Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Oops, I did it again

Recollecting my experience, I am feeling a tad bit of embarrassment and awkwardness as I don’t think anyone else has fallen (or rather, tripped) more times than me.

Don’t believe me? Well then, I shall list down my mishaps, the ones that I can summon from memory with ease.

Toddler: in the walking chair, slammed into an expensive lady statue that landed me in the A&E (emergency room) for stitches.

Kiddo: slammed into the sliding door in a friend’s house in Cheras, which gave me a temporary bump on my forehead; tripped on the steps that led to some shop on the first floor; missed my balance and landed on my face in class – in front of all the classmates! – but I still believe that this one was the work of a mischievous student.

Teenager: tripped on my formal attire at an acquaintance’s wedding dinner in Cyberjaya, which left me so embarrassed that I spent quite a long time away from the ballroom, trying to regain some composure; lost my balance and sprained my ankle thrice – twice in sport shoes in Gasing Hill, once in wedges at the entrance of another acquaintance’s office.

And recently, something knocked me out of my balance that sent me falling flat on the sandy ground – in broad daylight, among the midst of Church parishioners. Nothing serious ensued; there were no superficial injuries and all the contents in my bag remained in place.

See what I mean?

It has happened on such regular intervals that I’m suspecting a handful of possibilities: 1) my gravity of balance is out; or 2) I’m mishap-prone; or 3) I don’t have the proper skill of walking in different types of footwear.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Food Review: Hyotan Japanese Restaurant, Subang Jaya

Since the crisper was empty yet again and with no time to head to the grocery store, Mama Carrie raised the thought aloud of either catching a meal outside or be holed up inside and bury our faces in baguette sandwiches.

I chose the former, suggested an old Japanese haunt of ours: Hyotan Restaurant. Back in the day, we used to dine here at least once a month when someone (not me) had a serious craving for their potato salad and soft shell crab.

A word with the waitress revealed that the former Japanese partner used to manage a nearby restaurant (Shun) but eventually partnered up with someone else to open and manage Hyotan. I've not seen the local business partner; it's always the Japanese guy that we seemed to run to then, but he has since retired and returned to Tokyo with his wife.


The sushi bar


The menu


California Roll


Close-up of California Roll


Grilled Fish Skin w/ Shoyu

Crispiness was what I tasted after the first bite, and pleasing to the palate even without dipping the shoyu.

The skin, on the other hand, has to be either from eel or salmon. I can't think of other fishes.


Oyako Don w/ Miso

A comfort food for the starving tummy. The overall taste was perfect; it contained a balance of sweet and salty without overpowering the buds with either taste.

Everything about Hyotan Restaurant remained the same: the food is as delicious as ever, although I'm not sure if they have skimmed down on the portions due to rising costs and the employees? Ah, they are still the same people that I am familiar with.

Let's see, will I dine here again?

Even though it was a pricey meal, I'll be sure to patronize the restaurant again - but only when I'm craving and missing their oyako don.

Address: No. 63, Jln SS 15/5A,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor

Tel: 03-5636 0326 / 03-5635 0328

Business Hours: 12pm - 2.30pm (Lunch), 6pm - 10.30pm (Dinner)

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Epic Fail?



See what I mean?

I burst out giggling when I saw this sign because I immediately spotted the grammar error.


All the other signboards of the same message were at least phrased in a better way. It isn't perfect, according to Mama Carrie.

The person-in-charge could have gotten the message across to the drivers on the road in 3 simple words: do not litter.

Friday, February 15, 2013

My Chinese New Year

The Year of the Water Snake had brought with it tremendous amount of stress and a hell lot of sleepless, zombie nights. And because of that, I chose to allow the festive season to slip past my fingers like a normal, mundane day.

So, what did I do during the season? It’s easy to guess, if you’ve been reading my posts for the last couple of months.

After patronizing Kiara Hill and filling the fridge with groceries, I crashed onto the couch when we returned home with wobbly, jellified legs. Talk about it, my usually-perfect memory has suffered a blow and as long as I'm pushing myself past my bedtime rushing up things, it'll be on a downward decline.



We're pretty lazy to whip up some fancy and sumptuous Chinese cuisine, so we stuck to the Teochew porridge. Not the typical reunion dinner you'd expect but, as the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers.



Seeing that it was the festive of celebration, I shot straight for the Korean accessories shop in Ikano and bought myself this lovely pair of earrings.



It was something that I had eyed on for a long time, but never had the opportunity to actually buy it.



No thanks to the noisy, inconsiderate neighbors (we're talking about more than one household now), the fireworks and loud yells kept me awake until 15 past midnight - when I'm supposed to be crawling around the house at 7am sharp the next day.

Arrived at Kiara Hill terribly late; there weren't too many souls as I had expected, but there were still enough folks to keep the slithery snakes at bay.

2/15/2013

Either I must have been thinking about it too much or there’s part of me wanting to get it done – once and for all.

I dreamt that I was able to return to the previous place with ease to retrieve every item that we’ve accidentally left behind.

Someone had snuck up behind me; it was the real estate agent handling the property and she pulled my ponytail up (the same way that Papa Carrie used to pull a prank on me), demanded for the key and my reason. I lied that I was sent only to collect the leftover items and know nothing about the keys and what TA.

She finally loosened her grip on me but fixed her eyes on my every move as I brought in empty bags after bags to shove in the items.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Sneak-a-Peek



We'll see how it goes.

I'm not heading out for any reunion dinner of any sort because I've been living in my hometown all these years. I, however, hope to have a Chinese New Year post up but if nothing special happens, expect it to be replaced by something else.

Until the next post, Gong Xi Fai Cai! May the slithery Water Snake lead you on a successful path in health, in love and in careers.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Saving Minds

My original intention was to publish this post as "Save Me", but I don't want to frighten anyone into thinking that I am up to something terrible when I'm merely frustrated.

In my life, there are only so many things I can handle without exploding into pieces. This matter, however, isn't one of them.

Being sent around town running errands that are not even mine in a sticky, sweaty and soiled state doesn't go down well with me, but to learn that the other party doesn't bother to at least apologize for the inconvenience stinks. She obviously doesn't know how much inconvenience she has put me through to smoothly execute that one little thing.

The calming effect is that she appreciates it.

Not like someone else.

Nope, I don't intend to tell her either because it won't make any difference.

So, why waste my breath when I should accrue the burning flame and flare at worthwhile matters like the quirky, inconsiderable folks who love to breathe down my neck instead? I'm unwillingly swallowing everything with a pinch as I'm not one who likes to carp and be an antagonist - but I can be heard muttering yells under my breath, if you're unlucky.

Oh, and that stare.

I know, I need to learn to keep my emotions in check for my own good health (or I'll be another number to an already high statistics of people suffering from high blood pressure and stress), which is hard when it is being constantly thrown upside-down by the pressures of life and humans.

A flight out to East Malaysia suddenly seems tempting enough. So does HK and Singapore. Oh, and maybe even New South Wales. However, inasmuch as I desperately want a break and some time out of here, Mama Carrie will not let me off just yet and I still have matters to attend to before I can leave in ease.

And until that happens, I shall be comforted by the rare trips out of town and the occasional outings with friends. Speaking of which, a friend is looking forward to a session of yam cha with me.

北酒場 中村美律子 Nakamura Mitsuko


Friday, February 1, 2013

Nutty Banana Muffins



Dry Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups cake/pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup figs, diced
1/2 cup raisins, halved
1/2 cup almond, finely chopped

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup mashed bananas
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

Line paper cups in a 12-pc muffin tray
Pour oil and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl
Beat eggs one at a time, flour half at a time and milk half a time
Scrape the bowl after each process, making sure that there is no batter sticking to the bottom of the bowl
Fold in raisins, figs and almonds. Mix well.
With an ice-cream scoop, evenly scoop the batter into the paper cups.
Bake at 130 Celsius for 30 mins
Leave on a metal tray to properly cool before serving.
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