Persia!

I miss Persia already! We have been dog-sitting Persia since Saturday. She's definitely one of the cutest dogs and has a very gentle temperament that I have met. I also really like how she always follow me around the house, sleep next to me, and will even wait outside the bathroom patiently when I shower.

Look at how adorable Persia is with the frisbee in her mouth. The frisbee is her favorite toy. Too bad she doesn't really bring it back after you throw the frisbee to her.



Bailey came over to visit Persia, and they got along really well playing with each other.




Matt is trying to make both dogs stay and not go for the treat until he says OK. Look how smart Persia is! She got Bailey’s food before getting her own. Nice strategy and unexpected move she played on poor Bailey!




They really like running up and down the hallway, but you can see they are very tired at the end.

CNY trip to Taiping

Traveling during CNY is always an unforgettable experience. =-S
We started our journey from Malacca as early as 7:30am on the eve of new year. Traffic along M'cca-KL highway was quite smooth. We managed to reach KL around 9am and decided to take the Duta Toll heading up north. Nightmare began at the toll. Cars were not moving at all.. it took us more than two hours to get out of Selangor. As usual, lotsa cars took the emergency lane to cut the queue. Of course, plenty of police cars awaiting along the way to get "ang pows" or issuing tickets. We stopped several times. All rest areas were packed! Look at the queues outside the ladies. Unbelievable! 10 mins wait. Even Marcus was getting impatient. =)
Haha.. we reached Ipoh around 5pm and had a late afternoon tea at a kopitiam-like cafe. Tomyam fried beehoon and Nasi Lemak.
In less than an hour, we should be able to arrive Taiping safely.. ^_^
Nice thought.. but it started to rain. Marcus gave us his CNY gift, precious "gold", in advance. While Mom and Karin were busy changing his diaper, he smiled all the way (innocent or evil act?!).. the smell was undescribable.. Aargh~ wind down the windows please. Look outside. We're almost there. I need greens and fresh air! Help~









What time do you think we arrived our destination-Ah Hoon's house? hehe.. 6pm. Not too bad huh? Yeah right, 7:30am ~ 6pm. You bet. Worn out. Zzzzz... reunion dinner at 8pm. Ah mah waited for us.. oops! =-p

First day of CNY, "kiong hee huat zai" to all.. Morning at Ah Mah's place- Ah mah, berbie, 1st aunt, ah tiong gor2 + family, ah lip gor2 + family, ah tan sis + sekampung (approx 12 ppl).. phew! Later in the afternoon, visited ah pek + family.. steamboat for late lunch and dinner. Of course, we also had traditional CNY cookies like love letters, pineapple tarts, bak guah, peanut cookies, kuih bangkit, and etc.


2nd day, after late breakfast, time to head back south-M'cca. Before we started another long ride, a group photo with ah mah, gor gor and kids. We thought of buying heau pneah and other local delicacies, but lotsa shops were closed. =-/ somehow, we managed to buy some fruits at Tapah rest area.
Journey, 12pm - 8pm. This is a lot better! =) lunch in Ipoh with 5 gu+family and a stopover in KL - One Utama, shopping! Heehee...

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Hi, a few more pics on Chinese New Year . As usual, many plants flower under this hot weather back home. This orchid under the porch is just one of the many :

These little fishes have grown much bigger. When I bought them, they were just the size of their present head :)

Fruits preparation to welcome the new pig year. I scaled down the quantity tremendously as there are only 3 of us back home now. Imagine those days when I bought grapes, and asked ah girl to glue around every one of them :) She cried.....

Some close relatives visiting us today.

Ah Mah says: Gong Xi Fa Cai to all..........

Happy New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai

Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Year of the Boar.

Gong Xi, Gong Xi.

Cookies too :)

After seeing all those US made CNY goodies, we should also boast mummy's home baked cookies :)

Surely look familiar eh.

This is my top favourite "Almond Crisps"

This is also my top favourite. However mummy hasn't made for a number of years. This year she is in good mood, so I get to taste it again ;) This shot is taken from the top of the bottle. They are known as "cornflake cookies":

The third one is "Nescafe Biscuit". I love it because it 'melts' in the mouth. However, this year's is not as fragrant. Mummy says it's because the expensive 'Nescafe Gold' is not so suitable for this biscuit. She will keep to the normal Nescafe Classic next year ;) Again, this is shot from the top of the bottle. Mummy says my photography makes her biscuits look like worms :p

This is what PeiSun made. You get to eat it in US this year. It's called "Almond Biscuit"

Also, this is the famous "Ribbon Biscuit", ah girl's favourite. This year's taste rather good!

I think it's not fair just to show what mummy baked. Thus this is what I made, "Chinese Steam turnip cake" hehe ;) The other tray is without the toppings, as it's meant for frying. Remember, we used to take this on CNY mornings ;) Ah Kong's favourite.

Gong Xi Fa CAi ;)

Yum yum

What is Toro looking at??



Pei Sun making almond cookie from mommy's recipe. Stayed up late last night to complete the task. Have to come to the Chinese New Year cookie party to try it. Except some lucky ones get try them before hand.

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tor tau pneah

Chinese new year is approaching, and of course, I would like some of my favorite tor tau pneah (groundnut cookies). Too bad no one is coming from Penang this year to bring us some traditional chinese new year goodies. I think this is the first time since I came to the US that we don't get an Eaton container packed with many different types of treats. But anyway, it's not too bad, since Lynn and PeiSun are organizing a Kuih Kapek and pineapple jam tart making party next Sunday. :) I am looking forward to that. Still, I had to satisty my tor tau pneah cravings, so I made some today using Aunty Michelle's recipe that is the best tor tau pneah recipe ever. It just melts in your mouth... :) Matt says he can't talk after he eat this cookie since it sucks all the saliva out of his mouth. Just imagine eating kuih bangkit! It's even drier!

Toro

Toro was sick last week. She was sneezing a lot again. During this period, Pei Sun gave her extra clothing, I can't resist not posting this picture. Look at her innocence. She doesn't like her "layers". Who is on my back?
So many little stories to tell, but not enough time to write them! Pei Sun is sick tonight, so I have sometime to catch-up with friends in virtual land...

Sophie's Baptism

Pei Sun and I attended Sophie's Baptism party reception last Saturday. This is our first baptism party. As always Jasmine and Marcel are excellent hosts.Marcel's aunt from Lebanon carrying Sophie. She doesn't like her pictures taken, so don't tell her I put her picture on the web. But this picture of Sophie is so cute! We have been to Jasmine & Marcel's place where her aunt which we called Theta made some awesome Lebanese food. Did you know "theta" means grandmother in Lebanese?

Theta inviting guest for some finger food. What finger food? It is gourmet!
Look at this! Seared ahi tuna on a piece of toast! Homemade by Jasmine!

Although the event is over, still cracking our head for what is a good baptism gift? Any ideas?

Procrastination...

I have to meet with some of my reading committee members tomorrow. I was going to go through some papers to refresh my memories, but...somehow, I just don't feel like it. Instead, I made some cupcakes instead! And now I am blogging... hmm... guess I still have tomorrow morning to read the papers.. :)

First home-cooked meal for 2007

Ever since we came back from NY, haven't really cooked a proper meal yet until last night. I made Hainan Chicken Rice. Not bad. From this sauce I bought from Singapore. It is this brand called Chng Kee's. I also found out that little mini Asian supermarket on Castro also carry it.

Pictures from Shiang Boon's visit

Some pictures from last weekend's visit to SF. It was quite enjoyable. Of course complemented with lots of food!

Enjoying dim sum at Yank Sing
@ Marin Headlands
If I had to pick one, this is my favorite view of San Francisco.


Sunset @ Pacific
After that, we hung out with Pei Sze.
Night view of San Francisco.

In SF for a night

Shiang Boon is visiting this week. We are heading up to San Francisco for a night. Bye!

Little Marcus

ooo... Wong Fei Hung.. What?!

Family version- "Rob- B- Hood"- Zzzzzzz......Sleep baby sleep...

1st harvest in 2007

This is the first bunch of 'jambu air' or 'Aqua Eugenia' harvested this season, also the first for this new 2007 year. This year we wrapped them with cloth bags made by Rasiah.
The result seems promising, as yield is good.

This bunch will go to Ting Ting, while we took some loose ones just now.

Some will be given to uncle LauTa to-night when we meet for supper.

This year's hot and wet weather seems to be good for fruits and flowers.

There is a bumper crop of durians in Perak. So Ah Yee in Teluk Intan has been very busy collecting durians......Lot's of good quality durians.

This lime looks so big and juicy, and it's real. There are quite a bit of them in the garden.

Orchids too. This are new shoots. While under it, you can see a withered flower stem, which was blooming when Choon Ping and PeiSun were here last August.

Happy New Year from NYC!

Some pictures from countdown in Times Square, enjoy and Happy New Year!

The crowd.
Confetti flying around.
Fireworks to welcome 2007.
So much confetti, so much waste...

NYPD

May have more pictures when Donald uploads his pictures.