Dance Trial

Today we went for the dance trial.

We wanted to try out all the dance lesson available but decided on 3 different lessons after recomendation from C. Still we were too ambitious. After the 2nd lesson we were so drained up. Our whole body was aching and concentration was terrible during the last lesson.

Still the lessons were worth it. Hip hop and Street Jazz was fun and the type of music is what we like and can dance to the beat.

So many students signed up for the dance. Where did all these kids get the money from? Even for me, a working adult, signing up 1 lesson per week is enough. But these kids seems to have money for the lessons.

Those were the days....being a student means saving up my monthly allowance just to buy clothes. Nowadays, kids are just too lucky.

Chicken with Herb

Decided to give myself a break.

After Stevie short visit, felt too tired to continue to do wedding prep so the whole of last weekend, i decided to rest and cook.

During our uni days, there was once i tried to cook chicken with star anise and cinnamon. The recipe was from one of mum's very old and thick cook book, which i stole (took it without permission) and brought it to Aussie with me. The recipe was too troublesome but the chicken really taste good with all the herb aroma.

Really feel like eating the chicken again but did not want to go through the hassle of the recipe. So this time round i chose a much simpler recipe.

The chicken turned out to be a bit salty as i forgot to buy vinegar and also did not make up for it by putting less soya sauce. But i'm sure it should turn out well as there was a nice hint of the herb smell which sometimes will get too strong and bitter.




Ingredient
2 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoon of rice vinegar
2 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup of chicken stock
4 chicken thighs
3 green onion (seperate white and green parts)
3 garlic gloves (minced)
1 tablespoon ginger (minced)
1/2 teaspoon of crush red pepper flakes
5 orange peel
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
salt and pepper


Stir together the soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce, honey, and chicken broth. Set aside for later.

Heat up oil over medium fire and lightly fry the chicken on both sides till brown. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour off all but about one tablespoon of fat from the pot. Return it to medium heat, and throw in the white part of the green onions, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir around for about half a minute, until you can smell the garlic and ginger. Pour in the reserved soy mixture. Top off with more chicken broth and soy sauce if needed to reach a depth of about 1/4 inch of liquid. Stir to combine, and add the orange peel, cinnamon, and star anise.

Add the chicken thighs back to the pot, adding any accumulated juices from the plate. Cover with a lid and turn to low fire. After 15 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over with tongs and top off with more chicken broth if needed to maintain the 1/4 inch of liquid. Replace the lid and let cook for another 15 minutes, or until fork tender.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Remove the orange peel, cinnamon, and star anise from the pot, place over a medium high heat, and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Skim off any surface fat if desired. Stir in the green part of the green onions.

Make a slurry out of the cornstarch and a tablespoon of either chicken broth or water. Pour into the pot and stir to thicken. Let it bubble up for a minute and taste for seasoning. If it's too salty, add a bit of vinegar. If it's too sour, add a bit more soy sauce. Take the foil off the chicken, and carefully pour in any juices from the platter.

Savings!!

Deadline for payment of credit card bills.....end of every month.

Opps! Last night i was trying to search my credit card bills through a stack of letters to make payment today. Don't know why i have a habit of paying the bill last minute.

Can't believe my eyes, the amount is 20% of my usual bill!!!
Out of sheer excitment, told my dad about it. Yeekks! I just review my high expenditure to my dad and got a long lecture from him. Still, I cannot remember the last time such amt appear in my credit card bill

Woohoo!! Savings, savings, savings.....

Although the likely reason is cash spending, i was happy to see the low low amount.
Hopefully, it is not in my next bill and i really want to continue this trend of expenditure.

To celebrate, went for dinner at NYDC and ended off with cookie monster mudpie......ironic.
To top it off, i forgot to pay the bill again after the "celebration".

Gotta remember tom.

A normal relationsip

One is so stubborn and the other is getting impatient.

Really i do not know how they stand each other.

Tried to speak to her about it still she thinks she is right and is still so stubborn.

Told her it is hurting everyone.

Because of her pride she still think she is right and insisted.

I have tried.

I do not know whether this is normal in a relationship.

I used to think that it is until one of my friend told me it is not.

Well, at the end of the day at least they always patch up.

Will this always happen?

Silver

Today we went to lunch with another team.

Another networking session. Well, but at least the lunch and conversation was much more pleasant.

During one point in time, someone mentioned that we won the silver medal for table tennis. When we won, i didn't feel much enthusiasm. Maybe i am not a sports fanatic, but to me i never care who wins. I'm only interested in sports like diving, gymnastic, synchronise swimming, etc. which we never participate.

Then one of the foreign colleague responded that all 3 contestants representing us are not born locally and 2 of them only got their nationality last year. Then there was a moment of silent.

Should we feel proud or embarrassed?

Maybe we do not have talent in sport . But we have something else to offer. We are all talented in our own ways. Why are we spending so much money and effort in trying to achieve something that we lack off and not strengthen what we have? At the end of the day, who will remember we got the medal?

But still lots of admiration for all the sportsman. Saw a documentary on the training, perseverance and commitment that goes into the sport. What we see is just the glory of the winnings. One champion also means the losing of many many others. It is brutal.

Dance Routine

Trying hard to stay fit and healthy

Slept at 4.30 am on Friday and with a very huge headache i dragged myself to the gym the next day.

Thought as usual the gals will be late. But they were there on time.

J was wide awake despite the late night. She still manage to color coordinate her gym outfit and makeup. Good for her. And R reach on time too despite the long travelling time required.

Unlike me with my messed up hair and stained gym pants. What the hack! My head is still throbbing and with my mom's nagging in the early morning, it is almost unbearable. She tried to budge into my locked door and wants me to go have Dim Sum with her because of her $50 voucher. When i refused to wake up she complained how unhealthy i am and all the illnesses that i will get because of my unhealthy lifestyle. Thought that by telling her i have plans to go to gym she will lay off. Plus, i reminded her that it is national day and no restaurant will accept her voucher. Being a voucher queen from all her credit cards, she should have known. My god! She continued that i should not exercise with an empty stomach. To top that off, my dad joined in the fun of nagging. Great! So with my headache, i tried to get ready as fast as possible. I pulled out whatever gym clothes i have, grabbed a shirt to iron and stuff all the toiletries into my gym bag while listening to my parents. To appease them both, we went to the nearest market to have lunch. In the end they were so full from their breakfast, they shared a small bowl of prawn noodles. Well, i think they are just happy to see their dearest daughter eat "Breakfast".

Well, i have to bear the humiliation of wearing a stained gym pants and with my messy hair take a bus to town. Reached gym late and missed my favourite combat lesson but managed to find my favourite machine. Despite not going to gym for awhile, i completed 45 mins of non-stop workout. J is really lousy with machines. Kept complaining the resistance level is very high when it is adjusted to level 1 already.

Well, after gym we were really proud of ourselves. That is before our snacking begins. Old Chang Kee is having $1 every item. Tempted by the bargain, we bought a few items to snack. After we headed for Sakae for Dinner. We did some light shopping and went to NYDC for dessert and had Famous Amos we bought earlier. Finally, because of all the temptation around us we ordered the oven-baked cheese pasta to share.

And there goes my gym workout for the day.

I love Wednesdays

Love my Wednesdays.

It has everything i love pack in 1 day.

My wontan noodles, dance, MacDonald and friends.

The gals hate to dance. Maybe becos they missed several sessions and find it hard to keep up after. But wontan noodles never fails to tempt them to go. We will always rush to go off on time so that we can have more time for our wontan noodles.

Dance lesson is always fun. We will make fun of each other and the teacher. She is such a sweety pie and will let us do whatever we want. Yesterday was the last lesson but since many of us missed a few lessons, the teacher is letting us continue to make up. Guess she like us too. Hopefully, the gals will like it and continue. It is the company that makes it even more enjoyable.

Then it is MacDonald and chat time. Really need to chill out in the middle of the week. Lucky for me after i change team, i don't dread going to work anymore. No matter how late i sleep, i still can wake up and go to work. It is not something that i want to do but still it is project basis and hopefully the work and analysis done will improve how some things are being done. Then at least i can feel some achievement again.

Looking forward to next Wednesday......

Secrets

Tears are like droplets of Secrets.
Only the bearer knows the true emotion of each droplets.

Feeling sad.....suddenly.
not sure why....

Just sad.
nothing major happen.
cannot understand.
Getting emotional.

Been busy and lazy for awhile.

Someone commented that i didn't informed that i bought a new house.
Then i realise i haven't been updating my blog for awhile.

Preparing for marriage, a lot of things to do and tiring, plus Stevie is not around, have to do many things alone.

Busy, tired and sometimes have disagreement with Stevie, but still very proud with ourselves.

We found a house within 1.5 months.
The location is a bit inconvenient but many of our friends staying there loved it.
Peaceful and green. Plus many friends staying closeby.
Just need to convince more to move there :)

Well, although it is a bit far, all the amenities are closeby.
We have a supermarket, foodcourt, wet market and train just within 5 mins walk.

The layout of the house is also close to perfect.
Room is big enough for walkin warbdrobe and the kitchen can be made into open concept.
High floor with a bit of morning sun and no afternoon sun.
Our neighbour is young couple.

One bad point is we do not have an unblock view.
Oh well, with so many good points, i guess this is not that important.
Our housing loan is also done within 1 week.

Can't wait to renovate and move in.

Arrgghhh....still got many many things to do.
Maybe when i wake up one day, all is done.