meeting francis finally!

finally... i managed to set an appointment with the very busy francis to meet him before i fly. seems he's going to phuket next week, so... haha.. anyway, it was quite fun. me and kee san were like tembaking him all the time. quite a change. usually he's the one who teases us.;p was able to meet yeat mei too. after 3 years! if anything, she has grown younger. almost didn't recognise her from afar. hehe.. of course, we did what we always do when we meet.. gossip! shhh.. haha.. a nicer word for that would be to 'catch up on the latest news'.;p it was wonderful being able to hang out with my dear friends. hopefully i will be able to hang out with the rest of my dear friends next week. =]

these last few days, the genie had granted me freedom to do whatever i want. which was nice. we talked, chilled, went online looking checking important mail, ate fried lettuce and bak kut teh, chatted on the phone, sms-ed, spent some quality time together.. the atmosphere was easy and relaxing. not to mention sweet.=] one setback was that on the first day, i suddenly had a very bad stomach ache and had to chase my guest away. felt so terrible bout that, but at that moment i simply couldn't stand the pain anymore, just wanted to roll up into a bundle and sleep it away. sori ya! on the second day, i went shopping with kee san, in someone's car who went to online.;p i bought shorts together with kee san (and straight away changed into them! gosh! i've never done that before...;p) and on the second day, the line was finally working, so that some important attachments could be downloaded.

now.. i have to get back to packing.. haiz.. if i gamble that they won't weigh my handcarry, i will change to the roller bag which fits the specifications, but which already weighs 4kg. then i can cramp more stuff in. basically the 5 extra kg from my check in luggage. then pray hard that they won't want to weigh my handcarry. or suddenly impose a 1 handcarry ruling. did i mention that my laptop bag already weighs 5 kg without laptop? or that my already-packed handcarry in another bag is already 4 kg? if that's the case my total handcarry weight would be 13 kg?? and if i suddenly have to cramp my laptop bag into my handcarry, it would weigh 22kg?? gosh.. my head is spinning already!

Chicken

Special Thai Chicken

3 tbs cooking oil, 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, 3cm ginger, chopped, 350g skinless chicken meat, sliced.

A. 1 onion, quartered, 1 big red chilli, sliced, 100g sweet peas, 10 stalks young corn, sliced, 1 celery, sliced.

B. 1/2 cup MAGGI Thai Chilli Sauce, 1 tsp MAGGI Ikan Bilis Stock Granules, 1/2 tsp black peppercorn, crushed, 1/2 tsp cornflour, mixed with 1/4 cup water, peanuts, crushed for garnishing.

Heat oil in saucepan and stir fry ginger and garlic until fragrant. add chicken and stir fry until golden brown. add ingredients A and stir fry for 1 minute. Add ingredients B and stir fry for another 2 minutes.


Roasted BBQ Chicken

4 tbs MAGGI Thai Chilli Sauce

A. 1cm ginger, chopped, 1 tbs MAGGI Dark Soya Sauce, 1 tbs MAGGI light soya sauce, 1 tbs honey, 2 tbs MAGGI Oyster Sauce, 4 cloves garlic, chopped, 2 shallots, chopped, 1 tbs cooking oil, 1 drum stick.

Dipping sauce: 4 tbs plum sauce, 2 tbs MAGGI Thai Chilli Sauce

Mix Thai Chilli Sauce with ingredients A. Marinate chicken with ingredients A and keep in fridge overnight. Wrap in aluminium foil and roast in oven for 15-20 minutes. Mix dipping sauce ingredients together in a bowl.


Sweet & Sour Chicken

Slice 4 slices chicken breast, hit with back of knife. Cut into smaller pieces.

Cut garlic, 2 shallots, 1 tomato

Beat 1 egg with 2 tsp flour, add meat and mix.

Put in more oil into the wok and heat. Fry meat (leave in hot oil until sizzling). Turn the meat. Meat will become yellow à light brown à cooked (medium brown). Scoop out onto tissue.

Fry onion, add garlic, add tomato. Add tomato sauce (quite a lot), add water, add 2 spoons sugar, add a bit of lee & perrins Worcester sauce. Stir. Off fire.

Remove tissue. Scoop out sauce onto meat.


Potato Chicken

2 drumsticks, 2 medium sized potatoes (cut into smaller size), some garlic, some ginger, oyster sauce, soy sauce.

Heat oil. Fry ginger and garlic till got flavour. Add potato. Fry 1-2 minutes. Add chicken, fry add oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Add some water (0.5 bowl). Fry for 2-3 minutes. Cover the wok and turn to small fire. Cook for 10 minutes (make sure sauce don’t dry up). Check that chicken well cooked & potato is soft. Add salt. Serve.


Teo Chew Loh Chicken

Wash chicken and internals. Leave to soften in water.

Sprinkle 1 spoon of salt inside chicken. Sprinkle ngo yang hoon on chicken. Pour some black sauce, sprinkle salt on hand, use hand to smoothen the chicken and spread the things on chicken. Do the same to underside. Leave to marinate. Put 3 Lam Giaw inside, 3 outside.

In wok, add a little oil, 5 spoons sugar, 2 spoons salt. Stir all together, cook. Put in chicken. Pour in black sauce from marination. Add internal organs. Add water till half the height of chicken, but not on chicken. Cover up wok for it to cook. Test chicken drumstick by poking to know if it is cooked.


Chicken with sesame oil and ginger

Marinate chicken (already chopped) in black sauce, soy sauce, sugar and a little pepper. Put a llittle oil, sesame oil, and fry ginger until fragrant. Add chicken and fry. Add some water, leave to boil.


Fry chicken wings

Season chicken in black sauce and sugar. Dip in egg + flour, then fry.


Bak Jian

Prepare the meat:
Meat + black sauce, sugar, pepper, flour a bit, soy sauce.

Fry onion first, put separately.

Start cooking:
Add oil. Add seasoned meat. Add a little water, 2 spoons. Fry until cooked and dry. Add onions. Stir together.


Black chicken with onions

Season chicken meat (sliced) with black sauce, soy sauce, and sugar (1-2 spoons each). Add a little bit of flour.

Slice big onions into rings. Fry onions. Remove. Fry seasoned meat. Place seasoned meat on top of onions and serve.


Chicken Stew

1 medium chicken cut into fairly large pieces. 1 big onion, cut into four. 2 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into 4. 1 star anise. 2 cloves. 1 piece cinnamon. A dash of white pepper. Salt to taste. 2 medium carrots, cut into 4. 2 potatoes cut into 4. 2-3 cabbage leaves, chopped. 1 few stalks of spring onions, chopped.

Heat stew pot with a little oil and fry onions, tomatoes, and spices until brown. Then add chicken. Fry for a while then add 4 cups of water. Add in carrots, and leave to cook. When carrots are slightly tender, add in remaining veg seasonings, cover and simmer until soft. Thicken stew with 1 or 2 tbs of breadcrumbs.

OR

Season chicken with soy sauce. Fry chicken with a little oil. Take out chicken. Leave a bit oil. Fry big onions. Add black sauce, salt, sugar. Take out and put in pot with chicken. Add water + lea & perrins sauce. Allow to simmer. Add corn flour.


Dry chicken curry

1 medium chicken, 3 inches ginger, ground. 2 big onions, sliced. ½ teaspoon turmeric powder. 1 tbs chilli powder. 2 pieces cinnamon. 5-6 cloves. 1 few sprigs of parsley. ½ tsp ground black pepper. 1 tsp ground coriander. Salt, oil, curry leaves, thick black sauce, tomato sauce, ½ cup water.

Clean and cut chicken into big pieces. Rub the ginger, garlic, saffron and chilli powder in the chicken and leave to marinate for ½ hour. Heat 2 tbs oil ad fry onions, garlic and cinnamon. When onions turn brown, add chicken, water, salt and curry leaves. Stir well. Cover and let chicken cook. When dry, add 1 tbs black sauce and tomato sauce. Stir before removing from heat. Add ground pepper and coriander. Garnish with parsley.


Chicken curry

Fry: rempah, serai, shallots, yellow ginger, a bit of belacan

Add santan and salt. Add chicken.


Chicken chop

Chop chicken breast. Season with sugar, pepper, soy sauce, corn flour. Beat an egg. Dip chicken into egg then fry. Fry big onion rings. Add water, soy sauce, sugar, salt, egg. Add corn flour when it is nearly ready.

Main meals

Boon Koon’s Spaghetti (for 2 person)

Cook spaghetti (40-50 per person) in boiling water. After soft, off gas, cover with lid.

1. Fry 2 sausages (chop into cubes) until fragrant.

2. Fry 2 eggs + tuna mayo spread.

Fry garlic (3 cloves), half a big onion, 1 carrot. When carrot soft, add 1 tomato (all in cubes). Add 1 & 2 and stir together. Add half a small bottle of prego tradisional & 2 tbs of tomato sauce.


Fried Rice (for 2 persons)

Fry 2 cloves garlic, add 1 lap cheong, add ¼ carrot, add 1 strip cabbage, add rice (1.5 cup rice + 2.5 cup water), add 1 egg into well in rice, add abalone sauce 2 ladles, add soy sauce (pour on rice), add salt (1 tsp), add pepper, off fire and stir with tomato.


Bak Kut Teh

Blanch drumstick with boiling water. Soak Chinese mushroom in water.

Boil garlic bulb 1, euyansang bak kut the herbs, mushroom (needle, black), taupok, fu zhuk, cabbage, soy sauce, drumstick. Eat with rice.


Yee Mee

Preboil brocolli, drain. Soak Chinese mushroom.

Fry ikan bilis, add water, take out.

Fry garlic, vege (broccoli, cauliflower), mushroom. Pour in soup. Add yee mee, add chicken stock, boil. Add egg. Add corn flour (dissolve first).


Porridge (for 2 persons)

Boil water, put in chicken drumstick, take out.

Put ¾ cup rice, add chicken water, cook for around 40 minutes. Add salt, pepper (black pepper even nicer).

Fry garlic till golden brown. Shred boiled chicken into shreds. Cut spring onions.


Penang ama’s hae bee porridge

Fry garlic, add dried shrimps (until pok pok tiao), add sliced meat, stir and add 3 wooden spoon of soya sauce. Stir. Add 1 bowl of water. Add uncooked rice and more water. Add pepper and salt. Boil till rice is ready (look like furry worms). Keep stirring at all times. Off fire. Cover for 10 minutes with wok cap b4 eating. Add spring onions and pepper. Ready to eat.


Penang ama’s fried kuey tiaw

Fry garlic, add prawns and meat and stir. Add eggs and stir. Part to the side and add chilli. Stir slowly, mixing. Add kuey tiaw, stir, add soya sauce and black sauce. Add taoge and stir.

Kuey tiaw à no water
Bee hoon à exactly the same, but add some water.


Aunty Ah Bee’s Mee Suah

Mee suah – scald, throw away water.

Soup – boil with chicken bones, salt, black pepper, mushroom, tau pok, cabbage and kim zam.

2nd layer – Holland peas, shredded chicken, 菜心

3rd layer – nuts, seaweed (toasted), 油葱


Fried Bee Hoon

Put oil, fry garlic, add meat, add fish balls, add soy sauce, add water, add black sauce and sugar 1 spoon. Let it boil. Add salt if not salty enough.

Add bee hoon and tauge. Stir.


Macaroni

Gravy:
Tomato sauce, 2 tsp each of curry powder, L & Perris Sauce, HP Sauce. 3 tsp soy sauce. Salt, sugar, pepper, pounded garlic, pounded chilli, cooked macaroni, carrots, potatoes, French beans, minced meat, fresh tomatoes, onions.

Topping:
bread crumbs, tomato, butter.

Heat oil. Fry chilli and garlic. Add meat. Fry till meat cooked. Add in rest of seasoning. Add in vege etc. Add water. Add tomato sauce.


Birthday Mee

Boil chicken stock. Fry garlic, chicken meat and prawns. Then add a bit of sauce and water. Pour into chicken stock. Add salt.

Boil mee, taugeh. Pour soup over mee, taugeh. Sprinkle with friend shallots, egg (cut into stripes), spring onions.

Side dishes

Zap chai (mixed vege)

Fry garlic, add meat, add bak zi, add carrot, add cabbage and sliced green pepper, sprinkle salt and pepper. Add water, taste. Add more salt if needed. Cook all vegetables until cooked. Add tang hoon in the middle. Press until soft, cover tang hoon with vegetables until cooked. Mix all together.


Fried bang kuang

Fry garlic. Add mushroom, then meat. Make sure cooked. Add bang kuang, onions and carrot. Add a little mushroom water. Add pepper, salt and sugar.

Can be served wrapped in egg.


Penang lo bak

Meat:
Slice meat into pieces. Put inside bowl. Adad ngoh yang hoon, stir. Add 2 spoons of soy sauce. Stir. Add 4 spoons of sugar. Stir. Add 2 spoons of flour. Stir. Add 1 egg. Stir. If too watery, add some more flour. Taste. Add 1 spoon of say sauce and 1 spoon sugar if necessary.


Fish Curry

Oil + mashed small onions and 2 cloves garlic.
Add gulai powder, add assam go water. Add sugar/salt (taste first). When boil, put in fish. Add ladies fingers (steamed earlier) after boil.


Fish with ulam sauce

Steam fish.

Fry garlic till yellow, add ginger and fry till fragrant, add big onions, add ulam sauce, add a little bit of water, add tomato.

Pour sauce onto steamed fish.


Fish cutlet with ginger

Marinate fish in flour, salt, and a little bit of sugar.

Put more oil. Fry fish cutlet till yellow (partly cooked). Remove fish and oil. Leave some oil. Fry ginger until fragrant. Add water (washings from marinating bowl add little bit of sugar.grant, add big onions, add ulam sauce, add a little bit of water, add tomato. ), add soy sauce and sugar. Leave till boil. Add fried fish. Leave till boil. Ready to serve.


Tomato Potato

Add oil. Add big onions. Fry till fragrant. Add garlic. Stir. Add fish cake, add potato. Add water. Leave to boil till potato cooked. Add tomato. Add tomato sauce (1/2 spoon). Add salt, pepper and sugar. Taste.


Penang Ama’s Achar Awak

2 cabbage. Cauliflower. 5 cucumbers (cut into 6 sections, then slice into thin slices then strips), 3 carrots, 2 bunch french beans (cut it up), white rice vinegar, 4 chillies (slice), 1 kati shallots, rempah (chilli + kunyit rm2), lengkuas 1 piece (cut into thin slices), 3 serai (chop it up), 40 cents sesame seeds, ½ kati ground nuts (fried and then ground), 2 pieces belacan.

Grind lengkuas + serai, then add in shallots + belacan. Add some water. Use blender. Mix with chilli and kunyit.

Put some sesame over fire until get the aroma. Don’t Add Oil! Take out!

Put water + 1 bottle vinegar in kuali. When boiling, put in carrots, French beans, cauliflower, cucumber, cabbage.

Squeeze cucumber pieces (use cloth).

Put oil in kuali (1/3 of kuali). Add in chilly mixture (A). fry until aromatic and oil comes out. Add 3 spoonfuls of salt + 1 bowl of sugar. Add 2 tbs of vinegar. Add cabbage and other vegetables. Add in cucumber last! Add ground nuts and sesame (muar)


Penang Ama’s Kaya

1 coconut (squeeze without adding water), 1 kati sugar, 10 eggs, daun pandan.

Double boil. Stir until sugar melt. Then close for 2 hours.


Kerabu Bokni

Big black bokni (soak overnight, wash next day, boil until soft, rinse with cool water, cut into thin shreds). Bunga kantan/ginger flower (slice thinly). Limau purut leave (slice thinly). Chicken breast meat (boil, shred)

Mix together.

Chilli sauce: big and small red chilli, belacan (toasted/deep fry), garlic à blend
Take out, squeeze limau/green limes, add salt and sugar. Pour onto mixture. Mix well.


Coleslaw

Cut cabbage & red cabbage into small cubes, mix with raisins. Put into fridge. Mix with mayonnaise.


Mashed potatoes - million's recipe

Potato:

Peel skin and cut into cubes (3 potatoes). Boil for 20 minutes until soft. Mash with 1 tbs butter. Add 1 pinch of salt and some pepper.

Sauce:

Dissolve half a chicken stock cube into some water. Add 1.5 tbs of black pepper sauce. Stir. Bring to boil. Dissolve 0.5 spoon of corn flour in a little water, add and stir.


Hai Dai Soup

Fry a handful of ikan bilis with 4 shallots in hot oil until fragrant. Pour in 2 bowls of water. Simmer 15 minutes till fragrant. Pour into slow cooker.

Boil ikan bilis stock (filter out ikan bilis and shallots). Add 1 packet minced meat (season 30 minutes in sesame oil, 2 tbs soy sauce, 0.5 tbs corn flour), add hai dai (3 pinches, soak in water), boil, add 1 egg ( break into bowl, add sesame oil, beat). Stir immediately. Add 0.5 soft tofu, boil. Add salt 1 spoon, add pepper.

Desert

Soya Jelly - Huey Wuen

300g sugar, 6 bowls water, 4 tsp agar-agar powder à mix and boil

Add half can evaporated milk

Add 1250ml soya à leave to boil, don’t boil too long.


Papaya soup

Add green papaya + 红枣 + 冰糖


Tongsui

Boil green beans ½ cup, barli ½ cup, and 1/3 gula Melaka.


Cold desert

Mix lychee from can, chopped cincau, and pineapple from can. Put in fridge or serve with ice.


Sambal Ikan Bilis – by Renu

1 bawang merah dipotong
Ditumbuk: 1 bawang merah, 5 ulas bawang putih, 1 inch halia
Sedikit minyak
Ikan bilis (2 genggam)
Garam
Cili giling/serbuk cili (2 sudu besar)
1 biji tomato (kecil)
Sedikit air asam jawa (4-5 ulas dicairkan dengan air secukupnya)

Goreng ikan bilis and asingkan. Remove excess oil and just leave enough to tumis the onions. Tumis bawang dan bahan yg ditumbuk hingga wangi, kecilkan api dan masukkan cili giling/serbuk cili. Kacau seketika dan masukkan tomata. Kemudian masukkan air asam jawa dang arm secukup rasa. Kacau dan tunggu hingga mendidih. Kemudian masukkan ikan bilis dan kacau. The dish is ready when it starts to boil and you get the right consistency you want.

Can add a bit of sugar if you want. To make other sambal substitute ikan bilis with prawn or squid but no need to fry it first. Fish and chicken need to be fried first with some tumeric powder and salt.


Vadai – by Renu

Australian kacang dal 500gm (rendam selama 4 jam, drain water, then dikisar separuh lumat), bawang merah 2 biji dipotong dulu, ditumbuk: kayu manis 3cm & jintan besar 1 sudu besar, cili merah dipotong kecil, cili hijau kecil 5-6 dipotong kecil, daun kari segenggam, dipotong halus, garam secukup rasa.

Campur dan gaul semua ramuan di atas hingga sebati kemudian bentukkan kepada bentuk bulat di atas tapak tangan. Goreng dalam minyak yg cukup panas hingga kuning keemasan (masak) – deep fry

second round of BTN

DAY 1:

we checked in, found our beds.. i slept with fiona on the top bunk once again, and the toilet was as bad as ever. we had dinner, then had some briefing, chose the committees, and the allocation of groups. i was so lucky i changed seats, so that it was poor soo fen who kena the timbalan penghulunita.;p there was only one person from the royal military school, so the poor guy became the timbalan penghulu in charge of perbarisan. the penghulu was chosen because he 'paling sihat'. our first group meeting was over supper, which was quite weird, since we didn't know each other at all. good thing hui yen, huey wen and nicholas was in the same group as me. i'm not alone!=]



DAY 2:

we had a whole string of ceramahs lined up throughout the day. the first penceramah was very funny. he looked so young, but when he opened his mouth.. his voice was surprisingly booming. and he wondered why everyone always 'senyum kambing' at the start of his speech.;p the 2nd and 3rd penceramahs were normal and boring. the 4th... i totally dislike him.. rude.. bias.. and with a warped and inflated mentality. in the evening, we had to berbaris under the hot sun before doing some physical tests to find out our body's age.. mine? haha.. secret!



DAY 3:

early in the morning, we had to run 2km within 18minutes (guys) or 24 minutes (girls). damn tiring. after that, we had LDKs all day long. we got to know our group members better, and they are all really very nice and unique in their own ways. our facilitators were quite nice too, just that the older one cannot stop talking while the younger one, who was sick, had to act as the time keeper. we learnt to 'menilai' ourselves, learnt not to accept anything without proof and differenciate 'pendapat' and 'fakta', and at LDK 4, had a heated discussion about Zek, Amir and Sham. so unlucky for my group, we had to defend Zek, who simply had not much good qualities. haih.. i still can't believe that during a heated part of the discussion, i suddenly said:"pada pendapat saya, i think hor.." everyone started laughing. yikes! now everyone knows my BM sucks!;p there was also the 'cicak' incident, where one male friend screamed like a girl when he thought there was some cicak around. hope he never reads this..;p



DAY 4:

woke up stiff all over. LDK continues. we learnt about struktur kerajaan, cara bermesyuarat secara demokrasi, social contrack, globalisation... our facis were not too pushy bout the empat satu thingy.. compared to other facis which i heard. it kinda made sense to me actually. but of course none of us dared to say anything even mildly provocating. at the end we had to draw a logo and make a slogan. mine was quite cute, and with the aid of my wonderful drawing skills, looked like what a kindergarden kid would produce. while the others were all so patriotic, drawing flags, keris, twin towers, books etc. mine was just 3 stick figures with a rainbow behind. haha.. malu.. during LDK, the guy beside me was quite chatty and kept talking to me. i was quite scared though, coz the faci kept looking at us. so i had to nod seemingly intelligently at his remarks then turn immediately to face the faci's.

finally, the horror of horrors. KEMBARA!! we combined with group 5, yen nee and trisha's group. first, we had to crawl through a tunnel, followed by commander crawl which the whole group of 13 must finish within 2 minutes. plus, the earth was all muddy. yucks!


then off to the jungle. or ladang kelapa sawit. we had to go through bushes and narrow, almost non-existant tracks, until we reached the paya. gosh! we managed to find a path to cross by stepping of fallen leaves, only to find that there was an even bigger paya in front, guarded by the fierce pelatih. sigh.. no escape this time. we had to slide down into the murky water only to touch the ground and sink in deeper. i could feel my shoes almost slipping out when i tried to lift them. of course, nicholas' shoe decided to migrate there and be found as a fossil a few hundreds years later. poor nicholas. the guys, after struggling to the other end, with us girls squeeling in the water, had to pull us out onto the bank. it was hard, as the ground was slippery and the bank was high. i had totally no strength to pull myself up, and the guys pulled me out like a fish. a friend was even pulled over 2 other guys. after that, with a little help, we crossed over to the other side just to find another paya again! shit!

coming out all dirty we thought the worst was over. casualties? just a lost shoe from our group. we walked to some barren land and an even worst nightmare loomed before us. a cliff of about 3 metres was our next obstacle. being simply terrified of heights, i could see how a simple slip of foot would send someone plunging down to oblivion. there were just some rocks and earth, not even some plants to hold on to. i was a nightmare for me, taking a cautious step after another in my wet and slippery shoes, trying to find a foothold. i grapped on to the kain pelikat the guys threw down for me with my left hand, but when i grabbed some ledge with my right hand and moved up one step, i could feel the ground dropping down from me as my leg slipped down. i can't believe it, i was slipping! good thing some guy quickly grabbed my right hand, then with some grabbing each hand, they pulled me up. the worst was over. still a bit shaky, i had to go down the other side, but it was not that steep.

finally, we reached the campsite. if not for the guys, i think i would still be stuck somewhere there. all i got was a simple cut and plenty of bruises. but glad to be alive.

at night, during our last LDK, we passed around our notebooks to exchange emails. it was quite saddening, this last LDK..

DAY 5:

i woke up with no energy at all to get up. the exam was tough, since my knowledge bout current issues is usually zilch. hope i pass though. i never wanna go through btn again. twice is enough. finally... we were on the bus heading home! yay!

In the end.. i found the camp not as bad as i expected it to be. i made some new friends, enjoyed 'gossiping' with imu friends, and learnt lots of stuff too, some good, some bad, mostly realistic.

whatever it is, i don't want to go back there! gosh! hope my cert lasts until i enter government service, so that i don't have to repeat btn! pleaseeee..

幸福