Christmas Giveaway (Back dated post)

This post is long over due. I was supposed to blog about this but I've been so busy that I barely have time to blog or even play on my facebook! ^_^

Gert from My Kitchen Snippets had a Christmas Giveaway obviously during the Christmas season 2009 and she was giving away books (which was the exact same one that I saw in the book store and wanted to get it) and I decided to participate in him hoping that I will win. Since I don't go on the computer all the time I set my phone up to receive emails and one day when I was at work I got the email from Gert that I won the book! I was ecstatic because I really wanted the book. I didn't put much hope that I would actually be picked but I was extremely happy when she asked me for my address to send the book to me!

I would love to thank Gert deep down from my heart for having this giveaway and generously giving away the books! Although at this moment I don't have time to utilize this book but as soon as I have time I will definitely utilize the book to the maximum. Thank you again for the book! xoxo

My day off

I've not been blogging for quite some time. I have every intention to blog anything and everything but I'm just not good at time management I guess. Every since I've started working what ever time I have I do other things except blog. I even don't have time to go onto my facebook like I used to be which reminds me my facebook was hacked and that piss the heck out of me *^%*#...I wonder why people has such free time to hack other people's account and send stupid things to others.

Anyway I am trying to maximize my time off today and I thought that I would put some time away to update my blog because I miss blogging and I miss ranting on my own blog!

I managed to go for a nice lunch with Uncle Richie to our usual Vietnamese restaurant by our house for a nice bowl of warm Pho on this cold rainy day! When I came home I vacuum the upstairs and I just got done vacuuming downstairs and mopping the floor. I'm satisfied because nothing irk me than a dirty floor! I'm not sure what I will do next but I wanna update my blog before I start with the next chores.

The last few times when I had day off I would do some housework and go shopping by the time I come home I'm rushing to make dinner or get ready to go out for dinner hence no blogging. Last Friday I went to the mall and was leaving the mall to go to my next shopping destination to find out that I had a flat! I was not too happy about it while I was trying to reach the hub a nice guy stopped and just offered to change my tire. I was hesitant but if I don't accept the offer I'll be stuck there since hubby didn't answer my phone call the first time I called him (I didn't call Uncle Richie which he would have came to my rescue because I knew he was at a meeting). I figure I was at the mall parking lot and there was a lot of people there I was thinking/hoping that he would not do anything to me. Anyway I think I should not doubt people so much because there is still great people in this earth. After the nice guy changed my tires I met up with the hubs to let him check the tires and go searching for some new tires and rims. I didn't get them changed the same day itself because we were waiting and looking for bigger tires and rims. I had to drive with the spare to work the next few days and I felt like I was driving and old noisy truck/vehicle.

We got the new tires and rims on Monday and hubby put it on. The next day we were going out for dinner with Uncle Richie and Aunt L to find out that the tires was rubbing!I don't like that and that cannot happen so hubby called the tire place and I had to go over there to get a different set of tires which was obviously a lot more. In conclusion there goes my next designer bag. sigh!Hopefully the tires will last me!

Anyway my days off are normally Friday and Sunday. I normally take the opportunity on Friday to get some "ME" time and do what I want to do and do things that I know hubby would not do with me. On Sunday I try and do stuff with hubby whether we are out and about or at home.

Another off topic is work. I am enjoying work although work is getting more and more challenging. I am dealing with clients directly more and more which is not a bad thing but some people can be really difficult.

I also miss cooking and baking. Every since I started working I've not really been cooking. We've been eating out a ton and I've only been able to cook several times. I made lasagna one day and the next day I made vegetable soup. This week I managed to make two dinner both with crock pot. The first time I made a pork roast and the other day I made some garlic chicken which didn't taste that good. When my schedule is fix I'm hoping to be able to bake and cook more.

Stay tune for my birthday presents and some other back dated post. I hope everyone is enjoying their brand new year and hopefully everything is going smooth..Cheers :)

Target and their extremely horrible customer service!

Target had some great deals for small kitchen appliances for their black friday sale. So on Friday morning the hubs and I headed to Steeplechase Target which was a huge mistake to see if they had it there when we get there. I've had horrible customer service at this Target when I went there the last time but decided to go there again because there was a Home Depot there and a WalMart there which we wanted to go so I suggested going to Steeplechase since some of the stores we wanted to go was there. I've not been back there ever since my last incident but decided to give it another chance. So hubby dropped me off at Target while he went to Home Depot to get his own stuff.

When I first got there I went straight to the small kitchen appliance area looking for the mini crockpot I wanted which was selling for $3.00 but could not see any and I asked a Sales Associate there which she told me there was none left. I decided to walk around and got a couple of stuff and walked back to the small kitchen appliance area to see if they had any that someone returned of left because they changed their mind. When I was there a guy carted a bunch of small kitchen appliances and I saw one crockpot there. I was excited because I was the only customer there and was about to take it when a female sales associate took it and scan it on her little computer which she had so I assumed that she was just doing inventory or something to make sure that the store computer system knew that there was one left. When she was done I asked her for it because I was still the only one there which she replied to me that she was holding it for a customer. I was like what? How can you hold a black friday item for a customer plus there was no one else there except me. The item was not there before and since it just came the customer would not know that the item would be there right? I told her that it was wrong for her to hold it for a customer since it was a black friday sale and she then rudely said here you take it then! I was then so pissed I said NO I'm not going to take this if she wants to hold it for her customer she can have it and I left all my stuff there. I was so angry at that time but she already walked away. The guy sales associate was still standing there with another sales associate. So I asked the guy what was her name and I was going to complaint to the store manager. He told me he didn't know her name! I was like how can you not know her name when you were talking to her and I heard you calling her name when he first carted the items there. He refused to tell me the name so I just asked the other female sales associate there where was the store manager and stormed off to the store manager.

When I went to the store manager I was very polite and nice to him. I told him the whole story and told him that I thought it was wrong for her to hold the item for a customer. His explanation to me was that the customer must have just walked away to the rest room or some where and she was just holding it for the customer. I told him that there was none of the item there to begin with and I was the only one there when the guy carted the items to that area so how could she hold it for a customer? Since it was a black friday sale I don't think that there would be any keeping of an item for the customer it would be first person to come the first person to get it. I also said that she was RUDE to me too. Then I said when I asked for the rude sales associate name the guy sales associate told me that he doesn't know her name which was bull shit because when he first carted the items he called her name and talked to her! The store manager stupid excuse was that there is a lot of new employees so everyone doesn't know everyone's name. I then told him that they talked and I heard him calling her name so I'm sure he knows her name. Then the store manager proceed to tell me that is a busy friday morning. Do I look like I care that is a busy friday morning? I was so very pissed off that time and the store manager offered to check me out. I told him I'm NOT buying anything there and walked away.

When I got out I told hubby all about it and he was very supportive about this incident even though he's non confrontational. I told him that I would call the District Manager to complain because the store manager was no help and didn't even make the situation better. I'm so surprise that hubby didn't try and stop me because he thinks that they are wrong this time again.

When I called the store to ask for the DM's number and name the girl connected me to the store manager again because she didn't know the DM's name or number. The store manager didn't make any more attempt to apologized what so ever and just gave me the name and number (uncle Richie says that he knew he screwed up). I called the number and the DM's assistant said that the DM was out all day. I told the assistant what happened and he told me that he'll get the DM to call me back either Monday or latest Tuesday. I told hubs that if I don't hear from the DM by Tuesday I would call the Area Manager or who ever that is higher post than the DM.

Urgghhh...This whole incident makes me so piss off because I've gotten horrible service the last two times I was there. The last time I was there was in March and I never went back there. I've been to other Target several times but not this Target. For sure I will not go to this Target again and depending on what happens I might or might not ever go to Target again.

Who ever that is living in Houston, TX do not go to this Target because they have extremely horrible customer service there! I hope that the same incident will not happen to anyone else because they are so rude to you and I feel like they don't respect their customer at all and if they don't why should I go there and spend my money there.

I love presents!

I blog hop here and there when I have time and I see that there is a lot of blogs out there that have giveaway. I've never joined any giveaway because I don't think that I'm lucky enough to win anything. Anyway I've join some giveaway on a couple of blogs that I happen to stumbled upon just because I thought I'll try my luck and hopefully some time I would be able to win something.

Anyway I was surprise to receive an email from barb that I won Prize Pack from Victoria Hill Farm. I was really happy because this is the first time I actually won something without really doing anything. Thanks Barb!
I am very happy with my presents. Now I just have to make it to the store to get my free cookies. I told hubs I'm feeling lucky maybe I will win more goodies..

What have I done to my hubby?

Ever since I moved here and started cooking I try to make my food from scratch so I'm able to see and control what I put in the food. Hubby is always the one trying to tell me to just buy from the store because is easier and less work for me.

A couple of weeks ago I had some apples sitting on my kitchen counter and I knew that I had two store bought pie crust (I buy it in case I need it but lazy to make) so I thought I would make an apple pie for the hubs because he's been asking for some apple pie.

As soon as he puts a fork full in his mouth the hubs asked if I made the pie crust. I proceeded to tell him that is store bought. He then said that next time he thinks I should make the pie crust too..0_0. The next day when Uncle Richie was over we offered him some pie and he mentioned to Uncle Richie that he don't think that the pie crust is that good which shocked Uncle Richie..LOL..

The most shocking one was two night ago. I was heating up some Spaghetti and meatballs that I defrosted from the freezer for hubby(I would make batches and freeze it so that hubs can have spaghetti and meatballs anytime he wants) and Uncle Richie was there so I offered him some too. There was not enough homemade spaghetti sauce with the meatballs so I had to open a store bought jar of spaghetti sauce and add to the noodles and meatballs. The first bite hubby took he asked if this was store bought sauce. Uncle Richie looked at him and was shocked! I was pretty surprised myself because hubby was never this picky. Lately I noticed that he likes to eat homemade food especially food made from scratch more.

Uncle Richie said that he's too spoiled now. Hubs should just be happy that he has home cook food to eat. He said that I should not cook so much food from scratch and spoil the hubs like that. He told hubby that if he wanted it homemade he should make it himself and to hubs defense I don't like hubs to cook in the kitchen because he uses every utensils, plate, bowls, pots and pan or anything thing he can find in the kitchen when he cooks. He is also very messy when he cooks because he'll use all the utensils etc and leave it till he's done hence making the kitchen so messy and dirty. To prevent from needing to clean up after him I rather do the cooking and clean my own little mess.

I'm not sure what have I done to my hubby. Maybe I should stop making everything from scratch so that hubby is not so picky with his food. Thankfully hubby will still finish up his food without much complain even though it was not made from scratch.

What a day....

Ever since I was little I dislike going to the dentist. I think no matter what they do it hurts my gum and teeth that's why I don't like going to the dentist because of the pain. The last time I went to the dentist was before I came to the United States for my education and that was in July/August 2002. All these years I have no problem with my teeth but I figured that I need to just get my yearly check up. I've been wanting to go to a dentist when we were living up North but I just could not find a dentist there that I trust to go.
Hubby chipped one of his filling the day we were moving down here and he hasn't gotten it fixed until two weeks ago and since he was going to a dentist that Aunt and Uncle Richie goes too I figured I should get my teeth check and clean too. I was nervous to go to the dentist because Aunt and Uncle Richie and hubby was there two weeks ago and needed a root canal so since I've not been to the dentist for so many years I was afraid I might need a root canal too. Lucky for me the dentist said that my teeth is strong and good therefore all I did was got my teeth clean (I thought that hurt too). I called hubby and Uncle Richie after I left the dentist office and told them what the dentist told me and they both said that they didn't like me :P because my teeth is good.
Anyway after my dentist appointment I decided to drop by at Target because I needed to print some pictures from the wedding out because a few months ago when I got my new camera I got some free prints from there. Initially we thought that we could print the pictures online and pick it up at the store but to find out that we had to go to the store to get that print. Since the coupon was expiring today I went to the Target that I knew had the machine. I asked the associates there if I could use the coupon before picking my pictures and she said that I could only use one couple (I have two) but any how I just went ahead and pick up my pictures and got it print. When I went to the counter to pay for my stuff another associate came over and told her that I could not use the coupon and I could only use the coupon at a Target that had a photo studio. I then asked the first associate what we are going to do now and her answer for me was I could either pay for the pictures of she could throw it away. I was pissed when she told me that because I asked her about the coupon before printing and she dare to tell me she wants to throw away my picture?NO WAY! I thought that was a bunch of RUBBISH!!I reminded her that I asked her before I printed the pictures and this is just ridiculous. The associate made a comment that I was raising my voice at her and I apologized to her and explain to her that I did not raise my voice and if I did I apologized to her and just as I finish my sentences the second associate accused me that I was there last week and she told me that I was there last week and that she told me I could not use the coupon. When I heard her say that I was FUMING mad. I said excuse me when was I there last week. I asked her to go through her security camera and see if I was there last week and if I was there I would pay for every single picture. When I asked to see the manager the first associate told me that she was the manager and I thought I was stuck. Anyway she allowed me to use ONE coupon and I had to pay for the rest which was fine but I was still fuming mad because how dare the second associate simply accused their customer and she never apologized to me!
I called Uncle Richie the moment I got out and told him what happen. He asked me why didn't I asked for a manager and I told him that I did but she said she was the manager. He said that I should have asked for the store manager and if she was the store manager get the number for the district manager. I didn't know that there was so many managers in a store that's why I didn't ask for another manager. He then told me to get the number of the Target I was at and called the store manager. I then called the store manager and told him everything and how upset I was because his associate did not apologize to me!He was very apologetic to me and he asked me to go back to the store so that he could refund me and give me more free prints.
Honestly I was not asking for any free prints or anything I was just really upset because I really hate being accused with things I didn't do or say. I get really upset if I'm accused like this and not getting any apology from them. I am anyhow a customer and I didn't think that I should be treated this way. I even told the manager if I really wanted scam for some free pictures does he think that I would go to the same store two times? I am not even going to through looking for the store number and wasting my time to file a complain. I called to complain because I was so very upset with the service I got (or didn't get).
I'm so glad that Uncle Richie thought me what to do. Hubby just said that he was glad that he was not with me. Hubby don't like to confront anyone if he didn't have to and I think if he was there he would just ask me to pay for the pictures and go but because of me being me I would not just let that slide.

Still Alive

I cannot believe how long I've not updated my blog. I am not sure whether is it due to laziness of just plain busy. I just like spending time with the dogs and watching my TVB shows..I'm embarrass/proud to say that I've officially done watching The gem of life, Moonlight Resonance AND When cat loves a dog (don't remember the title). Yeahh...I've been very busy watching my shows and I've been trying to clean and tidy up the house more because PIL is actually down here. We were supposed to meet up with them at a state park Friday evening but early Friday AM uncle Richie was admitted to the hospital. He had a ruptured ulcer and needed surgery. I was so worried and was waiting to hear from Aunt. Hubby and I decided that we would not go up there because Aunt would need that night and we wanted to head to the hospital to see Uncle Richie. He looked so tired and weak that night we were there. We didn't leave our house until noon on Saturday to go visit him because we slept in as we got to bed late after coming back from the hospital and clean some.
Saturday evening we decided to take a trip to see PIL and would come back Sunday to see Uncle Richie. We didn't get to the hospital until about 8:30pm because FIL was cooking at our place and everyone was coming over for dinner. Dinner wasn't finished till then. Ever since then I've been going to the hospital to visit Uncle Richie because Aunt is really busy at work and cannot spend the whole day at the hospital with Uncle Richie. I'm so glad that Uncle Richie is discharged today!He was in the hospital for 5 days and he would not be able to go back to work for 4-6weeks!!That's how bad his condition is but thankfully Uncle Richie is a strong person and he looks so much better!Apart from the long scar and it hurting he looks fine. At least I don't have to be at the hospital now I can just walk over and visit him.
PIL together with SIL went to San Antonio for a couple of days and will be back on Thursday. PIL will be heading home I think either on Friday or Saturday morning as BIL school starts on Monday.

* Saya bersukur saya tidak tingal dengan mertua ku. Banyak mertua sangat senang untuk tinggal bersame tetapi ada beberapa mertua sangat susah untuk tinggal bersama.

I used to have pretty decent Malay when I was still in Malaysia apparently my Malay has rusted..Gosh I think I need to practice my Malay more...I guess at least I can still spill out a few words here and there huh..

Since things are slowly settling down I have a list of things/errands that needs to get done:

* Pick up my dry cleaning
* Reply a ton of emails that I have out there
* Spend more time job hunting

The list don't just stop there but that's my top priority at this time. :(

Back from Malaysia!! "Backpost"

My much anticipated vacation back home sweet home came and gone in a blink of an eye. Hubby and I left for Malaysia on the 25th December 2009. It was such a wonderful and memorable trip. The only thing bad about this trip for me was I was sick the entire time I was home.

As soon as I walked into a MAS plane my heart started to race. I saw the Malaysia newspaper "the star". I was so excited because I was so much closer to home, closer to see my family and friends. I could barely sleep because I just want to arrive there ASAP.

The wedding there went perfectly well thanks to my lovely parents that planned the entire thing a year ahead. Everything was just great and everyone had such a lovely time. I was so happy with the entire ceremony.

I had no time or energy to shop when I went home. I noticed that things were not cheap back home and I could find better deals here. I didn't really get the opportunity to indulge with a lot of local food because I was sick and my parents would not let me eat a lot of junk food.

We didn't get the opportunity to visit a lot of places this trip because we were busy finalizing with the wedding stuff. This trip we didn't even make it to downtown KL because we could not find time. The only place in KL we went to was Central Market and the passport place. It took my sister and I almost ONE whole day to get our passport done and even that we had to go back there the next day to collect it. The reason why we could not renew our passport at the machine was because we renewed our passport here in New York hence our passport is not microchip therefore we had to do it the manual way. My sister had time to go down to KL; Sogo area to get her ID renew (she had the old ID) to the microchip one and came back to the passport place and our number was still not called *slap head*. Poor hubby had to be with us to renew the passport and had to accompany me almost a day to try and change my plane ticket. I wanted to stay in Malaysia till after Chinese New Year but sadly MAS did not have any place available. I asked them to check the dates until first week of March and they still could not find any seats!sob sob therefore all I could was extend my flight one additional week. The one extra week I had was wonderful but I just wished that I had a little bit more time. I wish we had more time to spend with just my parents but unfortunately because of our lack of time we didn't get to spend time just with my immediate family. I am also really happy that I sneak some time to spend with my BFF's and also thanking them for joining me on my special occasion.

BFF's at my favorite place.."Sai Mai Lo"

My self proclaimed god son - lil Ian

BFF's at my house for buffet dinner

BFF's on my hens night

First "lo sang" in 3 years

Good friends that came for my wedding

Girlfriends

Guys

Since Hubby went home a week before me I had to travel all the way home by myself which is not that bad but I was almost sobbing all the way home. I know hubby was worried about me coming back here myself but then there was nothing we could do about it because he has to come home to work and I wanted to try and stay a little more longer (the longer the better). On my way back I held on the the virtual Malaysia paper as tightly I could because I missed home so much hence I am now able to declare that I'm still homesick especially with the festive season now.

I really had a blast when I went home I know all the memories will stay with me forever. I would like to thanks my beloved family, relatives and friends for being there and spending time with me. For going back all the way to Malaysia to celebrate my special day with me. Thank You guys so much! Hubby and I really appreciate it from the bottom of our heart. xoxo

p/s: SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!THE WHOLE PICTURE IS SHOWED BEFORE I PUBLISH MY POSTING BUT THEN AFTER POSTING WHY IS MY PICTURE CROPPED!!ARGGHHHH

TAG: 16 facts, goals or habits about Me

So I have been taged by bobo last month. I just haven't had the time to do the tag or blog about my trip back home. The internet was really slow in Malaysia and as soon as I got back I had a lot of errands to do and catch up on my sleep because I'm still a little jet lag.

Directions: once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog with sixteen random things, facts, habits or goals about you. at the end choose ten people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. don’t forget to leave them a comment (”you’re it”) and to read your blog. you can’t tag the person who tagged you. since you can’t tag me, let me know when you’ve posted your blog, so i can see your weirdness.

Let's begin....(in no specific order)

#1: Stanley is my first dog. My first pet and I love him dearly although he's a mutt and I will never trade him for any designer dogs.

#2: I will never ever buy a dog from a pet store or a breeder because I know that there is a lot of dogs in the shelter that needs a home. I know that they will eventually be put to sleep if they are not adopted. There are too many irresponsible breeder out there and owners that do not care about their pets.

#3: I used to be a shopaholic! I used to love to shop and has to go shopping ALL the time. If I cannot go to the store I'll shop virtually.

#4: I am desperate to get a job now because I think I'm done staying home with the dogs.

#5: Because my hubby has a soft spot for stray dogs we ended up with 3 dogs in just the last couple of months last year hence we now have two dogs.

#6: I love to bake and cook for the people I love most.

#7: My family and friends is extremely important to me.

#8: I don't really sweat. I can work out at the gym for hours but I don't sweat. I will only sweat I think when is really hot out and if I'm doing strenuous thing out there.

#9: I always want to be my parents little kid. I don't ever want to grow up!(too late)

#10: I love to eat spicy food. I can eat really really spicy food. When I was 5-6 years old I went went out to eat with my aunt and ordered curry laksa the lady was surprised that I could eat curry at a young age.

#11: By age 3 I already knew how to use chopsticks perfectly.

#12: I login to facebook everyday!

#13: Although I am very talkative and can chat with anyone and everyone I'm actually a shy person. I am shy talking to people I just met but then I don't show it. I love getting to know new and people I've already known forever!

#14: I am a very messy person but I'm also a clean person. I need my house or things to be really clean and I am a clean freak but yet a sloppy person (does it make sense?)

#15: My goal is to be a better person. A more understand and caring person to my family and friends.

#16: I hold grudges! I remember really clearly a lot of good and bad things that people have done to me and my family. I need to learn to let go and not remember all the bad things.

Now I would like to tag mummy shern, sass, siao yue, Jen, Nick & Sara and Avril

Why bother?

I cannot decide if I just want my nails painted or get acrylic nails for our wedding dinner next month. I was thinking of getting my nails done here before going home because I might not have time when I get home to get my nails done plus I don't know a manicurist. I was talking to a BFF last week about having acrylic nails. Some people told me that it hurts a the beginning when you get acrylic nails but then you will get used to it and some people told me that he doesn't hurt at all. So me being me the crazy one decide to just get the nails painted but now I wonder why do I even bother wasting time and money getting the nails painted. I didn't want to get acrylic nails yesterday because I knew that it would not last till next month so I thought painting it yesterday would be a better option anyway it is not that the manicurist didn't do a good job but the problem here is I am too rough. I have housework to do and I think I have already chipped a few nails. I now know why people get acrylic nails because it is suppose to last longer and doesn't chip that easy. One of the few housework that needs to get done everyday is washing dishes. Since I am not working I don't expect hubby to wash his dishes after he eats because I am home. I think I chipped my nails doing dishes but I'm not sure because I had to wash the dogs leash and vacuum the carpet too.
BFF have a manicurist that she goes to every two weeks and I'm hoping that by the time I get home I will have time to visit the manicurist (I only trust a certain manicurist because I've heard that some people don't sanitize their equipment etc) since my friend goes there all the time. If not I guess I will just get it painted probably at a near by mall.

Piggy me!!

I think I gained weight this weekend. I have just been eating and eating and eating. Every meal I eat I eat like a horse, like is my last chance to eat (I shall blame it on the PMS)

Anyway I started my eating marathon on Saturday after we decided that we were going to have dim sum for brunch..As usual greedy me/us order so much and stuffed my face! I then headed to the Asian grocery store to buy some groceries. After that we drove around in the beltway (since we haven't really driven around here after being here for 4 months now) then found some stores and decided to walk for a few hours to hopefully burn some calories off...blekkk...sales wasn't great nothing attracted me hence came home empty handed except from groceries...We started getting hungry when we got home and I made myself a huge bowl of noodles with chicken and vegetable...I thought about it also made me think that I am really a PIG!!

Uncle Richie called and asked if we wanted to watch a movie that night and we were going to watch the James Bond movie but found out that it wasn't starting until next week and we decided to watch Max Payne which completely sucks and we would not recommend it to anyone. There was this kid at the cinema was making noise at the beginning of the movie and it actually irritated me so every time when he made noise I said shhhhh....eventually in the middle of the movie him and his friend were actually ask to leave/ushered out by the security guard.

When we were walking to the cars something which I think really cool happened (Yes I'm sick) There was a ton of kids hanging outside the cinema (don't know where their parents are) but anyway way we saw a security officer/police cuffing a boy and he told his parents to cuff another one..I was like wow..wonder what they did and I walked really slow to try and hear what happened but Uncle Richie nudge me to move faster and we were just laughing at the whole scene like how we will not go back and watch a night movie at that cinema because apparently people get locked up!

Sunday morning I decided to make some waffles because Uncle and Auntie Richie bought me a waffle maker for my birthday and I decided to try it out. I am not sure whether did I not follow the direction correctly or because the waffle maker is still new didn't taste like how I expected it to be hopefully with a little more practice it'll be like the once we eat at the hotels.

Then I went to the Galleria with Uncle and Aunt Richiee..We walked a little bit and we stopped at LaMadeline and ate again..I had a huge plate of Chicken Cesar Salad which was really awesome!Aunt and Uncle said their soups are bad ass too!!We stopped by a couple of open houses which was just beautiful and expensive before headed home...

Hubby didn't eat anything after I left and I was planning to make Hokkie Mee all along for dinner. I wasn't sure if he was going to eat it but I was just going to make it anyway. HokkienMee AKA Black Mee is one of my all time favorite food. I didn't know that it was called HokkienMee when I was growing up so I would always call it Black Mee...The last time I ate black mee was the time I went home about 3 years ago which also didn't taste good at all. So when I was at the Asian grocery store I was already looking for Lily's for ingredients needed to make this.

The only two picture I managed to take this whole weekend before inhaling them!

Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Mee

Ingredients:

500g fat yellow hokkien noodles (tai lok meen) - soak noodles in cold water for 15 mins to get rid of some of the potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution used to make these noodles. (I could not find this kind of noodles here so I used Udon noodles instead)
100g meat (pork or chicken) - cut into thin slices
150g prawns, shell and devein
100 g squid - cut into bite size
1tsp of garlic chopped
100g Choy sum wash and cut into 1 inch pieces
100g pork fat, cut into cubes and fried till crispy (keep the oil)
2 cups stock/water

Seasoning:

1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce(add more if not dark enough)
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp monosodium glutamate(optional)

Method:

Season the prawns and squid with a dash of salt, sugar and pepper.

Heat 2 tsp of the lard (from frying the pork fat) and saute the squid and prawns. Dish out and leave aside.

Add in another tsp of lard, garlic and brown meat, sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper to the meat before turning over to brown the other side.

Add in stock/water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding in the choy sum.

Then add in the noodles and the seasoning, mix well, cover wok with lid and simmer until noodles is tender. Add more dark soy sauce if the color is not black enough and simmer noodles till gravy is thick.

Add in the cooked prawns and squid and more lard.

Turn the heat to high again and give noodles a quick stir. Add the crispy lard cubes before dishing up the noodles.

p/s: I love garlic and the only difference with my mee is I added garlic to it.

Serve with sambal belacan

sambal belacan:

5 fresh red chillies - cut small
2 chilly padi(optional)
1 sq inch x 1/4 inch thick raw belacan or 2 tsp belacan powder.
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
lime juice.

Grill raw belacan until it is dried and fragrant. (i will wrap with paper kitchen towel and microwave 1 minute at the time until it can be crumbled)

I do not own a mortar so i use the chopper. Chop everything up except the lime juice.

serve with lime juice. adjust the taste as some belacan can be very salty.

I didn't make the sambal belacan because I was lazy..I just ate my noodles with chili padi.

My verdict: It was not how I expected. I guess I was hoping to taste like the once we eat at the hawker store back in Malaysia. My pan is not seasoned and this is my first time however apart from not tasting like the hawker store it was really good. I really liked it. The udon noodles I used turned pretty soft so I might have to find another brand or another kind. It was the very first time in my entire life cutting/slicing squid it was so funny because I didn't know what to throw away and what to keep.Hubby didn't know anything too so I just kind off figure it out but I'm not sure if is right. I'm going to have to call mummy and ask her and double check with her that I didn't waste any parts.

Since I was the only one eating there was about two medium size container left. If I would have eaten like a lady (not eat enough for 2) I would have more left. I cannot wait to try it again..I just miss my Hokkien Mee soo much. The last time I went home I think I only at it once or twice and they were not very good so I am hoping that I can find a good one when I get home..yummyyyyyyy

Labor Day Weekend

It's Labor Day weekend meaning it's a 3day weekend...If I was working I'll be darn happy but since I'm not working now everyday tends to be pretty much the same but for hubby it's suppose to be a great time since he's been sooo busy with work lately unfortunately he's on call this weekend that means if any place has a problem he has to deal with it. He's been dealing with customers none stop since Friday. He didn't get home until 10pm on Friday night!!!So many things to do and he's so pissy because some people don't take care of their accounts well and when he gets a call he has to pick up after them. Most of his Saturday were spend working too. Aunt L and Uncle Richie came and pick me up to their place so that I could go look at the neighbour's house (house hunting) and hubby finally showed up while we were still there. I guess we don't mind it but it's really not a house where I'll go AHHHHHH or WHEEEEE when we walk into it. We haven't decided if we want that house or continue looking. Hubby likes the idea that Aunt and Uncle Richie is the neighbor so that he won't have to constantly worry about if he's out of town or if he's running late when he's working and also we actually know someone in the neighborhood. DECISION!DECISION!DECISIONS! I called mummy and daddy and spoke to them about the house and like normal they said that as long as it feels comfortable, we don't mind it and the price is not that steep it's up to us. They are very supportive in what I/we do. Ever since I graduated from high school they have always supported me no matter what and very rarely they will tell me No for anything so if they do say NO or DON'T DO IT then I really have to think about it because they always want us to make our own decision and be able to face the consequences. *faint* The nice thing about this house is there is nothing major we need to change about this house the only thing that needs changes almost immediately is the flooring. She basically maintain the house pretty well hence the higher price. I'm not sure if she's even willing to negotiate since she looks like she's not in any rush to sell the house. After looking at the house we went over to Aunt and Uncle Richie's place for a little while until hubby got another call. So we all waited for hubby in a newly opened Mexican Restaurant (no pictures because I'm shy to take pictures when we are with Aunt and Uncle but we are always with them so much that I should start anyway; let me pluck up the courage...LOL) I thought the food was alright and the price was comparable to most restaurant so it's not that bad.

Sunday we got up and decided to grill out for the day. We didn't want to go anywhere in case hubby had a call. Called SIL to see if she wanted to grill out and she said Yes so called Aunt and Uncle to see if they wanted to grill out. We were going to go over to Aunt and Uncle's place because they have a larger grill while we only have a tiny tiny one but then hubby decided that it'll be inconvenient since we have everything here so we just decided to have it at our place. We went to the grocery store to get some chicken and soda for the party then we went to the gym since we had time before the get together. Hubby got a call 3 hours before!!arghh...so I ended up doing most of the things..luckily I made the potato salad on Saturday because hubby wanted some and I promised him I'll make some for him so that saved me time and we were just going to have another side dish...the only time consuming thing was grilling the chicken and the charcoal went almost dead after the second round because I kept basting the sauce on the chicken hence putting the charcoal out. Second batch wasn't that done but hubby came back to take over and we decided our next grill we would probably get a gas grill..no more worrying out putting out the charcoal anymore...So we actually kind off hosted our first dinner party which I thought it was pretty good a success! I am thinking after we get a house we should do that more often. *smirk*

This morning hubby got what it sounds like a million calls that he has to deal with so he's now out working again...arghh..I want to go get some Asian groceries which is on hold because I don't know how to get there myself. I don't think he's going to have time to go to the gym today too so I think I'll just meet Aunt and Uncle there at the gym later...what a fun day huh!!Hopefully hubby can get done with work earlier(I doubt) and then we can actually do something together today!!!

Houston Farmers Market

The Farmer's Market up North only opens in the Summer for several months. I would go to the market ever two weeks to try and stock up on some fresh vegetables grown by the local farmers. Over here in Houston I was told that the farmer's market open year round seven days a week selling seasonal items. I find that most items sold here are mainly from Mexico. This is my second time at the Houston Farmer's Market. It reminds me of going to Pasar Tani, or the wet market in Malaysia. The only thing is they don't sell meat or sea food at the farmer's market.

Some of the stuff apart from Fruits and vegetables that was sold there. I think it's Mexican stuff.

The vegetables

More vegetables

Watermelon galore..Mangoes is in season too.

This is a very popular farmer's market. Apparently it has been here for many years now. SIL's husband use to go there with his mom when he was a little boy so when he went there with us the first time he said that it brought a lot of memories to him. When I go back to Malaysia and my parents took me to the local pasar tani/wet market it also did bring back a ton of memories to me..sob sob..I do miss the stinky icky market there..weird huh?

Another weekend

The weekend came and is almost over. This weekend was a pretty good weekend with LOTS of shopping and lazying around.
We started our Saturday by going to watch the Dark Night. A must watch movie! It was pretty scary in some parts but hubby and I thought that it was awesome.

Then we went to Willowbrooke mall to walk around. We didn't have much time because it was almost 2 pm after the show was done and we barely ate anything the whole day so we just went to some stores that we/I thought that it was worth going at that time.
I think I spend enough money this weekend. I got a Coach purse, a pair of jeans and a couple of dresses from Forever 21. I was about to buy a pair of jeans from Abercrombie & Fitch when the sale girl told me that Forever 21 jeans fits better and it's way much cheaper and being the cheap person I am I headed to Forever 21 because I thought if I don't like it I can go back to Abercrombie to buy theirs..Luckily I liked it and it saved me a bunch of money..hahah..We had to start heading back at about 4 pm because both hubby and I were getting really hungry. All we ate the whole day was popcorn and had some soda while watching Dark Night. Hubby quickly wiped up some salad for dinner with some grilled chicken that we made on Thurday night. Later that night we finally watched JUNO (I've been wanting to watch it since the release of the movie). I thought that was a good movie too. I was surprised that the show was actually filmed in Minnesota.


Sunday we got up and hubby made breakfast. Then we went to the Asian grocery to buy some groceries because I haven't been to any Asian grocery store here. I bought a slab of pork and I'm actually going to attempt to make Roast Pork/Siew yoke (will tell you how it turn out). I quickly marinated some chicken too so that we can grill them for dinner tonight. SIL called to see if we wanted to go shopping today and hubby told her that I would never not want to go shopping. So we went to Katy mall with her. I didn't really get anything today..hahha..I bought a pair of Hello Kitty pyjamas(I love Hello Kitty; childish YES but I still like it) and a pair of Banana Republic shoes. SIL was looking for work clothes but I don't think she bought many. I had to hold my self from buying any because I want to wait and see what kind of job I'll be doing before buying any more clothing moreover I already bought some at Forever 21 which should be enough for keep me from wanting to buy clothes at the moment :). Hubby got a book, a pair of Oakley sunglasses and a cast Iron pan..hahah..he insisted on buying the pan so that's his and I think will only be use by him because I don't care for cast iron pans/pots. Hunger always cut my shopping trip short. We were hungry and decided that it was time to go home. Hubby started the grill while I quickly wiped up some potato in the oven and made some frozen corn in the microwave.
We didn't even have time to groom Stanley today. He missed his bath today so it'll have to be tomorrow. I doubt that he's going to miss taking a bath..hahah..
Plenty of malls to visit, plenty of shopping to do now I need is a job so that I can continue my shopping plans..*fingers cross* will seriously need to start sending resume out.
How was your weekend?

WEIRD/SHOCKED!

I had an ex boyfriend that I no longer keep in touch after we broke up because he hates me however I was close to his younger sister and his mom some what. His sister and I have always kept in touch even though his brother no longer talks to me and because they lived close to one of my relative there was once I visited them while I was visiting my relative.
A couple of months ago I was browsing through my friendster and facebook account profile and I saw some new pictures so being the kepoh (busy body) that I am I looked through the album to find out that my ex got married.
I was talking to his sister (because of the time difference etc I rarely talk to her anymore) yesterday and I congratulated her for having a sister in law and I even told her to congratulate her mom for me. Wrong choice of words I think! She started pouring out to me that she absolutely hates her SIL and she's never liked her even when her brother was just dating her. I was shocked to hear that but I didn't say anything because I didn't want her to think I was jealous or anything like that. Apparently the SIL have been using and taking her stuff eg. clothing, make up, magazines etc.. without asking her permission and honestly I know how this feels and it if it was me I would be absolutely pissed and angry about it too. I asked if her mom and dad knew about this and they all did. I feel sorry for her and her parents. Her parents because they are caught between a rock and a hard place. I mean what can the parents say? For her is because it sucks to be living in your own house and have to worry that your stuff is being used/stolen by other people and she has to lock her room now. I could not offer anything comment or advice to her because I didn't want to cause any more problems in the house. All I could do was to be there to listen to her and ask her to keep her stuff away properly but personally I just want to tell her that this has to stop and it sucks to have to worry about your stuff IN YOUR OWN HOME and TO LOCK YOUR ROOM DOOR FROM SOMEONE THAT'S STAYING WITH YOU!
My parents has always told my sister and I NOT to touch or use other people stuff whether is with or without permission that's why I don't like to borrow other people's things. When we are living with other people we should follow other people's rules. Apparently her SIL not only uses her stuff but is lazy. Their mom runs a little food stall and works really hard all day. She has to come home and clean the house plus their house (because their house is adjoining with her house). She also has to go home and cook dinner for every one and the SIL DOES NOT do any of the housework to help with ANYTHING! I feel kind off bed for the mom.
Although it's none of my business but I could not help feeling really bad for this girl. She is not my sister or my close friend; she's an ex's sister but she's still a friend. We have kept in touch these years and she's like a little sister to me. I wish I can give her fruitful advice but I'm afraid I'm not in a position to give her any advice because I don't want to cause any conflict in their family. All I can do is to listen to her and support her in anyway I can. I hope that she can eventually get along with her SIL or else it'll be bad for her, her family and her SIL. Good luck my dear girl and I want you to know I'll be here to listen to you no matter what.

Great Weekend with yummy food!

Stanley got up and wanted to go outside so hubby got up to take him up and was going to make breakfast but for some reason I just didn't want to eat at home. So I suggested that we go to OCB for breakfast (I actually went there last Sunday too). We came home after breakfast and hubby had to do his school work while I was playing on line and also the PSP. At about 2pm he got a call that there was a place down and it needed fixed today. I tagged along with hubby since it was a Saturday and I was glad I did yesterday. We went to Rock Falls Raceway and so happened that day they had races going on that's why they needed their pump fixed right away. I was so fascinated by the cars there. There were quite a number of people there but it wasn't full because the weather wasn't the greatest on Saturday and with the price of race fuel people wouldn't want to go if the weather is not beautiful.

Some of the crowd that was there
People tuning their car
Cool car
Warming up their tires
Ready gets set....go!

We were planning on going for a movie in the afternoon but since hubby had to work we decided to go later in the evening. After we were done with the service call we came home and hubby continued his assignment while I took a nap before the movie.
Yeah we watched Ironman..It's an awesome movie and I'm glad we made it! We took BIL with us because he wanted to watch it too and since we were going to watch it we decided to go with him. This is a must watch movie..

I got up today feeling tired and lazy but managed to get my butt out of bed and made breakfast which consist of instant noodle..*blush* After that I did two loads of laundry before heading out. Hubby stayed home with Stanley while I went to the mall to get my make up and facial stuff and went to the groceries store to get some groceries. I felt pretty bad spending so much money today that I decided to make hubby a nice dinner. I've not cooked in about a month because we've been so busy and I've been horribly ill.

I first made some meat balls so I could cook spaghetti and meat balls. Then I proceed to make croutons so we could have some with our salad; after that it was banana cake and lastly garlic bread.

Croutons

Ingredients
3 pieces of bread
Olive oil
1 tsp seasoning salt
garlic powder
Italian seasoning

Directions
1. Cut bread into bite size cubes
2. Place pieces of bread in a bowl; drizzle oil as you stir. The more oil you use the more melt in your mouth it is. The amount of oil you want to use depends on your preference
3. Sprinkle with season salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning. You can try other seasoning or sprinkle some parmesan cheese too.
4. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes stirring once

Salad and croutons.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Ingredients
1/2C margarine
3 or more teaspoon of chopped garlic
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/8 tsp of pepper
1/3C parmesan cheese
3/4C grated cheddar cheese
Bread

Directions

1. Microwave margarine in a bowl until half melted for about 40 seconds
2. Mix all ingredients
3. Spread mixture over bread
5. Bake for 450°F about 10 minutes or until golden brown.






Homemade Spaghetti sauce and meat balls.

Banana bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup brown + white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil, or melted butter
Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Pout into prepared pan.

2. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.

Everything seems pretty simple but if made all at once it tends to be a lot of work but it's worth it after filling our tummies up and because we now have a ton of food for the week. I was thinking of ironing the clothes too after I take a shower but by the time we got done eating and taking a shower I'm too tired to iron. I tend to be very slow at ironing and it'll take me forever to iron the clothes that we have in the basket so I guess those will have to wait. :P..

I still need to fold and keep the clothes away I guess it'll be the next thing I'll have to do after I'm done here. I need a maid!!I miss having one actually..this is what sucks about living in a western country, maids are expensive!!

Bisquick Chocolate Chip Bars.

Apparently when I said that I need to be more committed and update my blog it actually means updating once a week. I guess I should be glad that if I manage to update my blog once a week. I've actually been busy myself at home packing and cleaning. I did manage to cook/bake a little. Friday was the last day for two boys at my work place and we were having food day for their farewell. I was really busy at work Wednesday and Thursday. I wasn't able to get out of the office on Thursday until about 6:45pm and I was actually rushing to get home because daddy didn't go home before school to let Stanley out and I felt so bad because Stanley's in his crate for quite some time therefore I was actually looking at the clock hoping that I can have stuff done and go home to him and I actually had a roast cooking in the crockpot. Luckily I had the time set to start at noon so it didn't cook for too long of a time. When I got back I quickly gave Stanley a snack, attended to my roast and took Stanley out to do his business. Quickly took a shower and got dinner ready. Then I had to think of something to take to work and finally decided on Bisquick Chocolate Chip Bars because it was simple and I had all the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

1. 2-1/2 cups bisquick baking mix
2. 1 cup of sugar
3. 1 large egg
4. 1/4 vegetable oil
5. 2 tsp vanilla essence
6. 1 cup or more chocolate chips
   

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except chips.

2. Spread in a 13 x 9-inch pan, greased and floured.

3. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350° (will look bubbly and light in the center).

I should have covered the bars before I went to be after it cooled off because when I got to the office it was pretty hard and I had to nuke it in the microwave so that it's soft again but since I let it on the counter the whole day by the end of the day it was hard again. No pictures too because I was glad that it was done end of the night that I could not be bothered to take pictures and just want to get in bed. Lately because of the lack of time I cannot be bothered to take any picture of anything. I should do more of that since hubby actually spend some money in all the gadgets we have at home.

Speaking of gadgets hubby bought me a new phone..LOL...We were actually thinking of getting the iphone but we didn't want to switch cell phone carriers therefore we just got a blackberry. This was not launched until April 14 so I had to wait about 3+ weeks after I found out about it and everyone knows how I HATE to wait but I was really patient waiting for it which was surprising actually...:)

I love my new phone but I'm still getting hubby to learn about it so that it'll be easier for me to use it..:P...

I was looking for a book to read a couple of months back when MIL recommended me 1st to die by James Patterson. I loved this book and I went on reading the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and now I'm on my 6th one. They even have a series calls Women's murder club which hubby and I really enjoying watching it but too bad they are only done with season one. According to Wikepedia they were almost canceled I am assuming due to low ratings. I hope that the next season will continue as it's really interesting.



Since I was sick *blek* the whole weekend I spend my time in bed watching TVB-The Gentle Crackdown and Women's Murder Club. I'm not done with The Gentle Crackdown but I'm done with the other one. I need to get going on that this week :)...I wanted to start with The Gentle Crackdown before watching part II of it just in case I miss something. It's been a long time since I had time to actually stay in bed all day to watch my shows and I'm pretty happy about it but the problem is lots of chores didn't get done from me staying in bed. I just hope that I'm better because I don't want to miss work or else work will pile up if I miss a day. I rather work on stuff everyday that be freak out with piling work. I like to get my stuff done that I need to accordingly instead of stressing out on things I need to do. I hope to be more productive at home hopefully this week.

Shopping comparison website

Everyone knows that I’m an avid shopper. I love to shop so much that I need to look for great deals so that I can afford this habit. I can shop at a store or even online. Shopping online is a lot more fun because I can just shop and click at the comfort of my own home and get the items in a couple of days. A comprehensive shopping comparison website is what I need. Digxa is a huge help to me because it’s a shopping comparison website. I can compare goods and see where the deals are. They have a ton of categories from Clothing & Accessories to Computer & software to Jewelry & watches to almost anything and everything on items you want to compare before buying thus saving me a ton of money. I know how to dig thru this website to see if they have anything for pets because I love to buy stuff for my little doggie..I’m so excited when I find like this that can help me save! save! save!

Busy Busy

It's been a long time since I last blogged. Hubby and I have been pretty busy doing I don't know what. We always have something to do and not like we just sit around at home. We've also decided to put our house on the market. This next few weeks we are going to try and clean, arrange, and fix stuff that needs to be fixed before having the realtor to stop over and see what else we have to do before we put in on the market. It's going to busy for the next couple of weeks and we're crossing our fingers to be able to sell it sooner. We are not sure what we're going to do if it's sold. We might just rent somewhere while looking for another house.
Last Wednesday we had a huge snowstorm. We are hoping that it'll be the last one and looking forward to summer. The only sucks about this now is the snow is melting and it's making the lawn muddy and every time when we take Stanley out he gets all dirty. Talking about Stanley we spend a bunch of money on him again this weekend ( we are not suppose to buy anything because we don't want to pack so many things). Daddy and me is such a sucker. We went to Target intending to look at a pet trimmer for him. They only had the cheap one there and hubby said that if we get the cheap one it won't last. I wanted to get him a trimmer so that I can trim his face in between grooming. I saw dental sticks and I was thinking Stanley could use some. Hubby saw this bag of bacon and cheese treat and said that we needed to get it for him because he absolutely loves bacon..(I told hubby that Stanley loves everything!)Doggie treats can be pretty spendy. Then today we went to petco and bought his trimmer and a muzzle :P...Those cost a bomb there. Stanley is so dorky he hates the muzzle but every time when he's barking I saw him the muzzle he comes to me for me to put it on but he absolutely hates having it. I normally just put it on him for a couple of minutes until he knows he's not suppose to bark and then take it out. Since it's warming up there are lots of animals out there and this really drives him nuts. He gets so excited when he's out or just looking out the window therefore we decided a muzzle might help us keep him quiet. Since he was so "busy" today he didn't even take his naps hence he's so tired now. He didn't even budge when I went to take a shower. He's sleeping on this chair we have in the living room and I decided to sit with him since he always jumps up and sit with us when we are sitting on the couch anyway and hubby thought I was mean because it's "his" couch now..haha

Since we are planning to move, I've been trying to clear up my fridges/freezers. I have a ton of food. I have two refrigerators and a freezer lol.we can actually live probably a month with all the food we have except for some stuff like milk and vegetables/fruits. Today I decided that we should eat rice for dinner. I came up with some stuff which I was pretty impressed. I made curry chicken, I had frozen beans and mushroom so I decided to just stir fry it with garlic and some soy sauce. Then it was tofu with minced pork; I just cooked it with some dark soy sauce and some chili sauce( not the Maggie sweet kind) finally fish with the tomatoes I had left in my fridge and some tomato ketchup which taste pretty good. I told hubby I was pretty impressed with the food I could come out with by just raiding what we have in the fridge and that's when he mentioned that I had a ton of food therefore it would not be that difficult *blush*..he's right :P..