The Bittergourd Challenge

I love my greens.
Ever since I was a little girl, mummy always told me that I was more of a herbivore than a carnivore. So throw any type of vegetables at me and I'm a happy girl.
But...don't throw me a bittergourd.
I've tried for years to get acquainted with the taste of it. But cannot la. It's so bitter. How people can eat it I also don't know.
I've tried it in yong tau foo. Blek!
I've tried it stir-fried with chicken. Blek!
I've tried it with soup. Blek!
So 2 weeks ago, a friend of mine challenged me to whip up a simple bittergourd dish, simply fried with diced garlic, shallots and eggs. She gave me a tip - to make it less bitter, soak it in salt for more than half an hour before slicing it up.




So I accepted that challenge.
I even soaked the gourd in salt water for more than an hour. Soak longer means less bitter mah, no meh?
In the end, SK ended up eating the dish more than me. I ate up all the eggs though. It was still too bitter for me. I did manage to force down about 5 slices and then I couldn't go on.
So, I failed the challenge this round.
But, it doesn't mean I've given up though. Was told that I should have sliced the gourd up thinner. The thinner it's sliced, the less bitter.
Ok. Next round, I shall try thinner slices AND I'll soak them in salt for half a day!
I WILL learn to eat them!

Happy Breastfeeding Week!

(breastfeeding Dylan in the picture above. Ya. He's under the poncho. Was only 1 month plus then).

This is my story on my breastfeeding journey.

I breastfed Renee for 2.5 years, until I got pregnant with Dylan and was advised to stop because it wasn't safe for the fetus. She's turning 5 yrs soon.

Dylan will be turning 2 this Nov and he's still on breastmilk. I plan to go on for as long as I can, or until I get pregnant again haha.

Both my bf-ing experiences are very different. With Renee, it was smooth all the way and the only hiccup was when I had a very serious case of blocked duct in my left boob which resulted in the doctor having to pierce a needle through my nipple to clear the blocked duct.

In short, there was a lot of blood, a WHOLE lot of pain, a lot of tears and a whole lot of "I'm sorry"'s from the doctor. Not something I would wish to go through again.

This time with Dylan however, my problem is a little different. There's no pain. No blocked duct. But there is a SIGNIFICANT difference in my boob size!

And by that, I mean my left boob is A cup and my right is a C cup. Yes. Kill me please.

Dylan seems to have a preference for my right boob so I tend to feed him more from there. Which resulted in my right boob producing more milk and my left one deflated like shit.

Sigh. Not something anyone would like to have. Been googling and doing a lot of researches on how to "even them out". I would have to suffer engorgement from the right boob and try my best not to feed him as often from that side and I'll have to feed him from my smaller boob twice as often compared to before. I've been doing that the past 2 days, and will keep on doing it until, well, things are leveled up.

Breastfeeding is NOT easy.

But it's the best thing a mummy can provide for her baby.

If I were given a chance to do it all over again, I would. Without a doubt.

Happy Breastfeeding Week!

Reactivating my blog (I hope!)

It's almost 2am in Bangkok but I can't seem to drift off to sleep, which is quite surprising actually, cos I've been awake since 9am this morning and was out at the play gym the whole afternoon with the kids, running and chasing them around, bouncing on trampolines and whizzing down slides, so I SHOULD be totally knocked out by now, but nope, terkebil-kebil here right now.

And so, I have decided that I shall TRY to reactivate my blog. Let's see where it goes from here.




Today, I built a giraffe out of block pieces (or whatever u call these stuff),




...watched Renee color pictures after pictures after pictures of weird looking mushrooms and houses,




...and paid 40baht to go on a Merry-Go-Round where Dylan started screaming the minute the ride started so I had to carry him throughout,




...and Renee was allowed to pick out a "princess dress" to wear so she could 'belong' in the whole princess-riding-horse theme of the ride.

(Yup, she wore the dress over her t-shirt n leggings so it looks weird but it's okay cos she's happy).

Looking forward to having her go back to school next week, and to London in October. Can't wait!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Easiest recipe ever and absolutely delicious. Very addictive too ;p




Ingredients:

- 2 boneless chicken thigh cut into bite size
- 2 tablespoon soya sauce
- pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon diced garlic
- 1 egg
- bread crumbs
- cooking oil

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with soya sauce and pepper. Leave aside for 30 mins.

2. Use a food blender to blend the garlic and bread crumbs until it becomes fine powdered texture.

3. Deep-fry option: Heat oil in wok. Dip chicken in egg and roll in bread crumb & garlic mixture and deep fry till its golden and crispy. Ready to be served.

4. Bake option: Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Using a flat baking tray, line it with foil and coat it with a little bit of olive oil to prevent sticking. Dip the chicken pieces into the egg and roll it in the bread crumbs & garlic mixture and place them on the tray. Bake for 30 mins uncovered. Ready to be served.

Mayonnaise Chicken

Ever since moving to Bangkok and having to live without an oven, I seem to be permanently cracking my head open thinking about what new dishes to cook instead of the usual stir-fries and steamed dishes.

Came across a new dish (maybe not so new to you) from a fellow Malaysian friend living in Bkk and decided to whip it up on my own with a self-invented recipe.

Lucky for me, the dish turned out spectacularly well...which is why I dare to share it with you.

Hope you love it too.







Ingredients:

To deep-fry:
- 4 boneless chicken thigh cut into cubes
- 2 tablespoon white soya sauce
- pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- rice flour
- cooking oil

Sauce:
- 4 tablespoon mayonnaise (I use Heinz low-fat ones)
- 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoon chili sauce (if u want it spicy)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken with soya sauce and pepper and leave aside for 30 minutes.

2. Heat oil in deep wok. Dip the chicken cubes in egg and roll in flour and deep-fry till it's nice and golden. Leave aside.

3. In another wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil and add in the sauce mixture and the chicken. Give it a quick stir and make sure chicken is evenly covered with sauce.

4. Ready to be served.

Life in Bkk - An Introduction

Today marks the end of our 46th day living in Bangkok, and the start of our 2nd week living in what will be our home here for the next one year (or so before we upgrade to a bigger space).

Before we came here, I was beating myself up worrying over whether I would like it here, if I could get used to not having a car to go around in, the people, the place, everything, but surprisingly, Bangkok is a wonderful place to live in and I'm starting to really like it here.

No doubt I may be car-less, or have communication breakdown with almost everyone I meet, but I've learnt to love not having what I had back in KL.

I love not having a car now because the public transportation here is aplenty and convenient. Plus, the walking has toned up my leg muscles, and increased my stamina. Also, the traffic here is atrocious!

I love not being able to speak the local language because I absolutely love the feeling of coming across someone who does speaks my language and fluently too!

And most of all, I love having a whole new place for me to venture out into and discover new things! Of cos this also includes discovering new shopping havens!

But what I love most about this country is that the people are all very religious, spiritual and loyal to their King.

This means that the people here would never hurt me to steal from me. I'm not saying that they won't steal from me. There are a lot of pick-pocketing and conning happening still. I'm saying that these people would never intentionally hurt you just to steal from you.

I've never felt so safe walking out alone with both my kids as I do here. Back in KL, even driving out does not make me feel as safe.

But having said that, no matter how much I am beginning to like it here, I still miss KL very much. I miss being familiar with all the roads and shopping malls. I miss being near to my family and of course, I miss my friends too.

But God has plans for all of us, and for now, He has decided that Bangkok is where we will be. I just pray that all will be well with His guidance and love as we start our new adventure here.

Turning 32

And so, I turned 32.

Unlike every other year where I get depressed about turning a year older, this year, I actually felt blessed.

I guess it's because of all the sad and morbid news around - people I know dead or dying, friends of people I know dead or dying (just from Feb - Apr this yr there were more than 8 deaths), parents losing their children due to kidnapping/illnesses/accidents/etc., and so on.

So to be healthy and alive at the age of 32, with 2 healthy kids, a wonderful though somewhat of a nag husband and surrounded by my beloved family members (all intact and healthy!), it's a HUGE deal to be thankful for.

My birthday wish this year is not to have less wrinkles or more money, but to be able to have the chance to celebrate another birthday next year, healthy and surrounded by my husband, my 2 kids and all my family members as I did this year (although having less wrinkles and more money is welcomed too)!