Breakfast at Pancake Parlour

Pancake Parlour is an awesome place. Why? Because it's the only restaurant that is open 24 hours a day! This morning Gaz and I sent my car to the car spa for some pampering. It'll get it's annual service, some detailing and cleaning of the windows (they used to wash the car too, but no more of that since water restrictions came into place. Instead we got a voucher for a free car wash), and freshening up of the air filters. We sent it in at 8am, then walked next door to Pancake Parlour for an early big breakfast. It's the only restaurant nearby that is open at the hour.

This is Gaz's plate - he ordered the Bacon and Egg Breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon rashers and two buttermilk pancakes with whipped butter.

My plate - I ordered the Traditional Farmer's Breakfast consisting of home made hash browns, two free range poached eggs, and two buttermilk pancakes with whipped butter on top. The hash brown were thin strips of potatoes deep fried... a bit too greasy for me this morning but I still like the crunch. The pancakes were just heavenly, and what can say about the whipped butter. I love butter, whipped butter is even better!

The scrambled eggs were wonderfully made, golden and fluffy. Delicious!

So Terribly Hot

It's been crazily hot here this week. The mercury's been at high 30's reaching 40. It is going to be 43c tomorrow. It is the hottest week ever for 100 years, no kidding. I do not have air conditioning in my house so I do it the Malaysian way... drive to the nearest shopping mall and spend the whole night there till it's cooler to go home!

Australian Open

The tennis is in town at the moment! I remembered the first year I was in Melbourne studying my undergrad and I chose to go home to M'sia the very first week summer break arrived. My Mauritian friend questioned me as to why I wanted to go home for 3 whole months and not enjoy Melbourne more, such as the Australian Open. This has stuck in my mind since then, almost ten years ago. So yesterday, Gaz and I took the train to the Rod Laver Arena to watch the tennis. Here are some pics we took during my tennis experience.

Seeing a crowd of people, we neared the court and saw this player. 'Who is this??' I asked Gaz. He answered me with an incredulous look, 'That's NADAL!'. Oopss.. Nadal, ranked World No. 1 tennis player.. and I didn't recognise him.

 

More of Nadal.

 

Elena Dementieva - what a nice outfit

 

The power of the serve

 

Dominika Cibulkova who eventually lost to Elena 6-2; 6-2

'Eh? Where's the ball??' Fernando Gonzalez who beat World No. 4, highest ranking Scot Andy Murray

CNY Dinner

Gaz's family and I went out for a premature CNY dinner yesterday night at a Chinese restaurant. The place was packed but we had a reservation so we walked straight in past the queue crowding at the door. This was what we ate:

Salt and chilli pepper chicken spare ribs. Very crunchy and aromatic but a little burnt. Probably due to the full house they had that night.

 

My favourite dish of the night - duck with yam. The yam was similar to 'wu kwok' - the fried taro ball dish filled with pork and lard! The duck was not fatty at all, and the yam was absolutely yammy!!

 

Fish fillets with chinese brocolli. We decided against having a whole flounder in salt and chilli pepper because we already had the spare ribs in salt and chilli pepper.

 

During the dinner, our cousin told us about how she went camping for three days in the Otway National Park. It sounded like fun, sleeping in a tent, cooking over a single burner stove, hiking and washing in the river. That is, until she told me that she did not bathe properly for three whole days - no shampoo or soap used because they are not environmentally friendly. I'm probably not going to go camping anytime soon!

Engagement Party

Sigh* 'Another one hits the dust' was what Gaz's friends must have been thinking yesterday when we met in the front of a house all decorated for a grand party. One of Gaz's buddies was getting ready for his engagement party. This is the first time I've seen him in something other than a basketball jersey! He was well groomed today, Brylcreamed hair, smart black suit complete with a red rose buttonhole, shiny black shoes. Very smart.

In the Vietnamese culture, the engagement was a bigger deal than the wedding itself. An auspicious day is carefully chosen to present the dowry to the girl's family which includes a whole roast pig, jewellery, wine, tea, fruits, cakes and biscuits. Unlike the 'goh tai lai' ceremony Chinese have, the elders from both families are present in the Vietnamese version.



The family and friends from the groom to be's side walked in file towards the entrance of the house, where we were greeted at the door by the elders of the family. We were then shown into a room in the house where the emcee started his speech about who has arrived from the man's family - parents, siblings, aunties etc, and what they have brought with them. The woman's family present were then introduced, and welcomed the man's family into the house. The gifts brought were accepted. In all of this, the bride to be was absent. She was only fetched by her mother after the initial introductions. On her arrival, she was handed a bouquet of yellow roses by her fiance. Yellow and red must be auspicious colours because it seems like everyone in the party had something yellow or red on.

Jewellery which were brought over were put on her, then champagne poured for the elders in the family and the bride and groom to be took turns presenting the drinks to them. The heads of the two households gave a speech - very impressive.



With the formalities done, we headed for lunch in another part of the house (it's a big house; easily accommodating 60 of us). Lunch was a very lavish affair! It was a catered ocassion and was just like a mini Chinese wedding banquet! There were fish maw soup, half a lobster baked with cheese and bacon bits, roast quails, crispy roast pork (brought over by the man's family), crab ball and glutinous rice. And lots of alcohol - beer, spirits littered the long tables were were seated.

This ceremony is definitely more formal than the Chinese goh tai lai ceremony. There is a clear invitation and acceptance of the other family to be part of the one family from the engagement onwards. In all, it was an interesting experience for me.

Hot Hot Hot!

Forecast for Sunday Min: 13 Max: 30

Forecast for Monday Min: 16 Max: 26

Forecast for Tuesday Min: 15 Max: 35

Forecast for Wednesday Min: 22 Max: 39

Forecast for Thursday Min: 23 Max: 36

Forecast for Friday Min: 22 Max: 35

It's going to be terribly hot over the next week! And goodness knows how many more trains will be cancelled due to (and I recite the headlines in the newspaper last week) track expansion due to the heat, signal fault, train air conditioning fault, strong wind etc. It is definitely not fun to be stuck on the platform in the heat waiting endlessly for a train and finally being stuck in the train in BO for the next half hour. It seemed like Melbourne's trains were a little under the weather, literally speaking! It is unbelievable that Malaysia's trains are more reliable when running to schedule than Melbourne's!

Traditions

Ever since I moved away from home to live abroad, I've missed the family traditions we observed during Chinese festivals. During Chinese New Year, my family when not travelling together will gather together for our own family reunion dinner on CNY eve. On the first day of the year, we start the day off by the kids receiving red packets from our parents. Then, after a visit to the temple, we settle down for vegetarian food at home(my mom observes a vegetarian diet every 1st and 15th of the lunar month). This is the only meal in the year where we revert to eat with bowls and chopsticks. For all the other meal times at home, dad insists on eating using plates, fork and spoons the western style. During the meal, mom would insist us taking second helping of rice, no matter how full our bellies were because taking second helpings symbolises we'll have days of abundance and plenty in the new year. Just like every dish in the family reunion dinner has its own meaning, every gesture during the first days of the CNY has its own symbolism.

The years that I've been living on my own, CNY is but another day to me. The excitement of the day is definitely missing unless I visit Chinatown in the city. However, this year it will be different. Gaz and I will be spending time his family, and the first day of CNY is also a public holiday in Australia so it'll be a little more festive. I can probably start my own little tradition of starting the day with a little vegetarian meal of our own. Looking forward to it..

Saturday Entertaining

We had friends over for lunch on Saturday. My friend has two young children and a husband who is not a Malaysian, so my plans for cooking an easy and simple laksa didn't work out! Instead, I decided to cook a simple chicken pie, roast sweet potatoes with gravy on the side and assemble a large plateful of salad with avocado and eggs with lemon dressing.

We had fresh lilies on the table to complete the beautifully set table which Gaz kindly did for me.

 

My friends loved the simple flavours of fresh salad leaves, ripe avocado and hard boiled eggs with lemon dressing. Their children finished the salad, which is a testament to how well behaved they were! Not many young children like eating their veges!

 

My easy chicken pie

 

After lunch, the children entertained themselves watching Elmo laugh hysterically on the ground while the adults talked and browsed through the wedding pics. Gaz had bought me the Elmo TMX three birthdays ago which, when pressed on the tummy or leg, goes through a routine of laughing and rolling around on the ground. The kids LOVED him! It's amazing to see that one single toy could keep them entertained for so long!

Malaysian Food Out

Thursdays are our date nights. During our pre-marriage course at the church, the pastor suggested that each couple have a specific day and time in the week, arranged beforehand to discuss about issues, what we've been through during the week, exchange feedback and work things out in the marriage. Thursday date nights evolved from that concept, and also because it gives me the same excited feeling when Gaz used to come pick me up for a date before we were married.

Last Thursday we decided to try out a M'sian joint on the recommendation of several friends. I'm always on the lookout for delicious Malaysian food so I was only too happy to try out this place we've not heard of before 15 mins drive from home. The place was empty (that's the beauty of eating out on a Thursday, because it's an odd day to dine out, we get faster service) save for us. I ordered my two favourites, char kuey teow and har mee.

The CKT was delicious! It had real 'wok hei' and wasn't too oily or dark coloured. Gaz's only gripe with it was that it didn't have crunchy pieces of pork fat! I didn't mind it's absence, though.

 

Prawn noodles - the soup needed a little bit of extra oomph I thought. Nevertheless, I finished the noodles and the soup!

 

Crack in the Plate

Wedgwood, UK's famous fine bone china company has gone into receivership recently. A pity that 250 years of history, craftsmanship is going under. In Aust, one can spent close to a hundred for a little Wedgwood saucer. Since this iconic brand might no longer be in the market soon (and since the brand was offering discounts to clear stock), Gaz and I thought we'll get a decadent dish for the table.

From the Plato Platinum range. 'Now to add to the undoubted appeal of this groundbreaking pattern, Plato Platinum completes the offer with precious platinum flourishes mirroring the gold highlights on the established range.

The platinum band decoration brings a very up to the minute but slightly more formal look to the table. The new pieces also work beautifully with the crisp white china in the core Plato range to provide sophisticated layered highlights able to complement any occasion.'

A Wedgwood! Unlikely to be a family heirloom piece but good to have.

Vegetarian Lunch

Today's lunch was memorable as it was my first vegetarian lunch, eaten in a beautiful place. This place is the Fo Guang Yang art gallery in the city, which also has a tea house/r'ant that is open only for lunch. Too bad they did not allow photography in the premises otherwise I would be able to capture the beauty of the place. The doors were antique, heavy iron doors. The entrance, bar the doors was a simple one and the art gallery was not heavily advertised on the streets. However, once I entered the premises it showed that even without advertising the tea house is a popular place. The tea house was full, and I began wondering if my colleague and I should have booked in advance as I saw a table bearing the 'reserved' sign. Luckily, we were shown to the only empty table in the place.

Once seated, I had more time to look around. Amid the soft chatter of the tea house patrons, the place exuded a sense of calm and peace. The ceilings were painted with colourful geometric patterns, and the marble floors were polished to a great shine. The servers were joyful and took care of us although the 25 tables in the place were completely occupied. Without much thought, we ordered the lunch special - Aubergine in spicy bean sauce and vegetarian goose set, and the vegetarian chicken with lemongrass bento set.

The food arrived in due time and I really liked the vegetarian chicken. Sweet and tasty, crispy on the edges. The vegetarian goose was deep fried but retained a little too much oil for my liking. Overall, we were very satisfied with the food. After food, we took a little walk around the exhibition area which was showing some chinese calligraphy on scrolls. We were already late to the office so it was a brief tour around the place before rushing back. However, I will definitely return to have a better look at the exhibition and sample more items from the menu!

Flower Power

I had some friends come over for dinner the other day so I dashed out to buy some flowers for decoration on the dining table. I striked gold at the local market where some beautiful, fresh gerberas were on sale. They're so bright and cheery it's like I'm bringing a piece of summer onto my table. I got a bunch of yellow and another of orange, but there were dark red and pink as well.


Ever since I have a backyard to call my own, I have been captured by the beauty of plants and flowers. This morning, my casablanca lilies bloomed into a cloud of perfume and beautifully white petals. Aren't they beautiful!

Train Commotion

A guy on the train, probably drunk, started abusing a lady sitting across from him for occupying a seat with her large backpack. To be fair, it is inappropriate for her backpack to hog a whole seat but the train was not jam-packed, and it was large backpack. Someone pressed the emergency button in the carriage. Two train staff entered the carriage and evicted the man for being abusive. The man put up a brief fuss then obediently exited the carriage. After a hiatus of 10 mins, the train resumed its journey.

And that's the most exciting thing that happened in my day today.