Tom Yum Soup Steam Boat with Frozen Oysters

Steam boat is one of the best winter dinners. It is easy and quick to prepare, and entertaining for both adults and kids. Also, It is a good way to introduce cooking concepts to children (or adults who cannot cook), e.g. chicken pieces are cooked when they turn white, beef slices become tougher when cooked for too long.

The key to a good steam boat is the soup base. There are many ways to prepare the soup base. A common way is to use pre-made chicken stock from the supermarket and add vegetables in it to provide the sweet taste.

There is an easy way to make a good spicy soup base using Tom Yum Soup Paste (if you don't eat chilli food, then it is just too bad). Add a few table spoons full of paste to boiling water and off you go!


According to my friends, the Namjai brand is the only one that will give you the kick, so make sure you get the right one. Once the soup base is sorted, you can put whatever you fancy in it. Normally people put fresh meat, fresh vegetable and even fresh oysters.

But if fresh oysters are too hard to get or too expensive, frozen oysters are as good. In fact, I found that frozen oysters are even better for steam boat. By the time they are cooked in the pot, the centre of the oysters are only slightly cooked, therefore the texture and sweetness of the oysters stay.

Frozen spinach is also a good alternative instead of fresh vegetables. But make sure the frozen spinach is not blended, otherwise, when it gets into the pot, you will not be able to scoop it out. Put the frozen spinach in pot without thawing, just like the frozen oysters.

Sweet?!

The Cause of the Hectic London Traffic

Bad traffic is the norm in London from Monday to Sunday (except long holidays like Easter holiday, when everyone flees the city like a plague). Well, this is hardly surprising in an old city like this, when some of the roads, which were properly built for horse carriages, are now honing with cars.

Narrow roads with cars parked on both sides can be seen everywhere, cars need to stop to give way to the traffic coming from the opposite side. On top of that, cars can park facing the wrong direction and changing lane without indicating is a common practice.

However, none of these can top a very very very confusing traffic light I saw in the middle of a round about yesterday.

A "functioning" set of traffic lights on a round about near Canary Wharf

Should I go, or should I stop? Turn left now maybe?

I was so glad I was not driving yesterday. Sweet?!

Kicking the after interview blues with...Waffles

The worst part of having an interview, is the day afterwards. I sat in front of the email and right next to my cellphone the whole morning hoping that the agent would call, email or text me telling me that I have either got the role or not. But, nothing, nothing at all.

So then I started second guessing myself, thinking about what I could have done better in the interview yesterday, how could I have presented myself better, things I should have said or should not have said etc. All these thoughts made me even more miserable.

This self distructive process quickly ended once I decided to visit the Belgium Chocolate Waffle shop just down the road. And this is what I got from the little shop at Ealing...

Belgium Chocolate Waffle and Maple Syrup Waffle from a small shop in Ealing

You can put chocolate, maple syrup, jam, caramel, peanut butter, banana, stawberry or any combination of that on top a waffle. It is so versatile that I can have one everyday! And today's waffle was just the best, after a bite, all the silly thoughts went away.

In London, a waffle can cost from around £2 to £6. However, I found that the more expensive it is, doesn't necessary mean it is better. I paid about £6 for the waffle in town.

Banana Caramel Waffle from a cafe near Regent St in the city

With it being almost three times the price, obviously, it looks much sophisticated. However, it was slightly warm, dry and light weight. In my opinion, it didn't qualify as a "waffle".

A waffle should be hot, but not too hot, slight crispy on the ouside but moist on the inside, also, it needs to be substantial, but not too heavy like a meal. In short, the one I bought from Ealing today was a perfect waffle.

Sweet?!

No White Christmas But Hello White Easter

While "Experience a White Christmas" is still on my todo list, I experienced a White Easter a couple of days ago (kind of like a complementary prize?!).

Mas and I spent Easter with Uncle Herman and his family at Milton Keynes (1.5 hours drive from London). We went to masses, played ping-pong with my cousins, had yummy food, all the usual stuff.

However, on Sunday morning, my cousins ran into my room early in the morning yelling "Look sis, it's snowing outside!!". Thinking that it is possibly only snowing lightly, I gotten up anyway and this is what I saw...


It is a scene that makes me feel like I am celebrating Christmas instead of Easter. My cousins quickly went out to have a snow fight (as expected) and I quickly took out my camera and captured this unusual moment - a daffodil with snow on it.

Thank goodness the snow storm did not continue for very long and we were able to go out shopping in Covent Garden that afternoon. Sweet?!

Prawns & Eggs Dish Recipe

When we go out for a big family dinner, the children normally get to sit at their own table. The reason for this "practice" was never explained to us, but I suspect it has something to do with one of the following:

(A) The adult conversations are not suitable for children;
(B) The food served at the "grown up" table is not suitable for children (...price wise maybe?!?!)

From what I can remember, I think it was because of option (B). When the grown ups are having lobster, the kids table gets a Prawns & Eggs dish. Not that I am complaining, because it is actually one of my favorite dishes, the best thing is - it is easy to make.

Tasty and moist Prawns & Eggs Dish

Without further ado, here is the (not very detailed) recipe from my talented Uncle Herman:

Ingredients
Prawns (shelled)
Eggs
Cooking oil (not a lot)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic (ground)
Ginger (ground)
Coriander (optional)

Steps
(1) Heat the cooking oil in a frying pan, then add the garlic and ginger.
(2) Put the prawns into the frying pan and leave them until almost cooked.
(3) Add a pinch of salf and pepper to the prawns.
(4) Add the eggs into the frying pan with the yolks still intact. **See picture below for clarification**
(5) Leave the eggs as they are in the frying pan until half cooked, then gently break up the yolks.
(5a) Add the coriander into the mix if desired.
(6) Stir quickly to mix the prawns and eggs together.
(7) Scoop all the contents onto a plate before the eggs are completely cooked. Serve hot with rice.

Step (4) Add eggs into the frying pan with the yolks still intact.

Give it a try and I am sure you will like it! Sweet?!

I love technical jargon (NOT)

After 105mins of torture, I have completed one of the hardest technical tests I have ever done! And now I am having a pounding headache with the technical jargon still spinning inside my head, let me give you a taste of it,... J2EE, EJB, XML, WSDL, JAAS, CCI, EIS, JAXB, MDB, JNDI, LADP, JMS, JAF, XA, JTA, HttpServletRespone, SQL 3 Types....

Sitting technical tests is one of many activities everyone in the IT world needs to do every so often. Sometimes you do it for work, or you take a certification so that you can add one extra line on your CV or most commonly you sit a technical test as part of the job hunting process.

That test was part my job interview process, the first page of the test stated that the test will progressively get harder if I am doing well, otherwise, it will get easier if I am doing badly. So, there you have it, I suppose I have done well, because it was just sooooo hard!!

The worst part of this whole test is I don't get to know the result!!!! It is because the company pays for the test, therefore the result is their asset, even though it was me who sat the test!!!! What is wrong with this world!

Mas made me lunch, Adiós! Sweet?!

Update: I passed!!! The company just sent me back the test results, which is very nice of them. I am going in for a face to face interview next week. Please pray for me! Sweet?!

The most expensive glass of Coke in the world!

Well, it might not be the most expensive in the whole world, but in my little world, €8,80 for less than 500ml of coke is the MOST expensive I have ever paid for, heard of or seen!


When I realised how much this glass of coke costs, my head immediately did the following calculations:

• That is about HK$105, I can get an off-peak movie ticket (HK$40) and a movie snack combo which includes a large popcorn, a hot dog and a 500ml bottle coke (HK$65).
  
• Or for NZ$17, I can get a big chicken rice (NZ$10) and almost four glasses of coke (NZ$2 each) from my favourite food court, Food Alley in Auckland.
  
• Even for expensive London, ₤6.7 can get a chicken pad thai (₤5) and a bottle of 500 ml coke (₤1).

Sure you get the picture now. But these calculations were not doing me any good at the time, so I quickly stopped doing it and turned my head and looked at the reason for the extreme high price...

Arrr~ isn't this nice... yes, you have guessed it, the coke was served in the restaurant 2000m above sea level, on top of Le Brevent, one of the Chamonix ski fields. It was a perfect day for any snowboarder/skier, clear blue sky, fluffy snow and most importantly - hardly anyone on the mountain!!

Given the high price and the fact that I was dieing for a coke after snowboarding the whole morning, I actually think that glass of coke in the end, is the best tasting coke in the world!! Sweet?! =)

Green Auckland, Blue Chamonix and Grey London

"Kiwis are so spoiled!!" This is my conclusion after having been to nine cities in the past six months.

Starting from Auckland > Hong Kong > Taipei > Melbourne > Shanghai > Sydney > Gold Coast > Chamonix > London.

Auckland - The photo is taken during a trip to Akaroa, a small but relaxing and beautiful town in the South Island of NZ. The weather was mild and the tap water tasted so sweet! (Read on, you will know why I say that.)

Hong Kong - A town with lots of beautiful modern buildings. Shopping is the greatest (Mas said that he will not shop anywhere else but HK)! With most of my family being there, HK will always be on my travel list, even though the air pollution really puts me off!

Taipei - The food was great and cheap, a city with a strong Japanese influence. The Taipei 101 is a beautiful building, but unfortunately, seeing all the buildings in Hong Kong, it doesn't really impress me much.

Melbourne - Other than the hot hot hot summer, Melbourne is a very fun and beautiful city! It is almost as green as Auckland. Food was "O" for awesome! Especially, the Lebanese and Malaysian food that I had this time... was just too good!

Shanghai - The first impression of this city where my ancestors came from is - a mix of modernism and traditional! It has everything, from expensive fancy diners to food stands by the train stations; from tall modern buildings to old Chinese style houses only an hours drive away. It is a city I want to visit again, being there only once is just not enough.

Sydney - I have lost track of how many times I have been to Sydney. It is a city where my favorite cousins live, that's why this city is always on my travel list as well! The one thing I really love Sydney for is the seafood market, especially the oysters (not the very big Tasmanian ones though, I think the one I love are the rock oysters)!!! You only need one and it refuses to leave your taste buds alone!!!!

Gold Coast - After five days on the beach and three theme parks, I am good with theme parks for a long while. It was a great holiday destination with my young cousins, the activities are no brainer, the transportation to all the major theme parks are great, food was good and not too pricey. Except the buffet offered by the Four Winds Revolving Restaurant, it is not very good value for money. There is no surprises with the food, but for AU$55 per head, I can have a much better dinner somewhere else. Oh, the revolving bit, it is a nice idea, until I realised that the restaurant is right by the pacific ocean, so imagine what can you see most of the time at night ... complete darkness.

Chamonix Mont Blanc - The ski fields are amazing!! The clear blue sky is outstanding, the trails were wide and the snow was so fluffy, it makes it so easy to snowboard on! If you find yourself continously falling on your bum on slushy snow, remember, it is not your fault! Oh, almost forgot, I found a bakery in the Chamonix town centre, the pizza was the BEST!! It is the basic cheese, tomato and herbs pizza, it was so moist, the thickness of the base was perfect! Just writing about it now makes me hungry!!!

London - Have been here for almost three weeks now, all the things that people told me about, the grey weather, the confusing traffic, the shocking bank system are all true. No surprises there. What is surprising is the tap water, it tastes funny, not sweet at all, needs to be filtered before consumption, what's up with that?! However, it is a city with beautiful old buildings, they have such strong character, I love looking at them. Also, the convenience to travel around Europe is a paramount advantage.

That is it for my first blog post, come back for more later! Sweet?!