: : Lolly’s Collage : :

My cousin Lolly has been a busy bee the past 2 nights. She made this collage of nearly EVERYONE at the two weddings during the last week of 2003. Nearly all my Kelabit family is in the picture. Well, nearly everyone.

Guess which one is Wena!

: : Perceptions & Misconceptions : :

I actually wrote a short note about perceptions and misconceptions but lost the original posting. Argh! Oh well. It went along the lines of how one’s perceptions can also be the same person’s misconceptions. We observe what is happening around us and immediately apply the same generalization to people of the same similarity. Not good at all. Judging the book by it’s cover.

To the person involve, I can only offer you my small apologies as the words were already out and like a double-edget sword, it cuts and wounds. These wounds are invisible which I don’t know if these simple words can heal. I’m sorry. If you like, we can have a cuppa tea and scones together one day and thrash out the misconceptions of the world and have a good laugh. One day, that is. My treat, of course.

: : Perceptions & Misconceptions : :

I actually wrote a short note about perceptions and misconceptions but lost the original posting. Argh! Oh well. It went along the lines of how one’s perceptions can also be the same person’s misconceptions. We observe what is happening around us and immediately apply the same generalization to people of the same similarity. Not good at all. Judging the book by it’s cover.

To the person involve, I can only offer you my small apologies as the words were already out and like a double-edget sword, it cuts and wounds. These wounds are invisible which I don’t know if these simple words can heal. I’m sorry. If you like, we can have a cuppa tea and scones together one day and thrash out the misconceptions of the world and have a good laugh. One day, that is. My treat, of course.

: : Corned Beef : :

It all started from Josh’s posting on his new panini grill. It got me thinking of the tinned corned beef which I haven’t had in a LONG LONG LONG time. Come to think about it, it’s been months since I last had it. Well, Uncle Cyril, surprisingly, bought a tin of it today so ask Granny if we can have it for lunch.

This is the corned beef that is eaten widely by children, students and young people living on their own who do not really like cooking but who have to eat! I don’t particularly like the other tinned corned beef found in supermarket shelves. They just don’t taste the same as this one from China.

Hmmm…not exactly nutritious ingredients in there, especially with the sodium nitrate. Wow! Packed under Government Inspection in China. Hmm… wonder what that means?

The tin nor the packaging has not changed for the last 27 yrs that I’ve known it. Opening it is still the old-fashioned way of winding it with the key. Opening up the tin, I found the meat to be much softer than it used to be. Hmmm…

The finished product. Granny stir-fried it with a big onion and an egg. She regretted not putting in more onion to make it sweeter. Ah well, I’m not complaining. Went very well with rice and bread.

: : Jo’s Deli Bakery : :

Gosh! Found a little treasure trove here. Jo has put up a marvelous resource site on baking little goodness found in South East Asia. I suspect that she’s located in the Klang Valley as the addresses given on her resource page is located there. I’m late at finding this site, that’s for sure. However, better late than never!!

Now, to look around for a little electric oven! Still haven’t bought it yet. Haven’t decided whether to get a Microwave+Convection-Oven-Combination or buy both separately.

Still thinking about it. Any suggestions anyone?

: : A Fest : :

Helping out with the stage and logistics details for last nite’s company event was stressful with many problems along the way, one of them with me being sick for two days and leaving my collegue to arrange for everything else. At the end of it all, everyone pulled through and the show was really good. Managed to get away for a few minutes just before dinner time to take some pics of everyone. Then, I bumped into Pascale.

Pascale : Hey! Take some pictures of the food before everyone finishes it!

Pascale : Never mind! Just take just take!

So, we both walked down the buffet line to take some pictures.

Pineapple rice although they were a bit stingy with the pineapples though. Not enough of them in the entire dish.

Fried Beehoon was also served, Malay style. It was spicy and very tasty. I prefer to have Malay style fried beehoon rather than the Chinese version because of the different spices added to it.

Oh! Rendang rendang! Every Raya time, all Malaysian Chinese people go fanatic over this dish! I kid you not. Ask any Malaysian Chinese what kind of dish will he be wanting to eat during Raya time, he will most likely say this one. And this was nice although the beef wasn’t tender enough, it wasn’t too tough either. Went great with Lemang @ glutinuous rice cooked in bamboo.

A touch of Chinese added to the buffet spread : Roast Chicken. Ooh! Yummy. The pieces were also cut very generously, I must say.

We also had some great spring rolls, otherwise known as egg rolls in the USA. This version is slightly different as they did not use the usual mangkuang in it but rather used taugeh @ bean sprouts with cucumber.

Spaghetti bolognese and mixed vegetables. It was zapped up later by many many people. Believe me, it was eaten up totally.

On the left, we have the local eggplant curry cooked with dried beancurd and long beans. The local eggplant is actually very soft compared to the harder aubergine. On the right, is the latest food sensation to hit town in the past few years : fried sausage wrapped with bread. Very oily as the bread just soaks up too much oil. Believe me, it had more oil in it than the potato pancake.

Lemang! That’s on the left. On the right is ketupat but it has a different taste and texture compared to the lemang. I prefer the lemang compared to the ketupat. Both are eaten with satay and curry and RENDANG…

Now what is a fest without some satay? We had some beef and chicken satay, located on the upper left. Bottom left was the sinfully, wicked peanut sauce that goes with it. A good satay combination is always always ALWAYS dependant on this peanut sauce. The canned version of peanut sauce doesn’t even come close to the real thing. On the left we have some potato salad that testifies to the truth that Malaysian absolutely adores mayonnaise. Smothering the potatoes, that’s the way to go back it!

Fresh salad with mayonnaise and Thousand Island dressing on the side. Did I ever mention that Malaysians also love Thousand Island dressing? The fashion these days is to smother smother and cover the entire thing with the sauce!

Finally, the dessert corner! Fruits, layered cake, gelatin @ agar-agar, fruit cakes, butter cakes. Yum. It was a lot of eat, believe me.

So, that’s it for last night’s dinner! It was a crazy time with much laughter all around and everyone having a great time. Came back home tired and mindless after watching all the singing, dancing, shouting, clapping. Ah well. Back to work come Monday.

On another note, have to take more pictures of food over the weekend and Chinese New Year. Something is wrong with my camera. Yep, the click button has gotten less sensitive and it’s time to see if I can get her repaired. Luckily, it’s still under warranty so it isn’t too bad. So, it’s going to the shops to be check after CNY. Hopefully, I’ll get better service at SONY than this poor chap did with HP Malaysia.

Cheerio!