SHENPIX & the best Fish Head Steamboat Soup

It's been a few days since I wrote. Dear Diary.... the hardest thing, is writing a blog.

Went to a centre for wellness where groups of old folks gather to sit on 'electric' chairs. Seriously, there are hordes of senior citizens waiting in line waaaaayyyyy even before the shop opens to just sit on these 'electric' chairs.

So I brought my Mom there and went to sit on it too; that was 3 days ago.

Today 24th Feb Friday is the THIRD time. Each time, we (me & my Mom) sat for about 30 to 45 minutes. It's one way to past time, but it's also quite enjoyable. The chinese lady couldn't quite know where to put me. You see, I'm not THAT old as the other folks and I'm not THAT young. So, she didn't quite know whether to call me 'Uncle' or 'Big brother'... haha.

The staff at SHENPIX are mainly from China CHINESE. You can tell from their accent. Just love the Beijing accent that June, Ms Change and Mr Wang Xin has when they speak. Very fluent, very charismatic.

I had fun with her (June).

Mom said she felt tiggling and pain in some parts of her body. It's suppose to be part of the therapy. It's suppose to be 'good'. Me? I don't really feel anything yet. Second time, I felt a little sleepy also my migraine which just came and went 2 days ago, came back briefly, but just a little while and went away... surprisingly, it actually felt good.

So much for SHENPIX....Mom is on MC today.


YESTERDAY (23th Feb 2006 - Thursday)

Went to see Godma as Mom wanted to get a hair cut near Godma's place.
- Godma blanja dinner at a food court near her place
- it's the best Fish head steamboat soup we ever had
- Godma, Godpa, Aunty Lay Choo, Godma's daughter-in-law, Mom & me and little devil gal,
- told Godma we gotta go back there again, my treat next time
- Godma's having some neck pain, the Doctor said it's nothing, but probably a few more observation...

The place?

Chua Chu Kang, dunno the block. Get off at Yew Tee MRT, walk towards N5 (neighbourhood 5) along the main road, you'll come to the first intersection, look across the road, you should see the FOOD COURT. It's a small food court, modest. The stall is the busiest one there; the dishes are equally delicious, just $4 bucks for a claypot ginger chicken.

The dinner we had cost only about $38.... Singapore dollar.

* Blanja = to give a treat

A Hakka Dish - 'Suan Pan Zi' or 'Abacus'

Sun - 19 Feb 06

- 10am went to Ray & Joanne's place with Mom to show
- Jo, Jo's godma & Siew Ling how to make this dish
- I learned it as well, now I know...
- it's a lot of work I'll write the recipe below
- Jason & Joanna came to Ray's place, first time they met in a loooong time
- stay till 2.40pm had to bring Mom to show her flat to a potential client
- came home around 4:10pm
- will rest awhile
- but first, put some clothes in the washing machine
- sun it while it's still bright
- wash the car at 5.30pm
- go jogging at 6.30pm

Here's the recipe:-

a. an average size Yam about 500g (Thailand's Yam is best)
- should serve about 8 person
b. tapioca flour
c. salt
d. cooking oil
e. vegetable, can be kai lan, bean sprout, carrots
f. garlic
g. mushroom

1. peel yam, if your hands should feel itchy afterwards, wash hand in warm salt water,
2. cut into cubes for steaming
3. steam the yam until soft for mashing
4. add a dash of salt and mash the yam when warm - spread over a big plate to cool
5. when the mashed yam paste has cooled
6. add tapioca flour and mix - do not add too much, gauge by feel
7. when yam paste is not too sticky - make into 'abacus' shape
8. and put them on plate, use tapioca flour if still sticky
9. boil water, when water is hot and boiling add a bit of oil
10. pour the 'abacus' shaped yam paste into the boiling water
11. when the 'abacus' floats, scoop up into a separate bowl of cold water
12. after all the 'abacus' has been cooked
13. prepare the wok, heat it up
14. put oil to heat
15. put garlic to fragrant the oil
16. put in the carrots strips (carrots should be cut into strips)
17. put in the kai lan
18. put in beansprouts
19. put in the 'abacus'
20. put in the mushroom strips
21. add salt or soy sauce to taste
22. stir fry till all is cook

Serve!

This is for my own reference, try the recipe at your own risk.

Brokeback Mountain

Saw the movie today, Ed brought the DVD.

You know this is a 2.5 hour movie, so didn't manage to do anything after that.

It's a touching movie... why? because Jack Twist died at the end of the movie, not because of anything else..

You know, my Dad died almost one and a half years ago. There are and still are 'triggers' that will break me down.

For example, my Dad used to do things to my bike, which frustrates me. Like tying the bike cover to my bike with a string. Once, he tied the cover to my bike's tyre and i didn't know, so when I was in a hurry I pulled the bike cover off in a fit of strength and tore the cover. Boy, was I angry with my Dad, I just tore my bike cover which cost me $35 bucks!

I told my Dad to lay off and stop touching my things.

It was a while after my Dad's death, and I've stopped riding my bike because I've gotten a car. So, one morning, I went down to cover my bike. I took the forgotten bike cover that was torn accidentally and cover my bike. Unconsciously I bend down to see if I could secure the cover and saw a shoe string there. Tied to a hole in the bike cover was my Dad's shoe string.

He must have tied it there for me. At that moment, I felt my Dad's love for me and I just broke down... suddenly, the tears just came rushing. How could I have been mad with my Dad who had loved me so much.

He had always been there for me... all my thoughts of him came back that moment. When my bike broke down in the middle of the CTE at 1am in the morning. I called a friend who lives just nearby, he didn't came. When I finally called my Dad, he came and helped me fix my bike.

A father's love is as great as a Mother's love. Father's are the unsung heroes' they never say they love us, but they do - believe me.

They do.

My First Blog

Today

- went to fix a friends wireless LAN in the morning.
- met Ed & WJ for lunch, but ended up with an incident, more about this later
- went with Ed to 24D Tanjong Katong Rd for lunch at Crosspoint Coffee Shop
- all sold out! at 12:55pm can u believe it
- just because there was a show last nite on this stall
- walk back to another coffee shop and had Teochew porridge instead
- drove to 79 Frankel Ave to visit another shop that was on the Eating show
- Ed bought 3 scones & a bread
- went to Ed's place for a while cause it's not time yet to
- pick Mom up @ 3:00pm at her workplace
- ate 1 of the scone, Ed made some special tea from CoffeeBean...
- raining very heavily @ Mom's
- drove Mom to Godma's house
- stayed till 5pm, drove Mom to Aunty Alice (Taxi) house
- reach home!
- had dinner @ 8pm!
- watch TV, read the newspaper, came in
- suddenly remembered a friend's blog
- came in to read it, found it meaningful
- created my first BLOG @ 9:30pm

I'm not used to writing diary, this is going to be reallllllly fun.