Bread Story

I bought this breadmachine when I was 6 months into my last pregnancy. With a round belly, I carried this breadmachine, walking 4 level of staircase down from a shopping complex. It took me another 20 minutes of walking distance to the Bank Negara Komuter Station and yet another challenge awaited. There was an arch-shape overhead bridge with at least 50 or more staircase to go up and down and I repeated the climbing up and down the second time when I disembarked from the train reached home safe and sound with my newly bought breadmachine.

I could do all these crazy stuffs because of my "perseverance" and " fear-not" enthusiasm into healthy dieting. When I found out that I was pregnant, i suddenly turned out to be a health freak and sworn to give the most nutritious food to my baby. When I saw this machine in the product catalogue, I told myself, this is what I want and I need to get it! So without much considerations, i headed for the shop to get it.

I have made numerous loaves using this breadmaker but 9 times out of 10 times, the outcome was a real let-down. The bread is either too moist or too hard. Nonetheless, it's edible. I convinced myself that although the bread is not tasty, but I must eat it cos indeed it was packed with good nutrients which are essential for my to-be-born baby. I have dumped in lots of goodies such as olive oil, walnuts, organic honey, wholemeal flour, and any such stuff you can get from a health food store.

Over the years, with innumerable failures, I have discovered the secret of a good bread lies in the hand of baker and not the breadmachine(i really don't understand why it took me so long to realise that, perhaps it is natural for people to always put the blame on others than admitting their own weakness). I have improvised through numerous trials and errors again and the quality of my loaves gradually improved from one attempt to another. At times I seemed to be hitting on the jackpot- the quality turned out to be closed to bread story standard(ahem!) Though my loaf would failed once in awhile especially when I did it in a hurry without letting the dough enough time to "prove" itself, my loaves taste a lot more better than the earlier attempts. The secret of the missing main ingredients which I discovered from my breadmaking venture is - "PATIENCE". Yes! PATIENCE IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT OF A GOOD LOAF!

At times, I discovered that this main ingredient is hard to find, I decided to do a trade-off. When I lose my patient to bake a loaf in a slow and steady manner, I resort to quick win, i.e. get a pack of bread mix from the baking ingredients shop. Finally, I am convinced that patience can be bought..hehehe!:-p

Look at the picture below, this is the fully proofed bread dough after 1 1/2 hour





I brush the loaf tin with olive oil - so to convince me that this homemade loaf is worth far more better than the bakeries'.

End result after cutting - It's soft and fluffy


Wanna bite?? 2 slices have gone into my stomach before this picture is taken...

If you are interested to bake your own loaf? Just get the bread mix from BRP Baking Ingredient shop. Worth trying...

Elgin's First Island Trip - Pulau Pangkor

Carey Island Seafood Trip

My family and I went to Carey Island on Jan 2008. You won't notice you are at an island cos this small island is separated by a river from the Selangor coast by the Klang River, connected with a bridge from the Banting town. Having heard that it is a seafood heaven, we decided to make a day trip there.

We start our journey around 10 am in the morning and stopped by this restaurant for lunch. This restaurant is located just beside the sea.

With nice scenary

and good food too..(price is reasonable)

The owner built a little viewing patio with couple seats cater for love birds..

Very cooling to sit and enjoy the seaview in a hot afternoon..

This is the name of the restaurant

After lunch, we went to this famous bao shop and immediately have "tea time" there. We ordered the traditional hailam coffee with some baos. I also found my favourite teochew rice kuih in this shop. Reminds me of my childhood days...

This place is far away from the hustle bustle of town. The clock seems to tick slower than KL. People there are humble and friendly. There were also spooky stories told about this place. But so what? Got good food is more important. Perhaps I should suggest to my linedance buddies to make a food trip to this place..

Bryani Rice With Baked Chicken

Last Christmas I cooked this dish for my family members. This is a 2-in-1 dish as the marinated ingredients used for one dish can be used for another dish. This is also one of my signature dishes.

Baked Chicken Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 6 pieces of chicken thighs
• 10 cloves of garlic (use more if the chicken thigh is big)
• 10 cloves of shallots (use more if the chicken thigh is big)
• 3 sprigs of lemon grass
• 1 stem of (2 inches) ginger
• 1 stem of (3 inches) turmeric(kunyit)
• 1 sprigs of coriander leaves (chopped)
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds powder (jintan putih)
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds poweder (jintan manis)
• 1 tbsp paprika
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Salt to taste
  

(Note: The last 3 ingredients can be replaced with babas curry powder or any masala powder if you find it trouble some to get these ingredients. Or, as an alternative, you may use the pre-packed satay spices from Carrefour)

Preparation Methods:

• Blend shallots, garlic, lemon grass, ginger and turmeric together. Mix in all the spices, lemon juice and salt into a paste.
• Clean chicken, trim off excess fat. Leave the skin on.
• Make 3 slit on the fresh to enable easy penetration of the marinating ingredients into the meat.
• Massage the chicken thigh with the paste and the chopped coriander leaves.
  
• Leave to marinate inside the fridge for at least 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 220 degree celcius.
• Bake the chicken for 30 mins
• Then turn the grill mode (or switch to upper heat) if you are using a traditional convection oven. Grill for another 5-10 min.
• Remember to brush the chicken with some oil mix with water in between baking to prevent drying.

Bryani Rice Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups basmathi rice, wash and rinsed
Leftover chicken marinate paste
1 cup milk/evaporated milk + water enough to cook 2 cups of rice
Pandan leaves tie into knots
2tbsp olive butter
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
1 tbsp raisins
Some cashew nuts

Preparation Methods :

1. Fry the leftover marinates, cinnamon stick, cloves with some olive butter in a non-stick pan.
2. Pour the rice in and fry for 2 min. Do NOT add any water.
3. Pour the rice into the rice cooker, add in the pandan leaves, milk and water.
4. When the rice is half cooked, pour the raisin and cashew nut in
5. Serve the cooked rice with the chicken thigh or eat it on its own.

Bon Appetit!

My Favourite Things- Apple Strudel

Apple strudel is a famous Austrian dessert though some said it's originated from German. i am pretty sure it's of Austrian origin as my first strudel was eaten when I was in Austria in year 1994. We had a dinner at the vineyard and the dessert served was a slice of apple strudel. Much anticipation was given when our tour guide told us that this is a must-eat traditional dish from Austria. Anyway, it tasted almost like an apple pie, nothing like the one that you find in Malaysia. Another evidence is the movie "Sound of Music" with background of an Austrian family. In the sound track of the "Sound of Music" -"My Fourite Things", the apple strudel was also mentioned.

So much about the history of apple strudel...let me tell you a little about my discovery today. Checked my fridge today and noticed there are still many apples in the fruits compartment and also a stack of leftover popiah wrappers. Rather heartsick as most of my family members, including myself are just too lazy to munch on these green apples as they are both hard and sour. I am excusable cos I have weak gums. But I can't bear to see the apple go aging..and rot away. By the way, the popiah skins was since CNY...Hey, what these 2 combinations could turn out to be?? With my creativity, I decided to make them into "Orientalised Strudel". The replacement for the filo pastry is in fact my left over popiah skins. The result is almost similar to the apple strudel, but less oily. If you have leftover apples in your fridge and you have sweet tooth, you may do the same like me ...

Ingredients:

Green apples - 6 nos
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp
Butter - 100g
Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
Cornstarch - 1 tbsp

Popiah wrappers - 24 pieces

Preparing the fillings:
1. Core and slice the apples
2. Melt 70g (2/3 of the portion used) of butter with a non-stick pan.
3. Put the apple slices in and fry till soft.
4. Mix the sugar in together with the cinnamon powder.
5. The original recipe requires the thickener to be mixed with lemon juice. But since my green apples are real sour, I skipped the lemon juice. So I just mix cornflour with some water and use it to thicken my apple fillings.
6. Cool the fillings once it is cooked.

Methods to "assemble" the popiah wrapper as a mock filo pastry:
1. Brush some butter on a piece of popiah wrapper.
2. Cover with another popiah wrapper.
3. Brush another layer of butter and cover with another piece of popiah skin.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 to get 4 layer of popiah skins stacked up together.
5. Put some fillings in. Fold and seal the edges.
6. Preheat oven to 200 degree celcius for 10 min.
7. Put the pastry on a baking dish lined with non-stick paper.
8. Bake for 20-25 min.
9. Sprinkle with some icing sugar before serving.
10. Watch your tongue, the filling is piping hot!!

Variation:
You may add some roasted almond flakes into the filings.
You may also soak some raisins into rum for 3 hours and mix the fillings.
The end product can be served with vanilla ice-cream or you may decorate by pressing some whipping cream florets on top for serving in a tea party.


Step-by step picture guide:

Get ready all the ingredients, apple, butter, cinnamon powder and brown sugar.

Cook the fillings-Melt butter, add in apple and fry under low fire. Add in brown sugar and cinnamon powder. Lastly, mix some water with cornstarch to thicken the fillings.

Prepare the "filo" skin. You need 4 layers of popiah skin. Brush butter on each layer and stack up the 4 sheets together

Spread the filling

Fold into rectangular shape. Wet the edges with some water to seal it.

Put the pastries in a baking dish lined with non-stick paper. Set to 200 degree celcius. Bake for 25 min or longer to brown.

Sprinkle some icing sugar before serving

Crispy texture, and not oily too..enjoy..

Food. People. Coffeeshop

Kota Damansara is now becoming a food heaven. There are many food outlets ranging from low to high-end. There are many coffeeshops too. I discovered this coffee shop with very authentic hawker style penang food. The name of this restaurant is Food.People.Coffeshop. It's located at the back of Sin Yin Loong Coffeeshop.

This coffee shop is the hybrid of traditional kopitiam and the modern Bistro concepts. The coffee cups are the typical kopitiam thick ceramic type but the place also provide free wireless surfing just like Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Best of all, got air-con too.

But to me, the most important features of course is the food. Well, I must say that good food are hard to come by and this shop owner really did not disappoint us at all. We ordered nyonya nasi lemak, penang har mee and wanton mee. Each cost RM4.50. Much cheaper than what I expected. All also taste good. I also ordered their fuchok imai. It's not enriched with thick soya (nothing beat my mom-in-law style of fuchok imai) but at least there are not stingy with their gingko nuts.

There are also other authentic penang style food such as rojak, chee cheong fun with har kou, ipoh hor fun, a-tui mi suah (duck drumstick with vermicelli soup). I will try some of these next time.

Too bad I didn't bring my camera along or else can snap some yummy pic to show you. Go try yourself lar..

Dragon Fruit Enzyme

Ingredients:

• Dragon Fruit- 800g
  
• Grapes - 300g
  
• Dried Longan - 100g
  
• Oligo 900 - 90g / 15 sachets (15 tbsp if liquid one is used)
• Lime Flower Honey

Methods:

1. Wash, rinse and dry all the fruits before cutting/slicing. Cut grapes into half. Need not rinse dried longan.
   
2. Divide into 3 portions.
   
2. Stack ingredients in sequence, dried longan, grapes, dragon fruits, Oligo 900 and lime flower honey into glass jar. Follow by the remaining 2 portions.
3. Seal tight the container with cling film after stacking in all the ingredients. Cover with lid and leave it to ferment in a cool dry place for 2 weeks before serving.
4. Mix 30 ml with 10 times of water. Enzyme residues can be consumed too.

Benefits about this enzyme:

1. Boost immunity
2. Prevents premature aging
3. Nourish blood, remedy for anemia
   

Grape seeds contained grapenol, a powerful anti-oxidant. Therefore, do not buy seedless grapes as this are biologically reengineered and the grapenol is no longer present. Dragon fruits like any other coloured fruits are rick in betacarotene and valuable antioxidant. The red flesh type is better.

Aloe Vera Enzyme

Ingredients:

• Aloe Vera - 300g
  
• Kiwi Fruits - 200g
  
• Apple - 300g
  
• Oligo 900 - 90g / 15 sachets (15 tbsp if liquid one is used)
• Lime Flower Honey

Methods:

1. Wash, rinse and dry all the fruits before cutting/slicing.
2. Divide into 3 portions.
   
2. Stack ingredients in sequence, apple, aloe vera, kiwi fruits, Oligo 900 and lime flower honey into glass jar. Follow by the remaining 2 portions.
3. Seal tight the container with cling film after stacking in all the ingredients. Cover with lid and leave it to ferment in a cool dry place for 1 week before serving.
4. Mix
   30 ml with 10 times of water. Enzyme residues can be consumed too.

Benefits about this enzyme:

1. Boost immunity
2. Prevents constipation
3. Reduce inflammation

Pineapple Enzyme

Ingredients:

• Pineapple - 500g
• Kiwi Fruits - 150g
• Lemon - 150g
• Oligo 900 -90g /15 sachets (15tbsp if liquid Oligo is used)
• Lime Flower Honey - 250g / 1/2 bottle

Methods:

1. Wash and dry the fruits. Skinned and slice pineapple and kiwi fruits.
   Lemon slices with skin.
2. Divide ingredients into 3 portions. Stack ingredients in sequence, pineapple, kiwi fruits, lemon, Oligo 900 and lime flower honey into glass jar. Follow by the remaining 2 portions.
3. Seal tight the container with cling film after stacking in all the ingredients. Cover with lid and leave it to ferment in a cool dry place for 2 weeks before serving.
4. Mix
   30 ml with 10 times of water. Enzyme residues can bee consumed too.

Benefits about this enzyme:

1. Reduce inflammation
2. Speed up tissue repair
3. Aid digestion
4. Reduce pigmentation

I encourage all of you young ladies to start making this enzyme as it has whitening effect. Also help to make your skin more supple and hydrated. Please share with me a little bit if it is successful ok?

Lemon Enzyme Vinegar

I noticed some of the ingredients used in the enzyme book that I bought came with foreign names..Looks like we may have problem getting the stuff. Anyway, to give you guys a good jump-start, I have selected the below recipe as the ingredients are the simplest to acquire:

Ingredients:

• Lemon - 300 g
• Orange - 200g
• Organic Brown Rice Vinegar - 520ml
• Oligo 900 - 90g/15sachets (If it is liquid form, 15 tbsp)
• Lime flower honey - 250g/ 1/2 bottle

Methods:

1. Wash the fruits, dry and slice into pieces.
2. Divide all ingredients into 3 portion.
3. Stack in sequence- orange, lemon, oligo and lime flower honey into the glass jar. Followed by remaining 2 portions (i like this word, my ex boss used to pronounce this word wrongly as "potion". This is not love potion okay...sorry, side track a bit)
   
4. Pour in the organic brown rice vinegar after you have finished stacking in the 3 portion of ingredients.
5. Seal tight with cling film before covering the container with lid.
6. Keep in cool dry place for 2 weeks before serving.
7. For best result, keep for 2-3 monthjs
8. To consume, just mix 30 ml with 10 times of water.

Lemon is rich in alkaline and it is good to neutralise our sometimes-acidic body. It helps to intoxicate and the citric acid helps to increase calcium absorption. Enrich with orange, high level of vitamin C travels through the body neutralizing free radical, good for people who get cold easily and can help you maintain youthfulness.

The Dos and Duns On Enzyme Preparation

These are some of the dos & duns that you must know b4 preparing the enzyme to ensure success of your home brews. These dos and duns are mostly based on common sense, but i think it's necessary to reiterate here; in case you are not aware.

1) Before brewing, wash your hands with dettol (hehe, joking-only lar). This is just a reminder that hygiene is the utmost important step in your enzyme DIY endeavour. Use clean disposable plastic gloves. All the utensils such as glass bottle, cutting board, scissors and knife should be thoroughly cleansed and dried. Do not act smart by using hair dryer or fan to blow dry as it may contaminate the container. The best germ killer is dettol (another joke again- not funny meh??) The natural germ killer is actually sun-light. Dry everything under the sun will sure kill all germs. Even so, use your brain, I dun expect you to dry your hands under the sun. But should you insist to do it for hygiene purpose, dun blame me if your hands get sunburned or turn dark-dark in colour.

2) Skin of fruits are very nutritious but you may have to exercise caution as certain fruits are imported and may be highly treated with chemical. Again use your brain..For fruits and vege with rough skin or ragged surface or with surface that easily stained with ground such as pineapple, banana, dragon fruits, burdock root, beetroot etc, it's advisable to remove the skin. But if you desire to keep, the skin for certain rhizome plants such as beetroot or sweet potatoes must be brushed thoroughly. You need to wash the fruit thoroughly and dry it before cutting or slicing. After slicing, avoid rinsing the fruits to prevent contamination and nutrients being washed away.

3) Rotten dates or fruits with dark spot on the skin must be removed as this may be bitten by insects and are infested with its eggs or contaminated with spores and fungus.

4) Herbs (e.g. ginger, lemon grass, pandan leaves, dong guay, etc), stout or long should also be sliced or cut into small thin pieces to allow nutrients being easily extracted during fermentation.

5) Some food ingredients that are difficult to dry after washing...you may choose not to wash then.. Instead, just rinse them with diluted organic rice vinegar, since vinegar is a natural antiseptic.

6) Diluted vinegar may be used to clean food items such as white fungus or mushrooms. Just clean and drip off water before soaking into the diluted vinegar. Some precious medicinal herbs("yok choy") such as brazil mushrooms, pao sam (siberian ginseng) and linzhi(i simply said one lar..not sure this can be used huh?) should not be over soaked or the nutrients will be lossed, really wasted! Last but not least, always cut the herbs into smaller pieces before use (need I tell you about this again, a bit long-winded now, but it's common sense!)

7) Oh..one last thing, learnt from my mom and my grandmother. When they made "tapai", it is very pantang to condemn people or say any bad things. The end result will be unsuccessful. So I supposed the same rules applies here. Do not curse, do not scold, do not quarrels and always maintain the good mood while preparing the ingredients for enzyme making or else don't blame me if the enzyme end up like shit...

Good luck!

Home-made Enzyme

Is this highly-spirited or spirit make us high??

Our linedance's "Golden Boy & Jade Lady" have generously treated us their home brew during our last Thursday practice session. This wonderful drink is in fact alcohol free and konon-nya is packed with all the good enzymes. The most precious of all things is that the processes of making are all "orang-matic" and the ingredients used are all organic!! Ai-say-man, got money also can't buy!

On the verge of getting drunk with Golden Boy & Jade Lady's sweet homemade enzymes, all of us were in hilarious mood and were very gung-ho about brewing it ourselves. In view of their overwhelming interest, I decided to copy some of the enzyme recipes from the book I bought.

Our senior line dance instructor Janice Lim briliantly suggested that I scan the pages and post in. I was very tempted with this suggestion but on second thought, I am afraid this may infringe the publisher/author's copy right and get sued. So after much considerations, I am going to copy "wisely" with some modifications of terms and extract the gist from the content of this book so that it would appear to be different from the original..(Hahaha..clever-leh!)

Success Is In The Journey, Not The Destination

"Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.".

Our line dancing practice session last Monday was an entertaining one. One of the thorns amongst all roses, Youngmanlim demonstrated his "stepping cockroachs" movement for the Hit The Road Jack Dance.

At first I thought he deliberately did that style to amuse the team. As usual, I burst out laughing when seeing that funny movement. I felt so bad later when I realised that he was actually very serious in putting the steps right and trying very hard to synchronized his movement with the beats. I supposed he was completely engrossed with the dance that he wasn't aware of his stepping cockroaches stance. At the thought of it I was a bit regret for not controlling my laughing gas as he's just being serious about what he was doing!

Later that night, I went to Youtube to search for the dance video. There were a few clips but the dancers are of various age group. I have particularly chosen the senior citizen group for their movements are clear, but very rigid and robot-like. I reckon that clip is more suitable than the versions done by younger dancers and that people like Youngmanlim can observe and catch up easily. Sometimes zombie-like dancers may look clumsy but their "one-beat-slower"steps actually make our learning easier.

After the post is up, Youngmanlim post a heart-melting comment "don't demand too much from senior citizen, as long as they are happy, any style and steps ok lah, like me loh, enjoy the presence of everybody is enough already." This made me feel very sorry for I have formed a self-opinion that I must select something to match his standard. This is a very silly intention cos it is like forming the mindset that a grade 1 music student cannot read the grade 6's musical notes.

The comment from Youngmanlim reminds me of an inspiration quote -
"Success is in the journey, not the destination"

After joining line dance class for more than a year, I notice that my enthusiasm is running low gradually. On the contrary, those late comers like the husband and wife teams-Christina & Lam, Lengluikim and Youngmankim , Yue Har, Milly, are all catching up fast and have shown vast improvements over the months. Really shame on me in this respect. The inspiring quote from Youngmanlim perhaps is also the voice from every team members heart.

It is really quite true that the outcome(destination) is not important, what is more important is the process (journey). Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination. Like what was humbly commented by Lengluikim's hubby - "Don't demand too much from senior citizen, as long as they are happy, any style and steps oso ok lah, like me loh, enjoy the presence of everybody is enough already." (Hey! Thumb-up for our young man and the senior citizen!)

Even we can't really dance as good as the professional dancers, we enjoy every move we made and every moment we being happy together, e.g. joined the linedance party, potluck and the weekly practices at KL's mansion. So, it is friendships that matters the most..isn't it?

May every members of my line dancing club including our dance instructor Lady Joice be bestowed with good health so that we can continue to dance year after year, cheers!

Offerings Made Out Of Faith-Kathina Day

Devotees throng temples to make merit

By LIM CHIA YING, The Star, Nov 12, 2005

THE Kathina Day is one of the most auspicious and significant occasions in the Theravada Buddhist calendar.

On this day, devotees will congregate at the temples (also known as Vihara) bearing robes and other items to be offered to the monks.

Lord Buddha once said the Kathina offering ceremony was one of the highest meritorious deeds that devotees could perform. According to his teachings, this practice of offering robes helps reduce selfishness and cravings and encourages generosity (dana) in the devotees.

And, giving generously, without being tainted by craving and pride, is a condition for the attainment of the highest spiritual goal - Nibbana, or the cessation of all sufferings.

“A temple can only hold the Kathina Day once a year. It is held after the Sangha community (a group of more than four monks together) has completed its observance of the rainy retreat (vassa).

“The rainy retreat is observed for three months, usually from July to September, during which the rainy period falls. Monks are expected to stay permanently in one Vihara to practise self-reflection and mental cultivation.

“We can go out to perform prayers, but must be back in the temple within seven days. Otherwise, we cannot be considered as observing the retreat,” said Reverend Suchinnn of the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields.

According to him, the Kathina ceremony dates back more than 2,500 years to Buddha’s time.

“Monks in those early days were poor and often did not have enough robes to clothe themselves, so they collected cloth from cemeteries as well as other unwanted material to make the robes.

“Buddha saw their plight and hence allowed for a day for people to donate cloth to these monks. The practice continues to this day, but the majority of people now offer ready-made robes, although there are still some devotees who offer cloth and sew it afterwards for the monks on Kathina Day itself.

”As for the rainy retreat, it is meant for monks not to go here and there. This time is to also to enable more people to receive merit and gain spirituality as the monks would preach and meditate in the Vihara,” said Revd Suchinnn, who hails from Sri Lanka.

He said the ceremony was held on a grander scale back in his home country.

“In Sri Lanka, people would go around villages at about 3am or 4am, holding the robes for the villagers to touch the cloth and get blessings. By dawn, the devotees would have to be the temple to offer the cloth to the monks.”

Deputy chief monk Reverend K. Dhamma Ratana said during Buddha’s time, monks had to walk for miles after heavy rains to pay their respects. It was during this time that worms would start coming out from the ground and the monks tended to step on them.

“Therefore, Buddha set aside three months for monks to observe the retreat.

“On Kathina Day itself, there’s a special Kathina robe (called Kathina Cheevera) which is offered to the most suitable monk who has observed vassa. The monk must then take it along everywhere with him for three months.

“The seniority of monks is not based on age, but on how many vassa he has observed,” said Revd Dhamma Ratana.

A typical Kathina Day, he said, would start with a procession, followed by offerings by devotees, prayers, sharing of merits with chief monk Venerable Dr K. Sri Dhammananda, and then vegetarian lunch prepared by volunteers.

Blessing service would be conducted in the evening and monks would then gather at the Sima Malaka hall to decide on whom the Kathina Cheevera should be given.

Offerings made out of faith

THE Kathina procession is usually held on Kathina eve, according to Subang Jaya Buddhist Association's Reverend U Nyanaramsi.

“A temple can choose any day within one month of the end of vassa to have its Kathina ceremony.

“Devotees should give their offerings out of faith and confidence, and monks should never ask devotees to offer them robes.

“Before giving, the devotee should feel glad at heart; in giving, the devotee’s heart should feel satisfied; and the heart should be uplifted once the dana has been performed,” said Revd U Nyanaramsi, who has observed more than 11 vassa.

The recent Kathina Day at the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association began with the taking of precepts, which touch on the five moral conducts in Buddhism, before the Sangha.

Devotees then gave their offerings - while some gave robes, others donated hampers containing necessities, like toothpaste, to the monks. The offerings were made in batches, with each batch encompassing 25 devotees who knelt down in a line before the 25 seated monks to whom they made the offerings.

It is during this time monks also cultivate closer relationship with fellow devotees.

Devotee Koay Teng Sin, who teaches Sunday classes at the association and goes to the Brickfields Buddhist Maha Vihara on Fridays to enrich his understanding of Buddhism, said his teacher, chief reverend Venerable Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda, had taught him that making offerings once in a lifetime was sufficient.

“Monks need only four types of offerings: robes, food, shelter and medical aid. Robes are basically to protect them from the weather and insects.

“It may be holy making these offerings, but people must understand that the most important thing is to continuously uphold and practise the Buddhist teachings,” said Koay, who took his wife and six-year-old son to the ceremony.

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You go to the below link for full write-up on Kathina

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/kathina.pdf

Analysis on Malaysia oil price

Somebody sent me the following analysis which i think is worth reading:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WHAT IS NEVER MENTIONED IN Mainstream Media like NST/TheStar/Utusan/BH
are these facts....
Malaysian PerCapita Income USD 5000
Vs
Singaporean PerCapita Income USD 25000

Further The Star made a comparison of prices in Thailand , Singapore
and Indonesia .
For Thailand it is quoted at RM3.90/liter, however are they aware that
in Thailand new cars are cheaper than Malaysia by RM10,000? They pay
only one life time for their driving license? No renewal fee after
that? Also that goes for road tax as well? And do TheStar also aware
that you can drive all the way from Hadtyai to Bangkok on a six lane
highway without paying any Tolls ??!!
Whereas here in Malaysia you have to pay yearly renewal for road tax ,
driving license and TOLLS, TOLLS, TOLLS!!!
For Singapore how can you quote RM 5.20 ? Please quote in Singapore
Dollars because they are earning in Sing Dollars. You might as well
say Europeans are paying RM10/liter. RM5.20/liter = Sing $ 2.20/liter,
still cheaper than Malaysia in view of fact that Singapore is not a
crude oil exporter. Are you saying that you fill up petrol in
Singapore by paying Ringgit?
In economy, dollar to dollar must be compared as apple to apple. Not
comparing like durian in M'sia is much cheaper than durian in Japan!!
Of course-lah, Japan is not durian producer!!! Comparing Malaysian
durian with Thailand durian make more sense!!
For Indonesia we might say is cheaper there at RM2.07/liter but
compare that to their level of income!
Now, let us compare the price with OIL PRODUCING countries:
UAE – RM1.19/litre
Eygpt – RM1.03/litre
Bahrain – RM0.87/litre
Qatar – RM0.68/litre
Kuwait – RM0.67/litre
Saudi Arabia – RM0.38/litre
Iran – RM0.35/litre
Nigeria – RM0.32/litre
Turkmenistan – RM0.25/litre
Venezuela – RM0.16/litre
MALAYSIA – RM2.70/litre
RM 2.70!!! Individual perspective:

As of last month a Toyota Vios would 'cause a damage' of about RM 89,000.

In the international market, a Toyota Vios is about USD 19,000

USD 19,000 = RM 62,700 (using the indicative rates of USD 1 = RM 3.30)

That makes Malaysian Vios owners pay an extra RM 26,300.

This RM 26,300 should be cost of operations, profit and tax because
the transportation costs have been factored in to the USD 19,000.

RM 26,300/ RM625 petrol rebate per year translates to a Vios being
used for 42.08 years.

I do understand that the RM 625 is a rebate given by the government,
but it also means that one has to use the Vios for 42.08 years just to
make back the amount paid in taxes for the usage of a foreign car.
Would anyone use any kind of car for that long?

Now with these numbers in front of us, does the subsidy sound like a
subsidy or does it sound like a penalty? This just seems to be a heavy
increment in our daily cost of living as we are not only charged with
high car taxes but also with a drastic increase in fuel price.

With all the numbers listed out, I urge all Malaysians to join me in
analyzing the situation further.

Car taxation is government profit, fuel sales is Petronas' (GLC)
profit which also translates into government profit. The government
may ridicule us Malaysians by saying look at the world market and fuel
price world wide. Please, we are Malaysians, we fought of the British,
had a international port in the early centuries (Malacca), home to a
racially mixed nation and WE ARE NOT STUPID!!!

We know the international rates are above the USD 130/barrel. We
understand the fact that the fuel prices are increasing worldwide and
we also know that major scientist are still contradicting on why this
phenomenon is happening. Some blame Bush and his plunders around the
world and some blame climate change and there are others which say
petroleum 'wells' are getting scarce.

Again we go back to numbers to be more straight fwd

1 barrel = 159 liters x RM2.70/liter = RM 429 or USD 134

On 1 hand, we are paying the full cost of 1 barrel of crude oil with
RM2.70 per liter but on the other hand the crude oil only produces 46%
of fuel.

Msia sells crude oil per barrel at USD130 buys back Fuel per barrel at
USD134. And not forgetting, every barrel of fuel is produced with 2
barrels of crude oil.

1 barrel crude oil = produce 46% fuel (or half of crude oil), therefore

2 barrel crude oil = approximately 1 barrel fuel

In other words, each time we sell 2 barrels of crude oil, equivalently
we will buy back 1 barrel of fuel.

Financially,

Malaysia sell 2 barrel crude oil @ USD 130/barrel = USD 260 = RM 858

then, Malaysia will buy back fuel @ USD 134/barrel = RM 442/barrel

Thus, Malaysia earn net extra USD 126 = RM 416 for each 2 barrel of
crude sold/exported vs imported 1 barrel of fuel !!!

(USD 260-134 = USD 126 = RM416)

So where this extra USD 126/barrel income is channeled to by Malaysian
Govt?????????

Another analysis:

1 barrel crude oil = 159 liters.

46-47% of a barrel of crude oil = fuel that we use in our vehicles.

46% of 159 = 73.14 liters.

@ RM 2.70/liter x 73.14 liter = RM197.48 of fuel per barrel of crude
oil. This is only 46% of the barrel, mind you. Using RM 3.30 = USD 1,
we get that a barrel of crude oil produces USD 59.84 worth of petrol
fuel (46% of 1barrel).

USD 59.84 of USD 130/barrel turns out to be 46% of a barrel as well.

Another 54% = bitumen, kerosene, and natural gases and so many more.
And this makes a balance of USD 70.16 that has not been accounted for.

So this is where I got curious. Where is the subsidy if we are paying
46% of the price of a barrel of crude oil when the production of
petrol/barrel of crude oil is still only 46%?

In actual fact, we still pay for this as they are charged in the forms
of fuel surcharge by airlines and road taxes for the building of road
(because they use the tar/bitumen) and many more excuse charging us
but let us just leave all that out of our calculations.

As far as I know, only the politicians who live in Putrajaya and come
for their Parliament meetings in Kuala Lumpur (approximately 60+ km)
are the ones to gain as they claim their fuel and toll charges from
the money of the RAKYAT's TAX.

It is so disappointing to see this happen time and time again to the
Malaysian public, where they are deceived by the propaganda held by
the politicians and the controls they have over the press.

Which stupid idiot economist equates rebates for rich or poor with the
cc of the vehicles? An average office clerk may own a second hand
1300cc proton Iswara costing $7,000 (rebate = $625) while the Datuk's
children can own a fleet of 10 new cars of BMW, Audi and Volvo all
less than 2000cc costing $2 millions and get a total rebate of $625 x
10 = $6,250! Wow what kind of economists we are keeping in
Malaysia...wonder which phD certificate that they bought from...

Misleading concept of Subsidy:

The word "subsidy" has been brandished by the BN government as if it
has so generously helped the rakyat and in doing so incurred losses.
This simple example will help to explain the fallacy:

Example:
Ahmad is a fisherman. He sells a fish to you at $10 which is below the
market value of $15. Let's assume that he caught the fish from the
abundance of the sea at little or no cost. Ahmad claims that since the
market value of the fish is $15 and he sold you the fish for $10, he
had subsidised you $5 and therefore made a loss of $5.

Question : Did Ahmad actually make a profit of $10 or loss of $5 which
he claimed is the subsidy?

Answer:
Ahmad makes a profit of $10 which is the difference of the selling
price ($10) minus the cost price ($0 since the fish was caught from
the abundance of the sea). There is no subsidy as claimed by Ahmad.


The BN government claims that it is a subsidy because the oil is kept
and treated as somebody else's property (you know who). By right, the
oil belongs to all citizens of the country and the government is a
trustee for the citizens. So as in the above simple example, the BN
government cannot claim that it has subsidised the citizen!

Meat Dumpling Festival

Today is meat dumpling festival. Meat dumpling or popularly known among the Hokkien Chinese as "Bah Chang" (Hokkien) or the Cantonese Chinese as"Chung" is the food that is traditionally eaten by Chinese during the "Dragon Boat Festival". The said festival is usually celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month of Lunar Year Calendar.
The legend surrounding this festival, if i remember correctly was in memorial of a great poet of the ancient China. The poet apparently was a very patriotic minister who was then the war advisor to the King. However, the King had always turned a deaf ear towards whatever good advices given by this Minister. Finally, the country was defeated by the enemies. Alas, the minister has chosen to end his life by throwing himself into a river out of despair.
Oh yeah, i recalled watching such a show in cinema when i was very young. But then at that tender age, I wasn't quite able to appreciate the story but i did remember vividly the suicidal scene which was rather dramatic. As you can imagine the typical sound effect like thunder rumbling and the bright blue sky suddenly turned into total darkness and also lightning strikes...I suppose you can easily visualize that sort of scene which is the typical ploy used by most movie directors to maneuver one's emotion... One very important point to note was the Miniter was determined to die by grasping a rock. Well, to tell the truth, i can't really appreciate this sort of movie at that tender age. All i can remembered was the sound effect and the suicidal scene as though a prelude of a disastrous storm..this reaffirm my belief that his committing suicide was a great deed which the Heaven was also equally shocked like the people and moved by his act! However, i could remembered even better the taste of bah chang. Why? Because the death of this great man has contributed to the invention of "chang" and this delicacies is still enjoyed by all the Chinese till today during this time of the year. This is similar to why we eat Nin Gou(sticky rice cake) during the Chinese new year, mooncake during the Mid-Autumn festival or glutinuous rice ball during the Winter Arrival Festival. Well, i think it is better put as the Malays must eat Ketupat during Hari Raya. Cos the "Chang" is actually some glutinuous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Coming back to the legend of why Chang-eating is associating with the death of this Great poet, my late grandpa told the story- Konon-nya, this Minister is a honest man, a kind fella, a nation's lost treasure, a true son of the soil, the greatest patriot in that country, a man of great character, a leader dedicated to the development of the people and the country, who enjoyed immense love and respect from the people of the country....(In short, a great hero). The news of his suicide stunned the country. The rakyat raced their boat into the river trying to rescue him and in an attempt to discover his body, be it dead or alive but..sad to say, to no avail. (Of course la.. he held the rock with him. How do you expect him to be alive or expect his body to be floating even when he's dead, right?)

Because the rakyat loved him so so very much, they can't bear to see his body being devoured by the hundreds and thousands of piranhas from the river. And then finally one smart alack came out with an idea of throwing bamboo leaf-wrapped rice into the river to feed the fish which according to him, so that the fish will be busy nibbling the rice instead of his dead body ( He undermined the wisdom of these fish). Anyway, ta da...this is the whole story about the reason why we eat meat dumpling and the custom is still carrying on till today.....

As i have not mastered the skills of dumpling making, i think i better don't share any of the chang recipe. Anyway, for those who are keen to pick up this trade, I have the urge to teach you my own invention of Chang-making...cos i believe all good things must be shared.

The below is just a brief description on the SIMPLIFIED METHOD OF DUMPLING MAKING if you are keen to try it out. The reason why the measurements are not given is because i have not tried it out myself yet. Try following the recipe if you got guts to try out..

Ingredients
1. Glutinuous rice, fried with garlic, onion and some dried shrimps
2. Pork (or Chicken), not too lean must come with some streaks of fat or skin, marinate with soy sauce and starch
3. Chinese chestnut, simmer till soft
4. Shitake mushrooms, simmer till soft
5. Five spiced powder for seasoning
6. Do remember the salt if you do not intend to season the above ingredients with lots of black soy sauce like my mom in law usually like to do (Typical Hokkien, everything dark dark only nice)

Methods:
1. Place all the above in a container, steam until everything is cooked (This is similar to the making of a Lo Mai Kai).
2. Next, take two pieces of bamboo leaves (make sure you boil first to soften the leaves), fold into cone shape, stuff the cooked glutinuous rice into the cone. Make into the shape of a dumpling. Tie with a hay string. Steam for another...emm one hour maybe, to ensure that the rice absorb all the fragrance of the bamboo leaves.

This is the evolution of the chang history, the new-aged chang. If it is successful, be sure not to tell anybody that your chang is made using this method. Of course you can treat me some as a gesture of appreciation for me have shared this recipe with you! Don't worry, I swear not to tell anybody of your new invention! Hehehe!

Another important thing that you must take note of is that Meat Dumpling is actually the culprit for indigestion. For those who have digestion problem due to a weak spleen, gall bladder, gut or a stomach, you should not over-consume this delicacies or the consequence is undesirable.
The common complaints after over indulgence of meat dumpling are such as "heatiness", sore throat, heart-burn, regurgitation, constipation etc..In fact, some people choked themselves to death. My late grand-mother in law was one of the Chang victim. Her anniversary date coincide with the Chang Festival. Poor thing! So watch out! This CHANG thing can be really fatal! Believe it or not....

Happy Eating.

When Fuel Prices Go High

Better still...no more pollution!

Petrol Price Hike Again...

Our government has made it again! This time, the raise is beyond our imagination, a whopping 40% rise on our petrol prices! And the price is going to float with the market soon in August. No joke man! Rising crime rate, rising toll rate, rising medical cost and prices of the essential consumer goods are now becoming the common phenomenon of our country ...

And it was amazed to see how people reacted towards this sort of announcement. Today evening there was a bumper to bumper crawl from Sg Buloh toll exit towards KL Selangor direction, as though it is a pre-festival balik kampong rush. The heavy traffic was also built up in both directions from MSG to the Esso Petrol station. It looks like everyone is queuing up to fill up their tank. On the second thought, it was really not a surprise for peasants like us to respond elastically to this price hike 'coz if we were to get the pump after midnight, for the same price we are paying prior midnight, our tank will only be half-filled...Anyway, getting into the queue was a total nightmare for me and i have chosen not to join the crowd.

Rising crime rate and rising prices of basic commodities seems to be inter-related. It is a chicken and egg kind of thing.. It is because of the increase in prices of these goods that the rich become poor and the poor become poorer. Obviously there bound to be an increase in the number of poor people as an offshoot of the rising prices. Who say poverty and criminality have no relationship?

Immorality is produced by poverty. How will a person practice virtue amid deprivation for food & shelter? Therefore, removal of poverty is seen as a pre-requisite for moral development.

Salaried worker like me now too become poorer 'coz prices for every stuff i bought have risen except for my salary. Just can't deny the fact that the impact of the inflation is now hitting everyone in the country. The super rich are not affected much but the middle and low income bracket like me is greatly impacted as our disposable income has shrunk tremendously. I seriously think that we should really consider supporting our government's call in changing our lifestyle. We should now live moderately and save wisely. We should start practicing the middle way and avoid indulgence of the extreme pleasure. For example we should give up going to expensive restaurant but a normal coffee shop or "tai pai dong" stall for dinner. After all, we need only eat to live.

The Sakyamuni Buddha discovered the Truth is the avoidance of two extremes and lie somewhere in between. He said, "Two extremes, O monks, should be avoided by the one who has gone forth:he should not give himself up to sensual pleasures- they are low, common, worldly, unholy, harmful. And he should not give himself up to self-mortification - It is painful, unholy, harmful. Both these extremes, the Tathagata has avoided..."

Thus to practise middle path is to avoid engaging ourselves with all the worldly activities, live humbly and lead a modest lifestyle. There are indeed many ways to lead a modest lifestyle without depriving ourselves of the basic enjoyment. To describe a few, for example, instead of spending few hundreds a night to hang around at pub and disco's, you can participate in line dancing or yoga classes. Instead of spending a hundred or more per month to join the Fitness clubs, you may as well walk the dog or jog in the park. Instead of brushing your teeth using Darlie toothpaste, you can switch it to hypermarket-brand toothpaste which is of almost similar quality. Instead of taking your family for a holiday in overseas, why not consider retreating at a local seaside or highland resort....

There are just so many ways in living a modest lifestyle. However, the most important of of all is to condition our mind. We must change our mindset and be prepared to live moderately. We must know the meaning for doing so. Think about the benefit of trading off the extravagance to modesty could mean that we can donate a portion of what we have saved to those who live in poverty. To provide them with the basic necessity and for their children to receive education and hence live out of poverty. Consequently, these people will have an opportunity to have moral development and we will see a reduce in crime rate in our future society. Don't you now believe that there is a relationship between poverty and criminality? Don't you now agree that a good cause will bring forth a good effect? Let us live moderately today in giving our next generation a better tomorrow and a peaceful world, especially! Cheers!

Black Herbal Jelly (Kwai Leng Gou)

My line dancing buddies have suggested to organise a potluck at Kim's house during our weekly line dance practice. Each of them have decided what to bring and somebody has suggested me to prepare the coconut milk jelly.

After pondering for a few moment, i decided to prepare the black herbal jelly as it is relatively more healthy than the coconut milk jelly. Below is the analysis made:

Coconut Milk Jelly vs Black Herbal Jelly
High Saturated Fat vs No saturated fat
Heaty vs Cooling
More complex in preparation vs Simpler to prepare
Minimum nutritional vs value Make the complexion clearer, reduce pimple outbreak, sore throat...

Finally, i decided to get the black jelly mix from Eu Yan Sang. The mixture is originally bitter like one that can be bought from "Kong Wor Thong". However, I have improvised the recipe by making the bitter mixture more palatable. Below is the improved recipe of my own invention:-

Ingredients:
Some pandan leaves
1 packet of 50g Eu Yang Sang black jelly powder mix with 500 ml water
100 g rock sugar
1 Litre water


Methods:
1. Simmer the pandan leaves and 100g of rock sugar with 1 litre of water for 30 minutes.
2. Pour in the black jelly mixture and simmer for another 15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into the small serving containers.
4. Leave to cool and chill well before serving.

These are the end result from 2 packets of 50g Black Jelly mix.

You can choose to reduce the sugar content by 10g and serve it with honey syrup.

Moist Chocolate Cake

This is another easy-to-follow recipe using chocolate cake premix. Kids love it! The result is similar to the American Chocolate Cake bought from the Stanson Cake House or Secret Recipe. With the recent price hike of all the raw ingredients such as flour and sugar, most bakeries have raised their cake prices for almost 30%. An ordinary chocolate cake weighing 1kg-1.5kg cost about RM50-RM75 now. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you consider baking this cake for your kids with sweet tooth than burning a hole in your pocket. You will definitely take more pain in baking this cake yourself then buying the ready-made one from the shop as the steps is just so simple. You can coat it with chocolate filling if you are a chocolate die-hard. As I don't really fancy chocolate, I have skipped the chocolate filling & topping due to great concern for calories intake. However, to give the cake more flavour, i have mixed in some bitter-sweet chocolate chips.



Ingredients:
1 packet 500g chocolate butter cake premix (available in most of the cake ingredient shop)
100 ml water
200 g eggs
200 g melted butter

Methods:
1. Beat the egg until the mixture turns pale in colour.
2. Stir in chocolate cake premix, melted butter and water. Mix well.
3. Pour some water into a steamer until it is boiled.
4. Pour the cake mixture into a heat-proof plastic container or a aluminium cake tin.
5. Steam for 45 minutes.
6. Cooled and store in fridge.

While I have decided to skip the topping, instead of baking it with an oven, I have chosen to steam the cake to ensure that it is moist and soft. However, you may bake it bain marie (put the cake tin inside a pan filled with water) and the end result is also very moist.

There are a few variations to the basic recipe which is worth trying:-
1. To make a chocolate brownie, just add in some chopped walnut and/raisin(soaked overnight in rum) and bake it in the oven. This cake is best eaten warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It taste better than the one from TGIF.

2. To make a chocolate cheese brownie. Prepare the cream cheese mixture by mixing 250g cream cheese with 1 egg and 100g icing sugar. Bake the chocolate cake for 10 min first. Remove from the oven and pour in the cream cheese mix. Stir the cream cheese mixture gently with the chocolate cake mixture. Continue baking for another 40 minute or until a skewer came out clean when it is pricked to the centre of the cake. This cake is best eaten cold so chill well before serving.

If you intend to keep this cake for longer period, you can drip some rum on the cake and store it air-tight in the fridge and it can be kept for more than a week. Just heat it up using micro oven to let the alcohol evaporate in case you are worry about the alcohol effect on children.