baby cam

short trip to singapore last thursday to saturday to visit anne and see baby cam for the first time! wish i could have stayed longer but there was et's birthday saturday night and the malakoff run on sunday. made the most of the time i was there with long chats with anne while shopping and playing with patch and cam. all in all a great weekend. :)

rainy day recipes

the monsoon season is upon us. every evening as if on schedule, the skies would open and let the rains fall heavily in this valley. luckily - since i'm on sabbatical - there's no need to spend hours in the after hours traffic jams made x1000000 worse by the evening thunderstorms. honestly, on days like these, i just want to stay home and facebook. here are 3 recipes i concocted on such evenings using pantry staples to comfort both the soul and the tummy :)

TOMATO AND CORN SOUP

i used canned creamed corn from the pantry,
but this recipe could very well be made with
fresh creamed corn 

ingredients:

1 can of creamed corn; 1/2 tsp ground coriander; 

1/2 tsp ground cumin; 1/2 yellow onion diced; 

1 tomato diced; salt + pepper to taste; greek yoghurt

directions:

in a small soup pot, saute onions
( i used grape seed oil)
adding seasoning and spices

when onions are caramelized and at point
when they char,add diced tomatoes, 

cook awhile longer till tomatoes soften, 

mashing it along the way to obtain
a sauce like consistency,

finally add creamed corn and
one can of waterand bring to boil

let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes 

serve with dollop of greek yoghurt
and pepper to taste

serves 2

 BABY 'JUK'

 there are no 'set' ingredients and measurements
for this recipe; everything is to the cook's preference! 

i used what was available in the fridge and pantry ...

 ingredients:

2 stalks celery

1 small pumpkin

2 small carrots

1 small head brocolli

6 pieces dried scallops

small handful of ikan bilis

1/4 cup of quinoa

1/4 cup barley

1/4 cup mixed grain rice

directions:

put all ingredients in a big soup pot with
enough water to cover and more bring to boil
then simmer till grains are soft

add water along the way if juk becomes too dry

MILK WITH TUMERIC + HONEY

this is perfect to soothe an inflamed throat
or as a night cap

ingredients:

1 tsp tumeric

1 tbs honey

1/2 cup of milk

directions:

mix tumeric with a little cold milk in a
microwaveable mug to make a paste

add honey to the mixture and
slowly pour in remainder of milk

microwave the drink on medium
till warm but do not boil

sabatical

i'm on sabatical. yea - i like the sound of that.

so far so good. :)

venice biennale 2012

a short account of my time in venice for the architecture biennale of 2012

blog: 17 chipmunks

came across this blog today while researching affordable ready made non-ikea furniture options:



http://17chipmunks.wordpress.com/

i left a comment in the about section. not sure if it will be accepted by the moderator so i'm reproducing it here.


hi! your blog is quite a valuable resource. thanks for writing. being frugal is not a very trendy in asia it seems. ie. people brand you as kiam siap. and it also goes against the obsession with so-called branded goods. one positive outcome of the global economic crisis of 2008 in the US is that it has led to a re-evaluation of values towards money and material possessions. down-sizing is a more sustainable way of life for most people and it is also better for the environment.

crunchy and naturel remedies

some tips gleaned from our tasik kenyir guide - 'green' john chan

• kunyit - natural antiseptic to heal cuts (and cancer prevention)
• aloe - to soothe/heal cuts
• bird nest fern - crush with olive oil to make natural hair dye
• garlic - cholesterol buster
• bittergourd - diabetes

christina (john's future mother in law and cook extraordinaire) curry recipe:

dry
indian curry spice mix for meat (from 2 sisters' store @ttdi wet market)
candlenuts

wet
red onions
no garlic
cloves
star anise

inspired to experiment with natural home cooking ala 101cookbooks but using local ingredients.

another inspiring person met this weekend was mabel - a vegan, naturalist. unassuming (never would've guessed she's singaporean). and totally passionate about the environment. wish her all the best :)

happy 2012!

got back from tasik kenyir last night where we spent 3 days in a houseboat with 30 strangers. on the lake. in taman negara. there was no internet or phone connection. no clock. (there was astro however!). it was an awesome holiday and fabulous way to ring in the new year. we only wore 1/2 of the clothes we packed. and we didn't take a shower the entire time. swam in the lake or stream (fed by waterfall) to clean off. spent hours reading (i finally finished eragon) and enjoying the cool breezy air as the boat made it's way around the lake. can't wait to do this again. :)

the house boat: a barge with 2 storey light weight structure built on it. 

10 sleeping quarters, a kitchen, a tv room, 

2 toilets and 1 shower, living area/decks, lofts.

the loft on which we slept on in our sleeping bags 

instead of our assigned room - with zubee, christy and mabel. 

view i woke up to on new year's day! 

 okm getting some reading action. 

 lagoon where we docked on 2nd night. 

 spider having lunch

stopped in kemaman for trengganu eats

on way back to kl. this is pic of ladiesmaking keropok lekor.