Silly Lomo

Wanted to take pics at DT Concert (Mar 23, 08), so bought a fisheye at Citysuper and took some silly pics. Note: pics are flaky coz they were digitized using a poor scanner.

Silly silde for our best friend

Osaka 2008

Before Roy started his new job, we went to Osaka, Japan. Here's a slideshow we put together. Click here for larger view.

Cancun Trip

We spent 8 days at Cancun to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary + my bday. The pictures are uploaded to our wedding website. Check it out by clicking the above picture or here. Note: Please click on icon "i" to check out the picture description.

Flowers from Mayfair Lakes

A suprised flower delivered from our wedding venue, Mayfair Lakes to celebrate our 1 year wedding annniversary. Time sure flies...it feels like we just got married yesterday.

Cooking3: Kabocha Egg Salad

Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin) Croquette is one of my favorite dish, especially the one served at Guu. Kabocha is rich in beta carotene, with iron, vitamin C, potassium, and smaller traces of calcium, folic acid, and minute amounts of B vitamins. I love Kabocha so much that i've invented my own healthy hot kabocha recipe:

1 Kabocha (Serves 8)
4-5 large eggs
Japanese Mayonnaise

Direction: Peel Kabocha and cut in half. Take out seeds and wash it. Cut into small cube pieces (It might be hard to cut, if so, soften by heating it in the microwave for a few minutes before cutting). Put kabocha pieces on an oven tray and bake it at 350F to 400F for 45 min to 1 hour (until kabocha becomes mushy when pressed with a fork). While kabocha is baking, hard-boiled the eggs (~10 min). Then take out the eggshell and smashed the egg into bits using a fork. Once Kabocha is ready, mixed with egg bits and Japanese Mayonnaise and serve hot in a bowl. Note: Kabocha is quite sweet and very filling!

The above picture shows the other dishes we cooked to match this dish including yaki soba, miso soup (cooked with onions, enoki mushroom, tofu & japanese fish balls) and the baked terriyaki beef & enoki mushrooms (shown below).

Here's the ingredients for this terriyaki beef:
2 packs of sliced beef (those ready for hotpot)
2 packs of enoki mushrooms
some garlic bits
terriyaki sauce

Direction:Tap terriyaki sauce to each piece of beef & wrap a few enoki mushrooms into a roll. Do the same for all beef and put all rolled beef into a baked glassware. Sprinkle some garlic bits on top and bake the dish for 30-45 minutes at 350F to 400F.

~cC

Cooking2: chicken cacciatore

Chicken cacciatore is a stew cooked in a rich tomato mushroom sauce. I've learnt this simple healthy recipe from Martha Stewart and it is a very good 開胃 recipe. I think it serves better with pasta than rice (i forgot to take a photo, so have to use Matha's photo this time).

Main ingredients (Serves 4):
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 pound mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
2 garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
stewed tomatoes


To cook the stewed tomatoes, you need:

2 pounds tomatoes, cut into pieces (note: people usually suggest to peel this but i didn't coz the skin is healthy)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon finely minced onion, optional
1 tablespoon finely minced green bell pepper, optional

Directions: Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan; cover tightly. Cook tomatoes over lowest heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Main Directions:
Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a large (5-quart) saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, heat oil over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan. Cook chicken, turning when it easily releases from the pan, until golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add mushrooms; cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, stew tomatoes, and oregano. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, covered, until tomatoes have broken down, 10 to 15 minutes.
Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pan; cover, and cook until chicken is opaque throughout, 4 to 6 minutes. Turn chicken to coat with sauce, and serve.

~cC

Flipper's Tennis 101: Hopper

We played tennis again but with special Flipper (our god-daughter still in mom's tummy) and Flipper's parents. We've played in a remote court which will be our secret hide-out. I bought a second-handed racquet today from Ted's sports and it is actually the one Flipper's mom traded in a couple of months ago....Flipper's dad also bought a hopper for picking up the tennis balls.

~cC

PT 4: Tennis

After so many years, i have decided to pick-up tennis (R's favourite sport) coz it's free and a good sabbath time. Here are some snapshots i took today while we played at PW, which is now our favorite PT location. We've played there twice already. The first time we were there, R played with a boy (teen) and lost really badly hehe

~cC

Food: Le Crocodile

My supervisor invited me for a farewell lunch at Le Crocodile, a fantastic french restaurant located in Vancouver downtown. Here shows what we ordered including onion tart, tiger prawns and veal medallions. I plan to bring my brother/sister-in-laws to this restaurant again in June.

~cC

Cooking1: 柱候牛坑腩

My first time cooking something more complicated and I learned 4 things:
1) 冰糖 will thicken the broth
2) 牛坑腩 is much tasty than regular 牛腩 but so expensive
3) 牛坑腩 creates excessive oil
4) Beef is good for the healthy immune system. According to the chinese cooking world, it's function include: energy & blood tonic, strengthen tendons and bones, tone the spleen and stomache, and it is good to stomach eating in winter. It is also a good source of iron, protein, vitamins B3, B5, B6 and B12, and phosphorus & zinc.

Here's the modified recipe which i obtained from T&T:

牛腩 2 磅, 白蘿蔔 1 磅, 紅蘿蔔 0.5磅, 薑 3 片

蒜蓉 1 茶匙
柱侯醬 1 茶匙
桂皮 1 片
鹽 1-1/2 茶匙
冰糖 1 湯匙
生抽 1 湯匙
老抽 1 湯匙
水 適量

1. 將牛腩切件。
2. 煲滾水後，將牛腩放入川盪 5 分鐘，留用。
3. 白蘿蔔去皮，洗凈切件，待用。
4. 燒熱鍋，放入 2 湯匙油，爆香薑片、蒜蓉、柱候醬；加入牛腩同爆片刻。
5. 加入過面水份，再放入其餘調味料；煮沸後炆半小時。
6. 加入白蘿蔔，多炆煮半小時，即可食用 。

Here's a pic of us washing dishes after the yummy meal...and ros noticed we were wearing the same colors which we didn't even notice.

Thanks to T&T (Click here for Original Recipe)

~cC

PT3: Tea at Lichea

We had a long afternoon tea at Lichea today....Roy had to prepare Gzone, so i had a chance to finish the book "Shaped by the Word" by Mulholland....and i get to eat pancakes, cheesecake...so yummy & relaxing hehe :D

~cC

PT2: A day at Seattle

We needed to take a break so we drove to Seattle today. We bought a few items @ the Premium Outlet but the best part was the hot cheese souffle from starbucks ....very yummy.....don't know why they don't serve this in Vancouver.

PT1: Surprise dinner

I bused home early since Roy had to work a bit later than usual. He didn't know i'll be cooking a special meal...afterall it's valentine's day. Although it was a short dinner coz we had to rush to church for worship practice but we enjoyed it....coz very yummy hehe

~cC

260 days

It's 260 days since we began our new journey. We spent most of our time together in the following:

1) Sleeping zZzzZzz
2) House chores - cooking, washing & vaccuming
3) Browsing our own laptop side by side on bed, couch or in our closet/workroom..unlike the picture above haha
4) Church-related activities
5) Carpooling to work
6) Weekly time meeting up with friends and my sister

The highlight during the 260 days are our 3 trips to Japan, Koh Samui and San Diego.

Our evaluation for the new year is more time on the following:
1) Praying & bible reading
2) Chit-chat more about our lives other than church stuff haha
3) Exercise
4) Loving actions (i.e. suprise cheap gifts)
5) Private time in pursuing our hobbies (i.e. Roy learning guitar or Me doing my crafts)

May God grant us strength to dedicate time to do this.

~cC

小美人

We've deeply fall in love with 旺福 lately. They are a taiwan band and their song makes you happy and want to dance. We especially love 小美人 (click link to listen)

歌词：詞/曲:姚小民
我可愛的小美人 誰能愛妳比我深 就算是在夜裡 不開燈 不能開 我也能 輕易認出妳身分
我可愛的小美人 好過所有大美人 大美人就算是 開了燈 也不能 聞一聞 怕有失她的身分

小美人 妳是那麼真 讓我好想疼 疼你疼到送急診
小美人 可愛的嘴唇 如果吻別人 我也讓他送急診
小美人 我讓妳三分 你敬我三分 多的我們就平分
小美人 只要妳一聲 我給妳一生 聲聲深深生生生

我可愛的小美人 在我心裡是滿分 永遠永遠都是 一個燈 兩個燈 三個燈 然後變成霓虹燈
我可愛的小美人 好過所有大美人 大美人雖然是 燈燈燈 好多燈 像星辰 能看不能去關燈

I cannot find the above song from youtube but i find DoRaMi (see below)

愛似林一峰

Came across this song from Vani's music collection; a collaboration of 農夫(rapper) & 林一峰.. sweet combination with intersting sparks for folk guitar and raps.
Apart from the music itself, the content of the song also raises my attention!
It is funny how ppl are seeing love now.
And it is so funny when the simple and naive attitude comparing the more "realistic" way of love nowadays.

Is love always related to $$? (or any other materials?)
Is that love when I can remember your birthday?
Is that love when I am willing to give you all I can afford (materials)?
Can't it be simpler and direct: I love, coz I am willing to sacrifice for you?
Is love just "似是陽光空氣", but not neccessarily as essential as 陽光 & 空氣?
haha interesting...

《愛似林一峰》
6:
你愛一架飛機　我愛一個杯
你愛我個細佬　我愛你個妹
你應愛李英愛　李英愛愛李英宰
定係愛冇話應該唔應該

一峰：愛似是陽光空氣　愛似是陽光空氣

C:
愛　愛有人話真愛係無價
愛　愛我話真愛無得講價
首先要有大把身家
再有奶媽管家
車唔只得一架最好有司機楂
事實係事實　愛情係現實
你無車無樓無番狗
做乜要拖我手
女人最忌無品　男人最忌無銀
所以幾百張心意卡比唔上白金既附屬卡
林子祥無呃你　係你自己呃自己

一峰：咸魚白菜也好好味

C:
戶口得幾舊水
仲想養埋佢個女
一峰：Oh 叫佢食陽光空氣
C+6
愛　似是一間屋一張卡
一齊擔一把遮　陽光空氣一架車
愛　似是一個人一直搵
一直等個一個人　一世一齊訓
愛　似是一間屋一張卡
一齊擔一把遮　陽光空氣一架車
愛

一峰：愛似是陽光空氣

6:
你愛我　所以你俾左我
我愛你　所以我愛理不理
你愛我　因為我愛你
我愛你　因為佢唔愛我

C:
準新娘　準備紅杏出牆
搶新娘　你點同人搶
人地送寶馬　你就送花
人地去飲紅酒　你就飲茶
所以我愛你　唔駛理夠唔夠match
我愛你　係睇你夠唔夠cash
我愛你　唔介意落雨擔下遮
最緊要行多兩步你會楂架車
你咪叫我愛你看你有冇誠意
你若然愛我咪叫我與你逼巴士
有心意　但係冇生意
你叫我點樣安心鍾意

C+6:
愛　似是一間屋一張卡
一齊擔一把遮　陽光空氣一架車
愛　似是一個人一直搵
一直等個一個人　一世一齊訓
愛　似是一間屋一張卡
一齊擔一把遮　陽光空氣一架車
愛

一峰：愛似是陽光空氣

6:
你最愛傳教　我愛狗仔
你愛睇裙仔　我愛睇三仔
你愛佢有型格　我愛睇無格
愛要黎到既時候邊個都冇辦法

一峰：

愛似是陽光空氣
愛似是陽光　空氣

shita's look

a weird look, as if she is saying: "why are you always taking my photo? not again!! start working please!"

yea... start my engine pls.

>.< rR

chan bb?!?

hehe today i showed Roy "Suri" - the baby of Tom & Kate Crusie (see left) because i thought the photographer did an excellent job in capturing the baby. Plus the post reminds me the portrait post we've been doing ourselves or asking our newly wed friends to do ...instead of looking at the baby, we were looking at the bouquet.

Roy's response was "I wonder how our baby will look like in the future...deep eyes, pretty or not, lots of hair?". When he says that, it rings the bell the talk we had at San Diego during a long bus ride (45 min from La Jolla to downtown), I asked Roy let's figure out a name we love. We started spelling out names from A to Z and we came to the name "Amos" (the same name as the prophet mentioned in the Bible) which we both like.

Spending sometime now looking at the meaning of "Amos". It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "to carry; borne by God." from thinkbabynames. I also came across a few sites with meanings "troubled", "burdened", "laden". The meaning definitely sounds heavy and i guess we shall revisit this name and see if anymore creative names hehe. But you know, people always coin Roy has a "Or fu" look (a chinese term meaning he will have daughters only)...so we might not need to think a boy name.

Finally, once you're married, your friends who are married already will start to talk to you openly about ways of preventing pregancy or ways of conceiving a baby. So i now learn having a baby is definitely a miracle and God's blessings coz the chance of getting pregnant is not easy. Just hope that no matter what, if God permits us having a baby, hope he or she will be born healthy.

Our love continues...

today is Tuesday, July 18th.
Carol and I have been married for a month and 15 days.
how does it feel?

AWESOME!!!

happy?

NEVER BEEN THIS HAPPY BEFORE!!!

excited?

YEAAAAA!!!

anxious but excited...

ever got this feeling before? worry about something but yet so excited while anticipating it to happen.
what is going to happen? I don't know. That's why it is exciting, and that's why I am worring.

I was down for a couple of days just to let the adrenalin to die down from the two big days. Not until couple days after the honeymoon, we started to realize we have to wake up and face the reality and our lives together. We started searching for new projects, new plans, etc... and most of all, we come before Him and bow down, give thanks to Our Lord of how He had prepared the day for us. I guess I should initiate more and pray with Carol frequently. I should ask her to confront ourselves to Him more frequently and start building a relationship in Him but not within us. Yea, that's the 1st thing I should start doing in spite of all the family plans or big projects. Because I have promised Him and Carol to be the head of the family only if we walk in His path.

So I guess, with Him, I shouldn't be afraid, nor should I be anxious. There are excitements waiting ahead for us to encounter. And this time I got Carol walking with me, and my Lord taking up my burden as always.

Thank you, for Your love and kindness to grant me such a beautiful wife, Lord!