Bye Bye...2008

So fast, 2008 has come to the end....

This is not an "easy" year to many....

Natural disaster, war, economy crisis.......

8 suppose to mean fortune in Chinese and many has expect 2008 to be a prosperous year....

But it seems to end the other way round....

Now that it has come to the end.....

We shall get over it and look forward for year 2009.....

Hoping the economy recover at the soonest.....

Praying to god to bless us through natural disaster....

Wishing people all over the world could live peacefully together.....

Lastly, of course,

Everyone is SAFE, HAPPY and HEALTHY all the time......

Soup of the day : 红萝卜马蹄汤

材料：

瘦肉

红萝卜

马蹄

干贝

花生

红枣

调味：

精盐

做法：

瘦肉切块。红萝卜去皮，切块。马蹄去皮，拍裂。干贝，花生洗净。红枣去核，洗净。

锅中加水，煮沸。放入所有材料，大火煲半小时。转小火煲1.5小时。

加适量精盐调味。

PS:

此汤能润肺清热哦！

Stitching update : Water Lily #3

Hm....i spend almost a month to do this part.

This leaf is really huge!

How big?? Check this....

The big leaf is about the total size of 2 small one.....

In my last post (Stitching update : Water Lily #2), i thought i could complete the whole picture by this month end. Who knows, that big leaf have taken me a month. **nearly become weary of it** ;p But the picture i have done so far has give me the power to continue patiently until fully completed. I expect myself to complete it before CNY which hubby keep saying i wouldn't be able to. To prove he is wrong, i will have to work hard! Cheers....... :-)

It's Christmas...

29th....

Opps...i'm 29th today...**Unbelievable**.... ;p Happy Birthday To ME!!

Last nite, i was surprised that hubby is back with a birthday cake. My birthday is actually today, and he got the cake a day earlier. I asked hubby was he make mistake on the date which he answered he is aware that it's a day earlier, but he afraid he might be busy with works and got no time to buy the cake. hm....explanation accepted (I know how busy he is). However, i told him i won't be blowing 29th candles because yesterday was my last day of 28th, "I'm yet to be 29th". Heheheh...

Though, we still had the simple celebration last nite with only 2 candles on it. I told hubby that i treated it as celebration for my last day of 28th instead of 29th birthday. (8 and 9 does matter me!!) ;D

As for today, i don't think we will have celebration anymore because the weather is too cold (Am freezing at home now), don't feel wanna go out. Will order delivery for dinner.

Dinner @ Tang Dynasty Cafe

Temperature has started to drop since yesterday morning. The weather is getting colder and colder. Because of that i didn't prepare for dinner last nite. We had our dinner at Tang Dynasty Cafe which is a street away from our apartment. Although it's very near to our place, but it is my very first visit.

Portuguese style baked mussel.

The taste is not bad, but the look is very much different from the menu.

In the menu, it is much much more presentable.
(upper right photo)

"Baked Muscle in Portuguese Style"
Muscle?? Mussel??

Club Spaghetti.
Quite delicious. Taste very much like Malaysian Chinese Fried Noodle.
The very first time i found something taste like Malaysia's food.

Hubby's order.
It looks like curry, but it's not.
It's very creamy, not sure what's the ingredient of the sauce.
"Baked Chicken Rice with Portuguese"!?!

Overall, the food is acceptable. But, to me, will only visit once in a while because the choice in the menu is limited.

Pre-Birthday Celebration @ ....

....Ikea! Yes, we went Ikea AGAIN on Saturday!! This is the 3rd times in this month. ;p

These are what we bought during this trip!

I was thinking if we bought that much every time we go, very fast our house will full of Ikea's products. Well, we just can't stop ourselves buying when we go. ;D The only way is stop going. Could we? Don't think so...because that is the place where we feel comfortable and familiar to, just like we are in Malaysia.

Although we like the ambiance in Ikea, but still we found some annoying behavior. We afraid, sooner or later, it will be localised. For example, they treat it as a place for date, occupy a showroom to have discussion, snoring on the bed and even sofas. Another thing is this:-

After the meal, they left the table without cleaning. I think Ikea has educated the customers since it's opening, to clean the table whenever finished the meal. We had see people doing it at the beginning, but now we see more and more dishware being left on the table, even when someone beside them is doing that. Some of them just don't learned and won't feel ashamed of it. Sigh....

Hubby suggested we had my pre-birthday celebration there since i love their cakes. And these are what we had for our tea time in Ikea:-

We had some yummy roasted chicken wings...

Ringoberry cheesecake...my favorite.

Slice of black forest....full of choc!

Soup of the day : White gourd with dried scallop (干贝冬瓜汤）

Ingredients:-

Pork ribs

White gourd

Dried scallop

Ginger

Scallion

Salt

Steps:-

~Quick boiled the pork ribs (cut into pieces) in boiling water.

~Strip the white gourd and cut into big pieces.

~Soak dried scallop in warm water.

~Bring water in the pot to boil, add in the pork ribs. Let it boiled for 40 mins.

~Add in scallop, white gourd and ginger (2 slices).

~Turn to low heat and boiled for another 40 mins.

~Add salt to taste and scallion, ready to serve.

Knitting : My colorful scarf!

Have completed my scarf, very colorful, isn't it? Very holiday feel, ya?

Temperature starts getting lower from today, and will continue to reduce, so my scarf completed just in time....Hahaha...



Will have a warm colorful birthday and Christmas!

Child Sponsorship

Picture from World Vision International website.

Hubby and i learned about World Vision's "Child sponsorship" program via Hongkong TVB channel. We are touched by the TV program and we decided to join the sponsorship. We know that World Vision is a Christian relief and we are actually Buddhist, but charity should be religious free. Just like their values : Serve all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity and gender.

We have signed up via World Vision Malaysia website. They have confirmed our sponsorship for 2 child. Upon our first contribution, we will receive the details of the child they assigned to us, under our sponsorship. (Will be sharing in my blog once we got it) ^_^

Life may be hard especially during this economy bad time. But sponsoring a child only needs RM50 per month. Divided by 30 days, it's only worth a can of coke a day. Without that RM50, we won't be starved. But with that RM50 every month, a child, his family or maybe his community may overcome poverty. So, why not saving a can of coke everyday to help someone from poverty.

一天少喝一瓶可乐，一个月少到外面用餐一次或少买一件衣服，就能帮助一个小孩，他的家人甚至他的社群脱离贫穷，何乐而不为？

Perhaps we can't change the world, but we can change one child's life.

Knitting...again...!

Ya....i will start knitting again. A scarf for myself this time. A thoughtful friend of mine, bought me this beautiful, colorful yarn as birthday present (Thanks, Hui Sia. This is the earliest present i received).

Have i finished my stitch?? Not yet. Will have to spend some time knitting the scarf 1st, so that i could have a new scarf to wear on my birthday! ;D

Soup of the day : 花旗参猪腱汤

材料：
猪腱肉
花旗参（西洋参）
天麻
干贝
姜片

调味：
精盐
料酒

做法：
猪腱肉切块，洗净，热水焯烫。天麻洗净。干贝热水泡软。
所有材料，放入锅中，加6杯清水，大火煮沸，转小火煮45分钟。
加适量精盐，料酒调味。

PS:
此汤帮助补心安神，对心跟脑有益。
(good for heart and brain)

Raindrops Cafe @ Sea World, Shekou

Sunday nite, we had dinner with friends (came to China for honeymoon) at Sea World, Shekou. There are many restaurants, theme bars and cafes serving various cuisine, from South to North, from East to West. And it's basically more towards western atmosphere.

Minghua Yacht - The main part of Sea World.

The Christmas decorations

We spent quite some time to select the restaurant to have our dinner - Raindrops Cafe. It is a restaurant serving mainly Western cuisine. But Korean, Japanese, Chinese cuisine are also in their menu.

Decorations in the restaurant

Our main theme for the night : seafood

Seafood spaghetti in white sauce

Spanish fried rice with seafood

Pizza full of cheesy seafood toppings.

Yummy.....grilled Scottish oysters (6 different flavors)

fruits, veges salad and cakes (it's FOC)

Greengage in grapefruit juice (a thumb up drink, it's very fragrant)

After the marvelous seafood meal.

We had a great night in that restaurant. I am not sure about other cuisine in their menu, but those we ordered are up to expectation. We enjoyed the meal very much.

Ikea madness!

Finally my hubby got his *beloved* stools from Ikea SZ. He has put lots of effort in getting them! ;p

Ever since we have our new house, me and hubby been shopping for furniture, researching for prices and patterns. We, especially hubby, are impressed by Ikea's.

Hubby spotted this foldable stool sometime ago in Ikea SZ. We both love the design very much because it can be treated as side table as well as stool. Besides, it's foldable, can save the keeping space when is not using. We thought to buy in Ikea Malaysia during our Sept trip back. But we couldn't find any. Hubby decided to buy it in Ikea SZ and bring back to Malaysia.

However, when we went there 2 weeks ago, it was out of stock. The staff told us that there won't be any new stock. As for the display items, he is not sure when its going to be placed at the disposal area for sale. Hubby was very upset. For that, he been searching online from buy on behalf service, hopefully they can get any from other Ikea in China. But, it seems all of them (Ikea Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou...) is out of stock.

Last week, hubby suggests we go to Ikea again to check whether the display items are available for sale. Luckily, i agreed to go, they are there. We bought 2 actually because there are only 3 of them when we buy, we got 2 and a lady got 1. But when we are having our snacks after the payment, hubby saw other customers bought the same stools. Besides, theirs seem to be in better condition (display item always has minor defects). So, hubby go to check out at the disposal area again. This time he took another one. End up, we bought 3 altogether. *Crazy rite?*

I was so shocked when i saw hubby carrying the 3rd one. I thought 2 is enough and we have to bring them back to Malaysia. Besides, it's quite heavy. Well, my darling hubby just couldn't bear to leave the 3rd one.

Anyway, shopping in Ikea (no matter SZ or KL) is really a pleasure. If wasn't because of transport problems, we would have bought as much furniture we need there.

Knitting : scarf completed!

Hurray, i have completed the scarf!

Actually, i can finished it earlier and it can be very fast when i started to get familiar with the knit. But i do little by little everyday and still continue with my stitching (can't bear to left my stitch... :-}).

How's my work? Not bad, huh? Have try on hubby, the length turn out to be just nice.

Now considering whether to knit another one, because the yarn is very soft and comfortable, somemore it's cheap....

My lunch - home made sushi roll

Lunch today. Simple home made sushi roll with crabstick, cucumber and egg. Have made it a few times as lunch before, but never posted because looks too ugly. ;p Practice make perfect, so this time look more presentable. :)

Soup of the day : Lotus root with black sesame (黑芝麻莲藕汤）

Ingredients:-
Pork tendon (猪腱肉）
Lotus root （莲藕）
Black sesame (黑芝麻）
Carrot （胡萝卜）
Salt (精盐）

Step:-
~Cut the tendon into pieces. Quick boil the tendon in boiling water.
~Strip the lotus root skin and cut it into pieces.
~Boil water in the pot with high heat. Add in the tendon and lotus root.
~Turn to low heat and let it boil for 2 hours.
~Add in the carrot and black sesame. Continue boiling for 30 mins.
~Add salt to taste.

Christmas is on the way....

Went to Ikea on Sunday, it has put up many beautiful Christmas decorations. Finally we have the Christmas feel. It reminds us, it's December and Christmas is near.

Me and hubby don't really celebrate Christmas, but i loved it's holiday feel and those dazzling decorations. I think no one actually dislike Christmas.... =D

Free time...what do i do??

Many friends is wondering and been asking how i spend my days in Shenzhen. In fact, i have a lot of time since i am not working and i don't have baby. But, my time don't really free, i am quite busy actually ;p ....I have managed to fill up my time with:-

Preparing and cooking dinner (cooking everyday is not easy, because have to think what to cook and avoid repeating the menu frequently).
Knitting and stitching (am doing a big stitching project, still have a long way to go).
Watching tv (there are some programs i love eg A Date With Lu Yu, Travelogue).
Online (updating my blog, checking emails, surfing).
Exercising (stretching exercise and some simple yoga).
Go to market once a week to buy vegetables.
Cleaning the room regularly (although we have cleaner, but i clean the room myself, she is responsible for the public area).
Reading (just got my book i bought online, not sure when i can start reading).
Ripped the mp3 and update hubby's iPod occasionally (sometimes have to type the Chinese characters song by song)
etc....etc...

Seem simple? perhaps....Bored? to outgoing person, maybe....but i am not quite, i enjoyed being at home....Will i become autistic? don't worry, hubby always bring me out during weekend and i enjoyed that....Doubted whether my time is full? try out, then you'll know..... ;D

Knitting...

As the weather get colder, there are many stalls selling all kinds of winter accessories. Yesterday, on the way to the market for groceries, i was being attracted by a stall selling knitted scarves. It was all hand made scarves with nice color. Upon asking the price, the stall owner told me that they also sell the yarn and teach the buyer how to knit. Since i have knitted 1 scarf before for myself, i decided to knit 1 for hubby this time. And i told hubby it will be his Christmas present. He pay, i knit, as a present, fair enough isn't it? meaningful as well, rite? ;D

The color i choose for hubby.
This big bulk of yarn only cost RMB 15 (enough for a scarf). Cheap? I think so.....and the knitting needle is free!


I have asked the owner to start for me, will continue knitting from here. Have to put aside my cross stitch and do the knitting first, because Christmas is at the corner. Let see how soon i can finish the scarf.

Thursday lunch @ Mian Dian Wang

Thursday, hubby go to the bank at District 25 to change his ATM card. Then we had our lunch at the Mian Dian Wang next to the bank. It's a chinese fast food chain restaurant selling mostly northern chinese foods such as noodle, dumpling, bun, pancake....There are variety of choice. Person who likes noodle and food made by flour will love it. It's outlets are almost everywhere in Shenzhen.

The self service counter where you can choose the foods you like.

The ordering form. Waiter at the counter will chopped on it when customer has selected the food they want. Numbering on the form is actually the cost of the foods.

Our choice:-

Braised pork ribs. A must try dish. Most customers selected it.

eating the rib with hand (glove provided)

"xiao long bao"

dumplings (leek stuffing)

hand made noodle

pancake

broccoli as cold dish

After the lunch, as we walked back, i bought a book full of recipes of soup making in the newly opened bookstore near our place.

Local people drink a lot of soup. They cook different types of soup with different ingredients during different seasons. They believe it provides a lot of nutrition needed and keep them healthy while the season change. Therefore, i think to be healthy always we should follow their eating culture since we live here. Plus, hubby - a real soup lover have requested to have soup for every dinner at home. This book will be a great help to me, won't have to burn my head to think of what soup to cook.....trying one recipe a day, will take 1888 days to finish all. That would be more than 5 years....... ;p