Chinese New Year dinner

Celebrated Chinese New Year with M's sister C's family in Sydney.

C prepared a scrumptuous yee sang, a salad of raw fish, thinly cut vegetables and crispy wonton with a sweet and sour dressing. It's believed to be a Chinese Malaysian/Singaporean traditional Chinese New Year dish, and it symbolizes togetherness when everyone at the table joins in the fun of tossing the salad.

A duck, a symbol of fidelity, was served in many ways: peking duck pancakes, fried rice and in soup! Too busy eating, hence no pictures of the other dishes. For pancake recipe, see below.

And last but not the least, a whole steamed (barramundi)fish. This is apparently a symbol of prosperity, for the chinese word for fish "yu" sounds like the word for richness or abundance. It's also believed to make your wishes come true for this year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Pancake Recipe:

1/2 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 cup water
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil
1 Peking duck (see note)
6 green onions, washed
1/2 cup hoisin sauce

Method:
Combine and whisk flour, cornflour, water, egg and oil.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush with little oil. Pour batter into frying pan and quickly swirl pan to spread the thin pancake to about 15cm. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn and cook for a further 1 minute.

How to enjoy:
Remove skin and meat from duck. Thinly slice both skin and meat. Cut onions and cucumber into 10cm lengths.
Place some duck skin and meat, 1 onion and cucumber and 1 teaspoon of hoisin sauce onto each pancake. Roll up. Serve.

Adapted from Taste.com.au

Mission 4

My boy m loves anything space-related: the solar system, rocket ships, asteriods and meteors. He loves calling out the planets and drills me with, "What's between Venus and Mars?" It's embarassing to admit that I don't know the answer and as I type had to open another internet window just to know it.

For his birthday party fun, space theme was of course the most obvious to pick. With Daddy d's help, the kids played "Moon rock Hunting" (treasure hunt), "Musical planets" (musical chairs), "Pin the martian's nose" and pulled a rocket ship pinata.

Lunch wasn't exactly freeze-dried food, like what the real astronauts eat. Thankfully, ours were better and yummier courtesy of my helpful moms, aunties and uncle. We had "lunar lasagna", "neptune noodles", "super galaxy salad", "mini chicken moon pies", "melon moon balls".

Happy OZ day!

Pull out the barbie, for it's Australia Day!

Sticking to the Australian norm, Mom and I planned to have a barbeque to celebrate my birthday and dad's. On our menu was seafood paella, chop suey and portuguese barbeque chicken, and it was a subtle reflection of the multiculturalism in our country today. In fact, a great Australian food show Food Safari, which showcases the varied cuisines of our nation, was where we got the recipes from.

The night before, I told her we would have flattened chickens just like how they butterfly them in restaurants. So I was shocked when I saw her preparing chicken fillets instead of whole ones today. Her reply to me was she thought I meant fillets that are flat! Oh well, we just have to make do with what we have, and it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because our barbeque wouldn't work when we were about to cook. In the end we had to pan-fry them inside and it would've been a very late dinner if we had to cook whole ones instead!

Boys not in action

All my boys - husband and two kids - were unwell last week, and it was a terrible week. Daddy M was struck with a gastro flu, m was complaining of some sort of tummy pain (that is on & off) and j had common colds, was teething and picked up the gastro flu too. Everyone's appetite was nil or very very low. You can tell that they were unwell when they pushed away the favourite foods placed in front of them. Even I didn't feel like eating or cooking anything when they didn't want to eat. How I also wish I knew what to do right away whenever they complained of pains, and how I wish I could make it disappear in an instant.

Coming from a family that have medical backgrounds, I always had people on standby to ask questions from or to reassure me that all will be ok. But things are different now that I'm thousands of kms away from them. I now have to depend and trust GP's, whom I don't personally know, for their advices and medical support. It's different and alright when I have to take our car to a mechanic, but when I have to solely rely on professionals for medical support - when my life and my family's lives rest on them - that's when I feel so 'helpless'. And it's not nice to feel helpless (emotionally, physically and mentally) when all the only people I love and can rely on, husband and kids, are sick!

Thankfully, there wasn't anything too serious that happened to my own family last week, and I'm also grateful that they're getting better now. Now, I think I just need a good rest from all the 'action and drama' of last week....*zzz*.

m got in a preschool!

Discovered in the mail today that m got in a preschool (for 4 yrs old) for next 2008 near our area. The excitement of reading the acceptance letter was like winning the lottery, since finding him a spot in preschools this time of the year, when most are already fully booked, was very slim. Our joy was almost equivalent to him getting in an elite university, so it was just appropriate to call our dim sum outing in Kam Fook a celebration. Just as astonishing as getting accepted was m's eagerness to taste dimsum 'chicken feet'

The BIG move!

The thought of moving was so mind-boggling, for I didn't know much how to tackle it (even in baby steps). We never did much ahead of time, for like I said earlier we really didn't know what to do. Well, at least for starters we set the day that the movers would come, and then just anxiously waited for that big moving day. Everything else that happened just before, during and after that day were still a 'blur' to my mind because they all happened as fast as a blink of an eye. So, let me retrace all events before I could forget the 'blur':

1. The night before the removalists came the fridge was almost empty so we had to eat out for dinner.

2. While the rest were asleep, packed the kids' clothings and few essentials in their separate suitcases. Packed mine too.

3. Threw scattered things in their respective rooms, eg. toys in the front of the house, kids' clothes in their closet, picked up kids' socks from the floor. This way when the removalists came most related things would be packed together.

4. The Pack Day (August 1): Removalists arrived early in the morning to pack all our belongings in boxes - everything from spoons and forks, to bed sheets, our hanging coats, to laundry chemicals. They wrapped things in newsprint paper and packed boxes tightly. Oh, and they worked very fast! Both kids were with my mom, so I had the freedom to still clear/clean things that needed to be packed. With all our things in boxes, it was time to move and temporarily live in my folks' home.

5.The Uplift Day (August 2): The big container van arrived and big men carried all the boxes and furnitures and packed them like sardines in the container. They were all brilliantly packed with no deadspace in side, so that they won't fall, rattle, break or collapse. Too bad, the 3.5 yr old m was not present to see the big container truck (like Mack in the Disney movie. Eight-month old j, on the other hand was the mascot for the day. Thanks to our nice neighbour Linda who kept me company during the day.

6. Cleaning of the house. Once in a while when I had the energy and was in a good mood, I would come and clean up the house. m was a good companion during the visits - very helpful and entertaining.

7. Our things arrived by train in our new residence in Sydney approximately 1.5 weeks and were unpacked and arranged by the removalists. Apparently, every item is in its rightful place (this I was only told for I haven't seen the new place yet, as I am still here in Perth as I'm writing this)

8. Time to relax a little while at parents' home before we fly to our new home sometime later in August.

To be honest, I can't believe how we managed to do it all. It was a stressful and busy time, and it wouldn't be that easier if not for the tremendous help of everyone from our family and friends. Big thanks to our neighbours for lending us your trailer and fixing our tap (our one and only golden tap). Big thanks also to Ezra for helping us with moving our heavy furnitures. Thanks too to our friends, uncles, aunties and cousins who sent us their well wishes - we'll miss you terribly. Lastly our sincerest gratitude our parents, to my brothers, sis-in-law and brother-in-law - for looking after our children, moving our things and helping us locate a home in Sydney.

Tupperware party

Hands up to those who have not heard of Tupperware? Unlikely that you haven't heard of it. My mom has some, my mother-in-law owns some, my aunties surely got some, and your neighbour or neighbour's mom got some too in their cupboard. When they say it's a household name, this product fits description to a T!

The time has come that I think it's my turn now to have my very own Tupperware, because I'm now in that age group that talks about Tupperware. We won't be laughed at or given a strange look if you mention it. Shortly after I got married, I got invited to a Tupperware party, and then soon after I had kids I also saw those catalogues lying around in places where moms & kids hang out (playgroups, daycares, clinics). Now my friends who have kids are inviting me to Tupperware parties too.

The tupperware I remember using (and playing with) were those of mustard yellow, beige or apple green in colour. They were actually horrible and truly looked from the disco era. These are now replaced by colourful, microwable, oven-safe modern plastics (mind you, they extend now to non-plastic wares like cooking pans, knives, can openers and other kitchen gadgets) - cool!

You can arrange your tupperware party to suit an occasion, like bridal shower, fundraising or it can be simply a small gathering at home (apparently even with alcoholic slushiesor Tequila pouring). Never in my wildest dreams I imagined myself hosting one, but I suprisingly did this time. The opportunity was there, and I just needed an excuse for some "Jen-time" at home with the gals, so why not do it?!?! I also liked the idea of putting up a cooking demonstration (quiche), so that's probably another reason why I did it (Too bad, I didn't run the demo - i should've! Always wanted to pretend to be Nigella - Ha! tsk tsk!)

Party was a success, and it was good to catch up with a small group of close friends to complete my party. Many thanks to all who came! I had fun! Now, hands up those who have kids that speak of Tupperware!