Teachers' Day 2016

Happy Teachers Day! Our school had an early celebration last Friday with a simple assembly. Surprisingly this year, the students show me and my colleagues a lot of love! I've amassed a tube of body lotion, a branded eau de toilette, chocolates, a mug and a notebook set ... not that I need any more of those, but I do appreciate the students' gesture. And I was especially surprised to receive gifts and cards from those that I least expect to receive anything from!

This year's surprise! 

The gifts aside, I especially cherish the messages of appreciation from the students. Those cards nearly made me tear, and I think that all that I've been doing for the students have been worthwhile. Even more encouraging were text messages and wishes I've received from former students. I'm happy that many are getting on well in their life's journey. And of course, I'm happier to know of their achievements thus far. 

One particular young man, P informed me that he would be called to the Malayan Bar this Friday! Aahh, I am so happy and so proud of him - especially when I recalled how dejected he was when he had just transferred to my school back when he was 19 years old. Back then, he had rejected the offer to go to Matriculations and decided to stay for Form 6, and even then, wondering whether he had made the right choice. 

For a period of time, he was shrouded in uncertainty, until I pulled him aside and  insisted that he had made the correct decision. I stuck by him for a year and a half and true enough, he did well. He achieved a CGPA of 3.83. It was good results, but I was so worried about whether it would be good enough for him to read law at UM since it was all he ever wanted. So imagine how ecstatic I was when he finally got in! 

Over the years, P came back to visit me during his holidays .... and I am always so happy to see him. Since my transfer to Kuching, we have not met up, but he has since kept me notified of all the important events in his life. 

It's been 6 years since P graduated from Form 6 and left school ... but I remember everything like it was yesterday. I believe every teacher has a story like this to tell because there have been so many lives that they have touched. 

This year also, we had our annual teachers' day dinner at Imperial Hotel, Kuching. Food was mediocre ... but guess what? I got an Obermain leather laptop bag from the lucky draw! Goodness! How lucky I was even when I broke my vanity mirror that same evening while getting ready for the dinner. Wasn't it said that one would be seven years unlucky if he or she has broken a mirror? Hmn ...

Today, another surprise came in at school when we each received a packet of Nasi Briyani for lunch. It was courtesy of last year's SPM achiever of the school who will soon be leaving to pursue a course in medicine. It was nice of him to remember his teachers.

Anyway, Happy Teachers' Day to all my fellow educators near and far! Guru Pembina Negara Bangsa. 

Homemade Belgian Waffles

WWe bought a snack maker which had interchangeable plates - so I could now grill my sandwiches and make waffles!

Grilled Sardine Sandwiches

Today, we made Belgian Waffles for lunch. Mom used this recipe from Food.com. You can check out the recipe here.

Source : http://www.food.com/recipe/the-bestest-belgian-waffles-63071

Mom mixed the ingredients together while I did the baking; the mixture was not too thick and I could see tiny air bubbles in there; I could also see the batter fluff up while cooking; So this recipe made rather light, soft, and chewy waffles.

Well, basically the waffles can be eaten with anything - today we had ours with butter, some good old peanut butter and Nutella. 

Fresh from the waffle iron .... 

But I think the bestest filling was ice-cream!! I sandwiched a scoop of vanilla ice-cream in my waffle ... Sigh ... Sweet and fulfilling. Happy! 

Cantonese-style Noodles @ Sisters Cafe 姐妹园

A few of us came here for lunch the other day and we found the food here to be pretty good! We also liked the fact that food was served reasonably quickly pin ordering. That day, I had the Cantonese-style Kueh Tiaw, RM6.00.

Cantonese-style Kueh Tiaw

What I liked:
1) The kueh tiaw was well-fried and the portion was huge!

2) The gravy had good consistency, well-flavored and tasty.

3) Beef slices were tender and reasonable in quantity.

4) Plenty of greens for some added bite.

5) The eatery is air-conditioned.

The only setback would probably be the horrendous traffic at lunch time as it's located opposite Chung Hua Primary School No. 4 and at 1.30 p.m. when school's out, it would take at least 20 minutes to get  from the shop to the main road!! Other than that, this seemed like a good place to eat good food at a reasonable price.

Luicha @ Big Mouth Food Centre, Kuching

I asked Mom what she wanted to eat, it being Mother's Day and all. Mom simply requested for luicha. So, I brought her to Big Mouth Food Centre. At about 11.00 a.m. on Sunday, business was brisk - many eating in and many taking away. The vegetable trays were already empty, but orders keep coming in.

Small bowl, RM5.00

The vendor, we observed, were replenishing the various types of vegetables that had finished, shredding and cooking on the spot. By the time we got our food, it was a good 20 minutes later. 

As the bowls were set before me, I caught the refreshing whiff of the herbal broth and my mouth watered. Yummy. So, I tasted the broth first. It was not as thick and robust, if compared to the famous one at Green Road. This one, in comparison, seemed more diluted. It was not bitter too, just 甘(guan); the broth was served hot but not boiling. So for me, the broth here wasn't nice to drink on its own as compared to Green Road's.

In the other bowl, there wasn't much rice lining the bowl, for which I was happy about; the rice was light purple in color, and was soft. Over the rice were a generous serving of vegetables - there were long beans, cangkuk manis, cabbage and leek - and preserved radish and roasted peanuts. Did I detect minced dried prawns too? I think so actually. I mixed everything up and took a spoonful, liking pretty much everything I had tasted. 

Then, I poured some soup into my rice bowl and found it much tastier eaten like that; so that was how I finished up the rest of the meal. 

Mom and I enjoyed our luicha anyway. ;)) 

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Yesterday was polling day, and aside from going to the polls, I was having a quiet and leisurely day at home. So I decided to make pulled pork using the crock pot or the slow cooker. I read up on many recipes, and ended up adapting from a few of them ....

For a kilogramme of pork - Mom bought a chunk of loin meat (I think!!) - I used 4 Tbsp of brown sugar, 2 Tbsp of chilli powder, 2 tsp coriander; 2 tsp cumin; 4 tsp of salt; 1 tsp of ground black pepper; with this mixture, I rubbed the pork and let it marinate for a while.

For the sauce or the cooking liquid, I used 1/3 cup of apple cider, 2 1/2 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 cup chicken stock.

Next, I sliced up 2 large onions and 4 pips of garlic and 3 tomatoes (skinned). These lined the base of my crock pot. On top of these, I placed my meat and the only I poured in the sauces. These cooked 8 hours on low in the crock pot.

8 hours later, the meat was drained and shredded by hand. Indeed it was tender enough to shred easily; the meat was really tasty, having absorbed all the flavours from all the other ingredients.

The meat, pulled. 

It was tender though slightly dry because the meat was too lean; a good cut would be the shoulder - I don't know how to say it to the butcher's in Hokkien or Mandarin, because this would be the cut I'm buying the next time I want to make this again.

In the crock pot was all the liquid, which was sieved and thickened with flour. And I mixed it with the shredded pork ...

Ooh, now looking moist and yum ...

The pulled pork could be eaten in many ways ... Last night I had it with coleslaw in a sandwich. This morning, I had it toasted in a mini baguette ...

Grilled with cheese .... 

Even Mom said it was delicious!

I'm pretty happy with the result of this recipe; might just repeat it soon!

When Friends Get Together ...

We were at C's house for a pot bless dinner. It's rather interesting that no two dishes were the same, though we never discussed what to bring. 

The table filled with so much food, mostly homecooked. 

From top left, clockwise : Pan-fried okra, beef patties, steamed pork ribs stew, Thai-style papaya salad

From top left, clockwise : Tempoyak chicken soup, pineapples, vegetables salad, roasted chicken

From top left, clockwise : mixed vegetables, meat rolls, homemade layered cake and mocha slices for dessert. 

It was a nice get-together. Looking forward to the next one ... 

Idealite Bak Kut Teh

I was reluctant when PH asked me to join her for a meal at Idealite. Hmn ... I guess I was certainly not craving for clean, wholesome food. Lol. But PH was persistent, and had been asking me for days .... and so finally, we went there for lunch after work one day.

Bak Kut Teh served with brown rice

Initially, I had planned to eat Lei cha ... but then changed my mind to try the Bak Kut Teh instead. Of course, nowhere was bak kut (pork ribs) to be found .... lol! In place of meat were an assortment of mushrooms, tofu, vegetables and half a hard-boiled egg in a clear herbal broth. The broth had licorice flavour, and thus was a little sweet to the palate. I found the flavour to be a bit strong, to be truthful. Of all the ingredients used, I was most impressed with the wolfberries - which were sweet and totally enjoyable.

 Another look into my bowl .....

This meal was RM16.90, and there was service charge and taxes as well ... so all in all, I paid about RM20.20 inclusive of a drink. Quite pricey.