Making SENs

Spam. Eggs. Noodles. The kind of dinner one has when one's Chinese and is a student living away from home with little money to spare. Or if one, like me, is Chinese, a salaryman, single, lives alone at home, and, on some days, really can't be stuffed to be eating at one of the few almost decent eating places dotting one's neighbourhood.

Thankfully, the few things in my fridge were enough for me to cook up a few twists on this Chinese collegeboy classic. Here are three (cos that's all I've managed):


The typical spam and egg noodles, just that I've thrown in a bit more stuff to round it off. Boil dried mushrooms and dried shrimp to make the soup base and cook instant noodles in it (practically any flavour you like, though I was using Mamee Duck Noodles). Throw in some of the soup flavoring that comes with the noodles, but not all of it, since the mushrooms and shrimp already flavor the soup. When it's done, throw in some pickled chinese cabbage.

Fry an egg and two or three (or more) slices of lanciao luncheon meat to go with the noodles.


Boil noodles, drain and set aside.

Fry chopped garlic with dried shrimp and cubed luncheon meat until fragrant, then add french beans and carrots with a sprinkling of water. Add oyster sauce to taste. Mix a large pinch of cornflour into a small bowl of water and add this into the wok when the vegetables are cooked. Bring to a boil, turn off the fire, and stir in an egg. Pour over the noodles and serve.

Throw on a handful of meat floss as well, if you want, for some added oomph.


Boil some beans till almost done, then add noodles and boil until everything's cooked. Drain and toss in a combination of sesame oil, dark soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Fry chopped garlic and sliced mushrooms until it smells nice and chinesey, then throw in mashed-up luncheon meat and fry some more. Turn the fire down low. Beat an egg and pour it over the lot, then fold the egg to cover. Serve it on top of the noodles.

...

Sure, it's nothing as mama-at-home-style cooking as what Ry has been busy with lately, but heck, he's cooking for someone while I'm cooking for one. Sure beats having plain instant noodles any day, though, and not all that much more work.

Saturday Night Worship

It's been a seriously long while since the gang gathered, so when wifi, jaq, qwazymonkey and I decided to get together, we of course planned it around (what else but) food.

We decided to visit the new kid on the block of upmarket restaurants lining Changkat BB - Weiner's! Oh wait... it's WERNER'S... hehe. Werner's is the sister eatery to Elcerdo, right across the street. I suppose they wanted to expand their market share, because while Elcerdo serves nothing but pork, Werner's caters anything but pork!



What can I say? The place is lovely, and the ambience is just right for having a romantic dinner. Not that the five of us were having a romantic dinner lah. Ahem.

Sole Fritters and Salad Nicoise

Food. Definitely nice, though some were better than others. The Salad Nicoise was fresh and zesty, and came with a huge chunk of grilled tuna steak. The sole fritters were pleasant, though I've had better fish with the fish and chips served in the streets of Melbourne and Capetown. What made it nice was the lobster cream sauce and asparagus, which lent subtle flavours to the dish. The duck ragout with pasta was also nice, but again, not outstanding.

Sliced Veal and Duck Ragout Pasta

Probably the best dish of the night was the sliced veal. The meat was tender and was nicely coated in a light brown sauce. The roesti potato served alongside made a great accompaniment.

We didn't sample the desserts, tempting as they seemed. Probably because by then, we were itching for some street fare, easily found just a hop and a skip away (okay, fine... several hops and skips away) down the road.

Prices, as to be expected, were on the heavy side. One salad, one pasta, two mains and two bottles of water came up to a smidgeon over RM200 for the five of us there. Yes, we were charged for the water. Personally, I don't begrudge a restaurant charging for water (though I also believe at the prices they charge, they can afford complimentary water), but at RM18 a bottle? I didn't check but I'm very sure that wasn't so much bottled water as it was water in a bottle.

Anyway, ranting aside, it was, all in all, a nice dinner in a beautiful place. The host was friendly and helpful, and service was quick and without fuss. Definitely a meal that would satisfy a gourmet, but kind of fell short for us gluttons. So we paid the bill, thanked our hosts, and stepped out into the balmy night...

And ventured down Tengkat Tong Shin to Ngau Kee for one of the best beef ball noodles in town.

Moo-rtifying second meal

Didn't I say we were gluttons?

Closed Encounters Of The Kitschy Kind

Or should I say "clothes encounters"?

Ransom Notes Keep Falling Out Your Mouth

I walked under a bus
I got hit by a train
Bachelor Girl : Buses and Trains

And despite what she says, it never feels good. But what happens when you're on your journey and realise you've inadvertently boarded a train wreck that's waiting to happen?

I wish I could say I'd stay on and try to stop it from happening. Save everybody in the process. Or simply stay on and have faith that it won't be as bad as it looks like it would be.

But I really am no man of steel. And wishing won't make it true.

I hate bailing out.

I hate having to be selfish.

I hate allowing this to happen.

Now I'm left wishing someone stronger than me would come along to save that train.

Hide and seek
Trains and sewing machines
(You won't catch me around here)
Blood and tears
They
were
here
first
Imogen Heap : Hide and Seek

Snip By Snip

I'm losing it.

Bit.

By.

Bit.

On days like these, the heart is heavy, and there is naught that can be done but to lighten the head.

By spending time away from the crowd.

By letting the day slip quietly by.

And by getting that long overdue haircut.

We're caught in a moment
And I can't let it go
I am falling deeper, losing my control
Involved in a feeling
Like the blink of an eye
And the silence it belongs to you and I
Sugababes : Caught In A Moment

7 Days After...

And I'm standing there watching the counter go up.

And up.

And up.

...

Still going up.

Sigh. Around this time last week, I spent about $60 bucks to fill up the tank. Today, it's $80 for the same amount.

That's like a whole day's worth of meals gone into my petrol tank...

ブルーバード

Kanashimi wa mada oboerarezu
Setsunasa wa ima tsukami hajimeta
Anata e to idaku kono kanjou mo
ima kotoba ni kawatteku

Michi naru sekai no yume kara mezamete
kono hane wo hiroge tobi datsu

Habataitara modorenai to itte
Mezashita no wa aoi aoi ano sora
Tsuki nuketara mitsukaru to shitte
Furikiru hodo aoi aoi ano sora

You've yet to learn what sadness it
And are just now grasping what pain is like
Even the feelings i have for you
must be expressed with words

As you awake from a dream into an unknown world
Spread your wings and take flight!

You say if you could fly, you'd never come back down
You only have eyes for that blue, blue sky
You know if you can just make it through, you'll find what you seek
So keep trying to break free to that blue, blue sky

Ikimono Gakari : Bluebird

So yeah, keep looking ahead. Keep flapping those wings. Find those dreams but don't lose yourself.

How quickly the year soars by... Come home soon ;-)

Save The Bank Account, Save The World

Here in our proud little nation, we are celebrating the increase in petrol prices today by a whopping 78 cents per litre, up from $1.92. And if that isn't reason enough to cheer, how about an electricity tariff hike thrown in for good measure?

Let us not forget how our petrol prices are still so much cheaper than the neighbouring island city-state. Meanwhile, try not to think about how our salaries are also so much less compared to our neighbouring counterparts.

But that wasn't what I was going to talk about, really. After all, it's World Environment Day. Ironically enough, the current national situation prompts us to think long and hard about seriously cutting down on fuel and energy consumption, which is rather good for the environment. Why, I'd say it's the right kick-in-the-butt we need to start taking public transport and reducing our dependency on private vehicles. Oh wait... we don't have quick and reliable public transport like our dear neighbour, do we?

Well, I'm sure the powers that be are doing something about it. After all, they pledged to channel funds into developing a better public transport system the last time they slashed petrol subsidies, didn't they? Just look at how busy they've been in the last two years - building more tolled highways and shamelessly promoting the embarrassment that is our national car manufacturer... What's that, you say? That's got nothing to do with public transportation? Well, I'll be...

Looks like I'll have to shelve that plan indefinitely until the day our politicians put public welfare before pride and pockets. Or the day pigs fly. Whichever comes first.

In the meantime, here are some simple things I can and have been doing:

Be a nicer driver. I admit, I still forget sometimes and just floor the pedal. But enthusiastic acceleration and wildly braking result in higher fuel consumption, more wear and tear, with perhaps a few minutes of driving time saved to show for it. Not quite worth it, is it? Drive safe, drive courteously, save money, and save the world.

Don't stop to pay the toll. Again, halting the car then getting it going again is highly fuel inefficient, your brakes won't love you for it, and the power windows will give up that much faster. And that's if you don't have to crawl through a queue. I've started using that transmitter thingy that lets me through toll gates without having to fully stop, in the hopes of reducing wear and tear, improving mileage, and getting to the gym after work on time. Of course, it'll be so much better if they just abolished toll collection completely (hint, hint, you MP's out there). Drive on, spare the change, and save the world.

Turn off the lights and everything else. I don't always do this, so I guess I should start paying a little more attention. Leaving appliances on standby does consume minute amounts of electricity. Apparently, it does cost us more than we think. So switch off, lighten the bills, and save the world.

Plant a tree. Or sponsor one, and have someone plant it for you. I did, right here. Spend money on trees instead of paper, save the world.

Spend a day at the mall. May not make much sense, but the way I see it, I get to do everything in one place - be it banking, having my lunch, shopping, gymming, drinks with friends, or the requisite eye-washing. And yes, the air-conditioning at the mall is running whether or not I'm there, so I reduce my home electricity consumption on hand, and reduce the mall's energy-consumption-to-consumer ratio on the other. I suppose I could save even more by walking around the neighborhood instead of driving to the mall, but unfortunately, there are barely any amenities in my neighbourhood, aside from a really nice park. Also, quite frankly, I'm anti-social enough as I am - any more isolation and I'd be a hermit. So this is how it'll be for now - save my social life, maybe spend more cash, but save the world, anyway. Sort of.

Shower with a friend. Ok - this one, I really need to work on.

Times really aren't that easy these days and from the looks of it, it's bound to get harder. Guess it's time to tighten the belts and the only way to do that is by cutting down consumption. Kick the carbon habit, as they say. Perhaps it really does pay to go green.

If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make the change
You gotta get it right while you got the time
'Cause when you close your heart, then you close your mind
Michael Jackson : Man In The Mirror

Recovery

Ughhh... Ahhh.... Ouchhh...

Surely early thirties is a little too early to be feeling aches and pains all over the body. Perhaps I may have become a tad too accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle. Probably also due to the extra baggage I carry around (not-so-lovingly referred to by an ex as my 'lifesaver').

Still, I guess I have an excuse. After all, I did spend the whole week out at site. No, I did not have to do physical labour. But I did have to wake up extra early to go clock in a day's worth of standing under the sun or in the rain or whatever else our recent inclement weather dictated by the quarter-hour.

Yes, stand. The whole day. Looking at other people do menial labour.Telling other people to do menial labour. And kowtowing to the client every two to three hours.

Yes, very rough and tough work it was.

All that, and still I faithfully dragged my ass over to the gym. Apparently standing around at site does not burn fat.

What could burn fat would be a preview class for the upcoming BodyJam 45. As expected, the studio was indecently packed, which meant it was hotter than usual (in terms of temperature, not, most unfortunately, in terms of the crowd).

There was a whole lot less oxygen to go round as well. Halfway through, I couldn't decide if I was going to faint or puke, but a minute's breather cured me of that (early thirties is not that old after all!). At the end of it, there wasn't a stitch of my clothing that wasn't saturated with sweat (all of it mine... I hope).

As for the jamming itself, can't say much. I get the feeling this will be one of those sessions where you've had enough of it by the third class. True, there are some pretty fun and wicked moves here and there, but mostly it's just a bit blah.

Well, with all that activity packed into six days, the only thing I wanted to do on Sunday was this:


Stay in. Sleep. Laze. Sit in the massage chair. Vegetate.

I love this plan.

Say goodnight, Boris. We're going to bed.