I Am Turely Sorry ...

Dear Girl,

I know I should be ashamed of myself … I admit, wholeheartedly, that I am guilty.

I know I haven’t been  giving you the slightest attention for the past months … 13 months , to be exact. I know this is not going to make you feel any better, but I want you to know:  I do think of you every now and then … The fact is: I do miss you.

No, there is no one else; you are my only blog.  It's just that … there are so many more than just blogging, and … and so much have happened. 

Please … don’t get me wrong; I am not saying I shouldn’t have brought you into this cyber world; I do love you.   I thought you knew from the very beginning … that I do love Gardening, Reading, Criminal Dramas, and not least  Laze Around.   That was exactly the reason why it took me so long to start this relationship!

And stop being ridiculous, of course you are not the back-up.  Yes, I spend a lot of time with Gardening.  It’s not for me, it’s for the family.  Didn’t you see the quality time we had over dinner in the backyard?  How many family have one hour dinner (almost) everyday; talk and laugh like mad?  I mean like MAD!

Yes, you are right.   I should have known you needed my attention too and that I should have known the responsibility and effort and time and the commitment and what not to make this relationship work. 

I know I sound like a jerk … but you are just too demanding, or perhaps I was too demanding…??  I wanted you to look good, I wanted you to sound good .   I wanted you to be perfect.  And I still want those… You see what I mean??

And please, to make life easier for us both, don’t ever compare me with other bloggers!  I am who I am; you need to accept that. You need to forgive and forget … forget that you are still ‘classified’.  It’s not that I would be embarrassed  by you or anything; I am just …. not a public person.  Ok, I am afraid of being judge through you, especially by people I know!  You can understand that, right?

Having said all that; I promise that I will spend more time with you.  By the way, how do you like your page dressing, do you want to change it?  Pink wallpaper?  What about lime green?  I totally respect your decision; you just have to tell me.

Sincerely,

 CC

P/S: I have tried few new recipes, tweaked some old ones, and I have revamped  Gardening.  Can’t wait to show you.

TGIF

Friday is unlike any other working day …

I would leave work one hour earlier, no detour, no errand and hopefully I can be home by six.  That will be a treat; then I will have few good hours to bake.

But we all know, having the time is not quite it.  The mood has to settle in; not just any mood but THE mood.  I came home last night with a dying mood to bake; BUT, *bake what*??

Bagel – not so popular in the house.

Doughnut – too oily.

Egg tart – too often.

Bread – didn’t feel like it.

Choc chips cookie – oh that … my quest, ah … I am not ready …

Cake – *can la*, but I didn’t have enough cake flour!

It’s not so easy to be Julie (in the movie Julie and Julia) huh … to try every dish in a book.

You need to have a lot, I mean A LOT, of faith in the author.
Let me ask you, statistically, out of ten recipes in a cookbook, how many will you try?
For me, zero happens all the time, two happens once in a blue moon and three has never happened.  I have a few cookbooks from Jamie Oliver. My husband bought them for me; I said I like his cooking a lot.  The truth is: I was more fascinated with the chef then the recipes.

So Friday evening, I ended up surfing the TV and internet, watching time flew by but no baking. I felt like I have wasted a good evening; if I did that often enough I would definitely feel I have wasted a good portion of my life!

Saturday morning … still trying to quench my baking itch.

“What about mochi?” I asked my husband.

“Em… the one you made was kind of chewy.”

“Really, like those at the Japanese restaurant?”

“No, not really; yours tasted nothing like that.”

“They looked the same to me,” I protested.

“Well, have you ever tried any one of them?”

Woh, I didn’t see that one coming; the answer is “no”, but I think I should just shut up.

** Singlish - Singapore English

Time Sense

Thank you for spending your preciously time reading my blog; there are so many out there and so little time, yet you have picked mine…. THANK YOU.

Time flies … we hear that so, so very often.  I am quite sure it feels differently to every one of us. 

I remember asking my mother (under a flowering durian tree) when I was a kid: “Ma, how long more to Chinese New Year?” 

“Not so soon, it wasn’t too long after the last one.” she laughed and said.

 –   This is normal for a kid.  I was told that a year would feel like three to a child.

When I was a teenager, I couldn’t wait till Chinese New Year.

–    I had a better sense of time.

When I was in my twenties, I would go shopping to make sure I had a new dress, preferably red; it was a must.

–    I started to have some control over time, making preparation.

When I was in my thirties, I panic: “What? Chinese New Year? Again?”

–    Ha, this is bad; sign of time lag.

My sense of time has never been so retarded.  I was very in tune, weren’t we all? 

Monday was indeed Monday, no gap.  Slowly, Wednesday felt like a Tuesday. 

Then escalated to: “Thursday is today? What happened to my Wednesday?”

That is the not the worst. 

“How’s parenthood so far? Time flies, your twin are two, three months old?” I asked my colleague.

“Oh, they are well, and they are almost 5 months old now,” he replied.

It’s mid September, and I feel like June … Is this going to get worse??

I go to this food court for breakfast every morning on my way to work.  Two days ago, out of the blue, the stall uncle shook his head and said to me :   “跟时间赛跑!”   (Racing with time!)

We race hard, day in and day out, yet we don't keep track of our opponent.

A day is a day, but which day exactly?

As I grow older, I feel that my left brain and my right brain don’t talk at all, or it's just my memory going nuts?

I was rushing through the super market; then I saw it.  That familiar clear bottle with green tip.  I grabbed one without checking the price; that was very unusual of me.   I came home, happily told my husband. 

“Remember this?  My favorite Vietnamese chilly sauce in USA, I have finally found it here!” I said.

“But this is not THE one,” he said calmly.

“What do you mean not the one?"  I yelled,  "See that dragon on the bottle?”  I was so very sure it was a dragon.

“It was a rooster, mummy,”  he said.  And yes, my husband has replaced ‘Dear’ and ‘Darling’ with ‘Mummy’. 
 “…….”  I was thinking very hard now, “… how could I possibly be wrong …”

“And the logo and all were printed onto the clear bottle, not that red sticker,” he added.

“Oh goodness, you are absolutely right!!”  I said and started laughing out real loud.

Glad I could still laugh …

p/s: Other than the darker red, the chilly sauce tastes different, a little bit more vinegarish but I like it ... in case you are wondering ...

一大堆蠢蛋 Bunch of idiots

我是说公司里的那一堆！！

蠢蛋A – 不关我的事！！

就连自己份内的事也不做，搞到周边的人最后一分钟手忙脚乱。
最让人气愤的是：到头来还是白忙一场，无法完成使命- 因为他们那又来了一块没做好！！！

效率就从此一去不返；再也没有人会为任何事情紧张！

蠢蛋B – 都关我的事！！

这一堆假厉害又自以为是的蠢蛋什么都要管，就连不是他们份内的事也要做!!

就是这种人养成了蠢蛋A 那种要不得的行为！！
凡事都得照他们的方式来做，其他人不用问，也不用知道，听指示照做就是了！

当下属的就惨了，蠢蛋A 没把工作做好也变成是你的错！

不是份内的工作蠢蛋上司也拿过来， 最让人受不了的是：自己不做却分配给下属！

搞到整个部门怨声栽道，纷纷逃离。。

超级大蠢蛋C – 当不成蠢蛋A 又做不了蠢蛋B

每一回还是照样积极的为蠢蛋A 清理手尾。

每一回还是照样积极的替蠢蛋B 做好不是自己份内的事。

人蠢是没有药医的。。。



~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~     ~    ~     ~     ~     ~    ~     ~     ~     ~    ~     ~     ~     ~    ~     ~     ~    

I mean that big bunch of idiots at work.

Idiot A – non of my business

Nothing seems to be of his business, not even those within his job descriptions.

Panic colleagues will have to scramble last minute to do his job for him.  What is most frustrating is：all effort will go in vain cos’ there will always be another problem after this.

So, kiss productivity goodbye; nobody will bother anymore, about anything   …

Idiot B – all of my business

Everything must be his business.  He will meddle with everybody’s job, so full of himself; nobody knows any job better than him.  Don’t ask, you don’t need to know; just do it!

Pity those subordinates, don’t you?

Even when the problem is cause by Idiot A, it is still the subordinates’ fault.

Idiot boss will volunteer to take on any task from management, but he won’t do it himself; he will assign to the subordinates!  So everyone in the department complains and complains, determined to find greener patch of grass elsewhere.

Super Idiot C – Neither Idiot A nor Idiot B

Diligently cleaning behind Idiot A’s back, every time.

Diligently completing every task assigned by Idiot boss, every time.

There is absolutely no cure for idiots, you know …

My first …

I am finally ready to publish my first posting, in my first blog.
What do I blog about, you might ask. 
Er ...

I should be the last person on earth to start a food blog.  My mother calls me a 饭桶. Of course, she is not implying that I am unintelligent or incapable but literally saying I am a ‘rice bucket’.  She told my kids, on numerous occasions, that she had to wake up at five in the morning to make me porridge or bee hoon for breakfast during my school days.  Now I grumble about my kids being picky about food. That, is retribution!

I am happy with a bowl of rice top with fried egg; a little chilly sauce would make that perfect; a gooey yolk is ultimate … yummy.

I eat when I am hungry; not for pleasure. I have no craving, not even during both my pregnancies.  Ok, maybe a little.

I don’t have energy and patience to wait for food.  Have you ever heard about the saying “a hungry woman is an angry woman”? That is so very, VERY me.  I would throw a tantrum first before turn jelly. I wake up from nap feeling jelly; if I slept over lunch.  That’s how urgent I need to fill my tummy when I am hungry – immediately, pretty much.

I don’t have sweet tooth; chocolates, pastries, desserts and alike have no calling on me.  Sugar makes my tummy sick.

I’ve got this lactose intolerant thingy; I can only handle this much of dairy products in cooking and baking; same with coconut milk and oily stuff.  Buttery dough makes me nauseous.

Furthermore, my spelling and grammar suck; even though I type first.  Boy, I can type; the right finger flying on the right key, IF given a text.  I spell check all my works and continue to hope for a more powerful grammar check tool.

On top of all that and those not mentioned, I am very vulnerable to criticism!! This is so very typical of a perfectionist.  I cannot imagine anybody who doesn’t like my postings, and worse:  such things stay FOREVER in the cyber way!! I read many food blogs, but never have I left any comment.

So you see, I have no reason to rub shoulder with the food bloggers out there. 

So, why am I blogging now?
Yes, I cook – for the love of my darlings.
Yes, I bake – again, for the love of my darlings. Oooh …am I surprised!
My better half told me, blog to share my experience. 

So here I am, and this blog will be more than just food, at least that’s the plan.

So … stick around ya, for my next ‘real’ posting.