記憶拼圖

今天真的好累...回到家已4.30am了. 但, 在桌子上有個郵包. 本來想等明天才開的, 可是心痒, 卻開了. 是什麼呢? 是一張記憶拼圖!!! 看到那照片的時候, 一點都不覺得累了. 哪些照片是從我們開始一起出去完到現在的一點一滴!! 每一長照片都有很開心或者搞笑的回憶. 這, 真的是我從朋友受過最棒的禮物了!! It is the small things that 可以讓人動心.



哈哈, 好了, 該去睡覺了.

傻瓜

今天有一件事讓我覺得以前的萍萍真的好傻哦. 因為要讓對方開心, 自己的努力變成負擔. 以為每一件事都是要自己主動. 當對方不開心的時候, 都覺得是自己的錯, 因為不能在他的身邊陪著他或幫他什麼忙. 但, 那根本不是愛情! 那就是傻瓜! 對方根本不想奮力那曾經甜蜜過的愛情. 因為那相隔已經太遠了, 那愛情也變了不值得追求. It was always about him. 如果他覺得太麻煩, 那就是我不夠努力. 那甜蜜的話和承諾, 只是空口白話.

當我從我的夢幻醒來時, 我答應自己: I will not let history repeat. 我不會在喜歡上一個不會在我身邊的人. 何必讓自己愛的那麼辛苦呢?

喜從天降, 我卻喜歡上一個快要離開的人. 雖然自己一直提醒自己, 我的心, 卻不想聽道理. 再一次, 我又選擇了一個遠程戀愛. 但, 這一次, I got a good feeling about it! 今天, 他讓我感到, 他對我們的感情是認真的!! 這個感情, 我不再是一個人了. 原來, 被喜歡的感覺真的很棒! 最重要的是, he cares. :)

我不是一個傻瓜了!! 我真的可以與他一起去Rocky Mountain 了!!



相信付出會有代價, 代價只是一句...傻瓜.

但, 如果兩個人都肯付出, 那代價就是...幸福.

Mango Salsa

Got motivated to make salsa by Kristi. She had a great recipe for mango salsa and we had a lab party last week. What more can be easier than salsa? (besides bringing chips lah).

The mango salsa recipe I got from Kristi has mango (duh!), red peppers (一點都不辣的, 只給甜的味道), jalapeno (這才有辣的味道, 但比不上小辣椒的辣) and cilantro. But I am not too big on red peppers so I mixed it up with tomatoes. I also took out the onions because I don't like raw onions at all (maybe I should have left it in there since onion is one of the main ingredient of any salsa!).
Salsa is one of the easiest thing to make! It just requires a lot of chopping. If one prefers a less chunky salsa, the tomatoes, cilantro and jalapeno can be blended, which makes it even easier because less cutting up is required. But I do like some chunks so I prefer to cut them up as fine as I could.
After trying the 'final product', I would definitely not skip the red peppers. It adds a nice sweet and peppery taste to it. But if I made it for myself again, I would definitely add another piece of jalapeno. My choice of salsa is definitely spicy ones!

Kristi, thanks a bunch for the recipe!! Will definitely be one of my favorite!

Fish Curry

It has been a while since I cooked anything Malaysian. With all the farewells and birthdays the past few weeks, I have been eating out quite a bit. Since most places serve extra large servings, that also means lots of left-overs for the week day or just eating simple stuff if it gets too busy at work.

Today, was in the mood to cook something 'home-cook'. First, what is in the fridge? Tomatoes and okra! (surprise, surprise, okra is in the same family with hibiscus!! Hmmm...wonder in what sense..). Okra is more commonly known as 'Lady's Fingers' (Malay: kacang bendi/Hokkien: or gui tao, which literally translates to black ghost nuts) to M'sians. Am not a big fan of slimy vegetables (ie. squash) but okra is actually one of my favorite vege!

I have always thought that okra is a Chinese ingredient as it is very common in our household. I tried to explain it to Fan, who is from China, but she could not picture it at all. Just remembered about the conversation with Fan a while ago when I was talking to mum and found out that it is not available in China as a 'regular' vegetable at all. According to Wikipedia, it originated in the Middle Eastern countries and was introduced to US at the SouthEast. As for why we have it, it is well likely to be from the Portugese influence (or not?). Anyway, even if it is not found in China, they still have a name for it - 秋葵(qiu1 kui2). I wonder if the hokkien 'gui' is actually from the mandarin 葵 instead of the 鬼.

Next, what is the best way to cook okra and tomatoes? Fish curry! So off I went to Goodrich to get fish! Back at home...

First stir-fry the okra (with the head removed) and tomatoes (quartered) with the curry paste. Used my last packet of A1 Fish Curry paste. With such products, cooking curry in US is soooo simple and quick!
When the tomato and okra is very well stir-fried into the sauce, I added some water and coconut milk. The fish is then added last because it is typically the fastest to be cooked.
The fish curry is then served with white rice.
Isn't that easy? Yummy yummy! The photo could have looked better. Didn't know how to avoid the over-exposed white rice. Grrr...

Rainy Day

Ooo...it is actually raining outside! Can barely hear it but can see the drops on the window (which is from the lab since the 'dungeon' has no window). The dungeon is the lab microscope and computer room. It is cold (an average of 20 degrees C), dark and makes you want to go to sleep. The last because two of the most monotonous task is carried out in the room - direct cell count and phylogenetic tree building with Arb.

Am listening to a playlist with Plain White T's (love their new album!!) and 10,000 Maniacs.

Rainy Day - Plain White T's

A lovely surprise!

Was expecting a package from Mei, but have no idea what it is. Mei only mentioned that it is something cute. Hehe...

The one thing that I least expected - Jay's merchandise!!!
Mei went to Jay's concert in Sydney. Ping is sooo jealous!!! :P Hehe...still aiming to go to his Taiwan concert one day!!! Although I have lots of Jay's merchandise, I actually have not started collecting the Jay 公仔. Let this be the first!
Thanks a bunch Mei!!!

Spending another late night in the dungeon. Makes me wish I had gotten a Mac!! Hehe...then I get to work at home. Definitely getting a Mac next time! (Yes, Steph, I know you are thinking "I told you so".)

甜蜜

原來,喜歡一個人的感覺就是那麼甜蜜的.
原來,被喜歡的感覺就是那麼溫暖的.
原來,這種的緊張會讓人心跳加速.
原來,這種的害羞會讓人臉頰火紅.
原來,喜歡可以把哪緊張變成勇敢...給了我勇氣來緊緊的抱著你.

當你起床的時候,第一個思想就是他,
刷牙時,發現自己在傻傻的微笑,那是什麼意思呢?

我...好像...真的...喜歡上一個人了.



我...也好像...一步...一步...走火入魔了.

The colors of summer.

春天的花草又小又可愛. 夏天的花草是迷人的. 如果能和喜歡的人在花園走一走, 感覺一定好甜蜜的.

When the weather is so lovely, it is hard to stay indoors! Went for a walk by the MSU Perennials Garden and all the flowers are in full bloom! So many photos to take.

This is the most interesting one...

From Plants

Isn't it cute?

Another funny one is the Nodding Onion. It does look a little like Onion when it is budding.

From Plants

But once it blooms, it does not look like an onion at all.

From Plants

The 'miniature cactus'.

From Plants

The lollipop.

From Plants

It is always more interesting to capture a flower with a bug on it. It is harder too because bugs are always busy flying all over the place. Gotta be very very patient to get a good photo of them.

From Bugs

Happy Summer!!

Japanese food - sushi.

What is authentic Japanese food? Do they always eat sushi? Are their udon noodles typically that blend? Do they really get to eat raw fish every day? What is your perception of Japanese food?

Japanese food is one of the more expensive foods both here and in Malaysia. Japanese restaurants tend to be very stylish and can look intimidating. The dining table settings are more delicate and traditional. It is definitely not one of those foods that one decides to 'tah pau' (take-away) on the home from work.

Back in Malaysia, Japanese food was a celebratory choice of cuisine. We can count the number of times we ate Japanese food in a year. When we were little kids, once in a while, dad would bring us to a Japanese restaurant located on the 3rd floor of the Mall at Kuala Lumpur after Sunday class. I was so young at that time I can't remember if the food was good but all their bento comes in all kinds of shape like aeroplane, cars, ships, etc. That was probably what attracted us there too since we definitely didn't know to ask for Japanese food at that time.

Sometime during high school days, sushi became really popular and it wasn't long before I got hooked on it. The two most fast-growing sushi chains in Malaysia were Genki Sushi and Sushi King. They serve their sushi on colored plates to distinguish the different prices for the different types of sushi (ie. blue plates are RM4, so forth...hmm..is the cheapest sushi plate still RM 4? hehehe...). The sushi plates are placed on a conveyor belt, which is located right in the middle of the shop. For those who want to eat mainly sushi, they are seated around the conveyor belt while those who want to order the main dishes (ie. teppanyaki, bentos) will be seated away from the conveyor belt. The fun part is to watch the sushi plates go by until the one you want comes along so that you can grab it off the conveyor belt. They also serve free ocha (green tea) to go with the sushi (wonder if they charge it now). It is also fun to sit near the conveyor belt because you get to see the chef in action when he/she makes the different types of sushi or rolls.

That was my perception of Japanese food - conveyor belt sushi. Not only that, the few types of sushi I ate were not really special either. Tuna salad. Crab salad. Bak hu (chicken floss). But I did started liking eel and a variety of fish eggs that they became my favorite ingredients for sushi. Realized that I didn't mention any fresh seafood (tuna don't count ler, that wan can punya)? Yup, it wasn't my top choices (even though I love fish and crab). Raw fish was even worst. Still remember ah Yong and Mei teasing me about how I am missing out the best part.

It wasn't until I came to East Lansing and started going to the Japanese restaurants here that I started accomodating the taste of raw fish and guess what, I love sashimi!! But of course I didn't jump straight into eating sashimi lah. The sushi here is slightly different than the ones at Genki Sushi or Sushi King. They do have the regular ones (only one ingredient) but the specialty sushi are the most popular ones. They are way more expensive compared to the sushi in M’sia (for the ingredients, it really is not that expensive) but when it comes to fresh and raw seafood, I definitely prefer to pay the price than the consequences of cheap, not fresh, contaminated, unhygienic seafood. The specialty sushi almost always consists of at least one raw seafood (typically some kind of fish). It tasted pretty good that I bravely advanced to eating just sashimi.

Haven’t gotten Japanese food for a long time…end up going for Japanese twice in a week. Sushiya just before the beach weekend and Sansu after the beach weekend. Sansu has been around for a while and it is still one of the best in town. We got a specialty roll (spicy tuna in the inside and both tuna and eel on the outside), a type of hometown roll and the simple tuna roll. This is definitely way more than enough for two persons.

The specialty roll is drizzled with the eel sauce and the raw tuna is coated with spices that the tuna taste becomes pretty mild. It is a starter for one who likes eel and is making their first attempt to try raw fish (like I was!).

The hometown roll is the best for someone who likes raw fish but might not like the sashimi style. The freshness of the raw fish can still be tasted with every bite of the sushi. The only thing about this particular hometown roll, it comes with four types of fish and shrimp. While I like raw fish now, I still don’t like the taste of cold shrimp (yup, not a big fan of shrimp with cocktail sauce) so I would request for them to change it to something else or make sure I go with someone who likes shrimp. :P

Other nice Japanese food are Omi Sushi and AI Fusion. We frequent Omi more because it is within walking distance from campus. Some of the sushi are definitely Americanized, like the one below, to better suit the American taste bite. They are unique American Japanese style where one probably can't find it in Japan (just like one can't find General Tso's chicken in China).

There is a new one in town - Maru Sushi & Grill - that I have yet to try but have heard lots of good stuff about it.

So Mei and Yong, next time we go out for Japanese food, Ping will be eating sashimi too!! :P