Hoping, praying, …living

Posted on September 12, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

Remember my soulful lament and heartfelt letter to my dear prosperity plant?  Since then, friends and especially those with *green fingers* have offered advice on how to resurrect my poor friend.

I tilled the soil, trimmed the dried branches and looked after it as best I could.  There was no apparent improvement for all I could see.  I even planted a few additional shoots, compliments from Ethan’s baby sitter, in the hope that these new ones will encourage the old ones to grow too.

Weeks passed and …. nothing.

Then one evening, while watching teevee, I could hardly believe my eyes when I noticed a little bud growing!  It was a fresh new shoot, all eager to make its way into the world.  A few days later, another one sprouted and I was happy as a lark.

I can’t help but wonder if this is an indication of things to come in my life.  My family and I are about to face some major changes.  Changes and experiences that would probably and possibly change our lives, if not forever, then at least for the next coming months.

This is certainly an indication of new hope, a new beginning.  I’m excited, yes, but at times, I am filled with trepidation and uncertainty.  I find myself unconsciously singing the tune from The Sound of Music….

What will this day be like?…….I wonder…..
What will my future be?….I wonder….

Indeed I wonder…..

But one thing I am certain of is that The Good Lord will be walking beside me all the way.

Posted in Thoughts & Scribblings | 9 Comments

Entry #4 calling for votes!

Posted on September 1, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

A favor I ask, in this time of dire need
As a friend or blog reader, I pray you’ll help me do the deed
Your precious vote is really all I seek
Just choose my name, it isn’t very hard indeed

All you have to do is visit Hochiak! today
Look for the poll for the USD100 giveaway
Every vote counts, so please vote for me
But hurry please, cos voting ends September 9th, you see.

Thanking you in advance for all the trouble you’ve taken
I’m Entry #4: please vote for my Ginger Sauced Chicken
Do rope in others to join in the excitement
Come one, come all, drop me a vote for the sake of entertainment!

***

Please, please, please go to Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food and vote for me in the USD100 giveaway contest!

Posted in Drooling & Cooking | 13 Comments

It really takes two to tango

Posted on August 26, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

Pregnancy does weird things to people. While I had quite an uneventful pregnancy the first time round, almost devoid of nausea attacks, my second pregnancy has so far proven to be a force to be reckoned with. I now not only have morning sickness, I actually have all-day sickness. My nose has transformed into the bionic nose, with the ability to smell the faintest of smells, and what’s worse, almost all smells are revolting to me now.

I also discovered that I cannot stand the smell of garlic, although I loved it pre-preggers. So I can’t cook with garlic now, because the smell of garlic on my fingers after cooking will make me pukey.

Strangely enough though, while I shun the very sight and thought of garlic, ginger has the opposite effect on me. And it wasn’t too long before I realized that one of the foods I craved for now is ginger and spring onion chicken rice, more widely known as “kngeow charng kei pui” in Hokkien or “keong choong kai fun” in Cantonese. Truth be known, I can eat this every day and not be tired of it.

So when I discovered this Hochiak recipe in Pablo’s Delicious Asian Food, I couldn’t wait to try it out. Everyone knows that homecooked food tastes so much better than food bought outside. Okay la, plus the fact that there was a USD100 up for grabs that spurred my enthusiasm even further. Heh.

So last Friday, I tried the recipe out. It’s called Ginger Sauced Chicken in Delicious Asian Food, and it calls for ginger juice, but unfortunately I did not have the tools to juice my ginger. I do so need to get a mortar and pestle soon. Anyway, I followed the recipe almost to the tee but to my horror, the finished product turned out horrendously, and certainly did NOT look like the picture in the Delicious Asian Food blog. See? Mine looked more like Tau Ewe Chicken:

Being the stubborn and determined person I am, I certainly wanted to try perfecting it. So two days later, while my two princes were off to dreamland, I attempted to dish out a respectable looking plate of Ginger Sauce Chicken. Figuring the blackness could be due to the fact that I had reused some of the oil used to fry the chicken to make the sauce, I decided to use fresh oil for the sauce this time round. Instead of using ginger juice to marinade the chicken, I sliced up a LOT of ginger real fine, and mixed it with the chicken fillet, together with a dash of soya sauce and pepper. And oh, I omitted the garlic in the recipe because of very obvious reasons 😛 .

And here are the results of my labor:

I had it for my tea-time and supper that day. And hubby said it was definitely better than the first attempt. Hee.

***

By the way, wanna put yourself in the running to win USD100? Go check out Delicious Asian Food now, and cook yourself up a storm!

Posted in Drooling & Cooking | 26 Comments

Splishin’ & splashin’ swim

Posted on August 22, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

I try my best (honest I do!) to incorporate an element of exercise into my life. Nowadays, my best bet is to do a few laps in the swimming pool of my apartment every Friday evening. It helps that I work from home on Fridays, because I can then head straight for the pool immediately after work, eliminating the commute time from office to home.

My only foe now is my own laziness.

Just a few days ago, I was again battling this old foe of mine. I was about to finish up my work, and was having a brief chat with Audrey at the same time. She too was about to call it a day and head for her staircase workout, but I, on the other hand, was being wishy-washy about my swimming plans. I contemplated postponing my swimming till next week, reasoning that the haze was still around, but in all honesty, I was just plain lazy. Audrey, a fantastic mother of two adorable kids, in her usual got-to-love-her friendly style, suggested ever-so-kindly that I could perhaps go for a swim, but cut down on the swimming time. I fiddled with this prospect and decided to just do it. After all, who was I to argue with a terrific runner who is training for an upcoming 10K run soon?

 

I had no regrets after that. The water temperature was just right, and completing my laps was not a problem at all, fuelled by the image of Olympic swimmers like Michael Phelps breaking world records left and right. In the spirit of fitness, I even threw in two additional laps just because I felt like it.

So exercise does wonders for laziness. And it didn’t even make me more tired after that. The crux is getting yourself out of that couch and into the swimsuit. Plus, I really do need it, especially in the first trimester, because if it’s good for me, it must be good for baby too.

Posted in Relax & Celebrate | 21 Comments

The hope, glory and honor

Posted on August 20, 2008 by The Giddy Tigress

Photo credits

The Olympic games have proven to be an event full of highs and lows, ups and downs. So the badminton team is back from Beijing, with a silver medal to be proud of…although there was a flicker of hope that the medal could have been a gold one, and that on that fateful night, we would see Lee Chong Wei standing proud and tall on the highest step of the podium, with the strains of the Negaraku playing loudly.

Still, I am mighty proud that we walked away with a silver medal, and at least now we see Malaysia on the medal tally board.

Of course, there are plenty of comments and remarks about the straight-set match.

“He was nervous.”

“He lost confidence after losing those first few points to Lin Dan.”

“Lin Dan had home ground advantage.”

“Chong Wei felt the pressure.”

After the match, some people even say,”Aiyo, what a waste…he missed his chance of getting that RM1 million.”

But seriously, is that what’s important in winning a gold medal for your country? Is the RM1 million proverbial dangling carrot the impetus that drives our sportsmen (and sportswomen) to aim for excellence? Shouldn’t our sportsmen show their true patriotic attitudes with pride and genuinely say and believe that they are doing it for their country? For the honor, for the glory, and for the pride and love that they have in their hearts for their homeland, which we sing (all together now) – “tanah tumpahnya darahku”.

Because the truth is, sports people in some other countries are mostly just volunteers. Well, those who do well certainly gain from sponsorships and endorsements, but those who don’t, they just do it for their country, believe it or not. That is why tears are shed when the national anthem is played. These athletes are touched that their efforts have paid off.

So really, do you think the attitudes and mindsets of Malaysians should change? Or the problem could lie in the way we are governed today. What say you?

Posted in Thoughts & Scribblings | 6 Comments