The Adventures of the lizard family... and Kueh Salat

Some time ago, I decided to make Kueh Salat.

I've always loved this Nonya Kueh. The top Kaya layer is especially yummy and as a kid, I always ate the top first, and tried to give away the bottom layer of glutinous rice.

So I found this recipe online, and thought, well, how hard could it be?

Turns out that this Kueh was supposedly quite difficult to make, according to my mom and my boss.

So one Thursday morning, I started out the day by soaking the glutinous rice.

I put the rice and water in the rice cooker, and placed a plastic cover over it. The plastic cover had small holes in it. The recipe called for the rice to be soaked for several hours or overnight, so I left it as it was.

Turned out to be quite a busy day for us.

The contractor came over to help us fix up some stuff in our bathrooms.

By the time everything was done, it was about 3 in the afternoon.

We decided to go for a movie, some shopping and dinner. And I made a mental note to make the Kueh when we came back that evening.

When we got back, Ewan went to shower and I went to check on the rice.

I lifted the cover, gave a squeek and RAN OUT OF THE KITCHEN.

OH MY GOSH THERE WAS A HUGE LIZARD IN THE POT!!

AND A LITTLE ONE ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER, PROBABLY WAITING FOR HIS MOM!

How long the big one had been soaking in the rice I had no idea. I couldn't believe it actually squeezed in through the holes of the cover.

And the little one... oh man I was feeling so sad for it waiting for its mom (I think the pregnancy hormones were playing a part here), but at the same time, it was a LIZARD. I couldn't believe I was feeling that way about a LIZARD.

No pics here cos there was no way I was going back to the kitchen, and Ewan said he thought a photo would traumatize me even more so he spared me that.

So in short, Ewan finished his shower, helped me clean up my pot of rice, saved the lizards and there was no Kueh Salat that evening.

He said the soaking lizard was visibly tired and was using his tail to prop himself up above the water. URGH.

I did try again a couple of days later (with a new batch of rice of course, doubly sealed when soaking) and am proud to report that the Kueh was a success and there were no more adventures with lizards.

NZ South Island Part II - In and around Timaru

Ewan's mom and Dez live in Timaru.

So we spent a number of days there, just relaxing, exploring the town.

It's a cute little place where everything seems less than 10 minutes away.

There, we familiarized ourselves with some of the local stores like Farmers, Warehouse, and Whitcoulls.


Warehouse was especially awesome when it came to great deals for DVDs and Blu Rays.

We got the entire first season of Fringe on bluray for just $39. Heh, no surprise we kept going back. Think we grabbed about 15 DVDs/Blurays in all.

Ewan and his mom also found some time for a tennis game at one of the local clubs.

It was drizzling and really cold though, so I stayed inside the club house, taking photos :p



We also made a quick visit to Caroline Bay.

The local beach front is known for its fairs and rose garden. But we went in the evening - about 8 plus, and though the sun hadn't set, it was so chilly so all we managed was a quick stroll at the fair (the rides looked so rickety though!) and goofing around at the fitness corner.


The great thing about staying at Dez's place is that he's got neighbours who keep sheep, cows and donkeys.

A couple of times after dinner, we would take a stroll down the lane, and go bug the animals.

SHEEEEEP!!!!


They've really got a herd mentality so whatever the leader did, everyone else followed.

Except for this guy...


... who let us pose for pictures with him.



There were three donkeys which were sooo cool.


We would pluck the weeds near the fence and feed them and they loved it!


Once, we tried giving them a carrot, but I think they had never had them before and were kind of wary.


We learnt from a young girl who lived there that their names were Charlie, Sinda and something else that I can't remember.


Another favourite animal of ours in New Zealand, were of course the ducks.

These, we saw at the Botanic Gardens in Timaru.


Ewan's mom had packed a few slices of bread so we could feed them.

Ewan's mom also took us to the Timaru local museum.

This little place was really interesting.

It had everything, from the town's history, to the native wildlife of New Zealand, and stuff about the Maori culture.

The giganto Albatross, which apparently after it takes flight from the colony, doesn't return for another five years.


Here's also where we learnt about the poor Moa, which is now extinct.

The huge 7 metre tall bird was hunted by the Maori, and often fell into deep pits.

Its immense weight meant it could not fly out.

The whole species eventually died out, though according to Dez, some people claim to have seen it in recent times.

It's leg itself is already as tall as a human being.


That's about it for Timaru, and we definitely hope to go back some day, this time with Christian (not in belly but running around), to visit Grandma! :)

The Nursery...

... is on the way!

My only work out the past few months...

Baby C - Off to the doc's!

I had no idea which gynae to go to, so I turned to the internet.

All Ewan and I decided was that we would rather have a female gynae, preferably located at either Thomson Medical Centre or Mount Alvernia, because of the proximity to our workplace.

I gave Mount Alvernia a call, and a really helpful lady emailed me some links and contacts of doctors.

Mount Alvernia only had a couple of female doctors based there, so I turned my attention to the docs at Thomson Medical.

Thus began my journey of calling several clinics.

Alot of the docs I called were really popular, with waiting lists of three to four weeks.

Of course, this being our first baby, we didn't want to wait so long to confirm the pregnancy!

Each clinic I called would say the same things - 'Congratulations! When was your last period and did you take a home test?'

- which made me feel a little awkward, since the whole purpose of me seeing the doc was to confirm the pregnancy. I wasn't even sure if congratulations were in order yet! (Yes, despite taking eight tests)

I guess, it was still strange getting used to the idea of being pregnant. I felt the same as before, had no signs of morning sickness, no baby bump yet, etc. I wasn't even sure how I was supposed to feel! I carried on with my usual activities, played tennis and ate everything and anything I wanted to.

I finally managed to get an appointment with Dr Caroline Khi at Thomson Medical Centre. Dr Khi had pretty good reviews online, most of them saying she was a sweet, soft spoken lady, which we confirmed later :)

Had to wait about a week before we finally visited her on the 14th of September.

The minute we stepped into her office, she greeted us with a huge "Congratulations!"

"Urm thanks?" I said.

Don't they get it?!! I'm still not sure if I'm pregnant!

Right on cue, Dr Khi said, "ok let's see how far along you are", and she led me to the ultrasound machine.

This is what we saw.


Our first photographs of Baby C!

I thought it (now we know "it" is a "he") looked like a grain of rice, floating in a kind of space bubble.

"Yup", she chuckled, " you definitely are pregnant."

She showed me where my uterus was, my bladder, where Baby C was and the tiny yolk sak that would provide him nourishment till the placenta develops and he starts to take food from me.

Baby C was a mere 0.33cm in length and I was 5 weeks and 3 days pregnant!

I still couldn't believe what was on the ultrasound screen, and my sweet husband later told me that he was so moved when he saw the image that he had to stop himself from crying in the clinic :)

That evening, I met some of my NUS friends for supper and they kept ribbing us about when we would have a baby.

I had to stop from secretly smiling to myself as Ewan and I shrugged and brushed them off.

We wanted our families to be the first to hear the good news!

Baby C - the first signs

It was barely a month after our wedding one early Saturday morning, and Ewan was leaving for work from my parent's place. Our place wasn't ready yet so we were still in between either my parent's place or Ewan's mom's place.

I got up to give him a morning hug and the world suddenly swirled around me... WHOA. DIZZY.

After a couple of minutes I felt alright again, got back into bed and Ewan left for work.

Little did I know that that was probably the first sign of little C's existence.

On the 31st of August, I realised I had missed my period for about a week.

That day, I bought a home test kit and told Ewan about it. Excited, we waited till we got off work, and I did the test at his mom's place in Bedok.


The results were far from clear.

I thought I saw a faint line, but it looked like some kind of watermark or something. Ewan wasn't sure either.

Oh well, we thought. The test kit said that sometimes, if its too early in the pregnancy, the hormone levels wouldn't be high enough, so the line might be very faint. Take another test in a few days, it said.

Of course, I was a little impatient and took another test the following night, on the 1st of September, heheh.


AARGGGH. Still faint. More tests please!!

Ok I kind of went nuts and kept testing the next few days. Plus the pharmacies were having some promotions where you could buy two test kits and get another free, so I happily bought... several.

2nd September morning:


3rd September morning:


3rd September night:


4th September night:


5th September morning:


And finally, 9th September afternoon:


While most people do one or maybe two tests, I actually did a total of eight.

Looking back, the results of the tests were pretty clear eh?

But I was still so unsure even after I made an appointment with the doc.

I mean, we'd only been married a month or so... were we really that blessed??? :)

Our Honeymoon in New Zealand's South Island - Part I

The recent Christchurch Earthquake hit close to home for us, because we were there barely a month ago, and Ewan's mom lives just two hours away from Christchurch.

But rather than drone on about how sad the situation is, this post is going to be about the immense beauty of the country, and the wonderful, relaxing time Ewan and I had there.




We decided to go to New Zealand for our Honeymoon for several reasons. First, we wanted somewhere that was peaceful, quiet, just somewhere to chill. Also, because of the time of year, locations like the US (we had initially wanted to go to New York) and Europe were far too cold. And with Christian coming along soon, the 10 hour flight wasn't quite as daunting as the 24+hour flight to the US. Plus Ewan's mom lives there, so it would be great to visit her.

My parents sent us to the airport on the 2nd of January. Because I was 5 months pregnant, I had to prepare flight socks and a letter from the doc stating I was fit to fly.


The weather was great when we arrived. Blue skies, sun shining, temperature around 17-21 degrees... it was just perfect and comfortable. After a quick look around Christchurch, we went straight to Dez's place. Here's the gorgeous view from the guest bedroom.


We could see big dogs and sheep lazing around the neighbours' backyards. The neighbours also had donkeys and cows... but more on that later.

One of the first places we visited was Lake Tekapo. It was along the way, on our drive to Mt Cook and the colour of the lake was incredible - a bright turquoise colour, caused by glacial waters.


There was also a cute chapel by the lake, which is a photo opportunity for tourists.


While skipping flat stones into the lake, we met a Jack Russell called Jack. The minute his owner stopped his truck, Jack leapt into the water (which was really cold!) and swam to a shallow spot where he looked out at everyone else on the shore.


He must have known the lake so well, to know the exact spot to stand! It's hard to believe he's the same breed as Cleo. He must have been twice her size! His owner then started throwing large sticks and logs into the water - and Jack went for every single piece. He also leapt in when other visitors like us threw logs in as well.


A short 10 min drive from the lake is the St John Observatory, that overlooks the lake.

The view from the top was amazing.



We finally got to Mt Cook, at about lunch time. Had quiches, sandwiches and pies (a typical NZ lunch) at the cafe, which looked out to the mountain range. The clouds were a bit low so we didn't manage to see Mt Cook that clearly. But no matter, we were all still in awe of the grandeur of the mountain range - something that's just so different from what we're used to in Singapore.


Obligatory picture with a bronze Statue of Sir Edmund Hillary.


We took a half hour hike around the foot of the Mountain range...



... crossed a bridge suspended over a gushing river...



... saw sights that came straight out of the Lord of the Rings Movies.




... and saw a Paradise duck, her mate and her ducklings. We only found out that this native duck was very rare and endangered after we visited some museums in Christchurch! Good thing Ewan snapped a shot of her!


Took a long drive back to Timaru in the evening, where we had dinner at Robbies, bar/restaurant kind of place. Kudos to Dez who kindly drove us the whole way!

Wanton Mee and Mango Pudding!

Made dinner again tonight!

I'm really starting to like cooking. The stuff I try is awfully simple, but there's nothing like the sense of satisfaction when the food starts to look like... well what it's supposed to look like. And even better when it tastes decent :)

Wedding Night Advice - from 1894

Before we got married, my Aunt sent me this.

===================================================

copyright 1894 The Madison Institute.
===================================================
The following is a reprint from The Madison Institute Newsletter,
Fall Issue, 1894:
INSTRUCTION AND ADVICE FOR THE YOUNG BRIDE
on the Conduct and Procedure of the Intimate and Personal Relationships of the Marriage State for the Greater Spiritual Sanctity of this Blessed Sacrament and the Glory of God by Ruth Smythers, beloved wife of The Reverend L.D. Smythers
Pastor of the Arcadian Methodist Church of the Eastern Regional Conference
Published in the year of our Lord 1894
Spiritual Guidance Press
New York City

INSTRUCTION AND ADVICE FOR THE YOUNG BRIDE
To the sensitive young woman who has had the benefits of proper
upbringing, the wedding day is, ironically, both the happiest and
most terrifying day of her life. On the positive side, there is the
wedding itself, in which the bride is the central attraction in a
beautiful and inspiring ceremony, symbolizing her triumph in securing
a male to provide for all her needs for the rest of her life. On the
negative side, there is the wedding night, during which the bride
must pay the piper, so to speak, by facing for the first time the
terrible experience of sex.

At this point, dear reader, let me concede one shocking truth.Some
young women actually anticipate the wedding night ordeal with
curiosity and pleasure! Beware such an attitude! A selfish and
sensual husband can easily take advantage of such a bride. One
cardinal rule of marriage should never be forgotten: GIVE LITTLE,
GIVE SELDOM, AND ABOVE ALL, GIVE GRUDGINGLY. Otherwise what could
have been a proper marriage could become an orgy of sexual lust.

On the other hand, the bride's terror need not be extreme. While sex
it at best revolting and at worse rather painful, it has to be
endured, and has been by women since the beginning of time, and is
compensated for by the monogamous home and by the children produced
through it. It is useless, in most cases, for the bride to prevail upon the
groom to forego the sexual initiation. While the ideal husband would
be one who would approach his bride only at her request and only for
the purpose of begetting offspring, such nobility and unselfishness
cannot be expected from the average man.

Most men, if not denied, would demand sex almost every day. The wise
bride will permit a maximum of two brief sexual experiences weekly
during the first months of marriage. As time goes by she should
make every effort to reduce this frequency.

Feigned illness, sleepiness, and headaches are among the wife's best
friends in this matter. Arguments, nagging, scolding, and bickering
also prove very effective, if used in the late evening about an hour
before the husband would normally commence his seduction.
Clever wives are ever on the alert for new and better methods of
denying and discouraging the amorous overtures of the husband. A
good wife should expect to have reduced sexual contacts to once a
week by the end of the first year of marriage and to once a month by
the end of the fifth year of marriage.

By their tenth anniversary many wives have managed to complete their child
bearing and have achieved the ultimate goal of terminating all sexual
contacts with the husband. By this time she can depend upon his love for
the children and social pressures to hold the husband in the home. Just
as she should be ever alert to keep the quantity of sex as low as
possible, the wise bride will pay equal attention to limiting the kind and
degree of sexual contacts. Most men are by nature rather perverted, and
if given half a chance, would engage in quite a variety of the most
revolting practices. These practices include among others performing the
normal act in abnormal positions; mouthing the female body; and offering
their own vile bodies to be mouthed in turn.

Nudity, talking about sex, reading stories about sex, viewing
photographs and drawings depicting or suggesting sex are the
obnoxious habits the male is likely to acquire if permitted.

A wise bride will make it the goal never to allow her husband to see
her unclothed body, and never allow him to display his unclothed body
to her. Sex, when it cannot be prevented, should be practiced only in
total darkness. Many women have found it useful to have thick cotton
nightgowns for themselves and pajamas for their husbands. These
should be donned in separate rooms. They need not be removed durning
the sex act. Thus, a minimum of flesh is exposed.

Once the bride has donned her gown and turned off all the lights, she
should lie quietly upon the bed and await her groom. When he comes
groping into the room she should make no sound to guide him in her
direction, lest he take this as a sign of encouragement. She should
let him grope in the dark. There is always the hope that he will
stumble and incur some slight injury which she can use as an excuse
to deny him sexual access.

When he finds her, the wife should lie as still as possible. Bodily
motion on her part could be interpreted as sexual excitement by the
optimistic husband.

If he attempts to kiss her on the lips she should turn her head
slightly so that the kiss falls harmlessly on her cheek instead. If
he attempts to kiss her hand, she should make a fist. If he lifts her
gown and attempts to kiss her anyplace else she should quickly pull
the gown back in place, spring from the bed, and announce that
nature calls her to the toilet. This will generally dampen his
desire to kiss in the forbidden territory.

If the husband attempts to seduce her with lascivious talk, the wise
wife will suddenly remember some trivial non-sexual question to ask
him. Once he answers she should keep the conversation going, no
matter how frivolous it may seem at the time.

Eventually, the husband will learn that if he insists on having
sexual contact, he must get on with it without amorous embellishment.
The wise wife will allow him to pull the gown up no farther than the
waist, and only permit him to open the front of his pajamas to thus
make connection.

She will be absolutely silent or babble about her housework while his
huffing and puffing away. Above all, she will lie perfectly still and
never under any circumstances grunt or groan while the act is in
progress. As soon as the husband has completed the act, the wise
wife will start nagging him about various minor tasks she wishes him
to perform on the morrow. Many men obtain a major portion of their
sexual satisfaction from the peaceful exhaustion immediately after
the act is over. Thus the wife must insure that there is no peace
in this period for him to enjoy. Otherwise, he might be encouraged
to soon try for more.

One heartening factor for which the wife can be grateful is the fact
that the husband's home, school, church, and social environment have
been working together all through his life to instill in him a deep
sense of guilt in regards to his sexual feelings, so that he comes to
the marriage couch apologetically and filled with shame, already half
cowed and subdued. The wise wife seizes upon this advantage and
relentlessly pursues her goal first to limit, later to annihilate
completely her husband's desire for sexual expression.

copyright 1894 The Madison Institute

If mel can cook...

I recently tried my hand at making Shui Jiao, or Chinese pork, prawn and chive dumplings.

Here's how it turned out...



Ewan said they were great, so I hope it really was!

In other news, here's the beef we bought from our New Zealand trip, together with mashed potatoes, and sauteed onions and mushrooms.


Yum!

Christmas 2010

It's been one of the best years of my life.

2010 was the year we got married, got our first place and found out we're having our first kid.

We also spent our first Christmas together as a married couple.

Christmas Eve, we had a dinner at Aunty Mimi's place, where we had a grand time with the usual Christmas fare (clam chowder soup and roast beef!!), as well as playing with the two cutie kids.


Then we headed for Midnight Mass at our Church. Will probably one of our last midnight Masses for a few years as Christian (yes that's the lil' one's name!) comes along next May!

Following that, we headed to the MSC Christmas party and ate and ate till 4am and almost exploded. Gosh, stretch marks, pls stay hidden!

When we got home, it was time to open each other's presents.

My dear husband had wrapped his camera in a shoe box - loaded of picutres of clues as to where to find my presents!

So at 5 something in the morning, I was hunting and digging in living room, bedrooms, bomb shelter, you get the idea. And I was grandly rewarded for my efforts. Thanks for ALL the presents dear, I loved them!



We slept a few more hours and then headed to Aunty Lillian's place for Christmas Lunch! More eating! And the kids went crazy with Ewan, as they suddenly decided he was Satay and they 'barbequed' him on the grill, chopped him up and served him to the rest of us. Yummy!




After that we headed over to the club to pick up the 4.5kg Turkey for our Christmas dinner with my Mom's side of the family. It was cool cos my grandma and aunts were coming over to our new place for the first time, and they really liked it. We also opened the rest of our presents and I'm really glad we got something for everyone - just made the whole season of giving feel so nice and warm.















































Boxing day came and after chilling and lazing around in the afternoon, we went for Evening Mass and then to Shireen's place for some INCREDIBLE Indian food. Goodness, I think I had never tasted such awesome Nasi Bryani, Butter Chicken and Naan in my life. To top it off there was also Lasagna and Mudpie.



The food was great, but most of all, it was the joy and love shared among family and friends that makes Christmas what it is.


The best way to celebrate the birth of our Lord. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!