Friday, February 25, 2011

condom or condor??

Son : Mum, what's the meaning of condom?
Mum: Hah? Where did you learn that word?
Son : Geronimo Stilton's book. Is it some kind of bird?
Mum: Spell it.
Son : C-O-N-D-O-R
Mum: (relieved) Ooooh, condor...yeah it's a bird like vulture.
Son : Then, what is condom?
Mum: (long pause, should I ask him to ask the dad?) Err...something that is not important; no need to know.

Friday, February 18, 2011

cny blunders

I've been maximum busy since Chinese New Year. Tonight is like a luxury...able to sit and look at my computer. Just finished the exam paper and had it printed.

Before CNY I thought I would be able to take some pictures to blog about the celebration. Unfortunately this CNY has been too too dramatic and hectic. The only pictures I have are from CNY Eve and not that many.

Anyway the two pictures below has a story to tell. I bought yee sang from Harp Key (usually I get it from restaurants where everything is ready....just mix and eat) for Reunion Dinner KHoe's house. Bought smoked salmon to add to it and also pomelo.

We were pretty excited as all of us love yeesang (except Dan). I opened up the packaging and threw everything into the container. Then we started to loww...........with all the wonderful wishes and blessings for everyone esp the kids sitting for major exams this year.

Khoe was the first to taste a mouthful of the yeesang and he went....salty salty!!!!! I was shocked....what did I do wrong? Ah yean picked up a container which had a label in chinese which said....wash something something.....

AAAArgh......being illiterate in Chinese....how would I know what the label said? When I asked...somebody just replied; it's jellyfish. I was to wash the salted jellyfish in water first!!! So we had to throw away the yeesang. So so sad.

When I was a kid, I remembered eldest sis used to remind us....don't cry/fight on CNY. We must start our CNY on the right foot; then the whole year will be smooth. She was pretty superstitious. I don't think I am superstitious....but this Rabbit year has started off with great challenges.

Anyway....I remember another CNY blunder. KC's birthday is somewhere around CNY. One CNY, I decided to get a birthday cake from Secret Recipe and celebrate his birthday with my in-laws. When I took the cake out of the fridge, the box slipped from my hands and the cake dropped to the floor. It was totally smashed up. I was so upset that I just burst into tears. That was one cake that was not served and we didn't sing him the birthday song.

The yeesang....all ready to be tossed. Smoked salmon on top.

Tossing or 'lowing' the yeesang. As we toss, we will give blessing for the coming year. Just before the New Year ended yesterday, I bought a yeesang to eat with Wen and Lyn. It was so so good.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

heliconia

heliconia pendula                    Heliconia pendula....beautiful blooms from the land across the house. It was thrown there to grow and it has grown real big and healthy. Most appropriate flower for this CNY season. We nickname it firecrackers.

    

This is what I have found about it in Wikepedia.......                

Read More

chinese new year eve 2011

CNY eve is finally here. We woke up early in the morning because there is some cleaning to be done. The gardener came and together with KC they cleared the jungle in front. The neighbour had been throwing rubbish like two old doors which she didn't want and an old sink etc. Hopefully by keeping that part clear, she will not have the idea that she can just dump her rubbish there. Funny why she doesn't dump on her side of the jungle.


KC came back with some flowers which he planted in the jungle. It grows real well there but the ones in my garden hardly flowers.

So we have flowers in the living room to greet the new year.

Khoe came with a pot of gohhun. This is hinghwa food. It's eaten on eve's lunch. We used to go to MIL's house for lunch. Since FIL passed on, she doesn't want us to go over anymore as the house is very run down and difficult to clean. So Khoe will just bring the lunch to our house.
This dish is made of meesua (from Kajang) and beehoon. It is cooked together and will thicken and become sticky. It is symbolic as it means the family coming together to eat and stick together as a family. So every year without fail, we will drill this message into the kids that we have to stick together no matter what.
In a short while, will have to prepare for dinner which will be in Khoe's house. I will be cooking leek in redwine, sambal asparagus with prawns, brocolli and yeesang with smoked salmon (this dish is bought).

The Constant Princess

Katherine of Aragon

This is a picture of Katherine of Aragon which I googled. She was the first wife of Henry VIII. Her first husband was Arthur, Henry's older brother. She was 6 years older than Henry.

Read More