Raya Wishes

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin!

Wright or Rong?

Doing the right thing is so difficult, isn't it? On the other hand, it is very easy to do the wrong thing. Even if you have your own ideals, principles, and a strong sense of what is right and wrong, sometimes it is still easier to go down the path of least resistance.

Say on a Sunday, this would be what I'll be thinking - 'Wowee... it's a nice day outside. I should go for a jog in the park, I really need the exercise. Then I'll need to wash the car, it hasn't been washed for months. The warm weather will dry both the car and the clothes within the day if I did the laundry today.'

Next thing you know, it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I'm still on the couch in my pyjamas watching serials on the computer with a plate laden with the bones of the deep fried chicken I just consumed for lunch. The path of least resistance...

Of course, some decisions we make are more serious than just what to do on a Sunday. The repercussions of the decisions are much more than just ending up with a flabby belly, a dirty car and a hamper full of dirty clothes. In my line of work, choosing to do what is wrong or even an unintentional slip may cause reputational damage and monetary loss involving figures I can't earn even in a lifetime. That is why we have policies for guidance at work.

So when my colleague put me in an akward position by asking me to co-sign a time sensitive transaction that would have breached the policies, I declined to sign and explained why I thought it was wrong. However, the transaction was put to me again with a new set of rationale trying to 'justify' the action, with a 'we're running out of time' line thrown in. This time I was swayed and I took the path of least resistance...

The transaction went smoothly, I did not doubt it would be otherwise. The point was not that we were lucky nothing went wrong, it was that I had my own principles, I thought I could adhere to it, but in the end I did not manage to. There is no easy way out of this, but to actually put up resistance to doing the wrong thing instead of taking the path of least resistance would be the right thing to do.

Leftovers

I used to feel bad whenever I make quiche for instance, because it means that I'll have to throw the bits and pieces of puff pastry away after they get cut to match the size of the quiche pan. Well, no more of that! I stumbled upon a recipe for seaweed rolls from a Women's Weekly Japanese cookbook.

So last week I made chicken pie, and seaweed rolls. The rolls call for 2 pieces of puff pastry, roasted seaweed cut into tiny strips, a dash of sea salt, some caster sugar, roasted sesame, cheese and melted butter. It was quite easy indeed. Both of these two dishes went into the oven together, and at the end of 30 mins we got both lunch and tea time treat.


The seaweed rolls do not look great, but a combination of seaweed, cheese and butter made it taste delicious. Not to mention the sea salt flakes which made it both savoury and fragrant.

After making the seaweed rolls, I had a whole lot of seaweed sheets in the pack. Although they come in a resealable pack, nothing beats eating it fresh on the day it was opened. I had slices of avocado, crab sticks, strips of omelette, unagi and vinegared rice laid out on the table and we had a DIY sushi session.


My favourite combination...

The Heide Museum of Modern Art

Gaz and I took advantage of the sunny and warm weather very unusual for a winter's day, by going to the Heide Museum of Modern Art today. The Heide is located on Templestowe Road, Bulleen. The stretch of road was particularly busy that Saturday and it took us almost 10 minutes to find a break in the traffic to turn into the museum grounds.

You might wonder why we would be spending our time indoors in a museum when I had mentioned earlier it was a sunny and warm day (which is a godsend after enduring months of cold drab winter days). The Heide has a large outdoor sculpture garden on the premises, and we spent most of our time wandering from one sculpture to another. My favourite is titled 'Rings of Saturn', a large shiny metal sculpture of circles twisting round and about. It is surrounded by a few white globes not far from it.

We also visited the kitchen garden, where produce such as cabbage, lettuce, asparagus, spring onions were grown. Did you know that asparagus grows sticking out of the ground like that? I didn't.

Lettuce growing abundantly, they're so fresh and sweet to the taste buds.


We laid out the picnic mat and basked in the sun for a little bit. It was wonderful enjoying the green lawn and the gold sun. And the shiny silver of Saturn's Rings.

Yami Yami, Box Hill

I just had the best Korean beef spare ribs ever - at Yami Yami, in Box Hill. It was smoky, and wonderfully seasoned. The meat was tender, and there was plentiful on the sizzling plate it came in.

Gaz had the restaurant choice down to two contenders, Yami Yami or a Thai joint also in Box Hill. Besides the beef ribs, we also had mandu dumplings and chicken karaage. The chicken was deep fried (yum...) and coated with a spicy sauce which was not so spicy. Just perfect for me.

We were not the only ones who thought that the restaurant was fab because as we were eating, a long queue of people snaked right through to outside the restaurant. What, people waiting in the COLD for this place? Well, it had to be good right? And it didn't disappoint. Overall it was good value for money and the tasty beef ribs that brought people back time and again.

Update: This restaurant has permanently closed

Great Eastern Hakka, Mount Waverley

Some food combinations really work, like bacon with anything (savoury). Or a hot pizza topped with a squeeze of Japanese mayo and bonito flakes. Or McDonalds fries dipped in soft serve ice cream. While I love the above combos, others may look at it, scrunch their noses and shake their heads. But this combination of cuisine we found yesterday may appeal.

Gaz found a place for us to try yesterday - Great Eastern Hakka at Mount Waverley. The restaurant is run by Chinese who spent some time in Sweden before migrating to Australia. The restaurant offers Swedish pizza, and Chinese food like sweet and sour pork, fried rice, fried noodles. Such a unique offering!

We were greeted by a large Swedish flag as we entered through the back of the restaurant (car park was at the back). The interior of the restaurant was painted red, a typical Chinese colour. There was a shrine dedicated to Kwan Gung near the front. Chinese paintings hung in intervals on the wall. All in all, it looked like an unassuming Chinese diner. That is, if you did not notice the pizza oven and the Swedish flag at the back.

We ordered a quattro pizza ($16), and a chow fun or fried noodles ($16).

First to come was the pizza. Each quarter of the pizza had different ingredients - mushrooms, olives, capsicum, ham, artichokes, mussels, shrimps. I really liked it because it is not oily at all, unlike other pizzas. Also, the crust is quite thin, and it is not lathered heavily with commercially made, acidic tomato sauce. The ingredients are of good quality. We enjoyed the pizza very much.

Now, after we'd tucked into the pizza the fried noodles arrived. It didn't look very much. I thought to myself, 'Oh here we go... it's probably a Westerner's version of fried noodles and wouldn't taste very good.' The first mouthful set me straight. It was full of wok hei or literally translated, the breath of the wok. It was tasty, and delicious. It tasted better than the msg and oil laden food in other Cantonese joints. Very pleasantly surprised.

Our order came with a complimentary coleslaw, Swedish style. No mayo, but still tasty.


As we busily stuff ourselves with food, a family of three generations came through the doors. It was pizza for the kids, and Chinese food accompanied by wine for the grown ups. What a fitting combination!

Gaz and I are quite impressed by Great Eastern Hakka's unique menu and enjoyed our dinner very much.