Winter Solstice 2010

Finally, I have time to slowly update my Winter Solstice and Xmas! =) By the time I finish updating, it should be time for my new year's resolution! 

Winter Solstice 2010

Last time when I was in primary and secondary school, i always think that Winter Solstice is my brother's birthday and everyone have to sit down and eat together. What so special about that? As I grow older, I realize that Winter Solstice is like any other festive that brings all the family members together. We will only realize the importance and significance of this special day after we step into college or university life. Especially to those who are studying overseas, I am sure they will miss this special day even more. 

This year unlike last year where I was in Singapore with my Aunty, I had my Winter Solstice dinner at home. At first I thought it was just a casual dinner among me and my family, but it turned out that almost 20 people came! Like what my mum said, we were suppose to eat with my aunt from Melaka. Then my mum's sister asked us to go to their house and eat. In the end, my mum decided to ask everyone to come over to my house and have our Reunion dinner. B came down too! =)

Well, I did not help out with the food because there are too many chefs in the kitchen. Too many chefs will result in a reverse effect, so I better stay away from the danger zone. =p So what did we have on our reunion dinner?

Fried chicken, ROAST PORK, Steamed Kampung Chicken, Roast Duck, Chicken Rendang, Chinese Red Wine chicken, Lo Bak ( Our favorite of the night =D), Taufu, Steam Prawn Dim Sum, Nyonya Cucumber, Baby Kai Lan, Bak Choy, Vegetarian Chicken with Pineapple, Fish ball soup. 

There are too many food on the table and I don't even know which one I should eat.haha.

SEE! haha..alot of food kan? =p

Nomnomnomnom! =)

Even Winnie is hungry..=)

Lucky Brother whose birthday fell on Winter Solstice

Happy 20th Birthday Liang!

My cute cousin sister who is biting paper

Me and Darling baby..=)

Nowadays, I am appreciating all the gatherings like this with my family. After all I am graduating and starting work soon. If you know me well, my plans since young is to work in overseas.There is a very high chance that I will do so in the near future. Then chances like these are very hard to get, especially eating mum's home cook food, soup. So I am appreciating everything now, learning how to appreciate my family more. =) If you don't believe me, you can ask my parents now. =p 

I made this the next morning before going back to KL...=) =) 

My favorite Tang Yuansssss~

and Chinese Red Wine Bee hoon..=)

Will I be working on Winter Solstice next year? hmmmm...

Xmas is here!

I am blogging on Xmas eve. Wohoooo~ Xmas is finally here, how I wish Malaysia will miraculously snow on this special day. Ya right. haha. Anyways..I hereby wishing everyone


MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

What do I want for Xmas this year?

1. World peace.

2. No gender discrimination, no racism, no fur

3. Save the penguin

Nahhh..That will be Beauty Pageant's answer, not mine. All I want, is every year ahead to be as smooth and good as this year. I want everyone around me to be happy, contented, and be at the pink of health all the time. Sounds so cliche but hey,those the most important things other than money? and last but not least, wishing that me and B will be as loving as ever. =p Damn, i feel like writing new year's resolution and the closing post for this year now. NO! Patience patience, you just have to wait for one more week. =p 

Do I believe in Santa Claus? My family don't celebrate Christmas at home, so Santa Claus is not really something that I would believe in. Besides, I don't have a chimney at home, where would he climb in from? =p But, I always wished that my family have this custom of celebrating Christmas though, because even I am not a Christian yet ( soon to be one =p ) I always adore this celebration. I love snow, exchanging presents, caroling, the idea of Santa Claus, fairy tooth mother ( ermmm..I dont think it is related =p) and everything about Christmas. Oh Christmas, me and you will be good friends from this year onwards. XD

Tomorrow, it will be a busy busy day for me and B because we are both the chefs for tomorrow's Xmas dinner. It is time to chop chop chop and nom nom nom. =) 

Once again..MERRY XMAS!!!!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Jingle bell jingle bell~~ We wish you a very xmas ~~ All I want for xmas, is you~~~

Arrrrr..Xmas is just around the corner...ar wait! Winter Solstice is tomorrow! Happy Winter Solstice everyone! =) Among all the festive seasons, the one I like the most will definitely be Xmas. I never have the chance to celebrate Xmas for real in my life. For real means you get involve with the Xmas Eve's dinner cooking, exchanging presents and singing Xmas songs. Well, I am not really sure either whether it should be like that. And this year, I finally get the chance to do so by spending it with B's family. I am surely anticipating it. =)

Don't you just feel so Xmas-ish when you walk into all those malls with amazing Xmas decor and some Xmas songs echoing in the background? I remember when I was in USA many years ago, my aunt's friend will drive us around the neighborhood to look at their home's xmas decoration. If my memory serves me right, it was awesomely beautiful with all the xmas lightings. Reindeer, sleigh, Santa Claus etc. Even if you don't celebrate Xmas, you just feel like caroling down the street with all those amazing songs.

Talking about Xmas decor, here are some that I took..

Bangsar Village 1

Bangsar Village 1

Sunway Pyramid ( I still think this is the best so far other than Pavilion's)

Sunway Pyramid

Bangsar Shopping Village ( The Xmas tress are real o! )

Bangsar Shopping Village

Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit

The one at home! Me and B decorated it together o! =)

Xmas shopping. I LOVE Xmas shopping because I get all excited. Hello! its gifts. Well, not like I am buying myself a lot of gifts for xmas. OH YES. I just bought a new Atlanta slipper today. Well, my heels were killing me because it is all worn off and I decided to get myself a pair of new slippers or flats. We went hunting for it around Sg Wang and just could not find anything that I like.When I am about to give up, there stands a retail shop where they sell Atlanta slippers. YES! I bought a pair of striking purple flats and instantly became a happy girl. =) So in order to not make myself feeling guilty for spending money, i shall take it as a Xmas gift for myself. wheeee~ By the way, it is only RM24 and it can last more than a year if you wear it properly. I love Atlanta slippers! Happy~~~ 

I am feeling so Xmas-ish now! I think I should get myself a Santa's hat! Yes I should..hahaha. Anyways. Happy Winter Solstice everyone and enjoy eating Tang Yuan! 

p/s Only one interviewed were conducted today as another interviewee had a family emergency at the very last minute. Oh well..=( Hope others will reply my email soon..Cross my fingers. 

Cameron Highland Day 2

Cameron Highland Day 2

Morning Day 2!

Woke up early in the morning to avoid getting stuck in jam ( just incase! )..went over to Kea Farm to have our breakfast..guess what for breakfast?

Two half boiled egg and two teh o panas and we are good to go! =)

Jagung Rebus as dessert! its warm and just nice for a cold weather..

We drove along to road to see where we wanted to stop by and hey, we found Boh Tea Plantation! YESSS! If you don't open your eyes bigger and look at the sign, you may just missed it. The road to Boh Tea Plantation is a 2km super narrow road where in most turning, only one car can pass by. So, if you are driving there, please drive slowly and honk whenever you are turning so you can alert other people you are coming. Seriously, the road there is freaking scary and if you are a noob driver like me, please take my advice, let the pro do the driving.You may need to reverse your car anytime if the road is too narrow and there is a car coming from opposite direction. 

Along the road, the view is just breathtaking!

Even the weather is just perfect!

And that is the Boh Tea Cafe! Super nice view right?

Boh Tea Factory

They have this little factory tour where they will show you how the tea is made. It is pretty interesting to see how tea is made and know how they grade their tea.The tour guide is pretty informative as well.After touring around, we went to have our morning tea! =)

Seriously, isn't this the best thing? A cup of tea and a piece of apple pie with an amazing view!

On our way back, I some workers plucking tea leaves..=)

Personally, I think this trip to the Boh Tea Plantation is the highlight of this trip because the view is just so spectacular. The tea plantation is HUGE and all you can see is mountain and mountains of tea tree. The view when you reach the Boh Tea Centre is just amazing. Imagine yourself spending the whole afternoon sipping tea and enjoying the serenity around you. Just what you need when you are stress. =) So people, if you have the chance, do visit the tea plantation..you will not regret a bit. =)

The rest of the afternoon is spent by visiting other farms along the road.

We even stop by at The Smokehouse.

When you step into The Smokehouse, the first thing you feel is that you are not in Malaysia, but in some European Country. The building structure is so English and it is so comfortable. The garden is so well maintain and structured. Loving it. If I have the money one day, i will definitely stay here. 

Scones anyone?

We head over to T-Cafe for our lunch and scones! Read in online about this cafe and heard it served one of the best scones in town. So why not drop buy and try some? We ordered Tom Yum Mee Hoon and Curry rice as our mains, and it is pretty disappointing. Well, they specialize in desserts after all. So let's not complain about their mains. 

And yes indeed, their scones live up to my expectation. We order a normal scones and one strawberry scones. Strawberry scone amaze me a little because they have bits of nutmeg in it. It totally lifted up the taste of the scone, thumbs up! The normal one is pretty good as well, you can have it with butter, whipped cream and strawberry jam.

After lunch, we walked over to the park to digest our tummy. Took some weird pictures. =p

Me. =p

B.=)

That wraps up our Day 2 morning and afternoon. =) Went back to the lodge to take a quick nap after a stroll in the park. muahahaha..so piggy. =p

Patience no?

Patience

Patience is not my cup of tea, and it is definitely not my friend. I hate the feeling of waiting, and definitely hate the feeling of bugging other people. But I have no choice don't I? If you want to accomplish something great, you must put your thick face on and face whatever that comes in your way. Including, disappointment. 

If ever Plan A fail, I need Plan B Plan C and the list goes on. Perhaps I think too great of myself, or perhaps people just don't take me seriously. Thinking that I am just some naive college students, if I am, i would probably take the easiest route. And yet, I choose to risk it. Is it worth it? It better be.

I dislike disappointment, I dislike failure. But sometimes, you just need to know when it is time to give up and find for another solution. I give myself another month, while I start planning for my back up plan. One more month. I will be like a sticky worm in your tummy, bugs everyone that I need to in order to get what I need - an interview, wait, at least 10 interviews. Bugger! Is it that hard? 

Sometimes I just feel so helpless because this is not something that I can control. I can not see what is going on their mind, I don't know what to aspect. All I can do is to wait patiently. The never ending waiting process. Let's not think about my internship first. That one I will start bugging everyone when 2011 comes. This, my goodness, my degree's life or death is in the hand of a report. A report that can not be completed unless I get my interviews. ARGHHHHHHH~~~~~ Please reply me please. TT

It is time to think of a Plan B...=(

Cameron Highland Day 1

Hello people! We just came back from our Road Trip to Cameron Highland! Wohooooo~ Overall, it was such a smooth ride since the beginning of our trip. Everything goes on accordingly, thanks to Google Map, my phone's GPS and of course my very 'good' navigation' skills, we manage to go to most of the places that we wanted to go. It was our first time driving long distance and I must say, it has been an adventure. =)

Very Very excited for our trip! =)

DAY 1

We took off early in the morning to avoid the horrendous jam in KL and we did! It is a clear and smooth ride all the way up to Cameron Highland.I drove also! haha.Well at least I drove for 40+km so B won't feel so tired because of long distance driving. I think this is only the second time I drove B's car. tsk tsk..We took Simpang Pulai route instead of Tapah route to Cameron because the roads are wider and it is not so steep. It only took us three hours plus to reach Cameron Highland. This is by car. From what I read online, if you take bus, it will be between 4 hours to 5 hours.

Such a relief to see this sign..=p

On the way to Kampung Raja, we stopped by a few places because we are already in the mood for visitings..=p

Green View Garden

The first thing that caught my eye! DESSERTSSSSS~~~( its only 11am =p)

They have this little garden and farms inside with arrays of flowers, vegetables and fruits like grapes! ( Malaysia can grow grapes..i wonder whether they can make wine from it? haha ), passion fruits ( which I don't bother to take because the ones growing in my house in way bigger than the ones they had here =p ), strawberries of course and some chicken and turkey! haha

But I must say, the best thing here issssss~

Strawberry strudel

This is a very easy and straightforward dessert. Puff pastry layered with strawberries, whipped cream and pastry. Simple and yet, so nice. The crunchy and buttery puff pastry, the sweet and sour strawberries and the oh-so creamy whipped cream and pastry cream, oh yes, I am already missing this. =(. It is priced at RM7.50 for one, but if you compare it with KL price, i think it is still worth it. 

Us us us..

Hillview Inn is where we stayed on our first night..First impression when we reached there, we made a right choice. It looks so cozy...=)

Right?

We had a bit of problem finding for our room as we did not aspect it to be at the front where you have the best view. haha. We have two balconies and an attached bathroom. 

B is excited to see our room!

The view from our room..not too bad huh?

It started to rain heavily after we checked in so I took a short short nap before my tummy started to grumble...Okay..I am hungry and I need food! Let's go makan even though it is raining..=p

It is freezing cold when it is raining!

Restaurant Fern Nyonya

I read about this restaurant online and decided to check ourself in as I am very hungry and it is just around the block. We ordered Stir Fry Beef with Pineapple  and Tom Yum Soup. Who would not crave for a hot and spicy tom yum soup when it is freezing cold? Overall the dish is pretty satisfying as we are too hungry and cold. haha. Not the best, but enough to fill our tummy and keep us warm.

After we finish eating, the rain gradually stops and we went wandering around Tanah Rata..Personally, I think Tanah Rata is where all the cafes are allocated, serving Malaysian and western cuisines. You can find pretty descent desserts like Chinese tong sui and western desserts along the streets.Do spend some time walking exploring the street as you may surprise yourself with some nice things to eat. =)

The sun is out out and just in time for Night Market.=)

We drove up to Brinchang for their famous Night Market. The crowd is already there when we reached Brinchang around 6pm. 

Ramai Orang!

So what do you do when you go to a night market? Search for food of course!

FOOD!

You can not miss the fried food they have along the street. Must must try their fried oyster mushroom, kinchan/kimchan flower,and of course sweet potato balls!!! But I must warn you before eating a sweet potato ball, you may have A LOT of air after eating it. So, be careful! =p Even if you are not a fan of corn, when you are in Cameron Highland, it is a must must to eat at least one. Especially the Jagung Mutiara. It is sweet and it can even be eaten raw. You can have it rebus( boiled), Bakar ( bbq) or in cup. 

So what we have for dinner? 

Char Kuey Teow

Asam Laksa

Both actually taste quite okay and nice considering we are at a Night Market. Satisfied our hungry tummy.=p 

And that wraps up our first day at Cameron Highland. =)