Project 365

This is totally inspired by Gab (http://dailypics.gabrielsai.com) or rather I was encouraged by him to do the same ;p So, here I am starting my very own ‘A Picture A Day’ project. My own life journey illustrated by daily snapshots capturing all moments from my simple everyday life. It could be of  how I’m feeling on that day or people that I’ve encountered or even little things that fascinate me. Above all, it’s a reminder that each day is indeed a gift from God even if it’s your worst day ever.

I think this is a pretty good idea especially when you could not express your feelings with words, haha. Really hope that this will help each one of us to learn how to count our blessings.

Do check it out everyday as I will be updating it daily or so I hope, hehe. Here’s the link:

http://everydaywithjinann.wordpress.com/

Hong Kong/Macau food craze!

…finally able to sit quietly in front of my lappie to update. The past few weeks have been rather crazy with all the family trip and cake baking!… Not that I’m complaining, hehe… busy, yes… tired, no doubt… but it has also been super fun and great time of bonding with family and friends ^_^

Well, I have decided to post only the food pics (for other non food related pics, can check out my facebook) ;p reason one being too many photos to upload and reason two is that most of the time spent in macau and hong kong is just makan and makan and makan, hehe… Indeed a food paradise!

Macau

If you think our local portugese tarts are good enough, wait till you try these famous original portugese tarts from Cafe de Nata. The filling is so soft and custardy… I’m definitely going back for more. Each tart costs HK$ 7.

We then went for the double layer milk, my direct translation from mandarin, hehe… It’s called ’shuang pi nai’. This one is highly recommended for milk lovers… costs HK$ 15 for one.

The best souvenir from Macau has to come from Pastelaria Koi Kei that offers a variety of biscuits and dried meat to bring home for family and friends. They have four branches in just one street and each one is equally crowded with people. What I like most about this shop is that you can get unlimited amount of free tasting, hehe

We’ve also tried pork chop bun (chu pa pau) and portugese cuisine. A friend of mine has previously warned me about the portugese food but my family and I thought we should still give it a try anyway and well, I wished I would have listened to the sound advice.

Other attractions apart from the ruins of St. Paul that always appear in movies/dramas, are the musical fountain and the Fortune Tree (Kat Cheung Shu) in the Wynn Hotel. The presentation of the Fortune Tree is way much better and entertaining than the Symphony of Light in Hong Kong, which was a total disappointment! I didn’t record the show but here’s a video I found on youtube… enjoy…

Moving on to the last day in Macau, it was a luxurious one. We stayed a night in the well known Venetian Hotel – the Asian Las Vegas.

*photo taken from flickr*

The suite did cost us a bomb but I would say it’s a very well worth stay and experience Check out their website for more information at http://www.venetianmacao.com/en

Hong Kong – Tsim Tsa Tsui/Kowloon

When you’re in Hong Kong, there are a few things you must not miss. Food would be the milk tea from any ‘cha chan teng’, hong kong dim sum and the mango desserts from Xu Liu Shan… places, I would recommed The Peak and Avenue of Stars or the Wan Chai Promenade.

Our own fair share of dim sum…

Glutinous Rice

Cheung Fun … it can be served with peanut butter, soy sauce and some other spicy sauce.

Water Chestnut Dessert … I love this one.

Polo Bun with Chicken Meat Floss

and introducing the Siu Long Pau …

I have read many good reviews about the mango desserts in Xu Liu Shan, a healthy dessert shop that specialized on mango desserts. And indeed, it was so superbly delicious that I had a few servings during my first visit. Nevertheless to say, I went back again the next day. Way too hard to resist, hehehe…

Mango Platter

the must-try mouth watering Mango Pudding!

Steamed Egg and Milk with Hasmar

some coconut and papaya dessert

I went for the one in Tsim Tsa Tsui… Xu Liu Shan has many branches all around Hong Kong so it wouldn’t be a problem looking for the shop

Hong Kong – Lamma Island

The next day, we went to Lamma Island purely for its scrumptious seafood. The recommended restaurant is called Rainbow. We ordered the seafood set (HK$ 1800) that comprises of steamed prawns (the best really, very sweet), crabs, scallops, lobsters, sweet and sour pork, fried squid, vegetables, fish and a few more other dishes. I was nicely savouring the seafood that I forgot about photo taking until the last few dishes, hehe. Can’t blame me really, the seafood was superb

Crabs in Black Pepper Sauce

My favourite Scallop with Garlic … each of us get to have the whole piece! Just like the lobster, hehe…

Cheese Baked Lobster

Hong Kong – Lantau Island

We visited the Big Buddha in Lantau Island and enjoyed a decent vegeterian meal there. Yeah, for those who know me well, yes, you guys read it right… I actually enjoyed and had a pure vegetarian lunch, haha. Probably I had too much meat the first few days of the trip that I suddenly actually wanted to have greens in my meal ;p

Before I end, let’s have some pics with human in it, hehe…

me in Senado Square, Macau

clockwise: with sis in senado square, with sis and grandma up in The Peak (Hong Kong), with cousin sis halfway climbing the 200+ steps at Big Buddha, Lantau Island (Hong Kong), in Venetian (Macau) and in Senado Square.

cousin bro having fun with the wax figurines in the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, very creative!

The End… Finally

no title for this one

The past few days have been busy with final year project and filled with worries over the health of my grandma and mom. Much has happened in just a few days and I really thank God for His protection. My grandma even said that all bad things have passed, everything will be well from now onwards. Yeah, I believe so.

Now, we can all start packing and planning! The much anticipated family trip to Hong Kong this coming Sunday ^_^ Really looking forward as this is the first ever overseas holiday with my entire family. And grandma is with us this time too.

So, I decided to express all my excitement through cooking, hehe… only to find out that the ingredients left in the kitchen are limited =/ Here goes the…

French toast

and Spaghetti with bacon and prawns

Going down kl in the evening. Updates when I’m back from my trip

almonds and butterflies

It was another busy yet fun filled day! Hehe… Thanks to Steven Chang, I got an order for a graduation/farewell night event in Casuarina. I was overwhelmed with excitement when he told me yesterday night that there will be like 600 plus people present there. But nono, I wasn’t supposed to bake for all of them, haha, just needed to prepare a small cake.

I must say I’m pretty proud of myself, hehe. I mean it’s nothing extravagant and rather simple actually but I think it’s beautiful Here are some pics.

The creamy cupcakes

The cake!

I almost didn’t make it in time to Casuarina due to my own poor time estimation =(  must be careful next time, hehe. By the way, knew that the recipient’s a teacher named steven but didn’t know it’s THE famous addmaths tuition teacher, steven, hehe. But since a general theme is requested, I came up with these.

The setting

Returned home afterwards with a big smile on my face ^_^

red roses

I’m so excited today, my very first order! It’s an anniversary gift ^_^

I’m so glad that the couple loves it ^_^

Blessed Birthday, Andrew!

“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:18

Manchester United C. Ronaldo ‘Jersey’ + Card in Envelope

I’m really glad you like them ^_^

playing with chocolate ganache

Fresh strawberries + Chocolate that melts in your mouth.

Decided to experiment with the combo and came up with these rather delicious cupcakes, hehe ^_^  but it’s still a little too sweet for my liking, have to cut down on the strawberries and sugar next time, best served chilled. Well, it’s all about experimenting today ;p first with the cupcakes then with the chocolate ganache. This is my first time frosting with chocolate ganache and I really like the outcome. Still need to improve the skill though

Happy Belated Birthday to both Ricky and Kian Aun!! ^_^

*smiles*

simple butterflies

Specially baked for Cheryl. We are ALWAYS here for you. I know you’ll like the pink and white combo

The Chocolate Mud Cupcake

(Thanks liyen for the recipe ^_^ I added in some evaporated milk though to enrich the muffin)

… with love …

They’re still rather messy, hehe. Hope you like it anyway ^_^

the first try

Back in Ipoh ^_^ And being me, I can’t wait to try out my first cake decorating at home.

The results…

Well, it didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted it to be. Partly because I made mistake in the baking part resulting in a very uneven cake, haha. Like I’ve mentioned before, it’s not a masterpiece but I guess it’s alright for a beginner ^_^ My next try will be with some simple chocolate works and abstract designs… the flowers are too girly sometimes ;p

the classic white

Buttercream is the basic. We then moved on to royal icing, fondant and gum paste.

This one is my favourite because we get to experience with our own embroidery and style rather than the previous ones where we have to sort of go according to the chef.

The embroidery

The little flowers

The ribbon and rose

basket of roses

It started off with making roses and freezing them for 2 hours…

While waiting, we can bake the cake, ice it using crumbs technique and apply basket weaving on the sides. Putting everything together, this is my humble little basket of roses ^_^

Some close up shots

Well, there are still lots of flaws here and there but cake decorating improves with practice. So don’t be surprised to receive little gifts of cakes from now onwards

buttercream

I’ve always wondered how Jean in “The Perfect Man” creates those beautiful cakes and whether those techniques demonstrated in “Gateau Affairs” are for real. And to me, knowing how to bake is not enough, it isn’t exactly personalized. So, eventually I googled up cake decorating and ended up taking lessons in Taylors College. The best part is not only have I acquired a skill but with the internationl certification issued, I can do some part time job in a bakery if I wanted to.

Let the pictures speak for themselves.

The first few ones are basically learning to apply piping techniques using butter cream. Personally, I think they’re abit congested with colours and designs.

The ones on the left are demonstrated by chef. Well, I guess you can tell the difference anyway ;p

Finally, buttercream rose on cupcake ^_^

It was a really fun experience and not as easy as I thought it would be. Not to mention, it’s super cold in the kitchen (have to maintain a low temperature when cake decorating) and the long 8 hours a day. But I’m loving it

cooking gathering at my house

The very much delayed photos. Really hope we can have more of this but looks like I have to go down to pj or damansara next time

salad with bacon and toasted bread topped with vinegar, steamed fish with tomatoes, baked chicken drumstick in lemon sauce, baked potatoes in cheese and cream (a norwegian dish taught by Zahra), poached pears in red wine and the very first trial of homemade vanilla ice cream served with strawberries and caramel deco ^_^

The lovely girls who dare to join me in my crazy cooking experiments. I’m going down kl soon, real soon!

the real holiday

Finally, I have decided to treat myself with a real holiday. And my definition is one that I only RELAX and not rush through top and tourist attractions, one that I FOCUS on MYSELF and not on others, one that I buy things for myself and not others, one that I ENJOY TRULY without taking too many photos for memories sake and one that of which I call a holiday.

And I think I chose a perfect place, at least with all the time I left and the cash restriction. Copenhagen, Denmark it is.

Without actually knowing it, I have booked myself into a five star youth hostel. The most expensive one among the hostels I stayed in for the previous trips. Costing me euro20 per night!! At least that was the cheapest I could get at that time. But, yes, just the right one to start off my real holiday. Six clean and comfortable beds per dorm, best location ever right in front of the harbour in the city centre ^_^ Got to know a couple of new friends – the dorm mates which is a huge bonus. Networking I call it.

Spend first half of the day just strolling along the harbour, passing by the canals and visiting the famous “Little Mermaid”. I enjoyed it so much, the views and ambiance. The second half of the day is even better as I decided to go for Tivoli Gardens and Amusement Park (it’s just 5 minutes walk from my hostel) I have always love amusement parks… the thrill rides!! Now you know why I like to be in Genting the theme park. I feel like a small child again. Treating myself with lots of ice cream, nachos and cheese and of course, those thrill rides. And yes, I finally had my merry-go-round after years of wanting to ride on it and the fact the I can’t in Genting due to age and height limit. I was there from 2pm till midnight. I was screaming and laughing, indulging myself in uncountable times of those crazy rides… and just when you think Solero Shot in Genting is scary and gives you LOTS of adrenaline rush… till you have this!

Introducing the Golden Tower in Tivoli… it’s way higher than Solero Shot, I like it, hehe…

and the highest carousel… was not working though when I went

Tivoli doesn’t offer just unlimited rides but also beautiful gardens here and there, live bands, short musicals, pantomimes and other entertainment – all of those for DKK200 a day. I went for some live jazz band performances as well as a half an hour pantomime – Thumbelina. Great one with eye candy casts, graceful dancing and good music. I think I haven’t laughed or enjoyed myself alone so much. It has been awhile. And I am glad and thank God that He is helping me to get through things and to find some time and have a treat for me, myself and I. Lord, you know exactly what I needed.

Second and final day – a Sunday. Decided to look up the brochure and map and found this church which actually has English service, so why not? And the result? I had a wonderful time of worship. They always say save the best for last, and this, my final worship and sermon in Europe is indeed the best of all. Not only the praise and worship was great, the sermon spoke to me that very morning and answered my question of one of my previous posts – the most important think is the PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP you have with God rather than acts of service itself. Thank You again. I mean I knew it all along so, another reminder and assurance for me.

After the service, I went to the King’s Garden/Park. Found a nice spot and laid down on the soft grass, actually enjoying the sun! surprise surprise. Spent the noon just lying down, yes, relaxing, reading Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern and had a short nap. Never knew it was so good to lie on the grass with soft breeze blowing and the sun giving you warmth and smiles. I then proceeded to the harbour, sat down on one of those benches and write while enjoying the beautiful view from the harbour.

Catching the last glimpse of canals before I hopped on the bus to leave Copenhagen and back to Kongsberg. I had a great real holiday. I am happy. I am content.

The End.

looking forward

to spend the Norway National Day back in my housemate’s hometown. She said I might even get to try on their national costumes!! yes!!

to travel with Mark and his family again next week.

to finish up my report and presentation *smile*

to finally meet up with zibin and edmund *more smiles*

and to be back in Ipoh for food glorious food. Thanks to all the ideas from ricky and since yian blogged about the list, here goes… my own fair share of the I-can’t-wait-to-have Ipoh food list…

1. curry mee from Sun Chuen Fong (near the balai polis in Yang Kalsom road) and Yat Yat Seng (Ipoh Garden) - the curry is just right, not too hot for me

2. laksa and liew in Pasir Pinji, behind Tuck Kee – not the best laksa in the world but good enough. missing the ones in Perlis

3. beef noodles and meatballs from Tong Sui Kai – I like the clear beef soup, slightly better than the one is old town.

4. look look in Ipoh Garden South - the last time I had this was at my cousin’s pre-wedding night, my uncle hired the whole look look for the night! was so good… unlimited sticks all night long, hehe

5. 2 plus 1 steamboat in Bercham - just like the fact that I can pan fry as well, had my birthday celebration here last year

6. porridge steamboat at Stairway, Ipoh Garden or Farm House near Uncle Soon Chye’s place - haven’t tried the one at Farm House though.

7. satay celup (stall next to honda showroom near Elim, below Fairmont Hotel) - haven’t tried this either, heard it’s a little expensive but out of the norm food.

8. pan mee at Leong Sin Nam street - my favourite! the soup is way too delicious… not to mention I am the special customer, the only one who always order “no vege, just the ikan bilis and shrimps” haha ;p the lady remembers me until now…

9. Ming Kok’s dimsum, or maybe Kao Lee’s - nearer to my house and I love their prawn salad rolls ^_^

10. wat tan hor at Leong Sin Nam street - have to wait for at least an hour though… but worth it the only one in Ipoh, or maybe Malaysia that cooks the noodles WITH the sauce together instead of pouring the sauce over the fried hor fun.

11. prawn crackers from Pasar Malam on Wednesday night or from the old man in front of Public Bank – my favourite late night snack while watching TVB dramas

12. K10 claypot rice and chicken feet - the one in Bercham of course as it tastes better compared to the one in Ipoh Garden and I only eat chicken feet from K10 ;p

13. noodles and liew from Tai Ka Lok, Greentown - my typical breakfast or brunch

14. friend bihun from stadium - yet another favourite breakfast of mine

15. pina colada from Juice Station – yummy yummy, fell in love with this drink ever since I first tried it

16. japanese food at Kizuna - quality japanese food at a good price *after my dad’s discount card, of course*

17. burger, chee cheong fun, egg tarts and prawn cracker from Kampung Simee market – don’t you ever think food from the market is not nice, try them!

18. and last but not least, grandma’s irreplaceable homemade dishes and yummy western deserts and my mom’s apple soup too ^_^

gosh, I am feeling REALLY hungry now… *saliva dripping* three more weeks, just three more weeks and I will be back to the food heaven

way back into love

when I couldn’t put thoughts or feelings into words, I allow the song to describe it all.

Manchester – Sight Seeing

*** MANCHESTER EYE ***

I think my photography skill is improving

nice right?

me and the beautiful background ^_^

*** MANCHESTER ARNDALE & TRIANGLE ***

*** MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL ***

I think this one is rather creepy…

… me and the Cross …

… one of my favourites …

*** MANCHESTER TOWNHALL **

… inside of the hall …

… the interesting sculpture

and me …

… John Dalton …
the eminent Manchester scientist

… James Prescott Joule …
the man who established Joule’s Law

*** OTHER RANDOM SHOTS TAKEN ***

some prestigious music school in Manchester

Royal Exchange Theatre

the statue of Barbara Pearson, Messenger of Peace

Manchester Art Gallery
(was pretty disappointed to find it closes on Monday)

in front of the Manchester Art Gallery

Manchester – The Food and Shopping

Spent the last weekend over in Manchester! ^_^ Went to meet up with Chee Lim (thank you so much for taking time off to be with me, girl) and Yee Lyn (it’s so sweet of her to come over from Leeds to meet up with me and I haven’t like seen her for years). Feel so refreshed from the short trip, not to mention all the catching up and gossips we had They are so comfortable to be with and I am really glad I decided to visit afterall. I am missing them already…

Some snapshots of food we had :

*** The traditional English Sunday Roast at Sam’s Chop House ***

can’t remember what this is called but it tasted awful so changed it into mussels later on (it will be nice if this kind of system applies in Ipoh, I mean at least I can change my meal if I don’t like how it tastes or turns out to be)

*** the very special mango “hor fun” dessert in Chinatown ***

(the “hor fun” is actually some coconut milk jelly)

… with Yee Lyn …

… with Chee Lim …

*** Spanish food for dinner ***

(we had a eat-all-you-can tapas for £10)

Why do I look drunk when I haven’t even started drinking? ;p Anyway the sangria (mixture of red wine, fruit juice, soda water, spices and fruit slices) is good, I like it…

*** Millie’s Cookies ***

(I’ve never liked sweet stuff, in fact I rarely eat them – I guess it explains my low blood pressure? but I just got sugar cravings since coming here)

*** Hong Kong Dimsum in Chinatown ***

‘yau char kwai’ wrapped in’chee cheong fun’

’siew mai’

those were the first two that arrived, we were so hungry that we stopped taking pictures and indulged ourselves with all the very originally Hong Kong dimsum that taste way much better than the ones we have in Ipoh ;p

*** another heavy dinner at Thomas Chop House ***

… starter – forgot what soup is that but it’s delicious, very creamy and have a hint of curry spices …

… main course – roasted lamb …

… dessert – sticky toffee pudding …

*** drink at this really posh bar, Cloud 23, Hilton ***

… the beautiful night view from the Cloud 23 …
(would look much better if I have better photography skills)

hmmm… this shot… nice or scary?

*** s.h.o.p.p.i.n.g ***

Bought more of my Dermalogica skincare here. Much cheaper than I got them in Ipoh!!

only £25 for all following, that’s like average RM30 per piece ^_^ I mean where can I get a pretty satin top like that and a pair of skinny jeans for rm30 in Ipoh ;p