Grilled-chicken salad

Ingredients:
Chicken breast
Mixed garden greens

Marinate ingredients:
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Garlic and onion powder
Nutmeg powder
A mixed of thyme, sage, marjoram and rosemary

Dressing:
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Mixed herbs
Black pepper
Salt to taste

Preparation steps:
1. Marinate chicken breast and set aside for 30 mins.
2. Grill or deep-fry chicken breast.
3. Cut chicken breast into strips.
4. Add chicken strips into mixed garden greens.
5. Toss with dressing and ready to serve.

This grilled-chicken salad is great to go with homemade chicken burger and minestrone soup.

King of hobbies, Hobby of kings

A recent visit to the local stamp exhibition held on 3-8 February brings back reminiscence of childhood's pastimes. Philately was one of them. Stamps from letters and purchases, exchanging with friends as well as 'plundering' from an uncle's stamp album contributed to my collection. Half the joy of this hobby was discovering stamps of odd shapes and sizes and of animals foreign to this part of region and half from showing friends the 'treasure troves' owned.

Held at the town hall, this exhibition not only put on displays of stamps of yesteryears (mint and used stamps) but also first day covers and miniature sheets, presentation packs, souvenir sheets, bank notes and coins, albums and catalogues, picture postcards and used telephone cards.


Stamp enthusiasts and advanced collectors have the opportunity to order rare stamps and complete their collections by ordering directly from various stamp traders participating at the exhibition or the Philately Bureau of Malaysia. They were also able to become members of the Philatelic Society of Malaysia and enjoy various benefits available.

Genesis~Creation of the World. In the beginning God created the heaven and earth. And the earth was without form, and void.

Designed by Neil Waldman, sheetlet of 24x29c stamps issued by Palau as a tribute to the Earth Summit held in Rio in June 1992.

Dogs, dogs, breeds of dogs.From top to bottom (clockwise): German Shepherd, Irish Setter, Schipperke, Whippet and Pomeranian.

Released for the 7th World Congress of the Kennel Clubs in Bermuda on 12 November 1992, six popular breeds were highlighted: German Shepherd (25c), Irish Setter (35c), Whippet (60c), Border Terrier (75c), Pomeranian (85c) and Schipperke ($1).

Superman: Man of Steel

Described as more powerful than a locomotive, Superman was born in Toronto, Canada in 1938. Appeared in the Canada Post on 2 October 1995, this collection was designed by Louis Fishaul. Together with Superman, four other comic book superheroes were featured: Nelvana of the Northern Lights, Johnny Canuck, Captain Canuck and Fleur de Lys.

A Garden of Lanterns

Chinese New Year has never been more interesting with an exhibition of lanterns at the Tambun Kwan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Temple in Ipoh. The 20-day event, which was organised by the temple began on the 21st January 2009 just before the Lunar new year began. The lanterns featured were gigantic characters of Chinese deities, zodiac animals and based on Chinese literary themes. Named as the Tambun Kwan Yin Giant Lantern Expo 2009, visitors might also take the opportunity to join a karaoke singing contest and lucky draw as well as witnessing a talented painter at work. The colourful lanterns and the beautifully lit atmosphere had certainly made the long journey (at the edge of town) worthwhile for shutterbugs and children alike.

The attractive grand gate

Rows of red lanterns leading to the entrance

The 8-metre tall giant lantern

Lanterns of the 12 zodiac animals:(From R to L) Mickey, Tigger, Bugs Bunny, Draco, Viper, Shadowfax, Billy, Aboo, Chicken Little, Lassie and Babe welcoming The Ox.

Under the sea

Serene storks

In the garden



Flower power!

Talented artist at work: A painting of Kwan Yin

Handicrafts corner

Beautifully-lit tree

Legend has it, Kwan Yin was a princess and a daughter of a cruel king. She was punished harshly by her father for disobeying his wishes to marry a suitor of his choice as she was more concerned with the sufferings of her people. Ironically, she tried to save his life when he fell ill. She made a sacrifice for his healing to God. God was touched and turned the king into an ox and her into the Goddess of Mercy to watch over the sufferings of the world. To avoid her father of being slaughtered, she requested her people not to eat beef. Perhaps that is the reason behind why Buddhists do not take beef till this day.

Kwan Yin (Goddess of Mercy)

The story started where there was a boy who lived with his mother. He was a woodcutter. Although his mother sent lunch to him daily, he treated her badly. One day as he was taking a break, he saw a mother bird feeding her chicks in a nest up a tree. As he observed this, he realised that his mother actually loved and cared for him very much that she brought food to him everyday without fail. From that moment, he decided to appreciate her more. So the next day when his mother came to bring him lunch, he ran to greet his mother with all the happiness in his heart. When she saw him running towards her, she thought that he was going to beat her again and so she ran. Unfortunately, she tripped over a stone and fell to her death. After his mother's passing, he was in an unkempt state as he cried daily without a care for himself. Seeing this, God took pity on him for his filial piety and made him into God of Wealth. One of the stories my mother would tell me in my childhood days.

Sometimes, you will see a statue of him in this state in the temples, with dishevelled clothes and hair and a tear-stained face holding a fan. I have seen him.

The God of Wealth

The legend of the Journey to the West is a very popular Chinese folklore and has been depicted in various versions through books and in movies. It tells of a tale of a Buddhist monk assigned to a task by Kwan Yin to acquire a certain Buddhist scripture in India. Together on this journey were his protectors, the Monkey God, a pig and a sand demon. They have agreed to protect him on this perilous journey for the atonement of their past sins. They also acted as his disciples as the monk would guide them when they gave in to their sinful desires or save their skins when troubles arose from their mischievious pranks. There were many dangers along the way such as the spider demon, the white-boned demon, the buffalo- king demon and the iron-fan princess, just to name the infamous ones. They were waiting to devour the monk as the flesh of monks is believed to be most sweet, tender and succulent.

Journey to the West: Let us through!

Ushering the New Year with new trends (Part 1)

Blooms of chrysanthemums, stalks of plum blossoms, pots of lucky bamboos and money plants. All these decorations mark the arrival of the lunar new year. As the year of the Earth Ox 'moo-ves' in on the 26th January 2009 of the Gregorian calendar, various ornaments and plants deemed lucky and auspicious are being used as decorations to welcome a bountiful and prosperous year ahead. Besides the traditional adornment of red lanterns, Spring couplets (chinese calligraphy written on red papers) and potted lime trees, new practices are being introduced to jazz up good tidings for the new year.

The arrow head plant (Sagittaria sagittifolia L.) is a water plant that gives edible round tubers or bulbs. It is a temperate, flowering plant that can be found in wetlands of Europe and Asia. It is called arrow head because of the shape of its leaves. The bulbs, particularly eaten during Chinese New Year, are cream-coloured, crunchier than potatoes, have a starchy texture and a unique pungent taste. They are peeled, sliced and deep-fried to make irresistible arrow head chips or stir-fried wih pork or waxed meat to make a savoury Chinese New Year dish. Sprinkle with salt, the chips taste even better than potato chips! It is said that these bulbs contain alginic acid that helps rid the body of excess salt. The bulbs, when placed into water, can germinate into a delicate arrow head plant that serves as a beautiful indoor Chinese New Year decoration. A kilogramme of the bulbs ranges from RM2 to RM4 and they are available at wet markets and supermarkets.

An arrow head bulb: Ready to be cooked or planted

Arrow head slices stir-fried with waxed meat.

Golden, delicious crunch: My mom's arrow head chips.
The unsalted variety for the health conscious.

At the altar: A nicely germinated plant

Close-up view: Roots among pebbles

Monkey cup or tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes) is a carnivourous plant that attracts insects with the water stores in the 'cups' or 'pitchers' with lids at the end of the leaves. Monkeys were seen drinking from the cups and hence the name. Recently, the monkey cup has become a popular plant for the Chinese New Year, symbolising the abundance of wealth with the 'water-filled jugs'. The price of a plant depends on the plant size as well as the number of cups a plant has. The more cups it has, the more costly it is. The price can range from RM23 to RM35 per plant and they are available at nurseries.

To care for the plant is easy; simply hang the vine-climbing plant under a shade or a partly lit area and fill all cups with a quarter of fresh water once a month. These will suffice as too much or direct sun will dry the leaves and the water will last for that period if the plant is not watered enough.

My monkey cups

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittaria_sagittifolia
http://www.kikkoman.com/foodforum/thejapanesetablebackissues/01.shtml

*The writer wishes all blog-readers an abundance of health, wealth and happiness in the coming new year. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Seremban's Gastronomic Appeals

When one travels south to Seremban, the city centre of Negeri Sembilan, siew pow (oven-baked buns) and beef noodles come to mind. Both of these gastronomic fares are where Seremban is famous for.

The whiff of freshly baked siew pow makes one salivates instantly. The wonderful aroma is the combination of savoury fillings of pork or chicken in a brown, crispy pastry topped with sesame seeds.

Mouth-watering siew pows, in original pork or chicken filling.

The shop that makes and sells these wonderful buns also makes tambun biscuits or dragon ball biscuits (which they are familiarly known of), egg tarts, kaya (coconut egg jam) puffs, wedding biscuits, an assortment of pies and puffs. Other tasty snacks sold includes the chicken biscuits, soya bean crispies, butter cookies, omochi (Japanese rice taffy) and Chinese desserts.

Pastries galore

Other tasty snacks.

How to get there: The Tasti East shop is located at Jalan Rasah. You can see the signboard when you reach the Seremban toll.

For beef noodles lovers, head down to Yee Kee Seremban Beef Noodles. An eatery established in the 1930s by Mr.Poon Yee, Yee Kee serves beef noodles based on the original secret recipe from the village of Dai Dong Po, a county in Ding'an, Hainan, China. Mr. Poon Yee, a native from the village brought the family recipe with him to Seremban making it now a Seremban gastronomic attraction.

Yee Kee, 70 years ago.

They can choose either the noodles in gravy or in soup. For noodles in gravy, the beef brisket, honeycomb tripe and spiced beef jerky are served together with pickled cabbage, fried peanuts and roasted sesame seeds while noodles in soup are served with a beef mix of beef brisket, honeycomb tripe, soft tendon coupled with pickled cabbage, spring onions, parsley and beef essence. Beef balls are also available; they are served with pickled cabbage in long-simmered, flavourful soup.

Noodles in gravy comes with soup.

Fair-coloured beefballs

For those who do not take beef, they may want to try the nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) with chicken rendang (dry curry) or sambal sotong (cuttlefish in dried chilli paste), Penang laksa, half-boiled eggs with kaya or peanut butter toast and egg or tuna sandwich.

Nasi lemak with sambal sotong and side condiments such as half of a
hard-boiled egg, fried anchovies and peanuts, cucumber slices and anchovies sambal.

Plus points of restaurant:

• It has set meals, which are more economic-friendly;

• The beef noodles is available in XL-serving for big appetites;

• The kopitiam-styled (coffee shop-styled) restaurant is air-conditioned for extra comfort with soothing music playing in the background;

• And WiFi access is available :D

How to get there: The restaurant is located along Jalan Dato Lee Fong Yee.