Art of joyful management

This is an article I found very meaningful, that I forwarded this to some (well, many actually) of my ex-colleagues on my last day two months ago.

Note: You might need to download this to read the contents.

What to do if your curry chicken gets too hot?

My first attempt to cook curry chicken is a total failure. It is too hot, almost not consumable. What should I do (except getting rid of it)? Any idea?

Chicken Tonight

Experimented new recipes, which turns out pretty good. At least my room mate says so.

• Indian butter chicken with chickpeas
• Fried broccoli and carrot with tofu and dried shrimp
• Honey lemon

Upcoming blood donation drive

Received an email today from HYS, on the upcoming blood donation drive. I might sound crazy to you, but I will miss this quarterly event dearly.

Dear Members,

The Hui Yin Seh Metta Blood Donation Group's 142th Blood Donation Campaign :

Date : 23/MAR/2008 (Sunday)
Time : 9:00am ~ 1:00pm
Venue : Hui Yin Seh
700H Jalan Lintang, Air Itam, 11500 Pg.

Donation Date : 20/4, 25/5, 29/6, 27/7, 24/8, 21/9, 19/10, 16/11, 14/12

note : a souvenir will be presented to the 30,000th pints donor.

All are welcome.

Hui Yin SehMetta Blood Donation Group

NB: Volunteers from Island Hosp is pretty GOOD.

Fun, fun, fun in Dreamworld

Dreamworld is located about an hour south of Brisbane. It is a themepark, pretty similar to a combination of Six Flags and Disneyland in US (not in term of size, but the activities). URL: http://www.dreamworld.com.au/.
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Had a fun day with 7 cool mates - KC, Melissa, Joseph, Jackie, Jan-Erik, Calvin and Joshua. All from Singapore, except Jan-Erik (Norway). We started at 8.30am and bid goodbyes only at 9.00pm.

I risked my life on most of those trilling rides offered, except for The Claw. It is not that I am afraid, but extreme spinning and me just does not work. See this video:

My favourites are Tower of Terror and Wipeout.

We ended the day by having the famous pancake in Brizzy, Pancakes at the Manor. What a sweat end to an exciting day!

It was nice hanging out with you guys. Thanks!

Famous 24-hr pancake house in Brizzy

Had dinner at Pancakes at the Manor along Charlotte Street. This place is recommended by many. URL: http://www.pancakemanor.com.au/.

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I had "Brandied Appricot" - Two buttermilk pancakes served with apricots marinated in brandy with cream and ice cream. Yum yum! The apricots taste so goooood!

From the eyes of Citycat

Some pictures I took on the Citycat this morning. Boarded from Guyatt Park at 7.51am and alighted from North Quay at 8.02am.

And here is a short video on my way back just 30 minutes ago. Party is being held on a chartered-boat along Brisbane River.

Yesterday's dinner

So you think you can dance?

Love this routine, and this song - Fix You by Coldplay.

http://dance.ten.com.au/video.htm?vxSiteId=9b17c1fc-fc27-4dec-a670-aef4cdbd0e81&vxChannel=Wk04SundayPerf&vxClipId=2305_D138TT090308&vxBitrate=300&CMP=LEC-DANCEgetVideoLink

Quote from Neil Khor of Malaysia Kini

"Koh Tsu Koon could not even decide on who was going to lead Penang. The electorate responded and wiped out Gerakan!"
From: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/79573

I find the above statement so amusing, yet so true. If you remember, a little while before election, there was a debate on who from Gerakan should become the next CM. Probably too much of guessing game, is not good. The people got fed up, BN lost the state government, AND, good news for Koh - You don't have to decide!

Food, food, food ....it's all about food today

Early this morning ... went to West End Market with KC and Raymond. Quite an effort, as I need to walk, take citycat, take bus and walk again. But it's worth the effort as I get to save a bit for fresh vegetables, fruits and meat. West End Market is only open on Saturdays. This morning, I think I bought 2-3 weeks of supply with $30. Here are some pictures of West End Market.



In the afternoon, I went to Sunnybanks' 小台北 with Jessica and 丁丁. I have to take 3 buses to get there. Argh. And I spent close to $70 here on Chinese sundries, e.g. red dates, herbal soups, mug beans, red beans and ingredient for "tong sui". Sounds expensive? But that's for probably 2-3 months. So, I guess it's alright. Here is a "group photo".

After all the hardwork, I cooked myself a nice, decent meal. Really happy ... and I bought some Oolong tea. Just told Yee Ping that I am enjoying the tea from my beloved tea pot that I bought from Japan. It completes me ... sounds familiar?

Malaysia Decides 2008

Although I am not physically located on Malaysian soil, I do follow closely on news and happenings en-route to the big day tomorrow. And I would like to share this piece of opinion: http://www.malaysiakini.com/opinions/78994, from Malaysia Kini website. This is just part 1 of 3.

Yesterday, I attended Macroeconomics lecture, focusing on GDP and productivity. As the lecturer was going through examples on South East Asia nations, Malaysia was not one of them. We looked at Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. And I have this question in my mind:

Back home, Malaysian economy growth for the past few decades was lauded as the best in the region, but it seems that, it is not even worth being mentioned as an example. What does that say?

Well, I know, this is lame as those are just examples. But this question just stick to my mind, until now!

Please...vote wise-rocket-ly.

Chinatown in Brissy, a disappointment

Had a trip to Chinatown with some Singaporean friends yesterday.

I had a lot of expectation, as I am a fan of Chinese herbs and hoped I can get loads of them there. However, it was such a disappointment.

There were only a few Chinese herb shops and the products seem to be overpriced. And that place does not give me the "Chinatown" feel. Crap! The one in Frisco is sooooo MUCH better. Well, here's a picture of that place.

Crappy Chinatown! I hope I can get what I want in 小台北- Sunnybanks.

Short tour of my new place

My bedroom (picture taken from the door). Bed and matress are supplied. I bought the pillow from Kmart at AUD7.50 (ouch!). Bedsheet and pillow case from Penang days. My parents bought that duvet from China, really warm me up during the cold nights (and days).

Still my bedroom (picture taken from my bed). Study/computer table provided. And the rest are my stuffs. Outside the door are the stairs to the bathroom (up) and to the dining area (down).
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The bathroom. I am sharing this with an Australian housemate.

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Stairs to the dining area. Refrigerator at the end, dining area on the left and kitchen & laundry room on the right.

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Dining area. Well, we only use two chairs, so the rest of the table is for "stuffs".

Living room. Big 52-inch HDTV from LG. Well, there is no cable TV, just 5 local channels. My favourite program to date is "You think you can dance", Australia version. Every Sunday 7.30-9.30 pm.

Kitchen (top right). It is equiped with possibly most gadjets needed to cook.

Garlic rice with ABC soup for dinner

I am impressed with myself. The food not only looks nice, it tastes great! Only those who happened to travel with me to US might know. Ha ha!
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What? Want to try some? Do book the next flight out to Brizzy. I have some white peaches waiting for you as dessert! Cheers, mate!