The Crab which is not...

Each trip to Samui is not complete without a trip to our favorite seafood restaurant on Bangpo beach. It is a local joint which we stumbled upon 4 years ago. Our restaurant choices are usually based on the 'local' factor. Obviously the more locals there are, the better it should be in terms of authenticity and price. The restaurant which we still do not know of the name, is on Bangpo beach and there is nothing fancy about it except for the superb priceless view. The restaurant consists of simple attap roofs and they used to make tables out of old doors! I am not joking.

This time round, the tables have been replaced with new bamboo tables. But oh my, there are also 'farangs,' lots of them! Yes, I am such a hyprocrite considering that both my husband and I are not locals either but we prize our discovery. There were so many of them I was afraid that the restaurant may lose its local touch.

On the plus side, the menu has improved somehow with better English translation. However, there is one page of food listing in Thai with no English translation from which we always randomly pick an item. Unfortunately there was one main item that was not listed in the menu, and the waitress could not understand what we wanted. After much hand actions including using pots and pans to explain the color of my desired dinner, the waitress finally figured out what I was trying to order.... horseshoe crab.

When we first ordered this dish 4 years ago, it was merely out of curiosity with a high cool factor. I mean look at the guy! The armour was just awesome. It was prehistoric. When the dish arrived, we did not know what to do with it. We turned it upside down, trying to do the regular dissections as per your regular crustacean. In the end we figured out where the opening was. To our shock, there was no crab meat to be found. There were just hundreds and hundreds of green beans lookalike in that little armor. Sig.Ot and I dugged in and ate them all. The green beans lookalike are actually the eggs. Taste wise, it is a little bit fishy and the texture is chewy.

This time round, when the English speaking waitress finally figured out what I wanted then told me that it was not crab. So I thought perhaps it is not called crab in Thai. I googled horseshoe crab and discovered that it is more closely related to ticks than to crabs! I told Elise about this and she was so grossed out by the fact that I was eating thousands of baby mites. I am thinking right now, "Wait till she sees the picture!"

Do give it a try if you ever see one. It goes very well with papaya salad on the side.

22degree Halo

I have witnessed this for the first time today. It was HUGE. It looked like a rainbow which formed a perfect circle around the sun. Sig.Ot was sun lounging and reading when he saw this in the sky and called out to me. He joked that it must have been that hole in the ozone!

The halo around the sun is caused by ice crystals 5-10km up in the sky. Sunlight is then refracted in hexagonal ice crystals.

Anyway it was spectacular and so perfect, it must be a good omen for all of us.

Pure Simple Joy

You can always tell who are the people who have just arrived for their holidays. The most obvious tell-tale sign is when they start racing down the beach towards the sea like some crazed maniacs! Of course even without the sprint and hurdling of the waves, the usual suspect would be the skin color. The pale pallid, as white as sheet. Or at later part of the day when the skin turns bright lobster red, which only happens to most people who have not been in the sun since the previous summer. The worst case of sunburn is when the skin turns a tinge of dark purple. I feel so sorry for them. That must hurt, really really hurt.
I wish I had managed to capture some of the moments of these people who were running towards the ocean with joy. I am also very sure that many other onlookers like me, observed it with a grin on their faces.

Food that binds...

When I first started dating Sig.Ot, we ate alot and we still do. I figured that the love of same type of food bound us together, like the sticky rice we eat with bbq meat on the beach or noodle soup in makeshift stalls by the side of the road.

I thought that I have at least seen if not ate most food in SE Asia, such as those fried insects or whatever Chinese stew with unhalal contents. So 5 years ago, he introduced to me a heavenly appetiser called Kung Chay Nam Pla at a Thai restaurant in Telawi (I think it's called Laana), I was swept off my feet. Since then, each trip to Thailand is accompanied by a daily dose of this yummy dish.

As the name suggests, it is a prawn dish, eaten raw. Yum yum... the peeled raw prawns are usually arranged in fan shape with various accompaniments. I noticed that it is done differently here compared to Phuket. For instance in Phuket, the prawns are arranged with sweet basil, raw garlic and chilli padi. The special chilli sauce is served on the sides. Over here in Samui, the raw prawns are served with shredded raw cabbage and thinly sliced bittergourd! I personally prefer the raw garlic and chilli since the 2 give each other a real good kick.

Summer in Samui

Entering into the final week of our family holiday, I am sure it is going to fly through very quickly. The weather has been a mix of very sunny spells and thunderstorms, but overall I have browned quite nicely.

The journey to get here was rather stressful with the botched early check-in, then rushing home to get everyone and the never arrived taxi and a forgotten employee pass which was needed at the airport. As we got onto the plane, I kidded myself into believing everything would be rosy since it was the beginning of our holidays!

Guess not, Eddie got very upset because it was his bedtime and he could not settle down. So he got himself crying and did a projectile vomit on me while I was standing right at the front of the aisle in full view of all the other 100 odd passengers. (Airbus 319 with 3:3 seat configuration, single aisle with total seatings of 120)

Sig.Ot thought it was hillarious, I was dead embarrassed and of course the toilet had to be situated right at the plane tail. As I made my way down the the very very long aisle, there were sympathetic murmurs, there were people who shrunk back into their seats should they made any contact with both Eddie and I and a kind lady handed me more wet wipes as I walked past her seat.

Mind you, the flight was a very short one but I decided to hang out in the toilet with Eddie. At least the changing table, mirror and all the stuff inside the toilet kept him occupied for the other hour or so.

Dream on...

For serial dreamers like me who remembers dreams every night, there are 3 broad categories of dreams:-

• Dreams that don't matter
• Dreams that you wake up from and thank goodness they were merely dreams
• Dreams that you wake up from and wish that you have done it because it was only a dream!!!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

A friend of mine is going through a buying frenzy in preparation for the arrival of the little one. Someone wisely said that you don't really know what you need till the little one arrives. Of course, different baby needs different stuff. In this article, I have compiled things that I have bought in the last one year which I consider to be excellent buy and those which are money-wasters!

Long term Investment - Things that I have used and still using since Eddie's arrival

• Avent Bottles - Excellent!
• Sterilizing tray - To be filled with a little bit of water and pop into microwave for 8 minutes
  
• Baby Cot- The one that I bought is bigger than standard size cot, and can be converted into a bed when he is older. He is supposed to be able to sleep in it until he is about 3 years old.
• Ozone swimming costume - Eddie's been wearing this for a year now, and the suit will be making its second appearance in Samui this summer!
• Fisher Price Rainforest Peekaboo Leaves Musical Mobile - I am so surprised that Eddie hasn't wrecked this because I am supposed to take it off his cot once he could stand up, which was bout 7 months ago.

Mid-term Investment

• Medela electric breast pump - I used this for the whole 6 months
• Philips-Avent bottle reheat thing - Well no more extra milk to keep now but at that time, I love using the reheat thing. You could never overheat or underheat, you don't need to keep checking or boil water separately etc. It has various settings for type of food, temperature and volume. Very intelligent indeed.
  
• Babybjorn Babysitter Balance - This was a bouncy chair that was good for day use, BEFORE he could crawl.
• Philips Baby Monitor - When he was a baby this was great use but now his voice no longer require any form of amplifier

Money Waster

• Bumbo Baby Seat
• The First Years Close & Secure Sleeper - I bought this for the 1 month Eddie was supposed to sleep with me at my parents, as he didn't have a cot. We then got him a big nice bouncy bed. The product is an excellent product especially if you are visiting friends or relatives for couple of hours. It is like a carry on bed for baby which could be put on floor, or sofa.

A Matter of "When" not "If"

H1N1, Swine Flu, whatever you call it.

Since it first surfaced or reported in Mexico in April 09, the flu has spread to more continents and more people have caught it. Even in Singapore, the first reported case was on 27 May 09 and 39 days later, the number of cases have passed the 1000 mark.

The media has played a big role to promote vigilance and awareness amongst the people. At the same time, such awareness is also created based on the foundation of fear of H1N1. When you first have 1 or 2 people catching the virus, perhaps you could still afford to ostracise the person, finger point and go "eeehhhhhh.... swine flu" but now that over 1000 people have caught it in just slightly over 1 month, the flu IS getting very real. You could very well have it. Think zombie movie scene; 3 normal human beings trying to run away from 1000 charging zombies. (I often wonder why don't they just join the zombies, no more senseless running away).

Singapore's 48th case was a German man who flew back from US. Upon reaching Singapore, he went on to a formal function, shopping, Clarke Quay and concert, before checking into the hospital. That created a huge outcry from the public who accused the man of being irresponsible. Maybe he was really feeling fine until the party was over?

My point is nobody wants to be sick, especially NOT of H1N1 for couple of days worth of MC. Unfortunately the success of the media campaign has inadvertently created a stigma against people who caught H1N1. Lets hope at the end of the day, common sense and sympathy prevail against the masks on our faces and thermometers in our handbags.

p.s. In Australia, there is no H1N1 hype despite over 4,000 reported cases. Apparently their normal seasonal winter flu is more deadly than H1N1. Life goes on down under.

p.s.s. I dreamt I had the flu, and I was sent to a quarantine centre in Butterworth.

bersambung... Tag - 2

TAG 2

1. Apakah perasaan anda sekarang? Saya terasa lapar

2. Saya nak makan? Assam laksa!!!

3. Saya tak suka? Orang yang tidak beradab, khasnya laki yang tak buka/pegang pintu untuk perempuan mengandung / dgn anak-anak

4. Impian saya? Kereta saya ada pembesar suara:- "Boleh matikah kalau bagi saya lalu dahulu???!!!" / "Jangan ingat u pemandu jantan saya akan takut pada u. Saya tau bertinju ala thai" / "Saya tangkap gambar kereta kau dan paparkan di laman web saya!!!" Tapi masalahnya, mereka tak kan paham bahasa melayu lah...

5. Haiwan yang saya tak suka? Kuching!

6. Saya harapkan? 2 lelaki sial kurang ajar yang berkulit gelap dengan nombor kereta johor yang menghalang kereta saya tengah hari ini, akan terkentut sambil terberak semasa mengurat perempuan malam ini. Lepas tu bila mereka pergi tandas, takde kertas tandas ataupun paip air.

7. Jika boleh putarkan masa? Saya akan mengulangi semua yang telah saya lakukan sekali lagi.

8. Saya pada 10 tahun akan datang? Berehat di sebuah rumah pantai di Thailand bila-bila saja saya teringin melapangkan hati.

9. Handphone saya adalah sebuah? Sudah HILANG!!!!

10. Saya pernah bercinta sebanyak? Alamak, kan dah cakap. Hanya sekali.

11. Kawan-kawan saya? Berbagai-bagai.

12. Pernah dikhianati? Belum lagi, harap-harap tidak akan dikhianati.

13. Apa yang hendak anda lakukan terhadap orang yang mengkhianati anda? Rasanya saya akan menyumpah orang tu. Kalaunya laki, biasanya sumpah tu berkaitan dengan zakarnya dan penyakit kelamin. Kalau pompuan, hmmmnnn... biar saya pikir

.

Howl At The Moon - 2nd July 09

It has been a very long time since I've gone clubbing on a weekday, well not that it makes any difference to me. (In fact if I want to, I could drink anytime of the day, any day! Ha) A friend of mine turned 31 yesterday and we took her to this place called Howl At The Moon at Emerald Hill. Frankly speaking, I did not know what to expect. After all, most places are so pretentious these days, and I mean both the bars and their patrons.

When I got there around 8.30pm, I was very surprised that the band(mainly Caucasian but 2 locals) was already playing. On the stage they had the usual setup; drums, guitar (?) actually I don't think there was a guitar.

In fact, the band stood out simply because they had 2 baby grands, drums, saxophone, trumpet (?) and perhaps a couple of other musical instruments. And at ALL times, the stage have 2 singers on piano singing. Towards the end of every hour, all the other band members get on stage to perform before replacing the first 2 singers on piano. This means that in order to qualify to join the band, you have to play ALL the musical instruments. How impressive is that? I met one of the guys and he told me that he learnt the piano in 8 months! They made up songs as well, rude of course.

It was very spontaneous, entertaining and engaging. This is the first club that I have been to that plays ONLY live music. The band does not take any breaks, you don't have to listen to stupid techno. Not to mention that they get patrons to play games. Birthday girl had to do crazy shot, then with another friend they had to dance to "I'm a Little Teapot," and I had to compete with 3 other people and say the phrase "Suck it to me" as many times as possible in 60 seconds. My friends had high hopes for me, unfortunately after a bottle of Cloudy Bay, my tongue was tied and I burst into laughter. This other guy was pretty good but when he said it quickly, he sounded like he was saying "sodomy." His friend went last and he was good. All he said was, "suck me suck me suck me," which was both smart and funny.

I was chatted up by a guy and when I told him that I am married, surprise surprise, he owned up to being married too. *Men*. No swapping of phone numbers, instead we were comparing our kids' photos! That's a first in a club.

I suppose we all have the most fun when we least expect it.

Red Velvet Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (15 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk (I personally find vinegar better than lemon juice)

2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda (please note baking soda, not powder!!! i made this mistake few weeks ago. it still turned out alright)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces (113 grams) cream cheese, room temperature (i didn't bother with the rest, only cream cheese and some lemon juice)

(And the writing in yellow is simply because I ran out of other colors, and the icing ran)

4 ounces (113 grams) Mascarpone cheese, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (60 grams) confectioners' (icing or powdered) sugar, sifted

3/4 (180 ml) cup heavy whipping cream

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/RedVelvetCupcakes.html#ixzz0KCzLJ73a&C