Flowers

Don't you just love seeing those lovely blooms? Well I do, looking at those beautiful flowers just relaxes me. 

Besides planting vegetables, I am also planting some flowers. I was at the market the other day and saw this lady selling this wicked looking rose and decided to buy. I have repotted it and fingers crossed that it will grow well and not die out like my last few roses. 

The funky looking rose from the Market.

This is the rose I got my mum for mother's day... it seems to have mutated...

Besides the roses, I have also planted the lily bulbs I managed to get when I was having my holiday in Australia and they seem to be doing well. 

I put a layer of mulch on top to try and keep the soil cool and less moisture being evaporated as the days gets really hot. So far they seem to be growing well. 

A few days ago I fed them with Blood and Bone Meal fertilisers, hope this will give them a boost, after that I have since moved the plants to a spot where they get more sun but only the morning sun. 

After a few weeks it starts to grow

Gets a little taller

Taller again

One of the plants started to have a bud

Cucumber and Capsicums

Sooooo.... I have not blogged for a year?! Seriously I got that lazy didn't I? Hahaha...

So let's start with my first 2014 blog post with what's in my garden. Before that begins, I reckon my blog now and hopefully onwards will be more on tropical gardening, since I have picked up gardening as my hobby so that will be pretty much it. 

My recent trip to Australia and yielded me with good produce, produce meaning I got heaps and heaps of seeds back to Kuching. I tried to get seeds that might be able to withstand the blaring Malaysian Sun. 

The first post will be pretty much on my cucumbers and capsicums. One of the first seed I planted when I got back was my cucumber telegraph improved type. These are supposedly to have dark green skin colour and not a lot of seeds which is great for salads. 

Cucumber Telegraph Improved

These cucumbers were the fastest to germinate. Took about 3 days for the seed to germinate and now the true leaves are appearing. I planted two of these and will keep you guys updated on the progress. 

Next of are my capsicums or bell peppers. The ones I planted are Californian wonder. I never had much luck with capsicums as they keep getting attack by white flies and aphids which eventually killed the plants. This round I hope that it will make it through. A few plants did die as I over fertilised it by mistake and another few seems to be good (fingers crossed). 

This capsicum looks pretty happy... hopefully it makes it through

They seem to be doing good now and I do find a few annoying white flies underneath the leaves and I just squish it with my thumb. Annoying buggers!!! Will keep you guys posted on the capsicum growth too =)

I will stop here for now. Blessed day peeps =D

Obligation VS Courtesy

Obligations VS. Courtesy, are these two of the same meaning? Actually if we look these two words up in the dictionary they are totally different in meaning. 

Obligation: Something by which a person is bound or obliged to do certain things, which arises out of a sense of duty or result from custom, law and etc.

Courtesy: A courteous, respectful or considerate act or expression. 

I believe between these two, some people are abusing their rights and it really get on my nerves. So what exactly is the issue here? Let's do a recap shall we. 

First and foremost, I did not do anything what-so-ever that was backstabbing this person. But I have no idea why whenever this person comes to work will show that sour face as if we or I owe this person a lot of money. I mean da fuck this is seriously and ATTITUDE problem. If you have issues just say it don't show the fucking face to us. Once or twice is ok but this has been something that has been prolonged and it gets on the nerves.

This person mentioned we have done something that made 'the person' mad but never clarified what. But one questioned asked ticked me off. It was about lunch and that we did not ask the person to join. I explain that I went off with friends but the replied I got was I listen first. I was like wtf.

To me I am not obliged to ask you out for lunch it was basic courtesy to ask you. I am not going to always ask you to join. FYI, when you go out having lunch with your friends you basically shun us aside and we did not say a single thing and we didn't mind. Everyone has their own lives for goodness sake. We are not obligated to keep asking you out for lunch everytime. 

And small issues which can be solved EASILY can tick this person off....I mean honestly it is really annoying when you are off on study leave and questions like these are being asked and last message you get was we make u angry... honestly....I don't find it intriguing nor amusing I think it is down right childish and inconsiderate... 

Gastronomía de Kuching - Singapore Delights @ Lee Coffee Shop (Stutong)

Good Food is all around, you just need to hunt them down. Kuching is a city with a lot of places to pig out but where exactly are the best places to dig in? Well here I am here helping out a bit by seeking out places with good food in Kuching.

Singapore is only an hours plus flight time away from Kuching and the funny thing is we can get all sorts of food down here in Kuching but it is hard to find Singaporean dishes down here, namely 'Mee Siam' and delicious 'Chwee Kueh' (Steamed Rice Flour cakes). The later is more easily found in Kuching but good ones are extremely rare.

Lee's Coffee Shop @ Stutong

What is Mee Siam and Chwee Kueh? Mee Siam is a local dish of Singapore and Malaysia. Basically Mee Siam or "Siamese noodles" is actually a dish consisting of thin rice vermicelli and topped with prawns and eggs and coated with a sweet, sourish and spicy gravy. This dish can be very addictive and appetizing. 

Delicious Mee Siam

Fancy a bite?

'Chwee Kueh' or "steamed rice cake" are basically rice flour mix with water and steamed and it is usually topped with Chinese preserved turnip.

Chwee Kueh!

Really good combination of Sauteed preserved turnips and rice flour base!

So where exactly can we find good Singaporean dishes in Kuching? Well let me bring you guys to this place. Lee Coffee Shop @ Stutong has this stall that sells authentic Singaporean dishes.  Her 'Mee Siam' and 'Chwee Kueh' is out of this world! Her name is Aunt Lucy and she is a Singaporean married to a local here. Her 'Chwee Kueh' is soft and tender and basically it just melts in your mouth, the sauteed preserved turnips are really fragrant and goes really well with the soft steamed rice flour base. Her 'Mee Siam' has really good sourish not sweet and spicy gravy topped with generous amount of prawns and sliced eggs, the vermicelli is not too soft leaving it with a 'springy' texture. The oyster pancake is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside which is really good it tastes somewhat like fried yam cakes that we have down here and the scallions brings the taste of the dish up another notch. 

Oyster pancake

Crispy on the outside, succulent on the inside

Her stall doesn't only sell 'Mee Siam' and 'Chwee Kueh' but there are also oyster pancake (Sg style) and Hokkien Mee. All of the dishes are equally good. But one should take note the 'Chwee Kueh' is only sold during morning and Mondays are off days. Occasionally she is closed, so it depends on luck. 'Mee Siam' are sold on public holidays and weekends only. Oyster pancake are sold evening hours and weekends. 

So wait no more and pop over this weekend to have a taste of it!

View Lee's Coffee Shop @ Stutong (老李) in a larger map

Hooping the veggie patch!

As September is ending, it is also a sign that the Monsoon season is approaching. Usually by this month, Kuching will get quite a fair amount of rain. Rain is really good but it is not good for my babies, any torrential downpour would just flatten them! So after a few search online I decided to invest and make a better home for my 'veggie patch' well it is more like veggie pots...er....heh....

Protection!!

As I was saying the rain will kill my babies and after a good search I decided to make row hoops over the pots to protect them from the Sun and torrential rain. The Sun is really unforgiving, I thought of letting my babies get some sunlight and by noon it has completely dried up the soil and my poor bell pepper babies leaves started to curl so I quickly watered them and brought them into the shade. No more next time!

Happy and snugly! 

I will built a few more as I make my raised bed soon. Hmmm... what to plant... corns maybe?

Marimo~!

Recently there has been this craze on Marimo. Now what exactly is Marimo? Well Marimo is basically moss ball...YES! Moss Balls... but they aren't just any moss ball they are really cute moss balls! 

Basically one can find Marimo in Lake Akan in Japan and also in Greenland if I am not mistaken but the ones in Lake Akan is far more popular. 

Junior and Baby

I was never actually that fascinated with Marimo until one find day, this nifty shop called 100 yen started to sell them in their shop. Initially I didn't give a 2 hoots about em. But the more I look at it the more it melts my heart! It's so round and it looks soooo pretty in the bottle. Next I know I fell for it!

They look so pweety!

I got myself a junior Marimo and a Nano Marimo. Basically Nano Marimo is like baby marimo, mind you they are living organisms! I even name them! Junior is Big M and the small one is called Small M (Literal translation from Chinese). Well I would call them Junior and Baby for English. =P

Keeping Marimo is pretty simple. 

1. Don't put it under direct sunlight
2. For places with hot weather change the water weekly or every fortnightly, or necessary when water is murky
3. Don't squeeze your marimo too hard or you will end up with green fur!

Basically, they are not cheap but they make good 'pets' and it is said they bring luck and wealth too! 

Hearts~!

Noob farmer.

Recently I have been caught in this craze of planting vegetables. I am not sure why or how but I feel happy and excited when I see those seeds germinate into seedlings and from the seedling to their first leaf growing out. 

I would not deny the fact that it does take a lot of patience in taking care of them, like some veg needs at least twice watering on hot days. Always remember to shade them off from the scorching sun. When you have too much seedlings, thinning process is a must. Also the right soil is also pretty much important. 

So what have I sowed. Not much for now, but here is a list of it.

• Leafy lettuce (heat tolerant as I am living quite near to the equator)
• Bell pepper
• Baby Roma Tomatoes 
• Amaranths
• Pumpkin

My next aim is to plant 

• Carrots
• Rounded egg plant
• Corn

The darn thing is I can't get carrot seeds down here in Kuching... Will try and ask my friends to get em from Australia. 

Here are some photos of my Veggies!

Bell peppers and a few lettuce 

Baby Romas Sprouting... with do some thinning soon

Leafy Lettuce .. some died when I added too much mulch =(

I planted all my veggies in a pot as I don't want to plant them on the ground as they are exposed to many enemies and it is easier to take care of them in this way. 

我的害怕

在人生中，我們會經過很多困難的時刻。。。不管是在家庭，或感情上。。。

活在這世上二十多年。。。也經過不少的風雨。。。受過不少的煎熬。。。

說看開。。。也不是一件很容易的事。。。忘掉。。。也還有回憶。。。我中覺得我很失敗。。。感情上。。。生活上都覺得有點失敗。。。

但是。。。我覺得。。。我最失敗的是在感情上。經過了多少的傷害，感覺我的心快麻醉，每次想踏進一段愛情就有害怕和恐懼感。這也許是因為，我每次很用心的去愛，付出一個人，得到的回复是傷害，有的說他們需要朋友而已，有的說在外面孤單。。。這些傷痕都是很難忘掉的。 就像一首歌裡寫著

有些傷痕像場大火 把心燒焦難以復活， 不碰了好像忘了 恐懼卻在腦海住著。。。

這些時間我也許能放掉。。。但是這恐懼還是在我腦海裡。。。實話聽到你想去澳門，我是很開心在同一個時候害怕及捨不得。。。害怕失去，就像以前的感情，心裡很亂。。。但是這種感覺你應該是不知道吧。。。我很怕。。你去了澳門後。。就會把我忘掉。。。拋棄我。。。我很怕再到回一個黑暗。。。悲傷的世界裡。。。一個忘了什麼是笑。。。開心的人。。。有多一次受到很大的傷害。。。

我承認。。。當我付出。。我也求林一方也有個回報。。。就像有一首歌。。。寫著

誰不貪圖 誰不 求回報付出

我只要求，只要求能搞有個長久的感情，能一起走下半生的另一半。。。真不懂是不是要求太高。。。

真的害怕。。。。。。。

改變

我活到這把年紀。。。看了不少東西也學了不少。。。最近我學到了一個新的東西。。。那就是人的心是很快的改變。

在一個短期之內。。。他們可以很愛你。。。也可以在短期之內傷害你，放棄你。他們的理由多得很。反正。。。受到傷害的不是他們而是我。。。我該學會自私，不在為別人著想，不在說服他們，不在付出。

When Love Finds YoU

There are times in life when you just want to give up on certain things but things starts to turn around and you feel that it is not that bad at all.

I want us to be happy always~

Take Love for example, after my first horrible relationship, a wound so deep that until today the scar will remain in my heart. I move on with my life until recently things took another turn. Love found me.

I never thought I could love someone as anymore until I met dear. I believe that it is fate that brought us together. Even though my first failed relationship was also a fate, I will still choose to believe that meeting you and loving you is a fate and present from heaven that is so great that words alone cannot express it.

You are the doctor of my heart. Take good care of it =)

I know that you went through a bad relationship and felt that it is not fate. I choose to believe it is fate that brought us together and initially I wasn't sure how much I could love you but now I could say it out loud that I love you more than anything in my life. I want you to know that you are so very special to me and I want you to be happy, I want us to be happy. I want to walk with you down this road of life, to walk with you will we are old and wrinkled and to the day I am buried in dirt.

I love you more for each tomorrow

What I can assure you is that I will love you more for every tomorrow. I love you dear so much.

A quickie update

The moment I stepped into the 'real' working world life has certainly changed. I would say there are so much unexpected things in life that we might not see.

Working life is good, as a fresh grad I can't say much about the pay but as an accounting graduate this is an opportunity for me to learn a lot of stuff. Whatever I have learn in my books well not all are applicable in the working world but there are still bit and pieces that still can be used.

I am trying my best to work hard and do my best. But not all things has been smooth sailing for me.... this time I chose to keep quiet from office politics but it came attacking me well... one thing I have learned is that in any office you may be in there will always be office politics it all depends on how you want to face it and deal with it. For me I chose to ignore it, give in but not all as I still want to be myself.

Peak season is near now so life is getting hectic. Do I like it? Hell I do, but at this time I do miss some of my best buds ^^

Wish everyone well and God Bless everyone.

Toodles.

Another New Year. New Resolutions

Another has gone by and another new one has arrived! Welcome 2011! So new year, new resolutions ought to be made.


My new year resolutions would be...

• to do well in my work
• To complete my CPA soon
• Loose a few pounds
• Walk in the path God has set for me.

So what are your resolutions?

The First Step into the real world.

So much has happened for the past 1 1/2 months. I had a short and brief period working at the old language center, I was happy to got back and work and get to meet up with my old colleagues and buddies.

Within that month I also made some new friends. That was the happy part... the most disappointing part working there again, was the management. I felt unhappy there, as I felt the management is exploiting their staffs and grinding and making life a living hell there. Don't make me start with the sad facilities. The only thing the provide staff is water....which occasionally runs out of stock, but to be fair within that one month, water was abundant or so to say. There were so many stupid and unnecessary restrictions, which makes working experience there very unpleasant.

The office politics there was slightly better but not really, anyways soon, by the grace of God, I got another job, a job that I wanted to go for, that is an audit assistant. I quickly accepted the offer and quit the center, I felt bad about doing that but to be fair, I studied accounting and not teaching and I would love to get a go in the audit field and start learning. Pay wise it may be small but I can learn! That is important.

Once I was in the new office, I felt at ease and I settled down quite fast, facilities provided to the staffs was adequate as compared to my old workplace, there was so much difference. Work time was more normal.

My colleagues over at my new workplace are fun and friendly people. At least I could save some money while working here for I can bring my food and heat it up, I could have warm nice meal for lunch.

I am enjoying myself and I am ready to face the challenges of life and ever so ready to absorbed new knowledge. Wish me luck.

Life...what is life?

Recently, there are so many questions that is circulating and popping up in my mind. Questions like... am I too straight forward and blunt? Am I too verbal? Why is life so complicated? Why is love so complicated and feeling lost.

In such a short time, so much has happened. Frictions, misunderstandings, failed relationships (or so to say), failure to obtain a job for so long. Am I seeing Kuching from another view? Should leave this place? Is it God calling and nudging me to leave this city?

So many questions, but so little answers. Someone you care is not answering your phone and you do not know what is wrong, messages left not replied and it starts to make you think, what went wrong? What is the problem? Was there is misunderstanding somewhere? Gosh I really would love to know.

Life oh life, why oh why do you have to be so harsh. I am currently lost for words. It is time, I guess it is time for a time-out.

Malaysia - A cultural country~!

If someone was to ask me, what are the perks of being a Malaysian. My answer would definitely be the unity of the different races and culture. Malaysia is one of the few countries where I believe people from different races live together harmoniously, or in this case Sarawak in particular. In Sarawak alone there are many cultures fusing together, we have Chinese, Iban, Malay, Indians, Kelabit and many more living in this state situated in the island of Borneo.

I am a Kuchingite and spend my years growing up in this lovely slow pace city. I mean if compared to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, Kuching is a laid back city. But of course in Sarawak it is the busiest and most hectic city.

Over the years, Kuching has developed so much, one thing that has yet to change is the closeness of the people. Recently, the Muslim celebrated Hari Raya or Eid ul Fitr. After a month of fasting or Ramadan, they will celebrate it with open house and visiting of relatives. This is the holy month in the Islamic culture.

The delicious food, From top: Ketupat, Beef Rendang, Masak Merah, Curry Chicken, and Nasi Kuning (Yellow Rice)

This is also the time for me to catch up with my Muslim friends, as we are all busy with our work and study lives. This was the time where we do visiting and get together to share stories and laughter. Another best thing about Hari Raya Aidilfitri is the food. My friends really make good Malay food. Curry, Beef Rendang, Masak Hitam, Masak Merah, Satay is all out of this world. Not to mentioned the delicious raya cakes, thinking about it now is making my mouth water. This Hari Raya was indeed fun and meaningful and I look forward to more of it.

Best part is catching up and having fun with friends ^^

On another issue I remember when I was young, we used to have an Indian neighbour. I remember during Deepavali they will make Muruku and give some to us. They were great neighbours, at times I go over to their house and hang out. Sighs~ those was indeed the good old days.

So that is it, one of the perks of being a Malaysian!

시금치나물Ｓｉｇｅｕｍｃｈｉ ｎａｍｏｏl

I always have this soft spot for Korean, I mean heck, besides their hot looking actors and actresses, they have pretty good food too! Some of the Korean dishes are pretty simple to prepare, example the spinach side dish(시금치나물Ｓｉｇｅｕｍｃｈｉ　ｎａｍｏｏl).

Since I am a newbie at this, I for one decided to try off the easy ones first. Sigeumchi namool is really easy to make and nice too with the plus side of being healthy. I had it for lunch and dinner, but I decided to modify a bit of my dinner's version by adding in a bit of shao xing wine, which is not bad.

With Hwa Ramyun


With Ｒｉｃｅ


Kimchi!


시금치나물Ｓｉｇｅｕｍｃｈｉ　ｎａｍｏｏl

Maybe in my next post I will show you guys how to make it.

Review - The Expendables

Just yesterday, I dropped by the Cinema to watch 'The Expendables', a recent release featuring big names such as Sylvester Stallion, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Dolph Lungren, Randy Couture and David Zayas and I would say special cast Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So what really is The Expendables about? Well, a short synopsis of the movie;
THE EXPENDABLES is a hard-hitting action/thriller about a group of mercenaries hired to infiltrate a... read more

THE EXPENDABLES is a hard-hitting action/thriller about a group of mercenaries hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Written, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone, THE EXPENDABLES brings together a dynamic cast including Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke.

Casts:

• Sylvester Stallion (Barney Ross)
• Jason Statham (Lee Christmas)
• Jet Li ( Yin Yang)
• Dolph Lundgren (Gunner Jensen)
• Eric Roberts (James Munroe)
• Randy Couture (Toll Road)
• Steve Austin (Paine)
• David Zayas (General Garza)
• Giselle Itie (Sandra)
• Terry Crews (Hale Caesar)
• Mickey Rourke (Tools)
• Gary Daniels (The Brit)
  

So how good was this movie? As a typical Stallion movie, it is an action pack movie, where macho man are on to save the world. Part of the movie has some comedy in it, which is pretty much vague, I mean you really have to get the joke to laugh. In this movie Jet Li was not really the hero anymore, the hero was of course focused more on Stallion and Statham, but nevertheless Li showed off his martial arts movements very well here.

I thought Schwarzenegger part was a bit lame and boring, I mean this was the part where it was suppose to be funny but you go like, 'What the hell are they blabbing about'. Parts of the movie was boring, where all the talking took place. The action came in when Stallion and Statham was at an Island called Veilna or Veilnda or something that starts with a V. Where Stallion met a woman whom he loves or not? (You go and watch). Something happened in the island and they tried to bring the lady away which she refused. Once back in their safe spot, Stallion couldn't forget about the woman and decided to go back alone, but his friends wouldn't let him and they joined him into a task of bloodshed.

Want to know more about the movie? Watch it yourself. If you are a die hard fan of Stallion do go and watch it. If you like action pack movies, not a bad movie to watch. If you are into romance, not really one you would go for.

So I rate this movie

The Rain Tree Restaurant @ BCCK

Western Food is abundant in Kuching but to go to a place with a good environment and at the same time serving good western food, there aren't many.

Over the years, the city of Kuching has been growing and developing at an acceptable pace. I wouldn't say it is really fast but it is as I said acceptable. As people from other places starts to flock into the city, as the number of expatriates increases, the lifestyle of the people here has also changed. Over the years international brands has been making their presence known in this middle size city. Some are doing well, such as Starbucks Coffee, Secret Recipe, boutiques and much more.

The demand for variety of food and fine dining places has also certainly increased. The recent opening of the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching has marked yet another mile stone for the City of Kuching, being the first purposed built convention centre in the island of Borneo. It has already managed to attract a few international conventions to choose it as the place to be. Another further development for the convention centre was the opening of it's fine dining restaurant called The Rain Tree Restaurant.

This mid-size restaurant located at the east side of the building (as you enter it) is nicely designed with the Sarawak native tribal designs. The restaurants integrates both Western and Asian delights into their menu, but do bare in mind that the restaurant serves mainly western food.

Using nature to create this water feature.

The service at the restaurant was good, waitress were attentive and the supervisor was friendly and approachable. The atmosphere of the restaurant was cozy, gives a warm and welcoming feeling. The choice of menu was good, waitress or waiter was well exposed to the menu and was able to recommend when inquired.

While waiting for the food, fresh breads are being served together with butter. The drinks are not bad at the same time not that great either. I opted for Lobster Bisque and Duck breast with herbs.

Mushroom Soup

Lobster Bisque

The Lobster Bisque was good, It wasn't too salty nor too bland, it was just right. As for my duck, it was good too, the meat was tender and juicy and the black-pepper brings out the taste of it. I did try bits and pieces of the dishes my friends ordered. The mushroom soup was thick and delicious. The Spring chicken served with rice was good, especially the rice, I would recommend that if you do drop by at the place do try the spring chicken. The rest of the dishes was not too shabby, salmon was well grilled and the rack of lamb was tasty too.

Spring Chicken With rice

Grilled Salmon

Duck Breast

Giant Prawns

Complimentary chocolates

My overall impression of the restaurant is good. I think it is a good place to dine with your family and friends, that is if you are not too price conscious. I would warned that the pricing for The Rain Tree Restaurant is expensive.

So, verdict... Would I recommend The Rain Tree to everyone?

I think it is a restaurant that is good to bring your family for some big occasions, the restaurant is a bit far as it is located at the Isthmus area where plans is to built up that area into another part of the City of Kuching. It is slowly developing place. So in case you want to celebrate some special occasion do consider The Rain Tree Restaurant @ BCCK. For more photos please click HERE.

Getting to Borneo Convention Centre Kuching or The Rain Tree Restaurant. For large map click here.