A Revival: Going Vegetarian for UNICEF

Craving: Salt Baked Crabs/Lobster/Prawns

A Revival! Woo hoo! After almost 2 years since my last post, I'm back. I've decided to revive this blog all in the name of charity. Yup that's right, as the title says, I'm going vegetarian for UNICEF. I have always felt that there are many children and youth across the world who are in need and so now I'm trying to do my part. Please visit my donation page at http:////www.simplygiving.com/sugoingvege. For every RM100 you donate, I'll go vegetarian for a day! It may not seem like much but if you know me it truly is an enormous sacrifice. I kid you not.

Come and join me in supporting the children of the world!

The Great Kiwi Adventure Day 5

Craving: Maggi Goreng Tak Mau Pedas

So it's the last full day in Kiwi-land. Min wasn't coming along with us this time as she was heading to the south to walk on a glacier, so we said our goodbyes last night as I wouldn't be seeing her anymore before I left. We started out really early today for the 3 hour drive to Te Puia in Rotorua. We left about 8am and arrived there about 11. Te Puia is the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, but the main attraction really stinks.....as in it reeks of rotten eggs kind of stink. No it's no that the performances are bad, it's just that....oh well maybe you should just see for yourselves.

Dad and I at the Te Puia Entrance

How did the Maori ever fit in here?

One of the many mud pools

Various pics of the Pohutu Geyser

A boiling pool of water

A Maori lady welcoming us

A Maori warrior running out to greet us

Part of the performances

Me with the Maori

A little kiwi named Rigor...or is it Mortis?

I'm really gonna miss New Zealand, It is a beautiful place and I will really make it a point to come and visit as often as I can. I was great for the family to be all together again before my sis starts working. It's been an awesome time. Loved that I got to meet up with relatives as well and got to see my cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in almost 10 years! Thanks Dad! Thanks Mum! Thanks Min! Thanks all of the Su clan (and Khoos as well :) ) for making this an amazing stay! God Bless!

The Great Kiwi Adventure Day 4

Craving: To cook a Lobster

Today was a more relaxed day. Slept in till about 10:30am, then lounged around a bit after a simple breakfast before heading out to do some shopping. Was my first real walk about the city in the day and it was great. The weather warmed up quite a bit so it wasn't quite as chilly anymore. Had dinner with relatives and basically just spent the evening and night chatting away. :)

The Great Kiwi Adventure Day 3

Craving: Scotch Egg

Whoa..what a day! Min was feeling much better so she took us to visit the awesome Muriwai beach, followed by dim sum and capped off by a trip to One Tree Hill (No. It's not the one in the show). It's late here so not much to say but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves :). First up Muriwai Beach.

Absolutely breathtaking

You'll notice that our hair is all over the place. That's how windy it really is.

Mum and Dad

There are hordes of gannets on that plateau.

A video of Muriwai and the Gannets

Next up....One Tree Hill. Sadly, there is no tree on One Tree Hill at least not anymore. It was chopped down a few years back by the Maori in protest and apparently they are still debating what is the right tree to plant up there.

These are the sheep

This is me trying to get close to the sheep.

As you can see the sheep aren't being very cooperative.

The obelisk on One Tree Hill. It's really windy up here.

There used to be a tree here. Apparently it's not the stump either.

View from the top of the hill and the little red number we came in.

The Great Kiwi Adventure Day 2

Craving: Grilled Cod Seasoned with Salt and Pepper

So it's the end of day 2. This time around I have some pictures to show, courtesy of my sister's camera. Here's some shots of yesterday's walk at night.

Mum, Min and I by the docks

Beautiful colours of the dusk sky

Another of me by the docks

Amazing feat of engineering. May post up the video of this later.

Sky Tower all lit up

Sky Tower from the roof of the apartment building

Nightview of the city from the roof

And so that was last nights walk about. Today started a little slow. I'm still not really adjusted to the time difference yet. I'm a fan of nice relaxed holidays anyway so I took my time getting up. Strangest thing though...I actually got up later than expected because I actually had a dream about me getting up!!! So anyway once I've gotten my morning rituals out of the way I started cooking myself up some breakfast. I rummaged around in the fridge and cooked up a plate of pork sausages with pepperoni, scrambled eggs and bread. A nice hearty meal to start the day. After some more lounging about we headed out to the beaches. Sadly my sis was feeling under the weather so she had to stay home and rest. Especially with her glacier walk coming up!

Well we hit quite a few beaches and it was really a big difference to the beaches I am used to back home. Where the beaches in Malaysia are usually quite big with a very long stretch, here the beaches were quite small and the expanse not so wide. However the water is so clear and the deep blue is so inviting. It really makes me marvel at the awesomeness and the power of God when I see these things.

Mum and I at the beach

Look at that beautiful blue expanse!

The weather was also sort of a contrast to the way it was back home. Though it was sunny out, the weather was still quite chilly. In fact it has felt like I'm in Cameron Highland's on a cold day for the time I've been here. As you can see by the jackets in the picture below, the wind can really be quite chilly.

Mum and Dad standing out against the blue

The absolute closest I could get to a gull

Sea all the oysters stuck to the rock? I'm told people actually crack them open to eat!

Once we were done with the beaches, we decided to drop by and visit the aunts and uncles. For some strange reason my dad feels it's fine to drop by without calling, supposed to be a generation thing I think. Since it was a working day and other's were away....we only managed to catch hold of Jie Yang at our first stop. Our luck was better at the next stop when we managed to catch up with ber kor and Hui Yen. Would have managed to catch Jian Wei as well but he didn't wake up the whole time we were there.

Shhh......don't tell my aunt I put this up. She'd skin me alive!

It was great catching up. I was also introduced to my aunt's famous lemon tree. Famous because it produces lemons the size of grapefruits! And apparently, those are the small ones!!!!! Will be trying to bring back a few, hopefully they'll keep :)

Yes, this is too small to be plucked!

Roses from ber kor's garden

After we left their place we headed to do some grocery's from Pak 'n Save and Taiping (the asian grocer). Didn't get much, but I managed to get a loaf of Sourdough! Oh how I miss sourdough. Too bad it's almost impossible to find in Malaysia. Headed home for a simple lunch and rest for the afternoon. Dinner time came around again and this time we headed to Tony's Lord Nelson for steak. It was just the three of us as sis was still sick so she had to sit this one out. It was a just a short walk from the apartment, which is very nice especially in this kind of weather. We all had the soup of the day which turned out to be Clam Chowder, which was very very nice except that it was a little bit too salty. For the mains, Dad had a Fillet Provencal, which was is a fillet steak with Claret and Bone Marrow sauce. Mum had a Carpet Bag Steak, which is a steak stuffed with oysters, and boy were those oysters large! As for me, I had a huge 20z T-Bone steak which was grilled to perfection, albeit a little under seasoned. All in all it was a excellent meal and I was not disappointed. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures until I had finished half my steak, but I then I took some anyway. Also unfortunately, its all in my handphone and I won't be able to post the pictures of all the food I've had till I get back.

After dinner, we took a stroll around town where I had a minor altercation with a local. We were walking up the street minding our own business when our attention was drawn to this man who seemed to be drunk and was making lots of noise. His friends were calling up to him but he just seemed to be steam rolling along his way. For some funny reason he decided it would be fun to body check me as he walked past. Fortunately I saw it coming and was able to cushion it. Didn't bother with him too much and didn't respond and just continued walking. His friends seemed really embarrassed and apologized profusely. Really stupid, the things that people do while drunk. Wasn't a very pleasant encounter but I didn't dwell on it very long.

We continued our stroll up Queen street and saw this amazing storefront display. It various, holiday season scenes, but entirely done with puppet mice. It had music, lights and everything. Was really very nice. We then stopped by Borders. Didn't get anything, but I was sorely tempted by this series I saw "Vampire Academy". Looks like sort of a Harry Potter meets Buffy meets Blade kind of story. Was sorely tempted to get the series, but it would definitely be cheaper back home. Hopefully I'm right. Called it a night after that and headed back to the apartment. So till tomorrow. Ciaoz!

500 days of Auckland

Cravings: Ham, Pesto and Tomato Muffin

Greetings from Kiwi-land! I just touched down in Auckland, NZ just a couple of hours ago and I'm loving it so far. My sis took me for a quick lunch and then we were off to Mt. Eden. Beautiful place! It's a crater from some dormant volcano apparently. Too bad I forgot to bring my card reader, so I can't post up the pictures I took with my phone. The scenery was amazing and I just love the weather. In fact I lingered on the hill a little bit more just so I could enjoy the nice breeze more. I would love to take a book up there one day and just spend the day reading :)

On another note-I finally watched 500 days of Summer. I caught it on my flight over here. It's a great show and I think the Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel really pulled of their parts well. I also think I can identify with Tom in the movie, maybe my autumn is around the corner :) Liike I was saying to Chin Mei over lunch yesterday, getting away from it all will be good.

And that brings me to something trivial...Zooey Deschanel.


How hot is she?! At the same time she has this eerie look. I think it has to do with those piercing blue eyes of hers. Her only down fall? She is a VEGAN and is GLUTEN and LACTOSE intolerant (something I discovered by watching Top Chef Masters)!! No offence but I need my meats, cheeses and rice :P

Edit: My mistake. She's Vegan (So no meats, fish, eggs or dairy), Gluten intolerant and doesn't take Soya products.

You are my strength

Cravings: Spinach and Bacon Quiche

You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me

You are my hope
Hope like no other
Hope like no other
Reaches to me

In the fullness of Your grace
In the power of Your name
You lift me up
You lift me up

Unfailing love
Stronger than mountains
Deeper than oceans
Reaches to me

Your love O Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your Faithfulness
Reaches to the skies

You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me

Two Dinners

Cravings: Ice cold Lemonade

Cooked dinner for friends over the weekend. Took the opportunity of having the house to myself (on account of the folks holidaying in China) and YF being on recess to treat my friends to some home cooked dinners. :) Had two groups over, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, but unfortunately I have no pictures to show you guys of the food.

Cold storage has become my new favourite place to do my groceries. There is just so much stuff and I think I may have over did my shopping spree. Hehe.

On Saturday we had a group of 6 diners, and I went for asian fare. Cooked Hainanese Chicken Rice, Roast Pork Loin and Stir-Fried Mix Veggies. I started my preparations by boiling a whole chicken in a pot of water with some garlic and salt. As the chicken was boiling away I got to work on my other prep. I diced a large red onion, a few cloves of garlic, and sliced up some garlic and then fried them together with my rice. Once that was done I put it into the rice cooker and added the stock from boiling the chicken along with some salt and let the rice cooker do the rest of the work. I also tried my hand at roasting a pork loin. Used a simple seaoning of salt, 5 spice powder, dill and pepper. Tried to score the skin of the loin, but that didn't turn out too well as my knives weren't sharp enough :(. I rubbed the seasoning over the pork and set it on a bed of fennel to bake. For the stir-fry I went with brocolli, carrots and red and yellow peppers.

All in all it turned out well. One of my better estimates as the quantity of food was just nice. Too bad the skin of the pork was inedible as it was too rubbery, but the meat was cooked just nice! Chicken and rice turned out well. As did the veggies. My chilli sauce for the chicken rice failed though, I don't eat the chilli sauce with my chicken rice so I was basically winging it for that one. Thank goodness my other sauce for the chicken turned out alright :). (Just like mum used to make).

Sunday night was a dinner for only 4, and I went for a more western theme. I went for lagsana with mash potatoes. There were a couple of firsts for the lagsana. Went with a mixture of lamb and beef for the meat, and cheddar for the cheese sauce. Usually I just go full beef and mozzarella. Ommitted capsicums this time around too as some of the diners didn't like the green peppers. Also went with San Remo fresh lagsana sheets for the first time and I have to say it worked out pretty well. Garlic, mushrooms, onions, fresh tomatoes, tomato puree and herbs rounded of the meat sauce. Butter, flour, cream and water all contributed to the cheese sauce with the cheddar. Layered the lagsana starting with the meat sauce, then the cheese sauce, then lagsana sheets and kept on piling, ending with cheese sauce topped with grated mozzarella and cheddar.

For the mash potatoes, I boiled the potatoes, deskinned them (once again coz some diners don't like potato skin) and mashed them together with salt, pepper butter and fresh parsley. Did a rough mash leaving some bits of potato here and there to give it some bite. Over did the estimation this time around and there were left overs but my friends ta pau home the left overs and all was good. Now I really regret not taking pictures of the food. Must do that the next I do something like this.