (no idea what it is called in English or what exactly it is so Ping haven't found that here) - another one on the list for stuff to bring back. Keke..
Chap fan is also known as the economy rice in M'sia. It is suppose to be a pretty cheap dish but it seems to be getting more expensive, at least in KL. They usually have about 20 different type of dishes laid out - from vegetables to different kinds of meat to seafood. They will give you a plate of rice and then you can pick any combination of the dishes. Chap fan is very convenient because when you're hungry, you can ask for more rice, when you're not so hungry, you can ask for less rice. It is also one of our family favorite choice because all of us get to eat our favorite dish instead of all of us eat the same thing. Ping used to eat chap fan for lunch everyday during high school because it is also faster and mummy only get one hour lunch break. The best one in Penang is the corner one at one of Green Lane's kopitiam. Didn't go there the last trip home as there's also chap fan near our house at Sungai Emas but Ping still prefer the one at Green Lane - more choices.
Last week, Ping wanted to char tang hoon (glass noodle, 冬粉) - like the regular ones that you can get from a char kuew teow stall. But then Ping started to think about chap fan and one of Ping's favorite dish from chap fan is the chap chye - tang hoon stir fry with or bok nee (black fungus, 黑木耳) and tau kee (beancurd strips). So Ping made a trip to Oriental Mart and get some stuff to make chap chye!
Ingredients:
tang hoon (soaked in hot water for a few hours)
or bok nee (soaked in water overnight)
hiow kor, black mushroom, 香菇 (soaked in water for a few hours)
kim chiam, lily bud, 金針 (soaked in water for 10-20 mins)
tau kee (soaked in water overnight)
or tau eu, black soy sauce
dissolved chicken stock
First stir-fry the tang hoon (mummy, the tang hoon didn't liam lah, instead was easily chooi, maybe chim chui siow ku) with the dissolved chicken stock. Add the tau kee and allow it to simmer until soft. Then add in the rest of the ingredient and stir-fry.
Easy leh. Actually, Ping didn't like the kim chiam at all but without it, seems like something is missing so Ping add it in but always pick it out. It would taste even better if there is teak gah kee (no idea what it is called in English or what exactly it is so Ping haven't found that here) - another one on the list for stuff to bring back. Keke..Monday, July 16, 2007
Potter Park Zoo
While there's only one major zoo in M'sia, there are zoos at most big cities here. Potter Park Zoo is located at Lansing and this is Ping's first zoo in the States. It is VERY small (we finished walking around it in less than 2 hours!) but much cleaner and not so chau bi. In fact, when you first walk into the zoo, it feels more like a park (something like Taiping Zoo) rather than a real zoo. There are only a few group of people here and there. Zoo Negara is definitely much more fun and exciting!
Ping can't remember when was the last time Ping went to Zoo Negara but daddy used to bring us there on Sunday (probably way back before Ping started going to Sunday school) and we would spend the entire day in the zoo. It was always so pack that we have to squeeze our way around to get near the cage to see the animals. The cages are much larger and there are way more animals at Zoo Negara too. But Ping can't remember much of it except for the giraffe where we get to feed them and the KFC train that goes around the zoo and the flamingoes in the centre lake. Sometimes there is also a bird show where they make the parrot talk. Those were the days when we don't have to think of anything and when life was much more simple.
Back to the Potter Park Zoo, we happens to go on the hottest day of the summer - all the animals were sleeping!! Most of the cages were empty because the animals rather hide in their indoor area. The animals must be thinking - all these gong lang, jit tau ah neh tua lai kia zoo. Ping's favorite was the baby snow leopard. They kept him/her indoor but the room was so small and it doesn't look fun at all...a bit ke lian. But it is sooooooooooo cute!! It looks like a small baby playing with a toy. It was funny seeing the leopard attack the soft toy like it is expecting the toy to fight back.
The funniest thing - their zoo even have chicken!!! In M'sia, chicken walk all over the place, not in the zoo! When we were walking close to the chicken area, the sounds feel like we're walking around a kampung..hehe.
Mummy ar, maybe your next life you can be a lion/lioness since they sleep 16-20 hours a day and that seems to be your hobby? Keke...
One of Ping's favorite is the Muntjac. They are soooo cute and they got a really pretty and 'eu siu' face. Ping found out from Wiki that they are the natives of Southeast Asia...maybe that's why so 'bin sek'. Haha!
The most geli one is the Axolotl. They look like a baby hamster at the stage when they just come out from their mum and still haven't sae mo. The interesting fact is that they can regenerate their own body parts. It must be pretty cool doing a research on them but every night sure 'bang' the axolotl wan. Actually, if you do a image google for Axolotl, there's a lot of cute looking ones. But it is still too geli to look at a real life one! Reminds Ping of the rubbery stuff that daddy used to buy back from Shanghai...the one where we can throw at the wall and then it'll stick and fall slowly down.
Heard of Gila Monster? Wonder if it has a 'gila' characteristic...hehe. But for those of us who have been in the States for a while, we would know that the way they pronounce 'gila' is actually 'hila' so it probably has nothing to do with the lizard being gila.
Another one that is pretty interesting is the Tamarin. They remind Ping of a 2 part movie where there are tons of this little creatures that took over the world but one of them is really nice and cute and is actually a pet of the main actor...totally blank on the name of the movie even though Ping have watched it tons of times!! The Tamarin seems to be tame enough to be made a pet too! They are also vegetarian so don't have to worry about them eating you! They actually have a 'kuai ku' look too!
Another one of Ping's favorite is the Llama! They are very social animals as the moment we walked close to their cage, one by one came out to greet us..haha..of course not lah...it's for food lah! But they have super huge teeth that Ping didn't dare to feed them at all. While they are very friendly, we cannot manja them too much because they will start treating us like one of them, which is spitting. To them, spitting is a common way of treating each other so they don't think it's a problem although Ping would not appreciate being spitted at by a llama even if it is because they like Ping. Eeeeee....
Other than these, there's not much interesting ones. As M'sians, we always expect to see monkeys and orang utans in the zoo but there's only one monkey cage, unlike the cages after cages of monkey and orang utans back home.
Zoo Negara is definitely way better!!!
Ping can't remember when was the last time Ping went to Zoo Negara but daddy used to bring us there on Sunday (probably way back before Ping started going to Sunday school) and we would spend the entire day in the zoo. It was always so pack that we have to squeeze our way around to get near the cage to see the animals. The cages are much larger and there are way more animals at Zoo Negara too. But Ping can't remember much of it except for the giraffe where we get to feed them and the KFC train that goes around the zoo and the flamingoes in the centre lake. Sometimes there is also a bird show where they make the parrot talk. Those were the days when we don't have to think of anything and when life was much more simple.
Back to the Potter Park Zoo, we happens to go on the hottest day of the summer - all the animals were sleeping!! Most of the cages were empty because the animals rather hide in their indoor area. The animals must be thinking - all these gong lang, jit tau ah neh tua lai kia zoo. Ping's favorite was the baby snow leopard. They kept him/her indoor but the room was so small and it doesn't look fun at all...a bit ke lian. But it is sooooooooooo cute!! It looks like a small baby playing with a toy. It was funny seeing the leopard attack the soft toy like it is expecting the toy to fight back.
The funniest thing - their zoo even have chicken!!! In M'sia, chicken walk all over the place, not in the zoo! When we were walking close to the chicken area, the sounds feel like we're walking around a kampung..hehe.
Mummy ar, maybe your next life you can be a lion/lioness since they sleep 16-20 hours a day and that seems to be your hobby? Keke...
One of Ping's favorite is the Muntjac. They are soooo cute and they got a really pretty and 'eu siu' face. Ping found out from Wiki that they are the natives of Southeast Asia...maybe that's why so 'bin sek'. Haha!
The most geli one is the Axolotl. They look like a baby hamster at the stage when they just come out from their mum and still haven't sae mo. The interesting fact is that they can regenerate their own body parts. It must be pretty cool doing a research on them but every night sure 'bang' the axolotl wan. Actually, if you do a image google for Axolotl, there's a lot of cute looking ones. But it is still too geli to look at a real life one! Reminds Ping of the rubbery stuff that daddy used to buy back from Shanghai...the one where we can throw at the wall and then it'll stick and fall slowly down.
Heard of Gila Monster? Wonder if it has a 'gila' characteristic...hehe. But for those of us who have been in the States for a while, we would know that the way they pronounce 'gila' is actually 'hila' so it probably has nothing to do with the lizard being gila.
Another one that is pretty interesting is the Tamarin. They remind Ping of a 2 part movie where there are tons of this little creatures that took over the world but one of them is really nice and cute and is actually a pet of the main actor...totally blank on the name of the movie even though Ping have watched it tons of times!! The Tamarin seems to be tame enough to be made a pet too! They are also vegetarian so don't have to worry about them eating you! They actually have a 'kuai ku' look too!
Another one of Ping's favorite is the Llama! They are very social animals as the moment we walked close to their cage, one by one came out to greet us..haha..of course not lah...it's for food lah! But they have super huge teeth that Ping didn't dare to feed them at all. While they are very friendly, we cannot manja them too much because they will start treating us like one of them, which is spitting. To them, spitting is a common way of treating each other so they don't think it's a problem although Ping would not appreciate being spitted at by a llama even if it is because they like Ping. Eeeeee....
Other than these, there's not much interesting ones. As M'sians, we always expect to see monkeys and orang utans in the zoo but there's only one monkey cage, unlike the cages after cages of monkey and orang utans back home.Zoo Negara is definitely way better!!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Memory Pieces
昨天跟朋友去Chicago 看戲劇還有去玩玩. 要到Downtown 的時候, 有一種酸酸的感覺. 這是我第一次沒有跟你一起來. 如果到我們走過的地方我會覺得那個回忆是開心還是苦呢?
已 經快到三年了. 有很多我們以前的回忆我也不會去想. 我認為如果沒有去想它我一定不會想念那時候的我們, 也可能在我腦海里不再提了. 但是這兩天在 Chicago 走走的時候我才覺得我們的一切是不可能忘記的. 不管是三年後還是十年後, 那記憶一定會還在我心里的. 我們剛剛分手的時候我以及吵你給我我們拍的片但你以及都不會給我, 原來沒有照片那會議也不會消失.
雖然我們之間也有難過的關, 這兩天我只能想到我們開心的時候. 讓我走過那個地方的時候很想跟自己笑一笑. 真的好象我在看戲, 一個我和你演的戲. 每一次跟你出去約會的時候一定會覺得自己好像一個公主一樣. 還記得有一次我們送我爸媽回去的時候, 你已經好了好了可是你還是帶我去吃 dim sum. 只有你會這麼 manja 我. 想要什麼你也會給, 真的是一個好幸福的感覺.
好想你的 'doo doo'.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
"Claypot Briyani" konon
We were driving around Little India back in November last year. Couldn't remember if it was one of the trips when we were there for daddy's favorite past-time of driving around Penang or because wanted to get a sari (which Ping didn't get because it was crazy expensive. Ended up getting a dress that Ping hasn't had the chance to wear yet...maybe this weekend to Chicago..hehe). Not having to drive, Ping get to look around and saw an ad promoting "Briyani Claypot". *shiok!* Ping haven't eaten 'nga poh kai fan' (claypot chicken rice) or nasi briyani yet so that's a great combination!This is what we got....
Sure...we got claypot and we got nasi briyani. But that's not what Ping had in mind!!! They didn't cook the nasi briyani in the claypot! They just use the claypot to 'tae' the pui and chicken. Grrrr!! Kena tipu! So disappointed! One of the best nasi briyani that Ping had before is the one at "The Janova" somewhere at the State, near the place where we apply IC in PJ (arghghg!! Ping can't remember any building landmarks around there!!). We used to go there every other week when we were still staying in PJ and when daddy was around. Haven't been back to see if it's still there.Besides the nasi briyani, we also ordered the naan and tandori chicken. This was much better because it is hot while the rice was not hot enough.
Ish...now want to eat Indian food already. No good Indian food here :(. Sienzzz...
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Greektown, Detroit
Went down to Detroit last week for Lin Pei's Canadian visa application. While waiting for her visa to be processed, we went to Greektown for lunch. Didn't know where the good Greek food are, we asked some guy and he recommended Pegasus. It is well-known for their Opa! dish, which is a flamed-cheese dish but we didn't know about that so we didn't get it. It was pretty fun seeing all the flames though. The food was pretty good but it is obvious that most of the stuff were pre-cooked and they just had to heat it up.
We got one of their combination platter - green beans, lamb chop, roast chicken, spanakopita (spinach pie) and rice. Ping was not too impressed with the chicken as it was sort of blend but the green beans was awesome, so is the spinach pie. The rice was not cooked very well either - too much water, but maybe it's because Ping like rice that are more 'liap'.
The other two dishes that we got was Moussaka - layered eggplant, potatoes, and sauteed onions, seasoned with spices - and roast lamb in tomato sauce. They vege dish is good but could definitely make do with less green peas and the eggplant was cooked a little too long. Ping likes the roast lamb the best since Ping don't cook lamb and haven't had it for a while.
Mediterranean food is one of the food that Ping has never had back in M'sia and is pretty well-known here. However, it is also one of the food that Ping won't be able to take everyday just because they have a lot of weird spices. Ping's favorite is their rice with almonds and crispy noodles!
After lunch, we walked over to Astoria pastry before heading back to the Canadian Consulate. There were sooooooo many cute ones we didn't know which one to get. In the end, Ping got the one on the bottom right corner of the picture.
We got one of their combination platter - green beans, lamb chop, roast chicken, spanakopita (spinach pie) and rice. Ping was not too impressed with the chicken as it was sort of blend but the green beans was awesome, so is the spinach pie. The rice was not cooked very well either - too much water, but maybe it's because Ping like rice that are more 'liap'.The other two dishes that we got was Moussaka - layered eggplant, potatoes, and sauteed onions, seasoned with spices - and roast lamb in tomato sauce. They vege dish is good but could definitely make do with less green peas and the eggplant was cooked a little too long. Ping likes the roast lamb the best since Ping don't cook lamb and haven't had it for a while.
Mediterranean food is one of the food that Ping has never had back in M'sia and is pretty well-known here. However, it is also one of the food that Ping won't be able to take everyday just because they have a lot of weird spices. Ping's favorite is their rice with almonds and crispy noodles!
After lunch, we walked over to Astoria pastry before heading back to the Canadian Consulate. There were sooooooo many cute ones we didn't know which one to get. In the end, Ping got the one on the bottom right corner of the picture.Sunday, July 01, 2007
Ping's bak chang
It's Duan Wu Jie (端午節) - Dragon Boat Festival - this month. Back home, it is usually when people make rice dumplings (chang, 粽子). The rice dumpling is made of glutinous rice and various fillings, usually beans and chinese mushrooms in addition to pork. The rice and fillings are wrapped up in a bamboo leave and boiled until cook. Ping's favorite is Air Itam ahmah and tua ee's chang but recent years, Ping haven't been eating them much. There's always so many things that Ping wants to eat whenever Ping goes home that Ping don't get to eat all of them. Furthermore, ahmah and ee haven't been making them for quite sometime already. Another type of rice dumpling that is pretty popular back home is 'kee chang' (鹼水棕, alkaline dumpling) that is made up alkaline water (don't ask Ping, have no idea what it is) and it is really good with gula Melaka (brown sugar)!!
Since Ping don't get to eat it here, Ping decided to be adventurous this time and try it out herself. Had most of the ingredients except for some that are available from Oriental Market.
Ingredients
Glutinous rice (choo bee, 糯米)
dried mushrooms (hiow kor, 香菇)
dried prawns (hae bee, 蝦米)
black-eyed peas (pek tau, 白豆)
garlic
for seasoning - soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and five-spice powder (ngo hiang hun, 五香粉)
sesame oil
bamboo leaves
Ping soaked the rice, peas and bamboo leaves overnight. The prawns and mushroom were soaked in warm water for about an hour before cooking. The recipe is actually from Kuali, but Ping didn't add any meat so it is not really a 'bak' chang. Ping also could not find chestnut and kiam ark noi (salted duck egg) so just make do with whatever that is available.
Ping started out by frying the minced dried prawns and garlic with the mushroom. Then Ping fry the rice with the spices and sauces and mix in the beans. The hardest part is the 'pak' (tie) part. Ping kinda remember what the chang looks like but not really. So Ping asked mummy but mummy's description seems to be giving Ping the triangular shape instead of the pyramid shape. So Ping looked up online and found this video on YouTube by teckiee. Haha..keng leh!
But then without someone physically showing Ping, Ping's chang all look weird. But Ping is proud of herself because out of the 10 chang that Ping pak, only 2 went loose! So chin chai pak also never mind. heheh..but learning how to pak is now on Ping's list of 'stuff to learn from gee kim'.
Tua ee, what do you think of this? ahdik, can show this to gee kim and get her comments? Hehe.. Oh yeah, Ping also just realized that this type of chang is actually called 'kiam bak chang'..maybe because of all the tau eu that we use?? This is also the 'nyonya' style chang. The cantonese style has a lot more fillings in them like the one in the video - all kinds of different tau and don't know what yong and other stuff.
Ping also could not put too much of the filling in like the one in the video. So Ping's filling is actually very little compare to most of the bak chang that are much bigger. Usually, bak chang is pretty filling but Ping's bak chang, Ping can eat two to three.
This afternoon, brought some of them to the picnic we had at the Riverside Park at downtown Lansing. The girls liked it but Ping wish that tua ee and gee kim get to try it to see if it is 'passable'. Hehehe..
Since Ping don't get to eat it here, Ping decided to be adventurous this time and try it out herself. Had most of the ingredients except for some that are available from Oriental Market.
Ingredients
Glutinous rice (choo bee, 糯米)
dried mushrooms (hiow kor, 香菇)
dried prawns (hae bee, 蝦米)
black-eyed peas (pek tau, 白豆)
garlic
for seasoning - soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and five-spice powder (ngo hiang hun, 五香粉)
sesame oil
bamboo leaves
Ping soaked the rice, peas and bamboo leaves overnight. The prawns and mushroom were soaked in warm water for about an hour before cooking. The recipe is actually from Kuali, but Ping didn't add any meat so it is not really a 'bak' chang. Ping also could not find chestnut and kiam ark noi (salted duck egg) so just make do with whatever that is available.Ping started out by frying the minced dried prawns and garlic with the mushroom. Then Ping fry the rice with the spices and sauces and mix in the beans. The hardest part is the 'pak' (tie) part. Ping kinda remember what the chang looks like but not really. So Ping asked mummy but mummy's description seems to be giving Ping the triangular shape instead of the pyramid shape. So Ping looked up online and found this video on YouTube by teckiee. Haha..keng leh!
But then without someone physically showing Ping, Ping's chang all look weird. But Ping is proud of herself because out of the 10 chang that Ping pak, only 2 went loose! So chin chai pak also never mind. heheh..but learning how to pak is now on Ping's list of 'stuff to learn from gee kim'.
Tua ee, what do you think of this? ahdik, can show this to gee kim and get her comments? Hehe.. Oh yeah, Ping also just realized that this type of chang is actually called 'kiam bak chang'..maybe because of all the tau eu that we use?? This is also the 'nyonya' style chang. The cantonese style has a lot more fillings in them like the one in the video - all kinds of different tau and don't know what yong and other stuff.Ping also could not put too much of the filling in like the one in the video. So Ping's filling is actually very little compare to most of the bak chang that are much bigger. Usually, bak chang is pretty filling but Ping's bak chang, Ping can eat two to three.
This afternoon, brought some of them to the picnic we had at the Riverside Park at downtown Lansing. The girls liked it but Ping wish that tua ee and gee kim get to try it to see if it is 'passable'. Hehehe..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)