Saturday, July 26, 2008

I miss my children!!!!

I had decided to stay in today as the weather outside will be very hot plus I am planning for a day trip to a place nearby for wondering tomorrow. So I just wanna stay in do some lite cleaning and sort some stuffs in my apartment. Summer is soooo hot here worst than my home country Malaysia......





As usual, I switch on my Skype and my webcam to see what are the children up to at home in Malaysia....Adam was busy playing the computer game, the rest just enjoy themself watching tv and Yong was away at the tuition center. I chat, play and even help them with their homework thru cyber......as Yong always say she has a cyber mom.....but I hope to come back soon..crossing my finger to be back for good in September. It is very painful living apart from the kids...thank god there are so many options we can use to communicate every second on cyber......I miss the kids so much especially whenever I come back from work entering into an empty home....I used to cook whenever I am back from work in Malaysia....that is the most I miss... cooking their favorite food and seeing them enjoying the dish....and weekend is always something for cookies or baking muffin or cup cakes togather ........I am grateful to have a very beautiful and understanding children, supportive husband who always there for me despite of all the negative critisism I received from others for leaving the kids and decided to accept my oversea's asssignment we manage to keep our relationship much closer now........Yong is a star!! She always chat and update me on what is happening with her siblings.....ensure that I am not worried being apart from them......as she always says the time will come for me to come back and be togather again. When I said to her that we are going to Bali for a short trip...she is the happiest person telling me that I deserved the trip as I have been wanted to go there so much and I never get a chance for a honeymoon since I get married (eventough I have gone to Beijing & Suzhou before). I guess all this while she has been thinking of Bali as a honeymoon spot. She has been helping me a lot with juggling my life between work and being a mom also keeping up with my hobbies...





These are the latest photos I took during my last trip back while having lunch with them at their favorite spot at One Utama...Najwa did not come along as she was at school ....




Nabihah a.k.a Yong, Nadhirah & Adam (as usual always clinching to Yong........)
















Nadhirah eating her favorite chips...








Our lunch..........hhhmmm yuuummyyy.....








To my beloved children... all of you are stars to mommie....thank you for being such a wonderful kids, always good to daddy while mommie away, remember your prayers, do your homework even when mommie n daddy not around......mommie will always treasured all of you and mommie always prays that all of you will have a happy life and successful future......to my beloved other half, thanks for being so supportive and always there when I need you (that incl. taking the instant 5 hr flight to be at my side when I brokedown in May....) ...I will always remember all the sweet things you have done for me.....I love you and I will always do!!



Miss and always love all of you from far...


MOMMIE































Thursday, July 24, 2008

My ooohhh my...Bali is sooo beautiful......

We made plan for a getaway so called little honeymoon to my dream place, Bali during my trip back to Malaysia last month.....I have been wanted to go to Bali for sometime and had not been finding time due to Rozi's tight working schedule. Finally, I managed to convince him to go but he requested to have MOU prior to our journey.....first, he must be allow to bring his laptop (mean work..work..work!!), receive call (mean solving problem, issues, conference call the list go on n on...) and last but not least, arrange another trip for the children to come to Bali (expected this request so I have no problem with this one!)....after we had reached the agreement, I booked for the this trip on Airasia back in March (thank god for Mr Tony Fernandes enterpreneur brain...now everyone can fly!)




We fly to Bali on 29th June and as usual, our loyal taxi driver, Rahim pick us up at 7am on Sunday.We did not wake the children up as we had said good-bye the night before they went to bed. As always, Rahim (a very good Muslim convert) greeted us and ensure we have all our documents ready to go.







We reached LCCT about 8am and straight away went to check in counter. Then, had a quick bite of this breakfast at McDonald (my first McD after 4 mth.....)






We boarded the flight at about 9;30am …..This has become myspecial trip with Rozi after our last trip together in Suzhou last year since I have been wanted to visit Bali so much has been putting the plan on hold so many time. We had made a point for a yearly getaway just to enjoy each other company away from work (even though this will never happen in his case!) and the children. So far, we had done this for three consecutive years. We will be celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary on 4th November. Rozi had promised much earlier that he will be very nice and will not spoilt our good time in Bali....yes he indeed fulfill and keeping to his promised for the whole time we were in Bali.



We reached Bali about 2pm and Pak Aris, the driver we hired had waited for our arriving at the airport. Prior to flight touch down, I managed to snap a few photos from top. These are some beautiful views of the volcanos.










The Uluwatu cliff and beaches







The volcanos from another angle






Right after we reach the car, I asked Pak Aris to bring us to the nicest Restaurant that serve spicy food. He brought us to Restaurant Plengkung (unfortunately I forgot the name of the road) but the area is very busy with heavy traffic and quite a number of famous eating places situated along this road such as Ayam Bakar Wong Solo and Nasi Pecel Buk Tinuk.



This is the lunch that we ordered recommended by Pak Aris. Since I was originally from Indonesian descendant, I really enjoy the dish served - BBQ chicken, brinjal with fresh chilly on top and authentic Indonesian dish spinach plecing (not sure whether I spell this correctly....)...definately this dish will keep me coming ........








Then we checked into AlamKul Kul Hotel. These are some of the photos of the hotel. But unfortunately, the room is very dissapointing. I was expecting some Bali style since I am in Bali but it turned out to be plain deco. At least I had stayed at the Cyberview Lodge on the day I arrived from China, that had relieved some of my dissapointment. Although it is just a short stay, but I really love the place. Very serene and quiet.



The path lead to the pool and our room






Another path lead to our room and clear water swimming pool (we managed to have a short splash on our last day stay ...LOL.....)






My two favorite spots at the hotel, the walking path leading to the entrance also small Bali garden .....how I wish I can have this at my own garden.......











We visited Uluwatu on our 1st day in Bali. The breathtaking view from on top of the cliff. A must place to visit while you are in Bali.










Enjoying myself on top while admiring beyond imagination view of the ocean .....





Beautiful sunset at Uluwatu which lasted for not more than 10 minutes at that time....



Then went on to have so called candle light dinner by the beach at Jimbaran....we had fish, vege and lobster which had cost us about RM 200 ( for me too expensive dinner for 2) the food was not so nice at all, I guess it is just the atmosphere that make people come to this place....we were also entertained by 4 piece band ...hhhhmmmm this is not really my place to enjoy dinner......I would rather be at Teluk Tempoyak in Penang or Umbai in Malacca or even some where in Kuala Selangor or Sungai Besar near my hometown.............but nevertheless, I cherish the moment since it is not always that I can enjoy myself being with my other half at a special place like Bali..





Since our initial plan was only spending quiet moment in Bali, we do not spend much time shopping or sight seeing. We went for an evening walk along Kuta almost everynight, stop by at Mc Donald for ice cream or sometimes went to the cafe talking and catching up. We have to end our day early and back to the room since Rozi need to check on his emails or having conference call on his mobile phone.
I have to stop now and will continue again with my Bali photos. I know some of my colleague or former colleague or my stitching friends come for a visit to my blog, please leave a message to say hello rather than being a silence reader. Some of you know where to find me on my email address. I miss to catch up with some of you and wondering what you are up to now.......
Hugs from Jinhua
Siti






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Making Chinese Dumpling

Hello again...sorry for my long silence. I have been wanting to write but has been caught up with so many things to do.

This time I would like to share some cooking session with the ladies here making beef and prawn dumpling.

The ladies at the office, Jinli, Emma and Cecily are kind enough to show me how to prepare dumpling. They spend the whole evening at my apartment enjoying our cooking session togather.

Step #1 Mix the flour with cold water and salt. Make it like a dough. Then set aside for a while. Important note, you got to have a special small roller (left photo-sorry forgot to snap appropriate one!) in order to make dumpling. The roller is a gift from Emma's mom.








Step # 2 Chop the parsley stick. Then, dry it and mix it with the blended beef. Make sure you pick the fresh beef without veins. Then mix altogather with an egg and finely chopped garlic.




Step 3 If you choose to have some varieties like me, you can also opt for prawn dumpling. Clean and take out the prawn vein. Mix with an eggs and finely chopped garlic. I also add in some fried egg into the ingredients.





Step #4 Set altogather on the table.






Step #5 Take the dough and divided into small pieces. Roll the small pieces in round shape and wrap the mix ingredient togather. The method is the same as making currypuff.




You have a choice whether to have a steam or dry fried dumpling. If you choose to have the dry fried dumpling, heat the wok and pour in small amount of oil. Then, place the dumpling one by one into the work and pour in approximately a table spoon of water. Then cover the wok. Always make sure to keep your burner moderately in order to have just nice dry fried dumpling.





I hope you had enjoying your reading. Thanks for dropping by.




Happy stitching while you are cooking!

CT


























Monday, July 21, 2008

My new Craft Discovery...Ribbon embroidery

Hello again..I was supposed to get some photos of our Beijing trip from Rozi's laptop but keep on forgetting them (yeeahhh sign of aging I guess...LOL.....)


I was wondering around one fine evening after having some minor misunderstanding with Rozi during one of our lenghty chatting session when I bump into a shop selling Ribbon Embroidery kit. This is the first shop I discover selling RE kits since I came to town in Dec 2007. I bought one basic kit and started right away when I reach home. It took me about 2 days to finish it into cushion cover.


My 1st Ribbon embroidery piece...completed in June 08...I have yet to send this piece to the tailor for sewing to turn it into cushion cover.





My 2nd piece...finish for framing...completed in June 08





These are among my first RE piece and I enjoying every minute of doing it......I have been planning to go for a class organize by a talented lady, Umi (btw, her work is really superb and her color selection is very beautiful...full of English colors...)....the kit I bought came with completed step by step instruction (of course all in Chinese...but I managed to figure it out with the help of the shop owner who does not speak any single English word!!)....but the shop owner is very helpful and she keep on reminding me to come back in case I didnt understand the instruction .......I shown to Rozi and the kids through webcam once I had completed the piece, as usual not much response of excitement or comments from my other half...I guess he had been used to my hobby since we first met (my 1st gift for him is a small cross stitch piece....)...but the girls was so excited and amazed of the piece since that was the first time they saw a ribbon turn into small flower and leaf..........I have plan to start working on another kit (thought of SAL with a few of my cyber stitching friends..) but have to put on hold to make way for the rest of project in the pipeline....LOL.......


I also picked a few kits for my stitching friend back home in Malaysia. I hope they like it and enjoy making them into the cushion cover.

Started my collection on RE kits.......I hope not too much by the time I leave for good......LOL ..
Pouch Bag


Frame Piece

Cushion Cover

Frame Piece

My other crafting project for June-July-Aug 2008.....i guess this will occupy my time till September.........

Bookmark exchange June


My first exchange for bookmark also my 1st handmade bookmark. Very simple piece and I hope the ladies will like it...


Cross stitch card swap July-Sept 08...2 of my completed piece....another 9 pieces to go...I have to find a way to cut the hole of the color paper to assemble this stitching piece into beautiful card.....I guess this will be my weekend task wondering around Jinhua looking for a frame shop to do this since they may have some cutting tools for this purpose.....



This piece "Little Rose" is a stitch along activity with my buddy stitcher Eyna...stitch on my greentea hand dyed linen......but I m not so sure what to finish this into...can anyone give some suggestion.....


Eyna....if you are reading my entry...sorry babe I guess I have to disclose this bad news to you....LOL.......



BTW, got this beautiful mag from one of Rozi's engineers, Siti, during my last trip back. Thanks Siti..you are always very thoughtful...the last trip in Feb I got "O" mag from her....I think this is the way god give me back in return to my giving spirit whenever I am back to Malaysia...the bouquet of tulip featured on the front page really caught my eye...I wonder when I will have enough time to stitch them.....anyone wanna do SAL with me ???




Some of the mags I managed to grab while I was in Malaysia last month....I still can't help to get rid of my bad habits of buying xs mags




I guess that's about it for this time...till then.....H a P P y S t I T c H i N G.......


Life is beautiful and full of love........
CT