Cookies Baking and the Christmas Spread

Laura giving a hand at spreading the jam onto the tart base.

This year I finally managed to spend the Christmas with Laura and her family in Ipoh. Previously Christmas almost indefinately means in Sabah as the holiday period is too short to justify flying back for a few days. The last Christmases, Laura family came down to Kota Kinabalu to visit her and last year we spent it together having a nice dinner out. This year as her Birthday present I decided to give Laura a return ticket to her hometown and since I'm working in KL it was just a matter of a few hours drive to be with her. It was my first time to Ipoh and through miscommunication of directions from my cousin I ended up taking the old road for almost half the way passing Gombak, Sg Buloh, Rawang, Kluang, Batang Kali and finally managing to exit from Tanjung Malim back to the PLUS highway.

Laura's mum preparing the dough base.

Christmas in Kuantan wasn't really that big an affair, usually only going to church and eating out, but for Laura's family it certainly was a major thing. I thought she was joking when she said that they prepared preparations nearly a month before the appointed date; cleaning, shopping, setting up the decor, atteding church functions etc. No wonder she was in a rush as she only got back a day before Christmas eve and had to finish her X'mas shopping within the day. One nice thing that tickled me was that Laura and her mum went and baked their own homemade cookies, this time it was pineapple cookies with home made jam and dough.

The finished tarts coming out pipping hot and ready to eat.

It's been a long time since I had a taste of homemade cookies and these pineapple tarts were scrumptious with the jam sweet and the pastry soft and fluffy. In addition to this Christmas won't be Christmas if there was no feast to pig out on. Laura after much trouble with the Air Asia customs people (long story meant for another post some other time) managed to get back several kg of fresh prawns from Sabah in which her friend who's working at a shrimp farm got her cheap. After that much hassle it should taste great and it didn't dissapoint at all. When I got there lunch was already being prepared and on the menu, sambal prawns and braised celery. Man the hot and spiciness was a welcoming taste, a Malayan Christmas if you ask me, if it were snowing this is one dish to get your temperature high.

The sambal prawns and celery we had for lunch.

Christmas dinner was no different. We had tons of prawns and even after giving some to her grandfather, there were a lot left for Christmas. So this time it was fried in batter to give a nice crispy and succulent dish. You should see Laura's brother wipe them off at record pace indeed.

The tempura prawns straight from the frying pan.

In addition to this a lot of other dishes were prepared since they were expecting other guests to arrive and share in with the lunch. Two other vegetable dishes were prepared with green vegetables and another plate of mushrooms and peppers.

The two vegetable dishes that were prepared.

Rest assured that no Christmas was ever complete without the main dish which was the stuffed turkey that was brought from Jusco. I can't believe a single bird like that cost RM160! This must be the third or fourth time I had this, still think its only ok, tough and not as juicy. Goes great with the chestnut sauce though. There you have it, meals after delicious meals and dang I'm going to gain weight after this. More writeups on my trip there if I've the time, thought I'd concentrate on the good stuff first and let everyone drool a bit from all these foodstuff. Merry Belated Christmas to all.

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Sis and Cousin Posing

My sis posing with three of our cousins during another cousin's wedding recently.

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A New Begining

Loonnnngggg overdue post. Congratulations to my cousin on his wedding last December. May this be a new begining to a life for both of you. Congratulations!

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Lab Space

The inner chamber of the UV chamber for culture preparations with all its accompanying laboratory apparatus. Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, 2006.

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Malay Wedding

Malay couple sitting at the wedding dias, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 2005.

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Rainbow Farewell

When I was hopping into the car to the airport, a last look at my old place in Kota Kinabalu gave me the best going away present anyone could ask. It had been raining lightly that afternoon and late in the evening when I set off the sun was soon setting creating an intense band of light along a part of the sky. Lo and behold was one of the most complete and visible rainbows I've seen in a long time, framing the sky and the row of houses at Taman Kingfisher. It was so highly visible that I'd swear you could follow it to its end and to the pot of gold rumoured to be found. Definetly one of the great moment in life. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, 2006.

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Best of 2006 - Towering Minaret

Selecting a photo I think is the best of an entire year's worth of shooting is a difficult task, there's so many that I think was good for one reason or another. I'm not sure if this one will represent the best of the lot but I just liked it a lot, its simple black and white, the strong contrast and geometric form, simple yet stunning. This is the main minaret of the Sabah State Mosque in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, 2006.

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Child's Play

A kid happily playing with his toys at one of the villages in Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia, 2006.

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Something to chew on for the end of the year

The internet have been bust for the past few weeks to the point that surfing was getting to be a pain from all the long loading links and time out pages. Hopefully the damage will be fixed soon. Well won't be updating much, enjoying a much needed R&R from work and just hanging at home before the next barrage of responsibilities and workload that will be avalanching my way at the start of the new year. Anyway just wanted to post something my dear girlfriend wrote on her blog which I think is profound and enjoyable to read and share. Here is the full text;

It perplexes me why people love to make scornful remarks to others just because they can, or constantly come up with jibes that sound innocent, but wound deeply. For others, I believe they have polished the art of being tactless to its finest. You never know when there is a thorn in their words. I have particular hatred for hypocrisy. Mind you I am referring to the attribute and not the person, since every one of us is a hypocrite in some form or another. Unless, of course, you’ve been canonized as a saint (When that happens be sure to tell me so that I can get your blessings to counter my dark side). So before I start brandishing my favourite cleaver and run amok in the streets, I need to let off some steam to maintain my sanity. Many encounters with acquaintances and strangers alike have inspired me to clear some misconceptions here:

If we give nice gifts, it doesn’t mean that “… we are throwing money about”. It means that we don’t mind spending a little more on you because we think you’re worth it. We have taken the trouble and expended extra energy to search for the right kind of gift instead of grabbing the standard ceramic figurine off the shelf. And perhaps if you looked more closely, you might find that we got it on discount/after haggling/after scouring countless outlets for price-checking.

If we like to cook in every night instead of eating out, it doesn’t mean “… we have sooo much time ah!” It just means that we are too poor to dine out each night and want to keep to our monthly budget. Yes we are tired after doing the same amount of hard day’s work as you did, but we prefer to expend extra energy to cook our own meals. Perhaps you have had a fractured past in consistently producing burnt toast, but why do you scorn people who are more domestically inclined? Many of our friends who are hard workers have proven to be great homemakers as well.

If we don’t talk as much as you do, it surely doesn’t mean “… we don’t have good PR skills, cannot communicate with people, sure one!”. Don’t be daft. It simply means either we’re not into the same interests, you are speaking in another language (of which you perfectly know that we don’t understand), or that we don’t like to talk to you. Well take the hint and go fly a kite.

If we tend to stick to a certain group of people, we are not being “clique-ish”. That’s because the people we hang with have more concern for us and actually treat us like we exist. Like talk in a language everybody can understand. Or still be around when you’re in trouble. Of course, some of us might be with a gang to further our own interests/ambitions, but that’s a story for another type of species – the kind we prefer not to associate with.

If we eat 50%-!00% more food than you do, we are not “greedy”. Sorry, but eating like a bird just doesn’t go well with some of us. For heaven’s sakes, don’t you ever notice that we actually keep the extras in the fridge and eat the same food two/three days in a row? We should be congratulated on our effort to save cooking gas and our own energy. Anyway, please excuse us for now. We’ll be sure to donate to your African Starvation Fund after our scrumptious meal.

If we blast music till your ears bleed, don’t wonder “how we can study with all that racket??!” After all, we think it’s better than that song you constantly play repeatedly on your com till it’s stuck in our head. Either that, or you were also guilty of showing off your new Altec Lansing’s abilities while sounding those irritatingly high-pitched voices from your downloaded Japanese animations. Chaos must be countered with chaos. Therefore creating an equilibrium where our minds can find peace in the knowledge that if we can’t study, you can’t study either.

If we don’t complain about our work, it doesn’t mean we have the ideal job, or that we are the boss’s pet. Word of advice: Please don’t assume that your life is always harder than ours, or that you have more right to complain than we do. Try to remember that the universe doesn’t only revolve around you and that the rest of us are mortal, intelligent beings that suffer as well.

If you visit often and our dog insists on having a taste of you for dinner each time you come, it could mean: (1) He doesn’t like you; or (2) We don’t like you; or (3) We like you, as entertainment/bait; or (4) You have wronged us deeply and we have trained poochy to assassinate you. It most certainly does not mean that we didn’t train him well. Sic ‘em, Tiger.

If we came to a restaurant to dine, it does not mean that we are there for you to stare at. Scrutinizing us from top-to-toe like some kind of hidden 3D image as you wait for your orders to arrive gives us a strong urge to grab the nearest fork and poke your eyes out. In a country where staring at a person continuously for 15 minutes is not considered rude, we’d love to return the favour. But just enduring your unfriendly glares for five minutes gives us indigestion, and could ruin our night out. Like, you haven’t seen a human eat before, or something?

Sometimes I wonder how and why I’ve become so sardonic after these few years, but I’m afraid the reason is simple – you’ve all taught me so well. But I shouldn’t worry really. It’s all quite natural. Like the irresistible urge I have to suddenly don a chainsaw and go to work, leaving behind only splattery remains in my wake. Or being more ambitious by wanting to work for a human pest control agency.

Visit her blog if you want to read more on her writings. It can be visited HERE.

And some last words from me before 2006 gives way to a new year.

Happy New Year Everbody! And may the next year be more profound and better than the previous, plus no petrol hikes hopefully when we wake up tomorrow. Happy partying and celebrating. To 2007!

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Especially in appreciation to my uncle and aunt who had helped me so much in settling down in KL and offering me a job, I am very touched by the kindness they have shown. Also to my family and friends and not forgetting the blog readers, both regular and passing. I'll be heading down to Ipoh for the extended weekend to spend Christmas with Laura's family so little posting till I'm back. Peace to all and Goodwill to all men and women.

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