Last year I made resolutions for the first time in my life…listing out items that I would like to finish in the 365 days. Now that it is the end of my time limit….how did I do? Well, let’s see…

Home
To finish decorating the house to resemble a home. To plot escape route and possibly move countries. Two totally contradicting resolutions, but it will be either one or the other.
To plant a tree and start a brand new garden. Planting my friends’ favourite plants and flowers always reminds me of them,if you want to be reminded, tell me what your flower is!

Result: Finished decorating (somewhat) but now no chance to escape at all. Planted a cherry tree but no chance of a new garden.

Self
To lose 5+kg and return to the gym. Start Yoga lessons to correct posture and internal peace
To make an effort to go out more often and love my friends more.To appreciate the friends I keep and cease-and-desist those not worth keeping (like slash and burn). To get over the sickening feeling of homesickness.

Result: More like +10kg. Never saw the inside of a gym. Started Pilates classes, but that quickly went to pot when the instructer keeps failing to turn up. Slash and burn worked.

Hobbies
To make salt dough creations. Finish my origami book with all it’s examples.Take massage classes. Cook proper Malaysian dishes instead of the same old easy student-y dishes. Conquer the art of making Nasi Lemak. Take more photos and get a SLR for more hobbyist shots.

Result: Salt dough did not go further than buying a book. Origami book is still in progress. Am now a qualified Indian Head Massage practitioner.Cooking wise, I had vastly improved over the past 365 days, and have grown to be very adventurous ingreddients wise. I had learn to trust my tingling tastebuds when imagining recipies. Made Nasi Lemak amongst other things. Got an SLR but life got in the way of taking more pictures.

Travel
Would be happy in Ibiza (target time – April). Or if ££ permitting, Phuket with the girls and boy. Get to Glastonbury in end June. Bring parents around UK in July.A longer trip back to KL – preferably with an island break.

Result: Done Ibiza in May. Got to Glastonbury in June and came back nearly in tears with the endless rain. Parents never arrived in the UK. Did not make it back to KL in 2007, but I did get to Prague in August. Did not do much of UK, did not even make it to London at all this year which is outrageous

Career
To find a career that I really want. Do not succumb to work related stress. To develope a more zen-like approach at work.Make more friends at work, irregardless if I move or not.To have a proper saving account instead of splashing it all out on the house and touring the world. Pay off all house-related debts – other than mortgage and car

Result: Move jobs twice.Now in something that I believe I can remain content in for some time to come, which is encouraging. All the hard work of job hunting has come to an end at last after nearly a whole year. Getting better at friends-at-work thing.I had a proper savings account, which had dwindled to near nothingness in the past two weeks. Blame it on xmas spluge, visa price & after Christmas sales. And not to mention my tickets to KL for Feb. Sigh. However, finance wise should look up next year as Bacon would have gotten a 40% pay rise from his current salary.

And here’s wishing a happy & succesful New 2008 to everyone!!!!!

And I nearly forgot. The word settlement in my passport scares me to no end – does indefinate leave to remain means I am indefinately stuck here in rainy england?

In a way, receiving my ‘official’ status puts me in a more comfortable position in this nanny state. It enables me to claim benefits, or go on social security…not like I ever would. But if I had kids, I would be able to claim child relief, and if I ever become unemployed I would be able to claim benefits as well. This sticker would also enable me to pay a very low price for classes that I would want to take in university – at last, resident prices rather than the ubiquitious ‘International Student’ fees that most of us were made to fork up during our university days.

Do I feel any different? No, not really. But I do feel safer…at least I have a chance to claim on the exhorbitant tax that I pay -somewhat like insurance?

So yea…one more step closer to being ‘English’

Santa certainly arrived in our household…

Tiffany’s Paloma Picasso’s Loving heart pendant

….and matching earrings

I love bacon, do you? And no, I did not pick them myself, it was hidden in my santa. Funnily enough,two weeks ago, I did sign for it when it arrived as I was outside when the postman arrived .Bacon nearly fainted when he saw he holding a package and snatched it away from me..:).

Ahh…season of giving and all that nonsense. Online shops have started their clearance sales ith 50% off all gifts – trick is you don’t get it until the new year, rendering it obsolete as a chrismas present. Just makes me feel a tad prissy; so I will be buying gifts for myself now online. Yes, consumerism is the death of Christmas..

Making most of the food to be served tomorrow today so that I get a little time to myself tomorrow to just graze on snacks. Aren’t I clever. Bear in mind that this is the first time I am making all parts of a Christmas dinner myself being one of the brats the grew up with maids; my menu for tomorrow is:

Starter
Glass noodle salad with mixed seafood

Mains
Turkey with sausagemeat stuffing & bacon wrapped sausages and hotdogs
Baked marmalade ham
Brussels sprouts
Mashed carrot & swede
Roast king edward potatoes
Mulled wine red cabbage

Dessert
Christmas pudding with brandy custard and cream (store bought)

Menu with pictures to follow after Christmas. Let’s hope I don’t blow it k! Have a great Christmas all, remember, Christmas sales starts on 26th December!!!!

Have a purrfect Christmas!

When I was younger, Dong Zhi, or Tang Chek in Hokkien, was one of the very few times in the year when I was allowed to play with dough. Since moving to this lovely grey and dark country, it now symbolizes the end of the everlasting dark nights. Known as the Winter Solstice,because of the earth’s tilt, earth’s hemisphere is leaning farthest away from the sun, and therefore:daylight is the shortest today.

Days then gets longer by about a minute every day,and this goes on until the Summer Solstice, which is the longest day in the year. There is still 24 hours in a day, but with more sunlight as opposed to more darkness. The sun has been setting around 4pm everyday and this had depressed me to no end, as I regularly go for a few days without seeing the sun at all..:(.

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. Round glutinious rice balls seeped in sweet syrup are eaten in celebration of the winter solstice, symbolizing family reunions popular for this festival.

I must admit that it has been some time since I’ve made them myself, preferring to buy frozen ones from the supermarket. However, in the spirit of my me-can-cook, this year I made the more traditional plain ones and the cantonese-styled peanut butter stuffed version popularly available in Hong Kong dessert shops. This was heavily influenced by bacon, who had developed a liking for the peanut butter dessert – just like reeses’ peanut butter cups.

Ingreddients
syrup
2 screwpine leaves (pandan), knotted
2-3 piece of medium rock sugar,
1 liter water

dough
1 cup water
2 cup glutinious rice flour
1tsp olive oil
1tbs sugar

Boil ingreddients for the syrup on a low fire.

Mix ingreddients in a mixing bowl, adding flour as needed. The mixture is of the right consistency when it sticks to the spoon and does not drip down.

Add flour, if needed, to ensure that mixture is not too wet.

Divide dough into bowls, mixing in food coloring. Traditionally, red or pink is used to symbolize prosperity

With a lump of dough between your palms, roll to a smooth, round shape. Coat palms and plate with four so that dough does not stick

For filling, follow similar instructions, but with a larger piece of dough. Flatten out, drop a dollop of peanut butter, and seal. Roll the ball to keep the shape.

Once all dough is utilised, drop the balls into the now-boiling syrup mixture.

Leave boiling for about 5 minutes, by which all the balls should be floating, which means they are cooked

Serve a few balls with enough syrup to cover

Ahhh….I’ve missed plain,chewy Ee(round in hokkien)