Our Turkey Tour

Turkey in my mind is one of the best kept secret vacation spot. It was very kind of Carol to have arranged a conducted tour and accompany Taijie and I for a 9 days tour in Turkey. We had an amazing time on our tour, our guide from Kuala Lumpur was helpful and responsive, as in Turkey our guide was an English speaking Turkish, very entertaining man, his history knowledge was super, his organisational skills were impressive. He always manage to find great places to eat (lunch stop and shopping destinations avoided crowds.) Everything was well organized and we did't have to queue for any of the excursion.

It was a great experience for me to visit Turkey - The Great Historical place. Its beautiful surroundings and the amazing old fortficitions are just amazing. Turkey has plenty to offer to history lover. It you are a history lover, you should visit Turkey. I feel lucky to have been able to experience it.

 We departed from KLIA on 25th May to Istanbul

                                               

                       

Grand Bazaar - this is one of the largest and oldest covered market in the world. It is easy to get lost inside the Grand Bazaar because most of the shops look similar. You must remember the gate number where you get in and out. Turkish ceramics, carpets, textiles, fashion and jewellery can be found inside the plaza. I believe it is mainly set up for the tourist.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque is a popular tourist attraction in Istanbul. It is also known as the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiles surrounding the wall of the interior. It is also a active mosque for muslim prayer. All women tourist must wear a head covering when entering the Blue Mosque.

Bosphorus Strait is a natural waterway dividing and seperates Asian Turkey and European Turkey of Istanbul. It is the only passage between Black Sea and Sea of Marmara. After breakfast, we had a Bosphorus cruise by private boat. Overlooking Istanbul tourist attraction and the beauty of the city is also another relaxing way to explore Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia was once a church, later a mosque and now is a museum, honoring both christian and muslim religion. It is a great architectural beauty and an important monument for both Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires.

Bonjour de France

It was September 2012 Nainai, Carol and her two kids visited YL and family in Paris.This was one of my most memorable trip that was unforgetable and so special for me to be remembered in my life time. It was not easy to travel with kids as Isabelle about 3 years and Mei Mei was only 18th months. The "Great Story" goes with adventure, bonding time and patience.
Paris was lovely. We enjoyed our one month stayed with each other over a group of activities and some major fun project. We were abit tiring but worth it.



Ju and Isabelle have their plans and ways to interact with each other over activities or at fun time.



 These pictures reminded me on our way home from Paris ..... when the air steward told me "anuty I pity u punya anak la." When I look at it today, it was fun and meaningful....ha ha!!

Thanks to Carol, Joanne and YL for planning out the "quality" time during my one month stay in Paris.







We Are September "babies"

After our one day tour in Disneyland, we had a Suprise Birthday Dinner planned by Joanne earlier. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Joanne for the very pleasant and enjoyable evening.

Young Can Wok

My eldest sister at her 70's now owns a store in Taman Midah market, good location, well known for her vegetalian food. She likes to introduce food less commonly found in hawker centres and coffee shops. Having no successors to take over the reins, she plans to keep cooking for as long as she can or simply close 'shop' for good when she feels that she is not able to continue.
Lately, I was told that her youngest son expressed interest in learning and taking over the business. Indeed, it is difficult for him first time hawker taking over with the long hours and hot stuffy working enviroment. But it is a good start for him carry on  my sister's business with zero investment and low overheads. Running a hawker stall is also a good way of learning how to operate a small scale business with the upside of being - "I Am The Boss."

                               My eldest sister Mary Yong, she also carter for outdoor gathering.
                   

Do You Know Terrarium?

It was a Sunday afternoon, Joanne drove me to "The Plant Story", from there I learn what it is all about. Terrarium - A miniature landscape with living plants planted in glass container. If you like a dorable little terrarium it is easy to make. A few well selected and well placed items can do wonders.It is necessary to have good drainage on preparing the ground, add some rock for darinage, possibly a little sand and soil add plant and is done.

I enjoyed making the terrarium. Thank you Joanne for sending me to this great tutorial. I will consider to
make them all the time as gifts! It is a great way to bring a little green to our home.

Escape for a break in Singapore

Hai, I am back after three weeks vacation in Singapore. Time passes so fast, it has been a long time I have not updated myself. I will try to spent more time to post more pictures from the past months. Now let me begin with my short stay in Singapore. If you ask me how much I like Singapore or what do I think about Singapore. Well, I would say Singapore is a clean and green city with huge parks and great attractions suitable for visitors of all ages. We visited the newest icon Gardens By The Bay it is featuring Singapore- "The City In The Garden."

The Supertree Grove at Gardens By The Bay

Cloud Forest

When I step in the Cloud Forest, I felt I just entered a mysterious world veiled in moist. Looking up a 35 meter tall mountain covered with lush and has been densely planted with a mixture of orchids, delicate ferns and many other colour plants, with the world's tallest indoor waterfall. You will be amazed by the nature.

Flower Dome

We returned to the Flower Dome in the evening for a leisure stroll. I was amazed by the collection of plants from the desert all over the world.  Region like South Africa. I have not been to South Africa, but it was amazing for me to see the plants and flowers which Pee See showed me when she visited South Africa with my Taijie last year. I was also amazed by how all these plants arrived safely at destination.  Flower Dome is another attraction you must not miss if you visit Singapore.

Jelly (agar agar)

I adore jelly, it has become the ideal choice to me when it comes to birthday or special occasions. Remember the jelly our mother made when we were kids? When our mon took out the big round pan from the fridge and cut nto samll pieces, as children, we could not help but reach out and put a piece to our mouth.

Nowadays jelly has become very creative in terms of preperation and presentation. Making jelly can be easy, but it requires patience, perseverance and a lot of thought must be put into it. The most important thing is to prepare it with a happy mood. Believe me or not, try it out to enjoy the delightful process yourself.

Peach Jelly With Longan

Birthday Fruit Jelly for Antie Irene

Crystal Longan Jelly

Father's Day Jelly

Watermelon Jelly

Strawberry Birthday Jelly
(for Ting)

Smile.... 1st Day Buka Puasa
(for Rus our maid)

Red Beans Jelly

Longan with Blueberry

Gold Kiwi with Orange Juice

Lovely Heart

Taste from H O M E

Recently Evelyn shown me some tempting food cooked by YL in Paris. I do not know how much time he spent on cooking, but I was amazed by his culinary skill. I guess he has cooked according to his own taste buds and craving. I am sure everyone enjoyed and love his cooking, as I can see that his secret recipes come from the heart.

Cooking is easy if you know how to take ingredients and make them taste as good as possible..... so, just get into the kitchen and try to be creative using imagination. You do not need anything grand, just something simple and you will be able to prepare mouth- watering dishes with confidence.

Today I would like to share some of my home cook food with you. I hope you will like and find what you are looking for........."Happy Cooking".

Boxing Chicken- serve with chilli sauce (Marinade: Salt/ Pepper/Wine)

Fried Chicken Wing in Fruit Sauce (Longan & Tomato Sauce)

Steamed and Stuffed Bean Curd
(Fish Paste/ Salted Vegetable)

Long Beans in Omelette

(Longbeans/Mushroom/Dried Beancurd/Dried Shrimps)

Cabbage Egg Omelette

Pan-fried Salmon in Chicken & Mushroom Sauce

Fried Bean Sprouts with Salted Vegetable

Malyasian Curry Fish (Vegetables Style)

Almond Nib Chicken in Tereyaki Sauce

(Marinade: salt/ water/ corn flour)

Sweet & Sour Fish in Pickled Vegetables