Where Are All My Cherry Blossom?

Tonight I dragged all my friends out into the freezing cold to go to the National Assembly to see the cherry blossoms. Before we left I called the tourism information bureau for some details about the cherry blossom festival. I was told that the festival just  started and very few cherry blossom are blooming. But I was sure I will some cherry blossoms.  And the total amount of cherry blossom I saw was....nada. So sad. Very disappointed. As you see from the photo I posted, all I saw was the bare trees of the cherry blossoms and also the wonderful night view of the city skyline.
Tomorrow I will be going to Jeju island and I know, for a fact that cherry blossoms on Jeju island is truly blooming. So hopefully I will finally see it.  I also hope that when I get back to Seoul on Monday that the cherry blossom at National Assembly will start to bloom. Please......

Aloha from Seoul, Korea.

Aloha! I finally made it to Korea again. I have to admit there were times where I was not sure if I would be make it back here again. But I did!! So many wonderful things to tell you about. That will all have to wait till I return. Till then...Aloha!

Where Is My Prince Charming?

When I was young, my dreams were to find the perfect man, preferably someone like Prince Charming, get married and have two beautiful kids.  I used to tell my friends, that it doesn't matter that the man I fell in love with has no money, because all we need is love.  And then I grew up.  While I do not need a rich Prince Charming, I want one that can support himself and I do not have to support him.  Reality set in and I realized, dreams and reality are really different. Then I was told that I have to kiss a lot of frogs before I find my prince and that is what I had done.  Kissed a lot of frogs....but still no prince.

Some of my ex boyfriends were a real duds, but there were some that were total keepers, but unfortunately they are not mine to keep.  The real duds, were just some guys I dated when I was in University.  They were fun to hang out with but I just couldn't see myself making a commitment with them.  And I think the same goes to those guys.  I remain friends with most of them but one.  

The keepers were the ones I actually really liked and at some point of the relationship, I can see myself being with this one person for the rest of my life. When the relationship take a serious turn, I have to admit, I would just turn around and start running. While I could see myself being with them, I also could see that I was miserable.  I was not happy.  I don't know why.  I see my parents marriage that for the past 20 years, where I see my dad checking out of the marriage and my mom still holding on to the hope of my dad coming back.  I do not want that for my life.

So I guess after a while, I decided I will just let it happen, if it happens.  If not, I am prepared to live my life as I see it.  Which brings me to my life now.  I am still single, not really looking but if a prince charming do decide to sweep me off my feet, who am I to complain, right?  I like my single life and I like the freedom.  I have friends, who like me, are single and we are enjoying our singledom. 

For the past few days, I have been staying with my friend, E and her family.  She has a loving husband and two adoring sons, who might be a little handful at times but they were good kids.  At the ages of seven and two years old,my friend, E has her hands full.  At E's home is where I found out that having kids is never going to be in my future.  Helping E by keeping an eye on her two year old for twenty minutes taught me that in order to have a child, you need to young so that you could keep up with the kid.  I have to admit, after the twenty minutes, I was totally wiped out.  Tired.  I needed a nap to recuperate.

I find myself now revising my dream fairy tale of Prince Charming.  I want a working Prince Charming that can support himself.  The two kids has been replaced with two adorable cat or dog and while all my friends like E, have their wonderful memories with their kids, I will want to make our memories out in the world.  Travel and see the world.  So now....is that too much to as for?  A nice Prince Charming??

I am going to Korea....I think.

Last April, my friend, H and I went to Seoul, Korea.  We were there for a total of 4 day and there was just not enough time to totally enjoy Seoul. My main goal was to see the cherry blossom blooming in Seoul but we were too late.  By the time we got to Seoul, the cherry blossoms were all gone.  So when there was another sale on Air Asia, we decided to get tickets to go to Seoul again.  

When we were in Seoul, we were told that we should take the subway and not the taxi as the taxi is expensive.  However, we both found out on our last day in Seoul, that it was not true.  I think the taxi was reasonable compared to the endless staircase that we had to take going up and down to the subway.  It was tiring.  I can't recall which station it was, but the connecting station to another subway line was so far, both of us were totally wiped out by the time we reached the connecting subway. 

This time, there will be 5 of us and we will be going to Jeju island too.  I had always wanted to go to Jeju island, but my last visit was too short.  There were barely enough time to see Seoul, much less Jeju.  So this time, I knew what to expect and had set out a plan to what to do and where to go.  Hopefully, we will stick to that plan.

This would be the first time I go traveling with the other 3 girls.  I had asked if any of them had any suggestions or any request for this trip and so far, none of them had came back with any feedback.  So I wrote down a rough guideline and itinerary for our trip.  I will be going to where I wanna go and they will have to follow, which is fine by me.  I am really looking forward to this trip.

The reason I am saying that I might go to Korea is because I am not sure.  In my life, I had realized that whenever I plan for something fun, something will always happen to ruin it.  Time and time again, I've had to cancel trips and outings because of whatever stupid reason that might come up.  So I am prepared.  Until I am safely in the plane flying to Korea, I am going to say, I might go to Korea....I think.

Nail Biting Nervous

Tomorrow I have a job interview and I am rather nervous.  I have been in between jobs for quite some time and I feel it is time for me to get a job.  I miss having the financial freedom to go shopping and travel.  That is what I missed the most, the money was good.  I really do hope I get this job as I rather like this job and I think I can do this job well. 

So wish me luck, ok?

 

Weekend Fun With Friends Part 2

Sorry it took me so long to write this entry but I did have a rather busy week with Chinese New Year and all. Then I was all caught up with life and whatnots. Whenever I was free, I found other things to do and I guess I was kinda lazy too. Anyway here I am, trying to finish my entry. 

After we left Pulau Aman, we went looking for this famous floating seafood restaurant.  At least I was told, it was famous.  I have not heard of the restaurant before but then I am not really an adventurous foodie kinda person.  What I mean is, I would go anywhere for food, however I am not the kind of person who would spend my day reading foodie blogs looking for a next new place to go.  I guess I am more of a follower and I am looking cause my friends are the adventurous kind of people and I get to follow them.

We got lost on the way to the restaurant.  We used Waze app on our cell phone to help us get to the restaurant, however we took a wrong turn and didn't realize it till later. And the funny part was that the Waze just kept us driving on and on.  Weird, right?

Anyway, we finally found the restaurant with some help from a human and not an app.  So here it is, we finally made it to the restaurant.

The waitress there was as helpful as she can. We are not sure if she really understood us when we ordered.  She was speaking Chinese but we are not sure what dialect she was actually talking in.  When we spoke to her in Hokkien she seemed to understand then she would answer us in Mandarin.  So my friend would then reply to her in Mandarin, she would then look confused.  Once we have finally ordered, we were worried that she may not get our orders right.  But she did get it right.

The food is pretty yummy.  I loved their steam fish.  It was something different and I have never seen fish steamed like that.  It's called Steam Fish Assam Laksa style.  It's was good.  I always like food that is slightly sour.  So it was good.  It even have the white Laksa noodle and pineapple in the dish.

OK, I have to admit, I am a rather lazy and impatient person, especially when it comes to food.  I should had taken more pictures, but I only took the one that I find most interesting.  The steam fish assam laksa style.  The rest of the dishes were good and its pretty much the normal dishes.  Nothing special.

As you can see the restaurant is floating on water.  The water is murky but we can see some fishes.  They even have some live crabs.  I saw the employee feeding the fishes.  I saw him grinding some meat in the grinder and threw it into the water.  Yes...he was feeding the fishes meat.  Weird, right?

We had our late lunch and we decided that we needed some pampering.  So we went for a nice, relaxing  foot reflexology. It was a very relaxing and I could hardly keep my eyes open.  It does hurts a little but it feels so good.  After the relaxing hour, it was time to go to our next restaurant.

This restaurant is also very well known.  The restaurant is known for their steamboat and their unique soup base they used for their steamboat.  Instead of some meat based soup, they actually use a fish and yam based soup.  It is really tasty and very delicious.  Milk is added to the soup for an extra taste.

Doesn't it look delicious?  My friend told me that the reason we are there early was because if we were to go later, the restaurant will be packed.  Even at 6pm, the restaurant is half full and customers are steadily filling up the restaurant.  When I was leaving, a long line form outside, waiting for any available tables.  Business is good.

 This is the name of the restaurant.

With our full stomach we decided to take a walk and visit the near by Chinese temple.  If I am not mistakens, the name of the temple is the Nine Emperor Temple.  Since its almost Chinese New Year, The whole temple was lit up with lanterns and it was beautiful.

The entrance to the Nine Emperor Temple.

This is the close up of one of the beautiful pillars around the temple. 

I love all the lanterns that were hung on the ceiling and all around the temple.

I think this was some kinda wish fountain as there were a lot of coins in the fountain.  My friend threw her coin and it landed in the top tier of the fountain while my coin landed in the second tier.

After walking around the temple, my cell phone were running out of battery so I just snapped a many as I can before my cell phone died on me, but it never did.  Which was a bloody miracle cause the low battery beep kept beeping, reminding me.
 

 I had a wonderful time and I realized that I really need to go out more. In the past I had friends inviting me to join their with their outings and I had always found an excuse not to go. I was so comfortable staying at home, that I just didn't want to leave my house.  I am so glad that I went out with my friend L and since this outing, I had been going out more, making new friends and just enjoying life.  I guess you're never too old to make new friends and experience something new.

My favourite Chinese New Year treat.

 

 

This is my favorite Chinese New Year treat. Its called Kuih Kapit or also know as Love Letters. The love Letters are rather sweet so I can only take a few at a time. Its very thin and very crispy. I love it!

Weekend Fun with Friends Part 1.

Last weekend I went for a food expedition with some friends and I really had a blast.  I have lived in here for most of my life and there are still places I've never gone to.  Places that I didn't even know existed until now.  And these places are less than an hour away from where I live.  So let me share with you my fun filled weekend, ok?

The day started early, leaving my house at around 9am.  My friend, L picked me up and introduced me to her ex colleague, C, who is here for a holiday.  So it was out mission to take him out, go to some unique places and to have some good food along the way.

Out first stop was at the Gua Musang Jetty, where we wait for the boat to take us across to and island called Pulau Aman .  Before this, I don't even know there is an island called  Pulau Aman.  So when L invited me to go with her, I decided to just go and see the place for myself. When we reached the jetty we saw a boat has already left the jetty going towards the island.  According to the schedule posted there, the next boat was at 12, which meant we had to wait for another hour.  However I was later told by one of the vendors there, that the schedule is only applicable for weekdays.  On weekends, the boats have no fixed schedules and it depends on amount of people there waiting for the boat.  I guess on weekends, more people would go to the island.

 

While waiting for the boat I snapped some pictures and saw this lone man, standing on the beach, trying to catch fishes using nets.  I have to admit, it has been a long time since I saw someone doing it, so it was rather fascinating to me and my friends.  

 Here are some of the fisherman's boats.  The island is a fishing village so I would assume that most of the men living on this island is a fisherman.  You can see the water is really muddy and I see those mud fishes, no idea what it is called, on the mud.  It's low tide, so the mud is even more obvious.  

This is the oldest Breadfruit tree on the island.  It was planted in the year 1890.  I feel that a tree this old, should not have an advertisement stapled to its trunk. Seeing as this is one of the few attraction on this island, I keep they should try to preserve it, not use it to put on advertisement.

Breadfruit.

 

This is one of the few chalet that is available for rent.  Although I don't see why anyone would rent and stay there.  You can't swim in the water and there is nothing much to do on the island.  If the water was clear and clean, I can see the attraction. 

This is an eagle that we saw and I have to admit I have never seen one up this close before.  It is actually a pet and it would just sit there and just make his eagle calls. It is cute, but also very scary.  While I was taking this picture I kept praying that it would not fly at me and claw at my  eyes.  The owner came out to feed it small fishes and told us that the eagle is harmless.  While there is no chain or cage to keep it there, it just stood there.  I thought perhaps they clipped his wings, but the owner said that it still flies around.  So I guess this is a domesticated eagle. 

This is the neighboring island, I guess.  It is still called Pulau Aman and part of Pulau Aman but on high tide, I think it will separate the islands.  But at low tide, you can walk over to the other island. 

This is the biggest restaurant on the island.  Its supposed to be a floating restaurant and I guess when the tide is high, it would look like the restaurant is floating, but because its low tide, you can see the stilts.  They are known for their Prawn noodles. There is also a vendor that would sell fresh seafood that the fishermen would bring in and you can buy it from the vendor and asked the restaurant to cook it for you.  L was looking for mantis, but they are out of mantis.   

The man in the white shirt is the owner of the restaurant. He is placing some kinda clams or oyster there,and I guess he waits for the high tide to come in.  I think this is where he breed these clams.  I don't how I feel seeing the clams placed on the yucky, muddy water.  I guess I should just stay away from any clams. 

This is the prawn noodle that I tried at the restaurant.  It was very tasty but also rather spicy.  L said it was not spicy and I guess to her it is not spicy.  I don't really like spicy food, so to me it is spicy.  I did manage to eat most of it and I have to admit, despite the it being too spicy for me, it was tasty.  Next time I think I will order the prawn fried rice.  

Anyway after I had my noodles we left the island on the boat.  I would go back to try out other seafood and remember to order the fried rice.  And hopefully they will have other seafood for me to try.  

I was going to write about my weekend in one post but I realized if I do, it is going to be a long entry and I don't want that.  So Perhaps tomorrow I will continue with the part 2.   Anyway till tomorrow then...

I Hate My Samsung Cell Phone!!

My cell phone is driving me crazy!  Before using Samsung, I was using an iphone.  It was given to me as a farewell present when I left Hawaii.  It was the first generation iphone and I loved it. When I brought it home to Malaysia, not many people in Malaysia had  and iphone.  In fact it hasn't even been release in Malaysia yet. For once, I was the gal with the cool phone.  Lasted for a couple months then iphone was available in Malaysia.

The iphone came up all the new models but I stuck to my old iphone.  It might be old, but it sill worked and I loved it.  After having the same phone for 5 years, I decided to change my phone.  I was tempted to get the latest iphone but I figured after 5 years with an iphone, perhaps it was time for me to move on and try something new.

I picked the Samsung Note.  The part that it was bigger than other phone yet small enough for me to put in my back pocket appealed to me.  Most of my friends had Samsung phone and they were all so happy with it.  Always showing me the cool stuff the phone could do while my dinosaur iphone was seriously lacking.  So I decided, the Note will do just fine.  

Three days after getting my phone, I started to regret.  The phone makes no sense to me while the iphone made perfect sense. Initially I thought because its all so new, so it needed to get some getting used to, but its been a year and I am still having problems with my Samsung phone. I hardly have any problem with my iphone while for Samsung, I kept getting problems.  Perhaps I am not tech savvy enough to understand the Samsung inner workings, but iphone was so much easier. The funniest thing I is that when I first bought the Samsung Note, I figured write a text would be much easier than iphone, since the Note screen is much bigger.  It not true. I made way more mistake on my Note than the iphone.  I don't know why. 

The reason for this rant is because I wanted to transfer the pictures in phone to my computer and the computer cannot detect any pictures or videos on my cell phone.  The last time I tried, the computer could not detect the phone.  Argh!!  I miss itunes, where I just have to plug in the the iphone and everything comes up on itune.  Why can't it just work?? 

So instead of writing about the wonderful time I had yesterday and sharing the pictures, I am writing about this.  The pictures I took are all in my cell phone and I can't transfer it to my computer so I could properly write the entry.  Hopefully next time I try it will work.  Wish me luck!

Eat At Your Own Risk.

Leaving raw chicken in the trunk of your car while parked under the hot sun is something you should not do.  Some common sense would tell you that parking the car under the hot sun while you run into the mall to have lunch and buy other groceries is not advisable.  While I have to admit, I was with my friend when this happened, I thought we were going into the mall to quickly grab a couple things. A quick dash to the Jusco to grab the lamb, soda and some chicken drumsticks for the BBQ.  However that was not the plan. The plan was lunch, a leisurely walk to a Korean cosmetic store and then to Jusco for the food items.  I forgot about the chicken as it was not my purchase and my purchase were 3 nectarines, which was fine being left in the trunk.  Could chicken that was left in the trunk of a car for 2 hours be safe to be eaten?  I don't know.  My friends are willing to give it a go.  So I will tell you how it went.  If any of my friends got food poisoning from the chicken. I am going to only eat the drumsticks as it was bought at Jusco and was not in the trunk of the car.  The drumsticks are also marinated separately from the chicken wings so I don't have to worry. But I do hope the chicken is safe to be eaten.  Will warn all my friends before they start eating it.  'Eat at your own risk'.

Traditions and whatnots

In Malaysia, the Chinese have their own way of traditions and believes that most pregnant woman will follow.  While I am sure these traditions and believe has its reason, some of it, I don't understand.  So what I want to write about is the traditions and believes that is imposed on all Chinese pregnant ladies in Malaysia.  While some choose not to believe in it and carry out their pregnancy like the rest of the world, there are some that really stick with their believes and try to follow it this tradition.  Here are a few examples...

According to the chinese tradition, it is ok to eat sushi that contains raw fish.  Apparently raw fish is good for the baby but no octopus or any squid, because it is believed that if the pregnant lady ate a squid or an octopus, the long tentacles will wrap around the baby's neck and kill it while the baby is still in mother's womb.  When I first heard this, I tried very hard not to laugh out loud because this is one of the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of.  How is it, that raw fish filled with bacteria, is good for the baby and squids are bad.  Does it mean after we eat the squid or octopus, the squid/octopus will come alive and continue to grow while makes its way down to wherever the baby is, with a mission to kill the baby??  Seriously?? 

A pregnant woman is not allowed to carry or hold a scissors.  I don't know why but apparently it is not allow.  It is not like the pregnant woman is running with a scissors around the house, but according to tradition, they are not allowed.  I did ask my friend what was the reason, she could not answer me but she still follows it.  So when a stitching in her top came loose, she told me where the scissor was and told me to cut it for her because she is not allowed to hold a scissors.

No soda or carbonated drinks because the bubbles is bad for the baby but for pregnant woman can to drink copious amounts of coffee or any other caffeinated drinks.  Initially I though it was because of the caffeine in some of the carbonated drinks so I gave her a list of non caffeinated carbonated drinks. But she told me the bubbles from the carbonated drinks is bad for the baby.  Why, she don't know.

There are other Chinese traditions to follow after the woman has given birth.  One that I find very hard to understand is that for the first 30 days after giving birth, the woman is not allowed to take a bath or shower.  My best friend E, when she gave birth to her first child, her mother told her she is not allowed to wash her hair, no AC and no fan.  There was a long list of food she is not allowed to eat and she would have to consume a massive amount of ginger.

I think E was able to stand the whole no-shower ordeal for about a week before she could not take it anymore. She locked her door and took a long shower.  Her mother was upset, saying that taking a shower would cause serious damage to her body.  I think in the past, a long time ago, they would use well water or perhaps river water to bath.  The bacteria filled water would had not be good for a new mother. But these days, water are filled through reservoir and now we can hot water whenever we want.  I don't see why these rules needs to still followed.

There are so many other traditions that I think are so antiquated but there are still people out there following these traditions. I do believe in preserving the tradition for the future but  I think some tradition, we could sure live without. Is there any tradition that you find ridiculous, yet you or someone you know still follows it?  Tell me about it....

Just ramblings...

I am on my third blog entry and I really have no idea what to write about. I guess I could write about my other food experiments but to be the honest, I really don't feel like writing about it. Perhaps in later blog entries I will write about my other food experiments. But for now, I really have no idea what to write about.

I have decided that I won't tell my friends about this blog. I think I better keep this separate from my friends.  I wanna try to share and be as honest as I can in this blog and while honesty is the best policy, sometimes honestly also hurts. While I admire some of the bloggers who writes their true feelings, I am, however not that brave.  But I will try.

It is funny how a brain works. While I am writing this, I came up with an idea. Something I can write about and perhaps share with you.  There I was, telling you that I have nothing to write about and pop!  I came up with an idea.  

Anyway, I will start on writing my next entry and perhaps I will post it up later. If you're intrigued, come back and check it out, OK? My dear stranger....whoever you are.  Cause I know someone is reading this....I think.

Making a Mediteranean Burger.

Last week I decided to make something I have always wanted to make. A homemade burger.  Not the bun though. I am really bad at baking.  Anyway I found the recipe in this long forgotten recipe book that was tucked into one the boxes in the store room. I found the book when I was helping my mom clean out the store room.  The thing is, I don't know who bought the book.  My mom said she didn't buy it and, it sure as heck wasn't me.  But there it was, a small recipe book that specialize in lamb.

I love lamb.  Many of my friends don't like it.  They said they don't like the smell but I think the smell is what makes lamb meat different.  So when I saw the recipe for the Mediterranean Burger, I felt I really need to give it a go.  It looks simple enough and I think I can manage it.

It took me several days to get all the ingredients as different ingredients requires me to go to different store. I basically found everything on the list but the pine nuts. I searched for it at all the stores I normally go and I could not find any.  Posted on my facebook asking if any of my friends knew where I could find it, but none of the replies helped. When I was just about to give up I found it.  It was in the nuts section of the store. I grabbed it off the shelve and was so happy until I saw the price.  It was the most expensive item in that section.  In fact it was twice the price of Macadamia Nut.  So reluctantly I placed the pine nuts back on the shelve and find for an alternative.  I picked the sunflower seeds and I got to say, it worked.  So here is the finished result.  Looks yummy, right?

I am not sure if I should post the recipe out on here as I am not sure if anyone is even reading. So I won't post it as it is not my recipe anyway.  Anyway this is one of the few successful food experiments. I do find it weird that no salt was required for this recipe. I do think that if there were a little salt in the lamb patties it would had been perfect.  Other then that, it was yummy.

Perhaps An Explanation Or An Introduction.

Starting this blog has always been something I've always wanted to do but never got around to it. I wasn't sure if I could truly commit to it and post something on the blog as I do find my life rather boring. Yet I had been told in the past, by my friends, that I really should  start blogging. When I ask my friends what they think I should blog about, nobody could give me a straight answer.  Basically just write whatever I feel like.

I am not sure if I could really do this daily or even weekly but I am willing to try.  No harm in trying and I am not even sure if anybody will be reading this.  But I am willing to try. Besides, after being unemployed for so long, I feel I need to do something to stimulate my now slow moving brain. To prove how slow my brain is, it took me a couple tries and with the help of spell check to come up with the correct spelling of 'unemployed.'  Yes....that is how bad it is. So it is time to do something about it. So I am starting this blog.  It might be a boring blog but it is my blog. So I get to write anything I want.  

So if you stumble across this blog by mistake, please take a seat and try to read something. If its not your cup of tea, no harm no foul. Thanks for checking my blog out.

So anyway....here we go.  Welcome to my Blog!!