Blue blue skies.... and what we ate!

That's the beautiful blue skies I was referring to and Perth's skyline from King's Park. So many things have changed for the place I once called home for 5 years. Boy and I had a great trip back there and totally pigged out on great food and fantastic company.

Vietnamese food is super awesome in Australia because of the good quality of meat they get. I've tried vietnamese food in Vietnam itself... still prefer the ones in Australia. This is a Bun.. a vermicelli noodle bowl with grilled pork. Its a healthy meal with lots of shredded veggies. The magic lies in the small bowl on the right. The nuoc cham. That, when poured over it turns it into an awesome meal!

This one is  a beef ball horfun. The horfun is no less silky than the ones we get in Ipoh and the broth is just heavenly. It is served with a large plate of raw bean sprouts, basil leaves and lemon wedges. Super yummy. Boy almost finished this gigantic bowl for lunch.

A roast beef dinner my beautiful girlfriend cooked for us. The roast beef was prettily pink, done just right. Along with the crunchy veggies, we wolved it all down.

We went to Sandalford wineyards and had wine tasting! I'm not much of a wine drinker but I must say they do have some easy to drink wines. The lighter ones are like grape juice and cranberry juice. Prices were super reasonable compared to what we pay in Malaysia too.

The wineyard had big sprawling grounds and the kids had a great time running around, jumping up and down and generally having a ball of a time.

This was a version of eggs benedict for a breakfast in Fremantle.. rather blah. Didn't they know that eggs benny are meant to be served on toasted english muffins? Hrmmmm

Michele's Crepes!! This was an old favourite from my uni days. We went to queue for it and then discovered that it is now manned by asians. I later found out that the business was sold a few years ago... that explains the difference in quality.

Ordered a ham cheese mushroom crepe.. I took two bites and boy had half... we gave the remaining to my girlfriend's furkids. They seemed to like it.

And for the grand finale.... we had this fantastic Italian dinner at Garganos, Claremont.

Mozzarella cheese on tomatoes drizzled with olive oil

Beef Carpaccio with Parmesan Cheese

My favourite.. fresh spaghetti in a cheese sauce with shaved black truffles and mushrooms. To die for.

Half a portion of a t-bone steak. Humongous and nicely done.

My gf's fish.. which I wasn't able to even try.... was getting seriously full by now

Veggies!

The decadent desserts trolley

My choice.... profiteroles!

We also had Fig gelato and Strawberry gelato... indeed a sumptuous meal!! I asked to roll back home but my girlfriend wouldn't leave her car there....

The fabulous sunset on our flight home...... Thanks Perth, for leaving us beautiful memories and a few additional inches on the waistline!

Insomnia

Insomnia.. the prompter of blogposts.

What do you do when you and your 9 year old boy can't sleep? After a lot of travelling we are finally back at home today and we can't sleep. We have been trying since 9pm and just gave up.
Isn't it amazing to learn that insomnia is hereditary?

I've had insomnia for a couple of years now, have tried everything from proper sleeping tablets prescribed by a doctor to melatonin pills that leave me hungover the next day to a dose of cough mixture if I'm out of pills. I've taken to some herbal tea nowadays as insomnia doesn't strike as often this year.

One helpful thing I've gleaned from all the buddhist talks is to stop being angry and anxious when you can't sleep and just enjoy it. Let tomorrow go to hell. *shrug* Being anxious and angry isn't going to help you sleep any faster - It's just going to prolong your agony.

Just stay still, read, post some overdue blogposts, and cuddle your also insomniac son. Tomorrow will be a tough day, sure, but he'll live. I'll live too.

Sweet dreams, dear readers....

Home sweet home....

Sometimes, when you learn to appreciate different things in life, life becomes incredibly beautiful.

I've just returned from my trip to Indonesia, where everyone I've spoken to warned me about the horrendous traffic, the risky food and the dirty place. I'm happy to report that my experience with Jakarta was nothing but positive. To be fair, I was only there for 3 nights and today was a public holiday so traffic would have been much lighter, but it seemed no different than KL on a rainy friday arvo. Less angsty too.

First impressions... Very similar to Manila.. dusty, interesting CBD with lots of big buildings but majority of them had a 1970s feel to them with newer steel structures of hotels and malls interspersed within the city.

The people were really friendly. Everyone spoke to everyone, niceties like greetings and thank yous were bandied about... so unlike KL.

The food.. oh my god.... the food was amazing.. ( it warrants a post on its own with pictures) It was truly a food trip where every meal I sat around groaning and rubbing my overextended belly and swearing I couldn't fit in another morsel... until the next meal came around...

What I was amazed about was the hospitality shown to me by an old, dear friend. We had great times chatting over red wine, coffee, food or just in front of his tv catching up over the last 15 years.. his family have shown me what its like being a great host and I can't wait to reciprocate the favour when they come over to my country.

Thinking back, this year I've been travelling and have been the lucky recipient of many great hosts throughout the world. I feel really blessed to have friends like that all over the world, and can only aspire to be more like them when I have the chance to host them in return.

I've learnt that in the best trips....

1. It's not the plush hotel room, but the spare room in someone's house
2. It's not the best fine dining restaurant, but a meal where you are genuinely happy to share with the people around you.
3. It's the meeting up of old and new friends to connect and reconnect.
3. It's not whatever happens on the road, but the time you spend in each other's company in the car
4. It's not the expensive gift, but the homemade ones that really touches you
5. It's not the tens of pictures you take, but the ones that you keep in your heart that stays

* still blown away*

Jakarta here i come!

I'm flying off to Jakarta in a couple of hours time. It's the first time I've been to the city. In fact, everyone I've spoken to wonders why I'm voluntarily heading there.

Where's your spirit of adventure, people?

This time, it's going to be interesting as I have not done any research about the place. I will be catching up with a couple of very old friends I have not seen for a very long time and eat!

I love Indonesian food since I was introduced to it in Perth as a student. I want my chicken bakso mee.. my gado gado, grilled chicken, satays.. yummm.. I can't wait! This after a 9 day vegetarian detox will be like taking a trip on speed after a temple retreat.

Oh, boy is having fun with his cousins and grandparents in Ipoh while mommy is going to travel. I thought I'd enjoy the peace, but strangely enough I've been missing him. The apartment feels so empty.

Oh well, I'm going to enjoy these 3 days and will see boy again on Saturday!

Cheers peeps!! Let's see what Jakarta has in store!

Developing a rhino's hide

I have been into coaching professionally for about a year or so. It's not an easy career to set up in KL, where most people attach a stigma to needing help towards achieving their goals and to better themselves. What's wrong with me? I don't need no help...That seems to be the general feedback when we talk about coaching. However, that said, those open enough to give it a try are usually impressed with the results.

Recently, after attending a very inspiring conference on coaching I have decided to try my hand at using the coaching model to benefit parents. After all, if hard nosed corporates can benefit from it, why not parents?

I have been meeting up with people and trying the theory out, just to see if parents can see the benefits as clearly as the corporates can. I've been talking about this to many of my friends to see what they feel about it.

I have a friend who clearly told me that he doesn't think people will want to get advice from a divorcee and I have no authority to coach people on parenting. Besides going into the entire premise about what coaching is like, how we are process experts as compared to subject matter experts, how bloody insulting?!

I felt slapped.

Then I thought about it. Being single parents are kind of like wearing our scars on our faces. It's the first thing people see, and most people will attack us based on that. I examined my feelings of hurt and anger. I did not really mind if he thought my business plan will succeed or fail, I felt attacked based on my lifestyle choices. And really, what business is it of anyone's?

So my point today is take heart. Everyone has scars, some of us wear ours in front and some of us keep it buried deep. The key to it is to develop some smart alec answer to these insults and if you bother to, outline clearly to the person involved that what he or she said was not acceptable. It's interesting when you don't resort to yelling and shouting. I think the message comes across a lot clearer.

Also realise that what that person says reflects more on their thinking and perception than of you. So, be confident and know who you are. Never let people take that away from you. Be strong... like the rhino! Did you know that his tusk is only made up of hairs? So you can turn something fragile into something strong if you know what to do with it.

And today's post will end with an offer. If you are a parent looking to up your parenting game, let me know. I will be more than pleased to spend some time with you to prove the theory that coaching benefits parents too.

Drop me a line here or email me on fb... we will take it from there.

Cheers!

Satisfaction - a good pot of curry

I can't get no... satisfaction...

Wasn't that a popular song a long time ago?

Today I want to talk about Satisfaction. What does it take to satisfy you? Some people aim for an infinite amount of money, because enough is never enough.

Money allows you to consume more. We eat more, wear more, buy more cars, more houses, more of everything... simply because we can.

We are so obsessed with overconsumption these days fueled by advertisements, glossy magazines and just your run of the mill of wanting to keep up with the Joneses. Get off the treadmill people! It never works! Your consumption always increases with your income! It's never enough!

Today I am feeling buoyant, with the endorphins I have from a run in the morning. Well, more of a jog/walk than a run but I am still glad I did it! I'm now making chicken curry on a rainy afternoon for tonight's dinner.

Simple pleasures of life. My idea of a healthIER curry. Chuck in lots of vegetables. Potatoes, carrots, onions long beans and eggplants and finish off with some yoghurt. I tried it with coconut milk the last time and found it way too heavy.

Let's experiment and see how this goes. It turned out to my satisfaction, lucky me.

Come to think of it, a pot of curry is a lot like life, isn't it? It's delicious but you know overconsumption leads to high cholesterol and obesity. Too much of a good thing is baaaaad.

It's available everywhere in restaurants, roadside stalls but yet you can choose to make it at home. Immediate satisfaction vs slow cooking, healthier DIY style?

It's what you make of it. It's a great base for meals that you can have with bread, rice and noodles. As I am typing this I am having my curry with noodles and a poached egg. Curry is flexible, just like life. If it doesn't work on the first attempt, try and try again with different approaches until you get it just right for you. Don't give up!

So there you go peeps. Take life by the horns, accustom it to your needs like a curry by adding more vegies and changing the coconut milk to yoghurt but most importantly, do enjoy it.

That's really what life is all about. Curry on, baby!

The frail human spirit

When things are going well, we mistakenly believe we are invincible. We continue to push and push in the name of progress. We hear miraculous stories from everywhere and tell ourselves, if it can be done, why don't I do it? All it takes is a bit of reality check when you fall sick. I am not even talking about terminal illnesses. Just some fever and a bit of flu and your perspective changes instantly.

It's been so miserable lying on the sofa, not able to work out, feeling like a weakling. The world seems so cruel. Its like the level of fitness I've been working so hard on all year is slowly wasting away. Together with the compilation of a business plan that is taking longer than I would like is not helping matters or my mood.

However, like everything else, good or bad, it passes. I am slowly recovering and the business plan is looking more solid now. Circumstances happen that I can make a trip to test out some of the theories that I need to formulate for the business plan, so today I can start doing the logistics for it.

I think my point today is the hardest thing in life is not preventing falls. The hardest thing is having the energy and spirit to pick yourself up again. Having enough self confidence to tell yourself, that's fine. Even if progress has not been as fast as you would have liked it. It always starts from now on. You can pick up speed from today, from now. Keeping away from being 'disheartened' is the real challenge.

Some tips

1. Forgive yourself. You are only human and learning as you go along. Show some loving kindness to yourself.

2. Don't indulge in self bashing. Sounds like an oxymoron but we love to do that when things aren't going well. It's non productive and only seeps your self confidence. Admit it, we all do that sometimes, don't we?

3. Understand that comparing yourself with others is a futile exercise. There will always be people better off and people worst off than you. If you get caught up with the.. oh wow we all started off at the same place and now they are all doing so well and I'm .. well not so well .. it's the beginning of a downward spiral. You are given your particular perspective for a reason. So work with that.

4. Establish pillars in life. Mine is exercise, religion and enjoyment I get from parenting my child. Again, at any point in life, you can just stop and work from that point onwards. Your pillars will act as a crutch when you are particularly feeling low.

5. Lastly, allow yourself some joy in life, as that makes any struggle a lot more bearable.

Cheers!!

A food filled weekend

Insomnia has struck. The boy and I have just returned from a two night trip to Ipoh and whilst he is snoring in bed, I am here, looking at the clock and as alert as an owl.

We managed to cover quite a lot of good food in such a short trip. I was craving some good old popiah and was told by a reliable source that Gourmet Square in Ipoh Garden had some at night. The only good ones I knew were in Kong Heng and only available in the day. Drove to Gourmet Square in about 5 minutes.. (the beauty of Ipoh traffic) and the rain started.  By the time the goods were purchased, it was literally pouring cats and dogs. Still, the mark of a true Ipohite.. braving all kinds of weather for good food! To be honest, I still preferred Kong Heng's version, but it was satisfying enough for me that night.


Had my routine curry CCF the next morning after running around several wet markets to do groceries. I've never been inside Simee Market, but it looked fairly interesting. Perhaps one of these days I will venture in. We had this for lunch... We pretty much covered all the food groups with this.. chicken, fish, mutton, vegetarian... Was very yummy.

My tummy started rumbling again at about 5 and that set me off to search for more food... ended up in Ipoh Garden packing away Mee rebus from one of my favourite rojak stalls. Ok I shared it with my mom, but I still had half. Dinner was at Overseas Restaurant requested by the boy. I didn't enjoy dinner very much. The steamed minced pork was too porky for my liking. Can't they just go a bit heavier on the seasoning? *shrug*

This morning before we left Ipoh we managed to fit in some dry wanton noodles w excellent caramelised chunks of charsiew. Topped it off with a hot, flaky egg tart from Nam Heong and a good cuppa of hot ipoh kopi....

There you go... two days of pure gluttony... and at the rate tonight is going, gym does not look very likely tomorrow either..

Silver lining

And every so often, life gives us a break and reminds us how gratifying it is to be a parent. I've had one of the better nights with boy I haven't had for a long while. With the ending of school holidays and the starting of school, it's been a tad rocky.

Boy has in the last two days decided to learn how to cook. Nothing too fancy, just eggs. I was just wondering when the culinary bug would hit him and it has. I'm so proud to raise a budding gourmand. I'm still not allowed to watch him cook, but he does allow the helper to assist. Tonight he made scrambled eggs, pretty impressive ones too.

What I actually wanted to blog about tonight was when we watched an episode of Desperate Housewives where Lynette had separated from Tom and was having a hard time dealing with his new girlfriend. She was advised to play dirty and went on to influence her daughter against daddy's new girlfriend. I looked at Marcus and said, aren't you glad you are not subject to that? What really amazed me was what he picked up from that. He pointed out accurately the sly and snide facial expressions Lynette had when she was unduely influencing her daughter. I thought that was spot on and pretty cool. I mean, dealing with the fact that your ex has moved on with a new partner is never easy, and I can feel Lynette in here. Luckily she realises in the end that's not what she wanted to put her daughter through and came clean with her.

Boy also went on eventually to crack really adult insights and wound up the night by singing to me Josh Groban's song.. you raise me up... I was utterly shocked. Of course he did not mean that I had raised him up to great levels, more like don't complain about me, you raised me up to be like this.. See, this is what I love about him, he's got such a caustic wit.

Nights like these makes all the rest worthwhile... *content*

Insecurity

If there's one thing that marks us single parents, its insecurity. Society constantly tells us that we have already wronged our kids by allowing them to be in a single parent family... funny how they never say anything about kids in a dysfunctional marriage.

One of the things I would like to have would be another adult to bounce ideas and opinions off when I'm parenting. Because of my situation in that I separated when boy was very very young, it's not like I've had someone to bounce ideas off and then I lost him. It's all been a matter of picking it up as you go along. I've decided that will be my approach to parenting as well as other aspects of my life.

I doubt myself sometimes when I am parenting. But all that I need to fix that is to be in the company of a regular family and I'm instantly cured. I see that kids from ALL families act up. It's normal and different people have different approaches to making things work for them. That usually calms me down somewhat... and I regain confidence in my parenting.

That's really life isn't it? When you are not going down the beaten track in life, instead forging new paths and cutting down stray branches that get in your way, you really have to fly by the seat of your pants and go with your gut feel. As long as your inner compass and your priorities are in place, I'd say that whatever you decide would be just fine.

Here's to giving a break to yourself the next time you feel like flipping when things get tough. Have a breather and then come back recharged....

Remember, you need to fill your own cup before you can fill anyone else's.

Not a good couple of months

If i have somehow misled you, dear reader into thinking that life as a single mom trying to make it in a new city and crafting out a new career is a bed of roses, I sincerely apologise. It's not. I try to keep it together as best as I know how but sometimes, life has other plans.

And when it rains? It pours. I have been seeing several people in the profession that I have chosen to focus on and they all have the same verdict : It's fine as a hobby, but don't count on making money from it. As you can tell, it's hardly encouraging hearing that from industry pioneers. Well, looks like I need to diversify and find other more profitable things to go into and soon. It is a real bummer, let me tell you. The lack of a successful career chips away at your self esteem, bit by bit. You may think that going into work day after day is mundane and boring, but try having days stretch out endlessly in front of you and knowing there's nothing in there. That's worse.

I just had a talk with boy's teacher after picking up his report card. His grades are great, but there is mention of the fact that he's naughty at school. He apparently picks on other kids and the teachers focus on him because of his grades are good (teacher's words, not mine). No doubt there's a lot that can be interpreted from there, but let's look at it this way. My son misbehaves in school. I need to stop it.

I swear, that's where the coaching comes in. Instead of telling him what I thought, I basically just asked him lots of questions and tried to understand what was going through his head. Ajahn Brahm had a talk on bringing up children and in it, he said, make your children know that they can tell you anything and not get punished. They can open up to you about everything they've done wrong and you just acknowledge that it's a mistake and you go on from there thinking of ways to fix it and prevent it the next time. I wonder how many parents can do that. Still, buddhism teachings are always there for you to aspire to, so any little bit towards that direction helps.

I am trying not to flip but to work through these issues methodically and sensibly. I will do it even if it's the last thing I do!!! (Gargamel inspired)

Winding the holidays down...

Holidays. The light of every child's life and the bane of their parents. The boy is finishing up a 3 week school break and to be honest with you, I can't wait for school to start!! It's been more challenging than other days. It's like if they have no structure that school and other activities provide, they go haywire. Default setting becomes argumentative, fault finding and generally, a pain in the butt.

Ahhh.... that's where grandparents come in. Since they love each other's company and the older ones are more prone to spoiling the younger ones, we shall just go with the flow. I brought boy back to Ipoh at the start of his holidays and he's had a ball. Ipoh.. the land where he runs around, cycles around the garden, goes out for food expeditions with the grandmother (they went to Tualang for prawns - I got shown the picture when they returned) and the odd catch up with his old Ipoh friends and cousins.

I did what I could to ferry him to daily swimming lessons and arranged for some Mandarin tuition for him.. but i think the days passed by in a blur of TV, storybooks and running around. Now that we are finally back home in KL.. it's the final countdown to school back on Monday. I'm just allowing ourselves to adapt back to routine next week. TV is still constantly on and the whining is still around sometimes, but we shall just take it easy and regain control of normal life by next week...

fingers crossed.

The frog

There is a Malay saying "katak dibawah tempurung" and also a Cantonese saying "cheang tei chi wa - frog at the bottom of the well". Both mean someone who has not been exposed to the world. The poor frog that only knows what is around it because that is the only thing it is familiar with. 

A : You know, I’ve changed my imported car into a local car. Since then, it’s sooo good! I can drive up and down and still remain low profile! No one recognizes me at all!! I can do whatever I want!! No one knows!

B : What is it that you are doing that you need to be so low profile???

The above conversation I had with a certain professional acquaintance I have from Ipoh prompted this post.

As I have mentioned before, I am born and bred in Ipoh. I have been living in Ipoh for a large part of my life, discounting stints in Australia and KL.

Ipoh is a great place to live in and bring children up. There is none of the hustle and bustle of the big city traits, the air and water is of much better quality in here and we’ve got such excellent local food at great prices in here. However, it does tend to breed a certain type of individual that are peculiar to small towns.

Anyway, back to Mr A. It blows me away to interact with someone like that. I am not able to get through to them with the huge ego getting in the way. After some sharing with a particular girlfriend, it seems like this kind of behaviour is normal for small towns. 

These people tend to think that their particular town is the center of the world. I am guessing that that’s normal since they have obviously chosen to reside in there. It is still odd behaviour they display. They work at the same job for years on end and probably end up very good at what they do. With the amount of free time on their hands, they become intensely political, backbiting and making life difficult for other people.

The good news? This behaviour is easily cured. Travel. Go out of your comfortable town or city and visit other places. See how other people live, realize that there are other bigger, more accomplished people out there. If nothing, at least it reduces your ego to the point other people can get through to you.

The more successful in life you are, the more modest you become. 

Homeward bound

Now that the boy's on a 3 week school break we are back in Ipoh for a while. Boy seems to enjoy just hanging around his grandparents and running around in their garden, immersing himself in the slowness that is Ipoh. Haha.. being the evil mom that I am I have arranged for daily swimming and Mandarin lessons for him. So much for a lazy vacation!

I had it all planned out with food we were going to pig out on, ranging from the hawker fare to spicy crabs and banana leaf rice (the best I've had so far). But life has other plans. As soon as we came back I ran around like a headless chicken stocking up on things, visiting the tailor, getting what I call housekeeping done. At the end of the second packed day, my body decided to protest.

I ended up alternating between shivering and feeling really warm. Smart little me decided to take a really hot bath while shivering. Boy... I lived to regret that. I got super hot below the neck. Yes.. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I was radiating heat from my palms and the soles of my feet but my head didn't feel feverish at all.

Oh well, slept and slept after panadol and proceeded to just detox today with lots of water and lemon, honey and lemon and oats. Oats! That disgusting horse food! Well, when you're sick you're sick... I've also found this little gem to aid in the subsequent cooling down of the body.

This thing is foul. But I remember my grandmother steeping it in hot water and making me drink it when she deemed I was too heaty, so in the spirit of tradition since we are in Ipoh, I went out and got some. Have steeped it in hot water and downed it like a good girl. We shall report if it cures me!

Let's hope I recover fast enough to do the eating spree I was going to document here.

Alpha vs beta moms

Ever since Amy Chua came out with her book, Battle hymn of the tiger mother, there has been an emergence of press coverage on the practise. Self professed tiger moms came out and proudly proclaimed on magazines and newspapers on how they insist on regimented routines to push darling Watson or Marylynn onto the fast track route of life success.

That is what alpha parenting is all about. Hothousing your offspring to ensure success in life. Ensuring your child gets into the best schools, have the best tutors, take the extra curricular activities aimed to increase chances at a scholarship or entrance at the best schools or universities. Alpha parents look at their children as an extension of themselves. Other times, it could mean that parenting is my job, therefore the success of my kids means I am doing well in my job. 

What then does a successful offspring mean to you? A 6 figure paycheck? An ever increasingly important role at work? Press coverage? What else? All your hopes and aims affect your children. Check with any psychiatrist and mental health publications or at the very least, discipline masters in schools. Children nowadays are more stressed and are ill equipped to handle it. Disrespect, angst and depression if left unchecked have serious consequences and will only have a downward spiralling effect. On the other end of the scale, there are parents too busy earning money to buy the latest toy or to fund this year's vacation to actually parent. By being so busy and nary having time to be a family, what does this mean for the future generation? 

Previously, tiger parenting can practically be equated to Asian parenting. If you were Asian, you expect that from your parents. Academic success was a must have for them to bandy around with relatives and friends. Piano playing skills were de rigueur and additional languages and skills were a bonus. Parenting wasn't something that was prioritized during those times. Most parents were busy making money and we were pretty much left to our own devices.  But to be fair, life was relatively uncomplicated then compared to present day.

Fast forward to today where the information and opinion avalanche begins as soon as you confirm your pregnancy. Never has there been as much books, articles and opinions bandied about as to the best way to parent. From prenatal education to the multivitamins you had to swallow, everything was angled to give your bub the best chances at this world. 

I am not an alpha mom.

There are certain things I expect from my child. Once those are fulfilled, I'm good. Childhood is a time for them to enjoy themselves, be bored and invent games for themselves to play. I bring boy for extra tuition for certain subjects I refuse to teach. He is actually very independent in his studies, I must say. Once his grades are up to mark, I pretty much let him be. We allow ipad and tv time on weekends. Weekdays are filled with reading, drawing and writing. I love travelling as an education. I have been travelling with my boy since he was 4 months old. Exposing him to other places, cultures and food works to produce a well rounded person. 

My friends and I have varying opinions as to what constitutes the best practise. I firmly believe that parenting is very personal and you just need to find out what works for you. I have friends who believe in enrolling their child in every available class because he or she needs that push. There are also those that expect their hired help to be the parent when they are out working. Fine, that's great if that works for you and your child. I personally believe in being a beta mom. It removes the pressure  and you can enjoy the process of parenting. 

Brunch food

It's Sunday! Sunday brings along a host of feelings, mainly negative ones and intensifying as the day wears on with the dreaded Monday blues sometimes working overtime and checking in on Sunday nights too. Let's counter the shift with some positive influences. Brunch!

Weekends are mainly the point where most working people look forward to when they are allocated the much awaited sleep in and then hunt for a nice place to brunch at. Parents excepted of course. The driving around for tuitions and weekend activities usually precede the plans you have for the aforementioned joy.

 Let's see some of the notable brunches accumulated from here, there and everywhere. This is a ham and cheese croissant from a cafe in King Street, Perth. Super flaky pastry and fragrant grilled cheese makes this a light(ish) breakfast to have. This is boy's breakfast of choice whenever we are in western countries.

Unfortunately we haven't found anything decent in KL so far where this is concerned.

 Caffeine is a must have in the morning. Take your pick of lattes, cappuccinos, long blacks, flat whites or good old Kopi! I always believe in indulging where the drink is best known for, so when I'm in Ipoh, it's always hot KOPI, with less condensed milk. Ipoh has a particular brand of coffee beans roasted with white sugar, thus the specialty of white kopi you get in the coffeeshops there are unique to Ipoh. This picture however is more like what I drink these days because of my location now. Invested in a nespresso machine and I'm happy with my lattes and cappucinos at home.

 This breakfast brings back memories of sunday brunches when I was a child and my grandmother used to prepare this. I save it for a treat these days.  Crispy luncheon meat slices, baked beans with eggs and toast. There is usually a fried egg sunny side up as well. I must have been feeling lazy that day.

Breakfast of the champions!

This is my breakfast of choice when I am in Ipoh. Chu cheong fun with curry and deep fried turnip fritters (sar kot). This combination of crispy, spicy, salty and sweet hits the spot every single time. Horribly sinful though, I don't even want to think of the calories this plate of yum contains.

This is a favourite. A huge plate of char cheong meen you can get in almost any noodle shop in Hong Kong. Love the meat strips sauteed in bean sauce over the springy wanton noodles! A side of additional wantons in soup completes the meal. If i recall correctly this was from Mak's Noodles at Wellington St, HK.

"Corn fritters" served with crispy bacon and a side of salad. That looks like a pancake no matter how you slice it huh? I've been meaning to give that cafe a second chance, but haven't gotten around to it. It's a certain australian cafe that's in Bangsar. Packed to the rafters with customers, I did not find it particularly spectacular.

Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. Again, the bread were supposed to be french toast but what came out obviously wasn't. The bread was thin and small. Maybe they are trying to cater to the appetites of the weight conscious, but I did not find this of good value at all. This was at a cafe near my place. Again, still need to give them another chance where food is concerned.

Lastly, a good local favourite that both boy and myself enjoy. Crispy, light, probably super unhealthy, but what the heck, you only live once. Tosai and roti canai, courtesy of your neighbourhood mamak shop! Bon appetito and have a great Sunday!

Life purpose

What are we doing here on earth? Is it simply a series of seemingly serendipitous events or is it totally random? Do we all eventually get to perform what we were meant to do? Or is everything a blank sheet of paper and we define what we want in our lives and go out there to get it? How much control do we have?

I have been talking to a number of people lately and a common theme that has cropped up is life purpose. What are we placed on this earth to do?

Religious ones have it easy because they already believe that they are put here to do god's bidding, or to reap the karmic seeds sown in the past. What about the rest?

There are a small number of people who grow up already knowing what they want to do, usually having experienced something profound in their youth. Most of these people would have very influential parents or familiar figures around to impact them with that much force. I believe this number represents only a minority of people. Majority of people fall into their life purpose much later in life, after trying out several paths that appeal to them.

So what then, do we do when we are sitting here, staring out into the bright stars in the sky wondering if we are on the right path? Try these.

a. Explore. Find time to talk to people from all walks of life and across industries to find out what appeals to you. There will be certain things that you will gravitate towards. Note what these are.

b. Review your skills and training, what you have been educated in so far. Education takes on many guises. Consider both formal and informal education. The summer you spent waiting tables on holiday may bring about skills in allocating workshifts to staff, handling customer complaints and how to serve customers or cashiering.

c. Work out a match of both interests and skills and match that to market demands. It doesn't matter how highly skilled you are and how passionate you are about a certain topic, if the market does not require your skills, it amounts to nothing. Or you may need to change your living environment.

d. Be constantly networking. Most great jobs never appear in the classifieds. To be a mover and shaker in your industry, you need to have your finger on the pulse. In order to spot the next trend and pioneer, you need to have wide ranging networks to bring to you information from all levels. So, if you are not already networking hard, start doing so.

These steps will help assist you in getting some clarity in what you want from life. There will eventually be a point whereby you will just know if it's right for you. Good luck getting there.

Adrenaline high!!!

I love exercise!!! I do I do and I do!!

It's a huge pillar of support in my life and I recommend everyone to work out their own fitness plan and stick with it! Regular exercising has SO much benefits, at the very least you get this beautiful endorphin rush after sweating it out and working out a storm. Endorphins are hormones your brain produces to get you that "happy" feeling. It is the same kind of feeling drug addicts chase, new couples have and new mothers produce when they see their babies. You feel invincible and on top of the world. With exercise, it is probably the healthiest way to obtain this hormone. Oh, consuming chocolate also produces this.

When you eat right and exercise regularly, most people will enjoy

a. Less aches and pains. You know what I'm talking about. All those years prancing around in those?
Yup, they take a toll on your poor lower back. Pregnancy too. Funnily enough, I used to have knee problems climbing stairs. Ever since I started working out regularly, it went off.


b. A fitter, trimmer body that you are proud of. 6 packs or not, your body can only benefit from the strength training and cardio workouts you constantly do. After a while, you can wear clothes you used to shy away from because the flabby arms and saggy ass firms up and you can wave goodbye without it trembling nonstop! Your arms that is. If your ass trembles when you wave goodbye, I'd say you've got bigger problems there... hehe

c. You can enjoy your food and do not need to look for weird diets that promise the world and usually do not work. Some of those that have been bandied around... no this and no that, I think even if it works you have no idea what it's done to you internally. Trust yourself, not so whatever studies the papers decide to publish on that given day. We have seen how coffee is SO bad for you one day, then a total turnaround by saying it's got anti cancer benefits the next. It all depends on whomever is funding the studies, doesn't it? Bah humbug! Eat right and eat well.

d. It's no guarantee that you won't drop dead of a heart attack before your expiry date. I hear people talking about so and so they knew who lived so healthily and yet still died of a heart attack or a stroke you know. But all things considered, it is still your best bet. The benefits of living healthily will put the life into your years. Remember, its not the years you have in your life, but the life you have in them! What is the point of living to a hundred if you can't eat what you want, you can't travel because you can't walk long distances, you can't physically enjoy time with your loved ones?

Life is too short to be otherwise.

a rant - are there no boundaries anymore?

Please be prewarned - this is a rant. Do not read if you are faint of heart, or sensitive in nature.

I was thinking back at my post on etiquette towards single parents when these two days I came across a couple of people who indeed have no clue. People, did you not learn about boundaries when you were young? What you can talk about and what you can't. Or am I being oversensitive as a single mom? Please tell me.

I have a friend who has makes suggestive comments to me even AFTER I tell him clearly and plainly that even though there are NO men left on this earth, chances are higher that I will become a nun than be with you. Yes we are friends, yes we do talk about all types of nonsense under the sun, but there are things you don't go into if you want to remain friends. Or am I the only one that feels this way and I should be on my knees very grateful that I still warrant any type of male attention, no matter how unwanted?

I had another friend recently which I have not spoken to for a long while, and the conversation goes like this.. yes yes we must catch up, it's been years... by the way, does your ex husband pay child support? Seriously? Do you go around asking your married friends how much their husbands pay them every month for household bills and frivolities? If so, then I guess you must be very close to them. If not, what makes you think it's OK to ask me about these things? It's just like the other dude who casually asked, oh, doesn't your husband want custody of your son? WTF? By the way, your brain called, it wants your mouth back, it's been running away too far without a connection( to your brain)

Enough about that... its really not improving my mood dwelling on it... deeeeep breaths... quick, where's the link to the buddhist talks again?

A very prawny post

I've always liked Penang prawn noodles. I've found the best so far to be in a little corner coffee shop in PJ that offers mainly penang hawker food. The prawn noodles there are to die for but for the sake of my cholesterol levels and also since parking is a hassle, I try to limit it to once or twice in a month. Check this bowl of beauty out.

It's a notch above what you get in Penang because nowadays a bowl of noodles in Penang is but snack sized and the prawns? Calling them shrimps will be an exaggeration because they take the shrimps and slice them further into wafer thin slices. Talk about knife skills!

Thus nowadays I don't bother to have to travel up north anymore for my prawn noodles because everyone I've brought to sample this dish  agrees it is just as good. Heartier, in fact.

Here are some other excellent prawn dishes I've had over the years.  This here is a simple dish of "bak cheok har" which simply means blanched prawns that are served with a heavenly dipping sauce. The prawns are so fresh and sweet that you need nary anything else in the broth while cooking. The best version I've had of this dish is from Guangzhou, China which is great for these food, but not my favourite city in the world.



There one here is simply panfried and served with a twist of lemon on the side. This I had in a tapas bar in Barcelona. The prawn flavour was very intense and sweet. Boy, I really do need to check my cholesterol levels soon. But then again I suppose when you are having food in a tapas bar in Barcelona, the atmosphere alone adds to the quality of the food? Not true, we had some lemons there as well. This though, was remarkable. I wonder if they were carabineros..

This little dish held some gems of peeled shrimps sizzling in olive oil with some garlic slices and dried chillies and a sprig of rosemary. It was divine! Boy could not get enough of it and insisted we return for seconds the next night! What can I say, if you strike gold you strike gold. The tapas places that serve decent food are usually decent across board. This was in a little tapas place in Born, Barcelona.


And finally, this was a dish we had at El Cellar di San Roca, voted one of the best restaurants in the world by San Pellegrino. It was an interesting dish to experience. We were told that everything on this plate is edible. So from the white powder was some dehydrated prawn dust and hang on, let me get you the proper name from the menu. Ok here we go - A whole king prawn - chargrilled king prawn, king prawn sand, ink rocks, fried legs, head juice and king prawn essence. A little too molecularly gastronomic for my liking, but it was an experience.

The reason I decided to come up with this prawny post was because I wanted to make spaghetti marinara tonight and so bought a kilo of fresh prawns from the market. After shelling and heading them, I decided to make a concentrated prawn stock to add to my pasta tonight... Will let you know how that turns out...

An overview of my food experience

Foooooooooood.

There are those that eat to live and others that live to eat. No prizes guessing which category yours truly falls under. I'm an Ipoh girl. We Ipohites know good food, having grown up surrounded by fresh produce, good and cheap hawker food. We know our silky smooth flat rice noodles, our crunchy fat beansprouts, our white kopi, bakuteh, toast with kaya, roast pig, curry noodles, popiah, wow... need I go on? I grew up eating my grandmother's cooking. Grandma was from Dongguan, China and boy was her cooking to die for. She used to steam, braise and stew to her heart's delight and I grew up appreciating good food.


When I went abroad to study in Perth, Australia, I had to learn how to cook simple and very basic meals. Dad would always tell me to don't skimp on food, go out and have a nice steak once in a while. And at that point in time I stayed off beef. I know, big mistake for that time period, right?  It was so good and fresh and affordable!! I stayed off beef for a good 20 years because I mistakenly thought I did not like the smell of it. I've started eating it again in 09 and I do enjoy a good steak once in a while now. Anyway, being in Perth in the late nineties meant eating out was great and affordable, even for a student.




After I graduated I started going into fine dining, appreciating great food and willing to travel great distances to hunt for good food. That went on for a couple of years until I had my son. Even then, as soon as he was old enough I'd bring him along on our foodie trips, trying restaurant after restaurant at whichever destination we went to.  My favourite foodie destinations are still Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. Oooooh I forgot, Spain too!

I still believe in good food, great fresh produce with minimal of fast food, preservatives and colouring. The difference is now that I'm in KL, the choices for dining are not that fantastic. Call me an Ipoh snob, but really, there's nothing much to shout about. I like some of the hawker food choices in here, and some Japanese and Korean restaurants but when it comes to western food... I'd rather cook these days.