The Day Will Come

I can't really pin it down to why I'm so looking forward to stay home this weekend, doing my usual weekend routine of baking and pool time and grocery run and laundry and t.v.

I think I am a home body. Or I'm getting old. Or both. Well, that is really not a bad thing, isn't it?

I'm still going full force on my house-hunting mode. There's a condo I really like. In fact I love it. I found myself renovating and decorating the place in my head during the viewing. I saw myself living in that place already. It got all the boxes checked, except the price box. Damn!

Well I strongly believe that the day will come when I get my dream pad. Just hope that the day would come soon.

National Favorite

Nasi lemak, is perhaps one of the most iconic Malaysian food. The spiciness of the sambal nicely balanced by the rich sweetness of the coconut milk infused rice and the refreshing cucumber slices, while the crunch of the fried anchovies and toasted peanuts goes well with the soft firmness of the hard-boiled egg. Such a wonderful combination of taste and texture and fragrance! With all the nutrient groups lumped in, nasi lemak is quite a balanced meal too. It's definitely ranked among the highest, if not the highest favored Malaysian fare. We just love it, and we can have this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea-breaks or even supper, in the same day!

So I made nasi lemak last weekend, the whole she-bang. All the way, from the sambal to the fried anchovies and the toasted peanuts. OK, maybe not all the way, I did skipped the coconut milk rice. I started cooking around 6:00 PM and begun eating at 10:00 PM. That was definitely too much work for a meal! (Cleaning up excluded)

Note to self: Just buy them next time.

Things We Do for Love

My twin nephew A and J turn 5 today. I cooped myself in the kitchen and slaved the whole day baking them this brownie cheesecake with chocolate ganache and berries topping. Originally I planned to make them brownie. Then I remember they love cheesecake. So why not combine the both. But my oh my it was a lot of work: brownie batter, cheesecake batter, then the chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting, one after another. The things we do for those we love.

Happy birthday boys.

Hitting the Wall

Hitting the wall, at work. I'm not that fit to run a marathon yet, though I'd really love to. Well, that's another story. Anyway this wall at work came in the form of an email from a fellow colleague from another team. I've spent a solid day going through his field data, looking for opportunities for some quick and cheap production enhancement. Then I had one of his team's engineer over for a sit-down and hammering out an implementation plan. We were making good headway and we were excited about it.

Then came that email. Yup, we hit the wall, head on. Disappointed, yes. Discourage, yes. Furious, no. I'm not even annoyed the slightest bit that my work was down the drain. What kept me wondering was that he bitched because he thinks my team is not helping his team. But when I did help, he didn't want them, citing operation constraint. Oh whatever.

Hey, c'est la vie. Life goes on.

Weekend with the Kids

This is Tou. He's a quiet boy but very eager to learn, especially English. And of course his English improves significantly from the last time I saw him in December last year. Way to go Tou!

Her name is Vann Thai. A very sweet, cheerful and helpful little girl. She's always smiling. She was a little ill over the weekend, down with flu. Get well soon.

He is Daro, among the youngest one in the orphanage. He was showing me his new toy. "Tiger, not lion." He told me.

His name is Hongha. He always has a joyful smile on his face. He keeps calling me:"Moon... Moon..." I keep correcting him:"It's Boon." He'd grin happily, and then say: "Moon..."

His name is Chhang. That was not tears on his cheek, he just gulped down a huge glass of soya milk, their weekly sweet treat.

This is Sambo. I took a few shots of him but there wasn't a smile on his face. Showing him his sad face and trying to crack a smile out of him. He did smile for me, then later telling me he had a sore throat. Poor boy.

His name is Dimand. He is a bright and resourceful boy. I saw him making a kite from scrap plastic bags and thin twigs. A quick learner but a wee bit mischievous. Well, boys will be boys.

It's Here!

"It's here! It's here!"

I was getting all excited and jittery reading the email from the bookstore informing me that the cookbook I had ordered was ready for pick up. Since my attempt on banana bread haven't been exactly successful, I want to take on the banana bread in the book. Then there's a whole section on cheesecake, especially the baked ones which is my kind of thing and would definitely love to try.

Well, a lot of baking in the coming weekends.

Woohoo!