Windy Day

Today was a really windy day and it was really nice until after my afternoon nap. I was outside the house this whole morning clearing up after last night BBQ and it was a really a great BBQ, everyone had a great time even my sister-in-law from England was here virtually.


After done with the clearing up, I watered the plants and was a little worried about the windy condition. Anyway I the wind would slow down and went on with my usual business. In the evening my Princess told that the "edamame" plant was broken and my immediate reply was "it must be the wind" Yes it was the wind indeed, instead of getting weaker as I thought it got stronger ....... looks like I'll have to start all over again. Anyway all is not lost as I have some knowledge on the finer points about growing "edamame". My princess collected all the edible beans and boiled them ........ yum yum they were good!! Well at least I got to eat some. :)

The Bed

Last night my two girls came downstairs to complaint that their bed had collapsed just when I was about to go to bed......... well off course there were alot of who did this and that and this that caused the bed to collapsed ........... ki kok ki kok ki kok!!!!!!!! So I reluctantly trudge upstairs to asses the damage and is not at all pleased at the prospect of having to repair it there and then.

Whew what a relief I had when I saw that the base planking just slipped from the rail ........ looks like poor design and excess movement causes it to drop. Place the base planking carefully back on to the rail so that the girls can have a good night sleep on the bed. No that is not a permanent solution, will do the the modification in the morning ......... I need my rest too ....... goodnight zzzzzz.

Early this morning after doing my usual Sunday morning things and business, I decided to correct the flaw in bed. My two girls went to do part time work early this morning so the bed was free for me to work on it. After ding-dong ding-dong for about an hour and a half or so plus a few gallons of sweat .......... it was really a warm morning ........ it was done. Ladies the bed is very stable now and papa always do a great job ya!! :)

"Balik Kampung"

Just finished reading the Star Newspaper this morning and was relieved that I need not do the "Balik Kampung" thingy anymore. "Balik Kampung" is the Malay term for returning to hometown and it is really a stressful, tedious and full of nonsense thing to do during a major festival. It is really an exodus of people from Kuala Lumpur to all the other states.

I have been doing the "Balik Kampung" every weekend for almost thirty years when I was making a living in Kuala Lumpur. To make the routes safer during major festivals, the police had implemented an operation called Ops Sikap and after reading the article today I am really happy that I do not need to go through this anymore...... I am HOME :)

Basil

Basil is really a fantastic herb. Remember the basil plant that I mentioned in "Green Fingers", it is fully grown now. It is a great herb and is used a lot in Italian cooking. I really love the smell and taste of basil.

My Princess bought the basil seedling from Kuala Lumpur and one of her intention was to make pesto sauce. She had wanted to try spaghetti in pesto sauce but did not want to make use of commercially available ones. Yes she had already try it but did not like it, me I love it. On the second try, less of the pesto sauce was used and this time everyone like it. We tried adding it with spaghetti bolognese and it was ..... Mama Mia!!!! Delicious!!!

The surplus of the basil leaves are being dried for storage and distribution to people who are interested in it. The leaves of the basil must be constantly harvested or else it would be wasted. I am now waiting for the collect the seeds to plant new plants. Need some basil? :)

Smiling Again

This morning while clipping my nails I noticed that my left thumb nail seems to be smiling at me ............... why it is no longer CACAT :)

The Cupboard

Not long ago my Home Minister requested me to construct a cupboard but I had to reject. Under current situation of excessively high pump price of fuel the timber yard refused to deliver small quantities. Even though I know them very well they just out right refused ........... I even suggested that they drop it off should they be passing my place to deliver orders that justify the cost and I don't mind waiting. The answer is still NO because it is inconvenient and very likely that they will forget because it is not their normal practice. If I want the lumber, I had to find my own way to get it back home ........ can't blame them can I? Moreover the cost of lumber had spiral upwards.

Anyway after some calculation and my poor back condition, maybe it is cheaper to buy one, so off we went to check it out. Yes the mass produced type is much cheaper but there is still a problem ........ can it go up the staircase to the location it is intended for?

Last Sunday we had a break and found the perfect cupboard at a fantastic discount too. It was a Completly Knock Down (CKD)/Do It Yourself (DIY) three door wardrobe so there is no problem whether it can go up the staircase or not. Errr..... only a small problem, they don't deliver because it was from one of the hypermarts and it was a CKD/DIY. We were using our small car then and was not sure whether it could fit in or not. After some quick measurement ......... alright!! it fit but some changes have to be made concerning the sitting arrangement.

After reaching home with the two packages, yes it came in two boxes, and two hours or so later it was done with a little help from my abled body son to do the heavy lifting. While assembling the cupboard I was impressed with the precision of the cut and holes, everything just fitted so well! I was prepared to do some refitting but there is no need at all ....... wonder where it was made.

While clearing up the boxes to be reused or recycling, guess what I saw printed on the box "Made in France" :)

Good Eat

Yes it is "Good Eat" as in Hokkien "HO CIAK!!!" and that is how I would describe the recent harvest from the organic mini farm. The farm is mini but the yield and produce is gigantic and really "ho ciak"

The okra is long and fat and have thick walls. My wife cooked it with sambal belacan and every bite is just heavenly ......... full of bite, crunchy yet tender with full of mouth watering sweetness. Enjoy the photos below ........ yum!! yum!!

The "kai-lan" is just as great and it was stir fried with ginger and garlic.....yummy!!yum!!yum!!

The brassica or "chai sim" in Hokkien cooked with noodles and wah lau eh!!! just fantastic .......... gave some to my mum too!! just the veggie.

HO! CIAK!!! :)

Scissors Sharpening

I was entrusted with the task of sharpening a pair of scissors recently by my wife. Whoa!!! Sharpening scissors??? OK I must admit that I have no experience at all in this area and it was really a scary thought if I were to spoil it. This particular pair of scissors is a gift from her mum a very long time ago and it is not any kind of scissors but a pair of tailoring scissors.

My mum too have a pair of tailoring scissors and as far as I can remember that pair of scissors had been around for ages. If my memory served me correctly she got it as a gift for purchasing her very first own sewing machine then, yes it is a Singer. She really treasured that pair of scissors and it had help her to clothe us when we were small including some of our Chinese New Year best. She had a real passion for tailoring.

When we were kids, we would quietly make use of her treasured scissors and cut paper to make ......... I cannot remember what ........ without her knowledge because we were barred from using it. We thought we were smart using it secretly but the moment when she uses it again she would know straight away that we had been at it because it was not as sharp as the last time she used it. She only used it for cutting cloth and nothing else, lucky for us she knew where to sent it for sharpening by a professional so we only got a real good scolding.

My wife is also passionate about sewing and that pair of scissors had cut through thousand of meters of fabric including two fashion shows. It was really a heavy task so I had to lay down my condition that there is no guarantee that I can do a good job of it and if in the worst case it would have to be sent to the professional to be corrected.

First I tried to separate the scissors into two separate pieces but was unable to do so because the end of the bolt was punched to stop the nut from separating from the bolt. The thread from the end of the bolt seems to be smoothen out to prevent the but from tightening or loosening. What an issue!@#? Looks like there was no other choice but to do it as it is. Anyway it is done and there was no feed back yet .......... hmm she is using it to modify a dress now........ guess it must be OK. :)

de' Roast Pork

de' Roast Pork ......... yes the crunchy crackling and juicy interior .......... hmmm .......... roast pork is a great dish. The "de'" here has no meaning, just needed the sound to describe the elegance of this mouth watering dish.

From my understanding there are basically there are two types of roast pork, the Chinese kind and the Western kind. The Chinese kind are those that you see hanging in front of Hong Kong style Chinese restaurant or chicken rice shop. Usually when I see the Chinese roast pork hanging in these eateries I can hear my tummy rumble with joy and the roast pork calling out "eat me ..... eat me ..... eat me" ......... hehe!!! sound like 'crab' ya!!! Anyway I really do have a real desire to eat it when I see it hanging in these outlets but it is always a very disappointing affair having Chinese roast pork especially from chicken rice stall. They always cut it paper thin very minute miserable pieces even though you are prepared to pay for more. I am really lucky you know, my wife is able to roast both the Chinese and Western kind deliciously and in this blog I'll be writing about the western kind ..... yum!! yum!!


In England roast pork is normally eaten with apple sauce, in Germany is sauerkraut and other parts of Europe ......... errr!!! sorry no idea at all. In our case we had it with apple sauce and brown sauce. On the side we usually have Yorkshire pudding or jacket potatoes, French beans or some kind of salad and baked beans or baked beans ....... hehe!!





To have really good roast pork the roast pork itself must be good and lucky me my wife had mastered the art of roasting pork from both worlds i.e Chinese and Western. Me?? Errr!! I have mastered the art of carving western roast pork only ...... it is also a skill whattt!!! When preparing western roast pork the one most important skill is in determining when it is cooked. If the roast pork is over cooked it will break up into shreds and it is almost impossible to cut it even with a razor sharp knife. The crackling (the skin part) will also be easily separated from the meat part if it is well over done. If it is not cooked don't even think of eating it unless you want to ......... never eat under cooked or raw pork.

Much experience and skill are also required to make the crackling crackle. My wife had invested a lot hours by the oven just to get the crackling to crackle right and it had really paid off. A piece of roast pork is not a roast pork if the crackling is not crackling right be it Chinese or Western. When making western roast pork always make more than for a meal because left over are always great for a snack or breakfast as a sandwich. Join me for some roast pork .......... :)

Conclusion - Planting Seeds

I think I can now safely make a conclusion about Planting Seeds 2 even though only five days had passed. Generally the norm is that it takes between one to fourteen days for a seed to grminate. From the picture on the left, you can see the "Wow!!!" only one did not or have not germinated. This set is planted with seeds from another supplier and is planted in two different potting media. The media on the right is peat moss and on the left is KK Special ........... alright !!!! from now on I'll make use of this special mix ....... oops!! I still have peat moss ....... guess I'll have to finish it first ......... compromise 50:50 hehe!!!

The picture that is marked "Pathetic" well I added new seeds from the same supplier as the previous batch at the same time I made the "Wow!!!" set and I added peat moss on top of the coir but it is still pathetic isn't it??? Looks like I was not wrong when I made the complaint to the seed supplier. :)

Upside Down

Before I started planting vegetables I never new that this vegetable fruit grows upside down even though I have eaten thousands if not millions of them. I was quite surprised myself the very first time I saw it on the plant that I planted.

When the plant flowers, the flowers looks just like any other flowers in respect of position ......... but when the fruit is formed it is a total different story. It is the okra, it's upside down. :)

It's Hurting

Since I nangka busuk on 30th August, the part just below the small of my back still hurt and so is the region above it. The part just below the small of the back also hurts when I walk up a slope. Ooooo pain lah!!!!

A couple of days after the incident, the pain becomes persistent so I had to use one of those kind of plaster thingy for one night and it feels better the next day ........ I guess I'll have to use it again tonight ...... and no hard labour over the next few days I guess .......... :)

Planting Seeds 2

Eight days had passed since I started the little experiment to determine whether coir or peat moss is a better media for seed pots. From the picture on the right is more or less the conclusion of the experiment which only one real germination and a almost germinated or is it germinating ......... I am not sure it could be a weed.

From previous experience and comparing to other types of plant only this brand of brassica is having such super low germination rate. Today I decided to plant a fresh batch of brassica from another supply source to determine whether the germination rate of brassica is really that low. How about the potting media? ...... Hmmmm!!!!! I've got peat moss, coir and compost ........... OK I'll make use of peat moss and a mixture of compost and coir. Peat moss because I have it and have to use it up, coir and peat moss mix sounds like a great idea ......... hey!!! I have got a hybrid seed potting media. If the hybrid turn out to be great, then it is going to be call KK Special and it is going to be the only and official seed potting media in my nursery. I am gong to try it on other other seeds too ............ KK Special sounds like a million bucks eh!!! :)