Merry Christmas...

While it's still Christmas here, I thought I'd blog this blog about my day this year.

Four days spent with my parents are coming to a close this Christmas night and I'll be going back to KL tomorrow and back to work-land the next day. These days have been spent enjoying good company and good food.

On Christmas morning, we had the exchanging of gifts which is always fun. The tree this year was lovely and I used my new camera to capture it in all its glory, complete with agitated avians standing guard over the presents.

In the afternoon, after lunch and an epic battle with traffic, we watched the new film adaptation of Les Misérables. It was the first time I'd seen the musical in any form and it was quite good. I still hold The Phantom of the Opera as my favourite musical though.

It's been a good Christmas and I'd just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays :)

Peace to all, and to all a good night.

True Colours

Last year, for my company annual dinner, I got up the nerve to go in costume as a zombie, to the surprise of many, including myself. This year, I didn't go in costume, but at the behest of my boss, I did something that arguably took even more nerve -- I took part in a singing performance.

We had a group of nine people and had a mix of solos and group songs with my boss playing the guitar. We had English, Chinese, Malay, and even Hindi songs. I had a solo, singing an excerpt of True Colours. We practised almost every day after work for about a month. It was hard to get everyone together because we're all so busy, but we made it for the most part. We even had slides prepared by yours truly to sync with the songs. It was a love story of sorts.

Come show night last Friday, we went to the venue at lunch time and proceeded to the stage for sound checks and rehearsal on stage before the actual dinner. We got a little nervous when we saw that another team had a full band, but then we were just there to have fun. We finished up our rehearsals and last minute preparations in a holding room (which was strangely arranged like we were having a conference, notepads and all).

At the appointed time during the dinner, we went to wait in the wings as the MC played some silly game with some of the audience. The wait was rather long or maybe it just seemed that way. We were psyching ourselves up for the performance -- the whole company was watching after all. Oddly, I wasn't really nervous at all; I was kinda eager to go up on stage and finish it.

Our performance went just the way we wanted. The music was good, the singing was good, and I think the slides even synced up most of the time. When it came to my turn, I took the microphone and went to the front of the stage and bowed my head for my super-dramatic rendition of True Colours (I'm no musician but I made up my own arrangement, mostly inspired by the arrangement used in Glee). I couldn't help but smile when I heard the applause, even though I was supposed to be 'sad'. My song came out mostly the way I was hoping it would and I really hammed it up, glad that the glare of the spotlight made it basically impossible to see anyone's face. It was weird to zone out like that but the applause was worth it. Very cool :)

We finished up our set with Feliz Navidad and took our bows. I think we were quite exhilarated by the whole thing as evidenced by the Whatsapp messages flying around between our phones (despite most of us being at the same table). We were proud of ourselves and rightly so :)

In the end, we actually got 3rd place out of three acts (the band won). It was somewhat disappointing, but we didn't really mind (well maybe a little). We did have a lot of fun and came together as a team and at the end of the day, that's what's really important.

If you're reading this, Team, thanks for everything. I'm happy to call you friends and it was an honour to perform with you. I'm proud of us all for having the guts to go on stage in front of hundreds of our colleagues and sing our hearts out. Tomorrow we're corporate grunts, but for one shining moment, we were 'stars' :)

So here's to us... and to next year ;)

Moo

So I've cooked pasta, salmon, couscous, risotto, and even chicken. Today, for the first time, I attempted to cook beef -- a steak to be exact. I've always been afraid to cook beef because pan-frying steak can be difficult and steak purists would thumb their noses at such sacrilege. Nevertheless, I wanted to try it if only to say I have.

I found these nice-looking 'eye round' steaks at Cold Storage in MidValley. I know they were fresh because I saw the butcher place them on the shelf minutes before I took them. They may have been part of a cow only recently! In any case, at MYR 15 for two (admittedly small) steaks, it seemed a bargain compared to the salmon I usually buy.

Moo...

I usually use couscous and stir-fried broccoli as sides for my meats and this time was no different. As an a-side (har har), I took this picture of the freshly blanched broccoli and it turned out kinda nice (if you like close-up pictures of cruciferous vegetables).

Green!

In another first, I also decided to make a mushroom 'ragout' as a sauce for the steak and as a sort of side dish. The mushrooms I selected were baby portobello and Swiss white and brown. I wanted some oyster mushrooms too but the store didn't have any. Just as well, I had a LOT of mushrooms...

Is there such a thing as too many mushrooms?

The mushroom sauce called for some chicken stock and some garlic and onions. I pre-mixed the chicken stock in a small cup of water, chopped the garlic, and peeled the onions.

Chicken stock looks icky...

With the prep work done, the time came for the pièce de résistance -- the meat. I had taken the steaks out a few hours from the chiller and added a little salt and pepper on each side just before cooking. The pan was pre-heated to smoking (I need a cast-iron pan) and I used olive oil to fry the steaks. I guess I fried them too long as it was kinda blackish when I turned them at four minutes. I did the other side for three minutes then let them rest.

I dumped out most of the oil from the pan, preserving the 'fond', and added the mushrooms and a bit more oil. After a while, I added the garlic and onions and fried them until the onions caramelised. Then came the chicken stock. While waiting for the chicken stock liquid to reduce a bit, I mixed a bit of flour and water in equal proportion and added to the mix and let it reduce. I ended up with a LOT of mushroom sauce :)

Mmmmm... mushrooms...

Then I did the usual couscous. I only seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic powder instead of using chicken stock since the gravy was already quite rich. After that came the broccoli and I ended up with this:

Pity the lighting is not great... also I need a bigger plate...

It looked pretty good if I do say so myself :)

The test of the steak is in the eating they say (or something like that), and this steak sorta passed. It was a bit tough and too well done. I was actually going for more medium rare, but I guess I overdid it. It was still tasty although it was quite chewy. The mushroom sauce was however, quite delicious, so I'm quite happy with that. Many thanks to a friend of mine who provided cooking tips (you know who you are).

So it was a qualified success! Next time, less time on the meat :)

Moving forward

Five weeks ago today, I bade a fond farewell to my first car, a local Proton Iswara, which I owned for 10 of its 12 years of existence thus far. I had taken leave to collect my new car, a Toyota Vios J 1.5A. The morning was spent cleaning out all the accumulated junk of the last 10 years out of my old car -- there was a LOT. After a quick lunch, I drove up to the dealership. I parked, said a last goodbye to the old gal, and waited to get my new means of conveyance. As I waited, I saw it through the glass walls -- a gleaming white car, fresh from the factory (I had to wait three weeks for them to add all the accessories I wanted). I could scarcely believe I would soon be driving a pretty new car for the first time.

Tweets and Whatsapp messages made their way to close friends and family through the Internets as I waited for the paperwork and formalities to be done. After the salesman gave the 'orientation' spiel and handed over the keys, documents, and a little Toyota umbrella (whoopiee), I was driving my new car home. The throttle took some getting use to and the brakes were super responsive (by my standards at least) but I made it home without incident and spent the next half hour ogling the car, exploring the very cool Bluetooth-enabled GPS/DVD touchscreen system, taking pictures, and removing the plastic covers. It was a little surreal to finally own a new foreign car instead of an old local one.

Over the weeks, I've gotten used to the different handling and response curves though parking was quite a challenge in the beginning. Last weekend, I took the car for its one-month mandatory service at the same showroom I bought it from. The service was excellent and speedy. There was a nice lounge and all for waiting and they even washed the car for free (which it really needed... the curse of having a white car).

It's so cool that I have this car now and I love it to bits. No more violent vibrations when idling in gear with the air-conditioner on. No more strange creaks. No more shuddering at high(ish) speeds. It's nice to be moving forward as the tagline says :)


Also... my new car is so pretty! :):):)

Goodbye to an old friend

We've been through a lot, you and I.

Ten years is a long time.

I remember the day we first met. We shared a connection and I knew we would journey well together. You were my faithful companion since my first job. We've shared long days and long nights, ups and downs, good times and not-so-good times.

Over the years, I may not have treated you with the care you deserved and I'm sorry for that. That fateful night when you finally gave up will live in my memory. Major surgery on your part and financial losses on mine will mark us - you more than I.

Time has not been kind to you, my friend. Your body wore, your skin dulled, and yet you still carried on; you still carried me with grace. And now comes time to part ways. I'll almost miss your familiar creaks and bumps, your quaking body stoically holding on. But all things must end, and today we journey together for the last time. I hope your next companion will treat you well and that you continue to travel the roads good or bad.

Farewell to you my friend, my first car, my Proton Iswara.

And thanks.

33

Another year over, and it's time for the 'traditional' birthday posting.

Posts are rare this past year since I joined Google+. I suppose it's not so much writer's block as writer's laziness. Hopefully I'll have the will to write more before the '34' post. In any case, it's been a fairly uneventful year for me. On a sad front, Steve Jobs passed away and evoked perhaps surprisingly sad feelings for me. I watched some great movies but was too lazy to review them. I attended my company annual dinner dressed in home-made zombie make-up - my first costume ever. I had pleasant end of year festivities, did some cooking, and had my first paint-ball game. Oh and I also bought a nice new Sony Xperia S to replace my unbearably unstable Xperia X2 and finally (very happily) entered the Android ranks.

For my birthday this year, I am writing this just after a very nice lunch in Penang. By celestial good fortune, my birthday coincides with Hari Raya festivities this year so I was able to go to my parents' place for an extended period. I've also placed an order for a spanking new car which I'll post about later - a birthday gift of sorts from me to me :). As Emperor Kuzco would say, "I'm so happy."

Cake by Aunt, Icing by Sister and Me, Lettering by Me

In terms of numbers, it seems 33 isn't all that fun:

• It's the smallest odd repdigit which is not a prime. Whoopie.
• It's the atomic number of Arsenic, commonly used in rat poison. Of course it's also used in some semiconductors so that's something.
• It's the number of vertebrae in a normal human spine
• It's traditionally considered to be the year Jesus Christ was crucified.
• It's the numerical representation of AMEN (1+13+5+14 = 33). Cute.
• It's a symbol of the Klu Klux Klan (K=11, 33=11x3=KKK). Not so cute.
• It's the alleged age of Alexander the Great when he died. Bummer.

Happy Birthday to me! Hope it will be an awesome year :)

Until next time, thanks for reading!

(Number facts from Wikipedia)

Great balls of... paint

The woods were quiet - quite pleasant really. 
Then came the shouting.
Then came the shooting.
And ground was stained with red orange.



Today I went for a paintball session for the first time. Some friends from work persuaded me to join them on one of their occasional jaunts to the Bukit Cahaya Botanical Gardens in Shah Alam. We took one car on this bright and early Saturday morning to the park. I hadn't seen so much green at once for quite a while :)

A short open-air bus ride took us to the paintball area, which consisted of several courses with different scenarios.

A quick briefing later, we were handed our tools of (fake) war.

Pro-tip: Wear contact lenses when playing paintball. Foggy glasses in a hot face mask do not aid in shooting paint at people.

Our group of thirteen players were divided into two groups and we took turns on the first scenario which was capture-the-flag. Sadly, I got hit both times. It didn't hurt, but sure was messy! In the second scenario, our whole group went against a bunch of strangers in a defend/attack match. I only got hit during the defense phase and our group won both rounds (yay!). In the last two scenarios, we had our split groups again. The third scenario was a success for my group and I didn't get hit (woohoo). Sniping is fun :)

The last scenario was a free-for-all with two groups in a small arena. Unfortunately I got hit three times (LOL), but I had a lot of fun.

We finished up at about one, had a simple lunch and left at about 2:30pm.

I'm tired, my hands are a little orange, and I'm out RM100, but it makes a change from the usual movie-watching weekends I suppose =)

Risotto

Risotto always seemed weird to me - like an Italian version of the familiar Asian fried rice but a lot wetter. After seeing the dish used as an appetizer in too many cooking shows, I just had to try it when I saw one of these boxes for sale at the grocer.

I really like mushrooms, so although the mix included 'wild porcini mushroom', I also got some Swiss white button mushrooms to add to it. After sautéing and simmering the mushrooms, I set about the business of making the actual risotto. As instructed, I sautéed the raw rice in a bit of olive oil for a short while, then added two cups of water. The water was boiling off too fast, so I had to add some more, but the end result looked OK after about 15 minutes of cooking.

I actually bought some wild rocket for garnish but for some reason, it wilted in the fridge :(.

Lunch was for two persons, so the portion was kinda small. I guess it was meant to be used as an appetizer. Still, it was tasty :)

There were several other flavours too... hmm.....

Long-dead fish

At a loss of what to eat for lunch today, I scoured the cupboards and found some cans of red salmon and plenty of couscous. I explored the fridge and found some lemons. So I decided to make a simple dish of couscous with canned salmon. I drained the salmon and broke it into chunks, then I prepared the water for the couscous using some chicken stock and the liquid from the can. When the couscous was ready, I mixed in juice from half a lemon, some oregano, garlic powder, and pepper, then the salmon. The result was quite tasty and it was really easy to make.

Season's Greetings and Happy New Year

Woohoo 2012 is here!
Last year before the world ends, baby! (Let's hope the Mayans were wrong or misunderstood)

This year over the Christmas season, I went to my parents' place in Penang again. Just like last year we had our tree and presents and Angry Birds guarding them. I bought a nice hat for the red bird :)



Our tree was totally decorated by Mom as she wanted it up early and we only went back a few days before Christmas. It looked pretty good. Way to go Mom!



My parents came to visit a few weeks earlier, and we went to Ikea where we bought this pre-fab gingerbread house. It was flat-packed like any other Ikea furniture so we had to assemble it with molten sugar. The frosted sugar also made for some nice 'snow'. It's a little silly, but hey, it's festive. Does anyone actually eat these things?



My gifts this year were the usual suspects: two T-shirts, a book (Stephen King's latest collection of novellas), and a pair of pants. The surprises were a some super-cute hand-crafted Angry Birds my sister got and this weird Angry Birds-themed bouncy ball with coloured LED lights my aunt got (yes, I'm a big fan of Angry Birds).



We came back to KL on Boxing Day and the drudgery of work resumed for a few days, then on New Year's Eve, my sister and I had some wine and because she said she always wanted to try it, some black caviar. This year, I chose a sparkling rose wine. Not bad, even if I had to drink almost the entire bottle. The caviar was tasty but my sister didn't really like it. OHWELL



And so begins another sojourn around the Sun. I'm writing this on the morning of the first day of the new year, coffee in hand and the leftover glass of wine which I fell asleep before managing to imbibe waiting in the fridge for a more suitable drinking time. So far, the year seems ok; let's hope it stays that way.