my childhood dream was to be a doctor?

Remember the last time I told you I met my good old high school friend, Lee Eei, on facebook? How we lost touch for 8 years… and suddenly, out of the blue, she found me on facebook, and how I thought it was a miracle? She helped me recalled those days we had at my first camp... how i was a little girl, following her around, and she would take care of me and Shin Loo, like a big sister...

Well, guess what? This time, Facebook did something even more amazing… I found my standard one friend, someone I lost contact 17 years ago!! S-E-V-E-N-T-E-E-N YEARS AGO!!!! can you believe that? That's over a decade and a half... What can I say? - Facebook does wonders!

It’s really nice, I guess, when you get in touch with really old friends… really, really old friends, and see how much they have changed over the years… Guess what? And I never knew I could learn so much about my childhood from these friends. So, I learned something very interesting today. I managed to retrieved this piece of memory which I had lost.

You know, when we were little, and our teacher used to ask us the MAJOR question: 'What is your ambition? What will you want to be when you grow up?' And with our limited vocabulary, we would try to give her a satisfying answer, at least something good enough that she would nod, and call the next person. And when you finally give her an answer, she would demand for another two, perhaps just in case we didn’t get the first.

So, there we were, two 7-year-olds going through the pictures in the little ‘kamus bergambar’, stopping at the page labeled ‘Occupation’, looking for the right answer, while Puan Tan called out the names, one by one.

I learnt that I was rather indecisive, even during Year One, as when Puan Tan reached the alphabet ‘W’, I was still struggling to decide which occupation to select. So you see, my indecisiveness was in me, even when I was a child, days before I knew the word ‘libran’. (So, to my friends whom had often said that I used Libran as an excuse, see, it’s not an excuse, indecisiveness has been there ever since I was a kid!! Even before I could remember!)

His name was before mine, my old friend, and he answered: sailor, engineer and pilot. And then it was my turn. Guess what? I answered DOCTOR!!! Yup! That’s right! At least that was what he remembered. So, today I learned a fact from a very old friend who had changed my life history. So, I wanted to be a doctor when in standard one!! (So, the answer to the question in my facebook quiz had not been accurate) and of course, my previous posts (namely COAMS #1) were all wrong as well! Geezz…

So, yuin loi, I wanted to be a doctor when I was a child, when I was in Standard 1... It probably would not be surprising though, because I think, apparently, half the class wanted to be doctors too... it seemed to be the 'right' answer that time, I guess... How ironic can it be? While I was pondering all this while, over the past 5 years in Med school, wondering whether is this what I really had wanted... and only after I've graduated, I found out that it was indeed what I wanted back then... haha! God is really funny...

Oh yes, my friend did lived his childhood dream too, he became an engineer...

So, do you remember what you wanted to be when you were in year one?

By the way, my friend sent me some of our class photos during my Standard 1 days… and if you promise not to laugh, I’ll show it to you… I looked rather grumpy in those pictures… i wondered why didn't i smile to the camera... and yeah, I had those thick rimmed glasses, huge thick rimmed glasses… Coz my dad had this belief that the bigger the glasses, the more you see… and I actually believed him for quite a number of years… until I learn about optical point and all.. but that’s another story…

Okay, don’t laugh ya, promise? ^^


Promise?
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There you go, those pictures from 17 years ago!

Standard 1 SRK Subang Jaya

Standard 2 SRK Subang Jaya

Standard 3 SRK Subang Jaya

Click the pictures to enlarge it..
I found out that i hadn't developed the subconscious lateral gaze yet...
(if you know what i mean, haha!)
you can try to find me, if you like,
no, i won't tell you which though =P

don't we just loved guessing games? ^^



p/s: Oh yes, i learned another thing too, yuin loi the students in each year are the same...
they don't shuffle students back then...

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CNY #6: How to make Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since we are still in the New Year mood, well, it least i am...
Here's another cookie we made last Chinese New Year.....
Chocolate Chip Cookies...

1. Firstly, sieve the flour and baking powder.

2. Mix butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy.
Then fold in flour.

After that, fold in the delicious chocolate chips!

The thing about home made biscuits is that you get to choose the fillings and toppings
-whichever type you like
-and how much you like

and i loved it with LOTs of chocolate chips!! Lots! ^^

colourful toppings- rice candies...

Chocolate rice

and more Chocolate chips!!

and that's my greedy brother...
curi makan chocolate chips ==

Arrange paper cups in lines on a baking tray
(MUST be red color for the extra good luck! hehe..)

Put the batter in the cup

There you go... all lined up...

Bake in the oven...

TA-DA!!

and that's how you make Chocolate Chip cookies ^^

CNY #4: How to make Pineapple Tarts?

FLASHBACK: 2 days before CNY
I spend the few days before Chinese New Year not with my books, but with this:

Yes. Baking is fun!! i think it's better and easier than cooking....
Everything is so standard, you just have to follow the recipe....
How hard can it be?
And you don't have to worry over getting the food burned...

So, today's post is about: Pineapple Tarts - How to make them...
Why Pineapple Tarts, you may ask?
Well, after my last orthosurgery examination, it was proven that Pineapple Tarts brings GOODLUCK!! as in (ONG LAI!!!)
so, how can you still NOT want to know how to make Pineapple Tarts???
It may change your luck and your life!!
and you can thank me for that later..
hehe...

okay, let's cut the crap..

Firstly, let me introduce you to this 2 incredible chefs:

1. MY MUM - Mdm Joanne, the super-increrdible Mum
2. The Pineapple Tart Machine - Mr Falcon

Mummy with her expert hands...
*blink* *blink* =)
Yes. This is Mr Falcon. Not Borneo Falcon, though... hehe.. this is the Peninsular Falcon...
i think all Falcons very keng... haha!
With this Machine, you can make ANY biscuits!!
so senang....

okay: Back to Pineapple Tart Making....

1. Firstly, pour the sieved flour, butter, castor sugar into this incredible Mr Falcon
(Mr Falcon is like Mr Muscle.. He'll mixed the ingrediates well and save you from muscle ache..
my hero~)

2. Then pour in the eggs

3. Allow it to mixed well until it appear to be something like this:

(WOW! take a look at those muscles... hehe...)

5. Then choose the appropriate outlet piece according to the type of cookie that you are baking or the shape that you like..

(so many to choose from)

6. For Pineapple Tart, i chose this slit like outlet piece.
7. Allow the soft dough to pass through it slowly.
Cut the dough into short pieces about 3 fingers breathes long.
(palpating too many livers makes me count in finger breathes nowadays, hehe..)

8. Put generous amount of Pineapple Tart filling onto the dough

Apply about this much, but not too much though...

If too much, you might have problem wrapping them...
You know, it's like Vera Wang: You have to fit yourself to Vera Wang, not alter Vera Wang to you.. (if you know what i mean... hehe...)

wrap, wrap, wrap....

Have them arranged in rows in a butter-lined tray

Apply Egg york on the surface
(to gives a nice color and a crunchier coat)

It will appear shiny...

Put into the Oven To bake

DONE!!!

Aren't the Pineapple Tarts simply lovely??
I hope the Pineapple Tarts will bring you all : ONG ah~~ HUAT ah~~


Happy Chinese New Year!

CNY #3: SteamBoat, anyone?

Somehow, every Chinese New Year, i will have steamboat on one of the
days of Chinese New Year...

Mummy would invite our relatives over for steamboat...
as steamboat is so easy to prepare..
see, Mummy so Pandai...

The SteamBoat with the delicious soup....

MUST HAVE: Fishball (big and small) - oh, i love fishballs so very much...
Quilt eggs, meatballs, Crabsticks, Tofu

Lots and Lots of mushrooms!!
The Chinese Cap Mushroom, The Thin Chinese Mushroom, The Button Mushroom, and the Needle Mushroom.
Mushrooms adds a nice smell to the broth...
and the Needle Mushrooms gives a very sweet taste to it....

Toufu, Japanese Toufu,
'he kiao' (fish dumplings) -delicious!
i don't really like hotdogs in steamboat, but my bro likes it, so ya... u can add those too

because it appears too meatful, here's some crunchy French peas..

and shreaded carrots
(me and carrots.. haha.. well, that's another story)

oh yes, you MUST HAVE PRAWNS too!!

(you can imagine how badly i had abused anti-histamines this Chinese New Year, hehe...)

Prawns gives the broth a very sweet taste...
delicious!
You can also have Tom Yam Broth, Chicken Broth, or Herbal Broth...
Too troublesome?
Well, there's always Ayamas Chicken Cubes!!
hehe...

Time for grilling!!
This is fun!
A little like Korean BBQ..
Marinate the meat and grill it... ahh.. they melt in your mouth...

soon after, we discovered that grilled ham and prawns were delicious too!!

and then my sis start to get addicted to the grilling that she couldn't stop..
hehe..


Happy Chinese New Year!

Place: shinyin's home sweet home
Food : Mum's cooking
Location : Seremban
Food Taste: Awesome
Service : Self service
Ambience : The love of home ^^ (hehe)

CNY #2: How to make Wan Tan? (Dumplings)

Like i have describe earlier in my previous post, mum is quite traditional and superstitious on what we should (or rather, MUST) eat on Chinese New Year.. ^^

On the first day of Chinese New Year, on EVERY YEAR, we will have a vegetarian dish also known as 'jai' for breakfast. The various ingredients are usually root vegetables or fibrous vegetables. And of course, there is the superstitious aspect to them:

*Noodles (Mee Shua) - for longevity

*Ginkgo nut - represents silver ingots

* Black moss seaweed - is a homonym for exceeding in wealth

* Dried bean curd is another homonym for fulfillment of wealth and happiness

* Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"

* Fresh bean curd or tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the color signifies death and misfortune.

The thing is, mum only cooks this once a year.
Maybe that's why i liked it so much and looked forward to it every year ^^
~Super delicious~

For dinner, we made some Wan Tan.
I thought it'll be nice to share with you how to make Wan Tan.
It's very easy...

You Need:
1. Wan Tan skin (which you can easily purchase at the market)

2. Fillings of the Wan Tan
-Sheaded Sengkuang, Carrot and minced meat,
with salt to taste

Apply generous amount fillings in the Wan Tan skin

Wrap it into a cute dumpling, like this ^^

If you are lazy or terrible with wrapping, or tried several times but failed,
you can always try folding them into triangular shapes like this.
Just apply the fillings and fold the wantan skin diagonally into halves pockets.

Or if you are even lazier, you can just shape it with a spoon into meatballs!

Then deep fry them.

And there you go!!
Delicious Wan Tans dumplings and meatballs!!!

We had dumplings with fried rice (which was leftovers from yesterday)
According to Chinese Culture, there MUST BE leftovers from last year...
to symbolize abundance... ^^

Ling added a carved tomato as she thought the rice looked too plain..

(Did i ever told you the story of Mum's Chicken rice/ Fried Rice?? No? how can i not?
Well, there was once, my aunt and uncles were at my house for lunch.
And they had chicken rice, which they claimed was one of the best that they had.
I suppose they must have been very generous with compliments.
But what me aunt did next, was unexpectable.
She asked Mum what rice she used, and Mum said the cheapest rice she saw on promotion at the supermarket. My aunt in disbelieved went to the storeroom to check on the rice, only to find that it was the same in her house!!
Haha! So cute, right?)

Oh, i LOVED this SO VERY MUCH!!

Brocolli with lots of mushroom, scallop and abalone~

Isn't that nice?

and we had more chicken for prosperity..

~What a nice dinner~

Place: shinyin's home sweet home
Food : Mum's cooking
Location : Seremban
Food Taste: 100%
Service : Self service
Ambience : The love of home ^^ (hehe)