Confessions of a City Slicker

Let me confess…I haven’t been to BJ Complex or its surrounding shops in years.

So it’s no wonder that I didn’t know about this great little shop that anyone who is interested in making crafts will go absolutely crazy over.

It’s called You Mei and upon entering you will spy rolls and rolls of ribbons, laces, sequins and strings of beads. They also have ready assembled flowers, butterflies and such that you can take and sew to your clothes or add to your craft work immediately.

Man, I should have come to this place when I started doing my belly dance costume instead of canvassing every shop in the town area. The people in the shop were really helpful and knowledgeable. In fact, LT, one of my class girls spent a whole day there so that they can give her a quick tutorial to sew her bra.

Initially, I was really naive when I thought that I can finish the whole thing with just one type of silver sequins and beads. How wrong I was. I bought some additional materials from them today including three lovely butterflies for my skirt. Not sure how I’m gonna use them, but they will definitely save me lots of time.

I’ve completed both cups now and am starting with the staps. If I thought doing the cups were hard, the straps prove to be harder still because I have to take into consideration that they need to stretch and their flimsiness make holding the sequins in place difficult.

Some girls in the class played about with the idea that after our performance they can sell off their costumes to help raise funds for charity, maybe at the next WBD. It’s a good idea and definitely will prevent having another costume taking up space in our closet.

But for me, I don’t know if I’ll be able to part with it after spending so much effort just making it.

Truly this hafla is the personification of the term “blood, sweat and tears”.

Blood because of all the tiny needle pricks I got.
Sweat because practicing in the workout studio on Saturdays is like practicing in a sauna.
Tears, well, there were some with the needle pricks.

Girls, Gambateh!

Thanks for all your help, You Mei. You’ve definitely given me lots of ideas to digest.

Some time ago I posted about this traditional Hock Jiu dish that is reserved especially for birthdays and special occassions and is also a confinement food.

Got to eat the homemade version today, courtesy of Mommy Dearest. She had bought a bottle of the Chinese red wine and wasn’t sure how to do it, so I referred her to Lillian’s blog for her recipe.

Mom cut up the chicken into little pieces which is much less appealing when if she were to cook the chicken in chunks like how we see from the hawkers stalls.

Here’s my lunch today, Hock Jiu chicken with rice. The color didn’t turn out as red as I’d like but the soup sure is thick. Mom added a little Hsiao Hsing wine for the added oomph.

Wished she didn’t put so much ginger in there but without them, the dish will be missing the “heat”, know what I mean? Lucky they were clumped together so it was easy to pick them out.

Not bad for the first try, Mom

I’ve been looking forward to this ever since Froggy brought it up. Even though a few of the group PPK-ed on us (shame on you! :p) we decided to go ahead and have dinner there anyway.

It’s the tapenyaki restaurant in Sungai Nibong area, next to the flyover from the Bayan Bay apartments.

First thing customers will notice when they open the door is the sound of birds twittering. Sure made me look around for the source of the sound before I realized that it’s the motion sensor.

Meals come in set forms (both lunch and dinner) but there are some ala carte as well in the form of temakis, sushi and sashimis.

This is the California Temaki I ordered, on the house because they forgot to charge me for it :p

At RM3.20 a piece, it’s reasonable but it lacks those delicious egg strips that comes with the temaki in Akebono. I really miss Akebono. Too bad the place closed down long ago.

A full set meal comes with salad (in the fish shaped plate), appetizer (the wantan in the fish shaped plate), miso soup (far right), garlic rice and the main dish that you order.

I ordered the sliced beef (RM13.90). The bowl next to the miso soup is the souce for dipping the beef slices. A little too garlicy for my liking.

My dinner companions both had the teriyaki chicken and fish combo.

Picking up a piece of wantan, I noticed something I found to be a real turnoff - oil collecting at the bottom of the plate. I had to use the napkin they provided to soak up the oil. Yuck!

Also, don’t Japanese restaurants serve those conventional sticky rice flavored with vinegar anymore? I really prefer that one compared to the more canggih versions so popular nowadays.

Their miso soup was really full of flavor, the result of the tiny pieces of seaweed I found at the bottom of the bowl. I just couldn’t get enough of it.

The actual cooking is done in the kitchen area, as opposed to the typical tapenyaki restaurants where customers sit around the cook-pit.

I finally learned to operate the camera on my phone to take better quality pictures hehehehe…..

Didn’t know so many things must be set right first before I start clicking away. Since the button to snap a photo is so tight and always results in shaky pictures, I started to rely on the timer mechanism.

Price wise, this place is quite reasonable and suit our budgets. Like my friend says, “Pan gee korr tua teh” (cheap and big).

I first learned about this dessert from one of my M&B novels. They called it French Fried Vanilla Ice Cream.

To quote the book, “It’s a large scoop of vanilla ice cream dipped in cinnamon and nutmeg and rolled in Rice Krispies, then dropped in the french fryer for a few seconds. Then it’s smothered in hot fudge and topped with whipped cream.”

There’s a reason why this only exists in fiction (snicker). It’s just too heavenly.

I believe Best View Restaurant in Batu Maung has something similar. Today I tried the one at Ramen in Pulau Tikus which comes close, minus all the sinfully delicious toppings.

What you see here is just a large scoop of vanilla ice cream coated with batter and deep fried. Nothing special. The batter is no different from your common goreng pisang or kuih kodok batter.

Well, I did get to taste something really delicious yesterday. It was at a Raya open house of one of my ex-colleagues. Since she has moved from Balik Pulau to Ayer Itam, getting to her place is easier.

Her mom’s kari ayam is just out of this world, mostly because it’s so lemak. It’s not too spicy with just enough spices to balance the aroma. And the lemak, oooooo……

For me, the whimpy alternative healthier version of kari lemak that uses yoghurt or low fat cream just doesn’t cut it. There is just no substitute for good ol’ high cholesterol, artery clogging santan.

Sorry, no pictures of all that lemak syok curry on my tomato rice to show. I like my rice drowning in curry so the only thing that you can see in the picture is the curry with a few lumps that are supposed to be chicken or potatoes, I can’t remember.

And oh, I went to cut my hair today and the guy decided to give me a new style compared to the one I have been sporting for some time now.

Check it out…

I love those big curls. Too bad it’s only temporary because it is achieved with a hair dryer and big, round brush. No perming is gonna give me that

I suddenly remember this little dog I used to have.

No pics of her to share because I had her during the time when digital cameras were not invented yet. But, to give you an idea, think of a small fox only with bigger eyes and more blonde coat and you basically get what she looks like.

I found her hanging around my kindy. Some kids were terrorizing her so I took her home. Mom named her Cindy.

Pretty soon, she grew up to be quite the little siren, especially the way she wags her tail. It’s more like seeing a professional dancer waving her feathered boa.

She doesn’t walk, she sashays, fully exploiting the fluffy fur at the back of her thighs. I always thought they looked like bloomers.

And when she’s sunbathing, she practically redefines the term “sitting pretty”, hind legs tucked underneath with her two front legs placed close together just like a true lady. She will hold her head up high, close her eyes and basically sit there and bake under the hot sun. And she will not come in until her fur feels as hot as freshly ironed laundry and her nose wet and glistening.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a dog who is as affectionate as she is. Even Baby likes to keep to herself sometimes. When Cindy sits with any member of the family, it has to be full body contact. If you move away a little, she will creep close until she has made contact again.

This is not exclusive to her human family only. She likes to rub herself against her doggy family as well, especially the male dogs. Told you she was a siren.

Cindy lived with us for 13 long years. It’s amazing how animals somehow have the instinct to take care of themselves. During the last years of her life, cataract was slowly blinding her. When she first finds that her vision was deteriorating, we’ll find her taking frequent walks around the house, preparing herself for the time when she will have only her familiarity with her environment to navigate her way.

Come her 13th year, we had to make the difficult decision to put her down. By that time, she had ballooneed considerably from her slender size. This seems to be common for elderly dogs.

She could hardly move around and her failing strength couldn’t support her weight. That’s when we knew it’s time.

Farewell, my lady. In fact, I don’t think I will ever find a truer lady than thee.

It took me two weeks sewing up till 2 am in the morning, but I’ve done it!

I finished the first cup of my belly dance costume!

Tah dah! Here’s what it looks like now:

Mom is starting to complain about the dark circles under my eyes. Hehehe call me Ling Ling lah.

Now that I’ve gotten the first cup out of the way, hopefully, I will be able to finish sewing by the hafla date.

Some girls in my class are using the bigger sequins. Man, I should have bought those! Then probably I won’t be spending two hours just to get one line in place.

Right now, I’m seriously considering using fabric paint to embelish my skirt. That should be faster than sewing. Besides, I don’t know if I’ll have time to do the skirt as well.

I’m taking it to the tailor to redo the waistband. Maybe she can give me some advice.

BTW, it didn’t rain today :-(  The weather was pleasant and all but I was hoping for the pitter patter of rain drops on my window.

Hmph!  I feel so cheated >.<