I know there have been a lot of news going on in Malaysia… but nothing is more important than the birth of our son Cameron Wayern Sia!

YES he is with us, the whole labour thing was torturing but with God’s Grace, Mel went through perfectly fine.

Thank you guys for all the support and sorry for those who text me but I have yet to return text as it is currently midnight UK time, Mel will reply them tomorrow.

for the rest of the info, I will let Mel update this space while I will be busy with some serious work…

-eng, a proud father (don’t need to look, I have yet to put up pics as I am too too tired, desperately needing some sleep … but have to finish some boiling stuff for tmr’s hosp visit…. good night all)

Simple, healthy and tasty recipe recommended for all chicken lovers. Firstly, stir some low fat yogurt (I used Greek yogurt) until its creamy smooth. Then, add some lemon juice and stir again. Add some garlic powder (I used garlic and herbs seasoning), salt and breadcrumbs and stir. Dip each chicken breast into the mixture before lining them on an oiled tray to be baked for an hour. Lastly, grill to perfection. Served with homemade Spaghetti Ala Oglio, Sage and Onion stuffings (not leftover from Christmas) and broccolis. Let me know how it turns out - mel.

First of all, I would like to thank all our dear friends who have been constantly messaging and inquiring about the state of my pregnancy. All your support and thoughts are really appreciated. We feel very blessed. Confinement is a familiar practice carried out by the Asian community and less common in the Western society. At the back of my mind, I always wonder why only we Asians develop all sorts of health problems after delivery, should we decide not to practice confinement and I was at the verge of disregarding the whole customary altogether and do it the Western way. You hardly hear a non-Asian developing problems like swelling or the need to expel wind from the body, etc. Is it due to the way we were brought up? Our foundation and the influence of weather? Whatever it is, I’m fortunate to have a friend, who used to have the same perception as I did. However, she didn’t observe the Chinese confinement post-delivery and it didn’t went that well. Luckily, she is fine now and coping well. Thanks Soo Wei for sharing your invaluable experiences and advice. Rest assured that I will heed your guidance. We’ve got most of the ingredients ready and when the time comes, we just need to get some fresh ginger from the nearby grocery store. Otherwise, we are pretty much prepared or at least Eng is quite geared up, as he would be doing the cooking…so do look forward to some confinement food recipes!

Finally, let it snow..let it snow..let it snow….Winter has arrived! We were greeted with blankets of snow this morning…Below are the pix taken from our house. Eng’s car was covered with it. It’s beautiful and somehow it gives me the calming effect, so I’m in a pretty good mood this morning. Since early Dec, everyone thought that UK will not get proper winter this year as daffodils sprung and temperature was higher than usual due to global warming. But looks like the severity of the weather changes is not at extreme stake yet which is debatable (gauging by the severe flood in Johor), but then again it’s good that the first world countries are attempting to counter global warming before it brings too much agony to the future generation - mel.

I did a search for these words and the results are overwhelming

People are furious, war drums are beating, more anti-nstp bloggers are emerging…

And I shall sit back and check out this counter from time to time…   -eng

When I was working in KL, I used to visit this Chinese vegetarian hawker stall in Damansara Heights. It has great food at very reasonable prices. I love the "mutton" curry, salted "fish", oatmeal "chicken" and vege curry. Haven’t eaten it for ages, I decided to cook a dish called "Tzai Choy" - vegetarian vege…hmmm if that makes sense. Lots of ingredients involved - 1 cube "foo yee/nam yee", chinese mushrooms, button mushrooms, dried lily flower, chinese cabbage, vermicelli, broccoli, carrots, "fu chok" and wood ear fungus. It will be nice to add in some fried bean curd (tau fu pok) but I didn’t manage to buy it here. It’s just stir frying but add the vermicelli at the very last minute as it will absorb all the gravy from the vege. - mel

We are really fussy when it comes to Kaya. So far, none of the brands on the market could satisfy us. Finally, I decided to make my own. Never thought the ingredients are that few - eggs, sugar and coconut milk. However, the constant stirring is the test of patience as you need to wait for it to turn to a darker shade and gooey, usually within an hour. However, the end result was not bad and best of all, no preservatives and fresh! Seems like I’ve been cooking a lot eh? It doesn’t really take that much of my time, just preparing meal a day and the occasional trials of various recipes and most importantly, it’s fun and fulfilling - mel.

Hubby loves Assam Fish so much. Ooopss I shouldn’t be eating too much assam though but once a week in moderate amount should be fine. I’ve been making this dish for lunch for a couple of weekends now. Once you have all the proper ingredients, curry is one of the simplest dish to prepare. For this, I used Salmon trimmings, tomato, assam juice, lady’s fingers, homemade sambal belacan, curry powder, curry leaves, salt and sugar. Best dish up with hot rice and a serving of fresh rockets (winter vege, third pix).

I am sure you’ve heard news about 2 famous Malaysian bloggers being sued by NSTP and the clan.

Quite funny, here’s how they justify their lawsuit…

"The purpose of the suits is to help to promote responsible blogs,"

Can’t believe this statement came from a publisher who has long forgotten their responsibility to the public. Look at yourself before thinking about policing others!!! you smelly papers!!

Has NSTP been more responsible as a publisher, reflect truth rather than crooked facts, report for the people rather than being the mouthpiece for UMNO, it wouldn’t be a hot target for discussion in those blogs.

Well, they may be putting big bucks to restrict these bloggers and at the same time flexing muscles to frighten the smaller bloggers, but they are certainly too ignorant with the power of Internet, and under estimated the number of Internet readers who may call for boycott. -eng

Since the GP mentioned that I could be a little anemic, Eng suggested that I consume red dates + "huang qi" extract everyday. We’ve got enormous supply of red dates from Malaysia - "imported" from our fellow friends whenever they pop by London. It helps improve blood circulation as well as overcome breathlessness. A tip for those who have similar problems too.

My ex-classmate Rachel’s email reminded me that I have this packet of cous cous sitting in my cabinet for ages. So, I tossed it with some roasted vege for dinner yesterday (Got the idea from IKEA). You can taste the natural goodness of the ingredients and it’s healthy too! Just roast some cubed carrots, aubergine, broccoli, button mushrooms, green peppers and onions (important coz onion gives it the aroma and sweetness of the whole dish) for 30 minutes. Remember to wrap the tray tightly with an aluminum foil to preserve the moist. Then, remove the foil and toss the vege with some cous cous, olive oil, black pepper and salt in the oven for another 5 minutes. Accompanied by Roast Sage & Honey Chicken Breast and Roast Potatoes.

I’ve been requesting for waiver of my Malaysian credit card annual fee all these while and it had always been approved. This time the CC company billed an annual fee to my account and again I had to call up to request for a waiver. No questions asked and I’ve been informed instantly that it would be waived. It’s that simple! I suppose, ask and you will get it. - mel

I just found out that I could download sermons preached at the church that I regularly visit. Here it is and I hope you’ll find it useful. http://coign.org/resources/sermons

The message delivered last week was inspirational and it is applicable in our daily lives. The message was “Preparing the Project” and is pertinent to whatever plans or projects that you are or about to be accountable in life. This tells us that Christianity is not just about glorifying the Lord but it is also about planning which the Bible is able to guide us. The bible is inspirational, instructional, contains good practise and full of common sense. These are the guidelines when preparing for a task that I’ve gathered from the sermon. 

1. Research things really well and thoroughly.

2. Persist and learn from others.

3. Overcome disappointment. Failures cannot be avoided due to tests, challenges and also intrusion from the devil. Obey Him despite the mess in life and leave the consequences with him. Trust God, be patient, move with faith and not with fear and he will sort the rest out. In the end, we will know that God cares for us and also the rest who have suffered the consequences with us. Only challenges will mould us into stronger individuals. 

4. Don’t be put off by others’ failures. Everything can be rebuild in His power.

5. Keep believing there is a solution.

If you feel lost, I hope this would be encouraging. I personally believe that without my unfailing faith in Him, I wouldn’t have cope well this far  - mel.

This is one of my favourite dish (Pork in "Nam Yee" sauce), yes again…and one of the delectable variety that my late grandma used to cook. However, I was a bit disappointed that the colour didn’t look right. Not too sure if it’s because I used “foo yee” instead of “nam yee”. Both are fermented bean curds but I do not know what are the differences. I guess “Nam Yee” should be red in colour. Any ideas? Besides, we couldn’t find it from the superstore. Surprisingly, Eng enjoyed the dish very much. But I’m still determined to get “nam yee”, perhaps during my impending trip back to KL. Btw, this is the failure recipe.

1. Prepare "nam yee" red sauce by sauteing some chopped garlic, shallots and ginger until fragrant. Add in 2 cubes of "nam yee", stir and bring to boil until the sauce thickens.

2. Marinate thickly sliced pork in "nam yee" red sauce, dash of pepper, corn flour and an egg for 2 hours.

3. Deep fry (best but me being the health conscious one prefers to braise or shallow fry) or braise pork until golden brown.

4. Stew all ingredients and wood ear fungus (which has been soaked) in water and bring to boil.

5. Simmer in low fire for 45 minutes or until pork is tender.

Don’t forget to let me know the results by substituting with "nam yee".

I got hooked with the range of M&S foods. They simply sell the best desserts and chocs in the market. We usually buy M&S range of biscuits and chocs for Eng’s parents and siblings whenever we return to KL and they love it too. Mini Bites is my most recent craze. I just can’t get enough of it and I must have at least 2 pieces a day. It’s so rich and soft yummmm - Mel.