Chinese New Year - lovely celebrations!!

How time flies! The one-week Chinese New Year holiday just elapsed in a blink of an eye. Never mind, I did enjoy my CNY this year, especially when I realized that I did not put on weight in the end of the day!..although my current weight does not seem to be that satisfactory at all. lol... But I was just happy with that because my weight used to increase right after CNY every year, the most devastating one was on last year, I gained about 4kg! I've been trying fucking hard to refrain myself from the fattening foods especially those biscuits specially made for spring festival (年饼) and pork jerky aka "bahkua" (肉干). I actually broke my personal record 'coz I used to eat loads and loads of these when it comes to CNY celebrations.

Alright, should stop crapping around. Back to the main point, I pretty enjoy the CNY celebrations this year with my beloved family, lovely cousins and friends. =) This is going to be a long post, as tons of photos were taken by my cousin the photo maniac! Well, I shall let the photos do the talking then. Off we go! =P

On 31st of January, all of us, including my family, relatives, and relatives by marriage of my cousin were invited to dine in together at the Hong Gei Restaurant (洪记酒楼) which is located in Taman Connaught. It wasn't supposed to be the authentic reunion dinner though, so we just considered it as a "pre-reunion-dinner". We were served with delectable, scrumptious and sumptuous dishes although I did not like some of the dishes because of the devastating fats! Holy shit man... I reckon I'm starting to live a healthy life hahaha!  

 (L to R): me, cousin Vincent, Adrian

 (L to R): cousin Suki, cousin Nene, uncle 

 (L to R): younger uncle and aunt, my beloved mummy and daddy

 (L to R): cousin Eve, me, cousin Vincent

 (L to R): sis Yenniko, cousin Eve, cousin's bf Clave, 

cousin An, me, Adrian, cousin Vincent

 me being the "kepochi"/busybody xP

 opss..not to forget, my lovely elder aunt and uncle =P

(L to R): uncle, naughty boy Zhi Jie, ah qiu auntie

 "Yu Shang" (鱼生)
a typical CNY dish, there will be strips of raw fish,
mixed with shredded vege and a few types of sauces as well as condiments

 (top to bottom clockwise): Dong-po pork (东波肉),
homemade tofu (with fantastic gravy!),
special sauce fried chickens (香鸡),
salted egg prawns  

We headed to Pavillion the next day for some shopping, as well as to "experience" the CNY festive celebrations outside from home. As expected, it was so damn crowded and I even noticed many tourists who seemed to be enjoying the celebrations together with us too..kind of feel warm to see that! =P  

    

 I feel so ashamed to say that I actually forgot to pay

this little green-all-over guy for taking photo with him!

I was supposed to pay him 2 bucks per photo taken. lol"

 He must have hated us and wanted to
run after us but he could not do so....lol 

The next day, we spent our reunion dinner night at Sim Mei Seafood Restaurant (善美海鲜楼) located in Taman Mutiara (珍珠花园). Unlike the last time at Hong Gei, this time we had a smaller group of people to dine together. No photo was taken that night because my cousins forgot to bring their camera along. =( Anyway, we really very much enjoyed our dinner that night, a very palatable dinner man!! 

On the first day of CNY (known as 初一), the very first and important thing to do is to pay a New Year call (拜年) of course!! xD Time to grab as many angpaos (red packet) as possible lorrr! =P After visiting a few houses of the elders and "successfully" getting angpaos from them (lol, sounds so irrespectful), we went down to MidValley for some shopping, again! So tiring....I dislike shopping in fact. lol 

Took some lovely photos at home though before departure to MidValley mall. xD 

 (L to R): me and my lovely cousin Ellie

 (L to R): sis Yenniko, my beloved Grandma, me

--in MidValley mall--

see larrr I was ready all the time one leh! =P

you guys arrr, better be more prepared for the next shot I warn you! 

 okay, nice shot indeed after all. well done my lovely gang =)

 the "elders"? lol... xP sorry no offence wakaka~ 

 after a heavy walk throughout the day, we decided to

take a rest at Sweet Chat cafe and have some fruity ice shaves. =P
and...call it a day! xD no more energy to continue walking.. 

(top to bottom clockwise): guava volcano, durian cendol, mango volcano

  weeewit~ lenglui in cheongsam =D

After we came back from MidValley mall, I was told that they actually decided to have an one-day trip to Malacca on the next day. I was shocked (is shocked, not surprised, honestly! =O) in the first place because the activities in these several days have been a tad too much to me, and I could have put on weight if I were to indulge in the specialty foods from Malacca! As many of you should know, I am a person who cannot stand long, especially when it comes to the seduction of delicious food! =( Anyway, apart from the food, one thing I love the most from there will be their Jonker Street (文化坊), which is quite easy to locate when you're in the heart of Malacca's Chinatown. If you fancy bazaar type of shopping, this will be the place to visit while you're in Malacca. =P Things there are super duper cheap than those in KL when you actually can find the exact same thing in either KL or Malacca. I kind of regret now for not buying as many as I wanted!! I want to buy the necklace and bracelets...... I wonder when will be my next time in Malacca ever again. 

 the crowd that you should expect in this popular spot

as usual, we had some prayer in the famous temple there too

passed by this stall a few times, but none of us gave it a try.
perhaps we don't fancy this kind of specialty food I reckon. @.@

 lol, some fun photo shooting session right before our departure to Malacca!

Last day before my cousins go back to Johor, we went for two movies in Leisure mall: The Green Hornet and I Love Hong Kong. Both were interesting and funny! But I prefer The Green Hornet, and I start to like Jay Chou! He was cool (吊) in the movie and seriously I find him quite really talented! xD Oh in addition to watching movies, we also went to Neway to have our favourite Karaoke session! Bills are quite expensive anyway 'coz it's CNY, so they will usually charge a tad higher than usual. Anyway, I really had fun moments with my lovely cousins and we laughed like a fool throughout the movies, and sang like a star throughout the Karaoke session..hehe

Okay, been typing too much and I'm starting to feel dizzy and tired, having a little cough and sore throat here. I feel a little better now though, as compared to a few days ago. =) Well, that's all for my CNY this year, and there is no doubt that there were lots of other activities/events too which I did not mention as it's sort of crazy to list all of them out here. =P One thing that is not to be forgotten is absolutely the gambling session!! However, we did not really gamble much this year 'coz we had more outings than in previous years. But still ok la, I am not a person who can gamble well and tends to lose more than I could win. xD Oh well, I shall stop writing and go to bed now.

Once again, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Try to grab as many angpaos as possible until next Thursday (the last day of CNY, known as 元宵). =D



p/s: there were tons of other photos too, but I mostly only put up photos that were focused on me. =P i'm just too lazy to include all of them up to here and it's kind of impossible and ridiculous eh...? xD

 

I'm proud of you, 李佳薇! :D

Jess Lee - Listen by Beyonce

Jess Lee - 回家 by 顺子

Finally, her dream has come true.... Tonight, she was announced to be the champion for the 7th season of 超级星光大道...! I am truly proud of her, she's been working so hard to come this far. At last, she has found her best stage ever to sing out her life and her dream! You're the legend in my heart and I believe many Malaysians are gonna be proud of you. It's gonna be a long way journey though, there is so much more to come, but I believe you can definitely do it, through every obstacle and hardship, making it all the way to the road of success! You're the best in my heart...ever and forever, 李佳薇... =)　

*+*Jam Making*+*

Weee one thing I love about Food Technology lab is that we don't really deal with whatever chemicals or instruments to carry out an experiment. The experiments we do for this subject are seemingly interesting. I reckon humans prefer to deal with food substances to hazardous chemicals, and I believe many others think the same way too. Unless you are an authentic mad scientist. =P (Handling chemicals is not as fun as you think!..it could be freaking boring sometimes.)

The experiment (or should I call it an culinary activity or cooking lesson? =P) that we conducted today is called "Jam Making". The purpose of the lab itself certainly is not to teach us how to make jam. lol In fact, we are required to understand the principles behind the jam making process, such as the preservation method of jam, extraction of pectin, purpose of adding sugar and citric acid, use of refractometer, etc. The type of fruit that we used to make fruit jam for this lab is the apple. I don't like the jam of this flavor though. The smell of the apples especially when they got boiled and cooked is really unpleasant for my liking. Perhaps it is because of the browning (Maillard reaction) that took place when we peeled the apples. =X I would be more pleased if I could use other types of fruit, such as orange and grape. =P

Alright, a picture speaks a thousand words..so I shall let the pictures talk ya. (note that the order of photos below basically corresponds to the order of steps/procedures for our jam making process)

Materials/ingredients and utensils prepared by the lab-technicians

 De-waxing the apples. (there were loads of wax OMFG!)

Peeled apples.

 Peeled apples cut into slices.

Grinding the slices of apples into a muddy form (even and fine pieces) 

using a "grinder" or "peeler" knife? Can't recall what's the knife called. =X

Sorry for my poor vocabulary hahaha.

Peels and cores. They are not useless at all! 

We need to extract pectin from these "waste". =P

Simmering the peels and cores to extract their pectin.

 See, the fruit pieces started to undergo browning. =(

That's why I said I don't like apples.

To my greatest delight, the browning did not really

affect the overall taste of the jam itself. =D 

 Nah, now only they have become the real "waste"

from which we extracted the pectin previously.

 The pectin essence from the peels and cores. 

 Adding in the fruit pieces. 

Boiling, boiling and boiling until the

fruit pieces become soft and tender.

 Adding in the pectin powder which has been

pre-mixed with 30g of sugar.

 Wah! You might have rubbed your eyes when you see this.

Yes, you didn't see anything wrong, we are to add this 

whole packet of granulated sugar into the saucepan! 

500g! Sooooo sweeeeeeet! But, I love it~ =P 

Adding in the 500g of sugar.

This little device is called a refractometer. 

It is used to measure the ^o Brix of the jam.

We have to measure the ^o Brix from time to time, until

it reaches around 66- 68^o  then boil down quickly. 

You might need to refer here if you have no idea what ^o Brix is. XD

 This is how the fruit jam looks like when

the desired ^o Brix is reached roughly.

Our masterpiece! =P

It tasted quite good, especially when served with bread! hehehe

Lengzai MrSee slicing for fruit pieces~

Xiong & Pika doing their works~
(well, I do have works also larr! xD and hor,
Pika you look fucking fat here hahaha!)

 Lab-tech giving instructions.

CUTE Jesse~ :P

3 gu 6 por~  =P

That's all for the lab session. It was indeed a great and fun experience. Now I know how to make fruit jams. Arghhhhhh, it's still a LAB though. Get me??

The report still awaits us ohh no! Don't wanna think about it now, let's enjoy the CNY first. =P 

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! =D 

Hello 2011!

Wow I think I have got to clean up all the webs on my blog! It's been 2 months since my last post! xD Guess what, I just completed my 2-month internship too....just one week ago!! and....hello 2011! How time flies!

My biggest first ever plan in this brand new year is to reduce weight! Seriously, I have put on weight from time to time. I always tell myself to control my diet, but never once I'd succeed. So, I set myself a target last week, I will not have my dinner, and sometimes even lunch! xD Slowly...slowly...I knew it will definitely be very suffering at the beginning. I have to be patient, strong and bear with it! Gambateh Kevin! You can make it! =)

Co-op aka internship!!!!

Finally, my coop training has come. I've been feeling nervous yet excited, looking forward to this day. However, it really surprised me, or should I say, it shocked me, with all the hectic scheduled-trainings provided by my Department's manager. I never really expected I'd be required to undergo such stressful training because I heard the first coop will be rather easy and simple than the second and third. Now I'm doing the first placement, and I am being treated as though I'm gonna become their permanent operator as they are training me so intensively. *sigh* Nevertheless, I believe hard works do bear fruit. I am gonna learn a lot through the process although it's tough and suffering. =)


Anyway, I will describe a little on my independent projects here. My main project's title is basically on Machine Safety, so I will actually deal with SOP quite often. The main project consists of several parts:
- preparing SOP on Machinery Safety based on researches online and company itself
- arranging external parties training (work with H.R Department) - Machine Guarding with NIOSH 
- briefing manager from various departments on the SOP as assigned
- auditing (prepare audit checklist, conducting audit, review SOP, etc)
- identifying and taking photo of all machines and conveyor as well as their emergency buttons, hazard signage

Another project comprising several items:
- arranging Safety Lunch to operators on Electrical Tools Safety
- arranging external trainings on Noise Training to operators
- preparing SOP on Safety Knife and related one point lesson
- safety culture survey checklist & questionnaires
- safety culture information
- incident reporting 


Basically those are the scheduled tasks/projects for me to carry out within the timeline. I'm afraid if I couldn't get them done on time. >< Hopefully I can manage to go through all these smoothly and smoothly!!!! 


p/s: I miss lecture classes suddenly.....I finally can understand the difference between study and work.....I miss exams!! x(

Happy Day!!

Awww it's been almost a month ever since I last updated my blog. Hahahaha..damn lazy me..
As title says, today is my happy day, but it does not mean I did well for my Food Microbiology midterm. =.=
I didn't really study well, and consequently, I didn't manage to answer many questions. =(
Ok, since this post is supposed to talk about my happy events, I'm not gonna mention the f**king midterm!

Ever since I visited BumbuBali last time to celebrate my buddy's birthday, I am always hoping to pay a visit to this fantastic restaurant of fusion concept again. Today, I get to enjoy the meals there once again, with my family this time. Hehehe.. I ordered the same thing again! XD because I really miss it so much...  Delicious and fresh chicken, fragrant rice, fantastic belacan, and the most important one....its portion is soooo big! =P

My mum and sister ordered this one....Nasi Campur! 

Big portion, delicious kao kao...haha!

 I ordered this one.. it's called Ayam betutu 

if I didn't remember the name wrongly...haha XD

 The restaurant~

My dad ordered two other meals, which were Squid Salad and a bowl of Soup, but I forgot the name. XD

The only bad thing about this restaurant is only that the air circulation there wasn't really ok!!! 

Very hot!!! I suggest you not to take in spicy foods there, otherwise you will definitely be sweating like hell.

Another suggestion, only visit there when it's winter.......hahahaha!

After we almost finish the meals, dad ordered three bottle of Stella artois beer for him, my sister and I. lol..

I find it quite nice to drink, I somehow prefer it more than calrsberg. hahaha... 

After the dinner, we went to The Mines to shop for a while because my sister wanted to buy a pair of shoes for herself. =X I kind of dislike shopping with her because she always tends to be choosy!!! I think if not the shop was closing down, she was gonna stay there for hours and hours......

Then, we went to Starbucks for coffee drinking session.... Sweet chats with my family, had lots of fun also. ^^

That's all for my day. Although it was kind of tiring, I enjoyed my day very much. =D Love ya dad and mum! 

p/s: I didn't capture the photos myself.. I took the photos from other blogs.. =X Don't sue me.. T_T

credits to:

http://www.vkeong.com

http://iwant2eat.blogspot.com