Weekend Feast - Tofu with Pork Congee & Scrambled eggs

Well it's time for Siu Kai's weekly weekend feast again! Ha. So what did the guy with the big tummy eat this time round?

Presenting... Siu Kai & Dar Dar's Tofu with Pork Congee.

This dish was a joint effort by Chef Siu Kai & Chef Dar Dar. Siu kai was in charged of cooking the congee while chef dar dar frying the meat and tofu.

Here are the ingredients:

Ingredients

We have of course rice(not shown in photo cos it was being cooked when the photo was taken. Ha), tofu, pork and parsley. Yes, it's quite a simple dish to prepare.

Frying the meat

The Congee in the big pot

Side Dish: Scrambled Eggs

Piping hot Tofu Congee

Rating:

Review: A simple but tasty meal. Not oily at all and definitely a healthy choice, especially when your tummy is starting to get out of control. Texture of the congee is smooth and silky; when the sweet juices from the cooked rice flows down your throat, the effect is heavenly! The flavor from the marinated pork and the sweetness of the tofu blends in perfectly to create an incredible masterpiece!

Verdict: Not bad! Can Eat lah!

Love = Endorphins + Oxytocin

Before you think I've gone mad after studying for days for my drug paper, I just want to say, "I'm okay." Ha. Then why Love = endorphins + oxytocin? It sounds so chemical right?
Well, actually I read this article from the Straits Time, the Wednesday issue of "Mind your body" and found it rather interesting and so thought that it would be nice if I share this with my buddies who have finally found their one true love(you know who you are!)

Firstly, the "honeymoon" period of a relationship, normally lasting up till months from the day you finally touch her soft silky hands.

Passionate love is a state of intense longing for union with the other person and of intense psychological arousal, which can cause high energy, eurphoria, elation and even idealisation.

This effect is due to a potent cocktail of chemicals, one of which is adrenaline. Adrenaline caused increased oxygen intake and increased blood sugar to the muscles which creates the familiar "fight or flight" syndrome.

The frequent presence of a loved one can also trigger the production of a neurochemical called endorphins which produce a sense of calm and peace.

Endorphins are a group chemicals produced by the brain and as they travel through the bloodstream, they act as natural painkillers and also create a sense of well-being.

But of course we all know that eventually the honeymoon period will end. Then what keeps the relationship going? The answer is a chemical called Oxytocin which plays an important role in bonding.

In humans, Oxytocin is stimulated by touch and produces feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. (Now the more reason to touch your partner. Oops!) Oxytocin, is also released by both sexes during... The O word lah. Don't want to write the word here in case there are under aged readers. Ha.

That's why intercourse is part of the key to a successful marriage. Of course I'm referring to after marriage not before.. tzk tzk... shame on those naughty ones who break the rules! Ha.

Some more interesting chemical facts: Love cause serotonin levels in the brain to drop, causing obsessive behaviour. (Now we know why it's always to tough to shake off that pesky suitor!) Love also increase production of cortisol, which can cause high blood pressure and loss of sleep!

Ha, if you think all these chemical terms are too much to take, imagine how I must be feeling trying to remember hundreds of them!!! Ha. I'm glad I'm not a doctor. Or I'll just tell my nurse, "Err.. you go take that bottle of white liquid and give the patient one spoonful."

Nurse: Which one doc?

Dr Siu: Neh, that one loh, the one a bit thick one. Taste a bit sweet one.

Nurse: ... Err.. Doc, you mean that bottle over there, in cabinet A?

Dr Siu: Oh yah yah. That one. Sorry, can't seem to remember the name.

Nurse: Doc, that is Magnolia Full Cream Milk!

Ha. Last interesting fact, 60% cocoa dark chocolate can give the brain a more intense and longer buzz than the most passionate kiss. Wow, gonna pay a visit to my favorite candy stall tomorrow!

Night of the Gecko and other stories

Needed to take a break from all those studying! Have been revising for a paper next week on drugs. Wah, all those drugs name, chemical terms are really giving me serious headache. Like what my dar said, "Read until want to vomit!" Ha.

Actually, had a few topics to blog on since Monday, but didn't have time. Let's hope I can still remember what I wanted to write. :) Oh, before I began let me tell you about the disgusting thing I saw while I was having a quick shower in the wee hours before the champions league match yesterday.

Yah, all those studying is really making me sweat. Ha. Guess what I saw while I was in the toilet? Well, if you are sharp enough, you would have relate what I saw to the title of this post. Yah, I saw one big fat pinkish Gecko! Affectionately known to most as a house lizard. Hmm and I'm sure it was pink...

Chee Ko Pek Gecko

When I saw the intruder i was stunned and a bit shaken for a while. Come on, I was in my birthday suit remember? Who knows what the Gecko might be thinking! A man is most vulnerable when he is naked. Ok, enough of that.

Anyway, after the shock subsided, I became angry. What in the blue hell was this Gecko doing in the bathroom, intruding my privacy and peeping at me! Not even peeping mind you but openly ogling! So, I decided to whip out... my camera that is, what were u thinking? Ha. And took a picture of this daring "peeping" Gecko so that I will have proof should this escalate to a court case. Ha.

Alright, let me move on before you report me to the SPCG (Singapore Prevention of Cruelty to Geckos) Ha. I know that's lame. :p

If you have been living in Singapore for the past 2 months, you would have known that SOMEONE escaped from SOMEWHERE and caused a massive manhunt that is still ongoing. The reason why I'm not writing the name here is in case my entry gets quoted should some reporter do a google search on HE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED .

Sorry, I'm a Kiasi Singaporean and furthermore my dar dar is now officially a public servant. So better not get on the wrong side of the government. Ha.

Anyway, the report is out on how, oh drats, let's just call him Massy. :) So, the report is out on how Massy escaped. It all boils down to 2 main points. Number one. The guard who followed Massy into the toilet did not react fast enough. Let's see what he did:

When the guard in the toilet noticed that Massy was taken a awfully long time and he felt that Massy couldn't be having constipation, he decided to alert the guard standing outside the toilet. The guard outside the toilet decided to then informed another officer known as the Special Duty Operative. This female officer then informed a fourth person, Massy's assistant Case Officer to check on him in the male toilet.

Thank God the assistant Case Officer decided not to inform his superior since he was an assistant after all! This case officer then rushed all the way to the toilet and kicked the cubicle door only to realised that Massy has performed a David Copperfield. Time taken for someone to kick down the door to check on Massy: 11 minutes. Possible time that Massy took to escape: 49 seconds. You do the maths.

With my wild imagination, I came up with the following I emphasised imaginary conversation between the 4 officers.

Guard 1(in the toilet): "Hey Massy! You inside the toilet or not? Why so long?!"

Massy: No reply.

Guard 1(in the toilet): Hey Massy, turn the tap off can? Don't waste water lei! Expensive!

Massy: No reply. Tap continues to run.

Guard 1 then decides to inform guard 2 outside the toilet.

Guard 1: Hey, Massy not replying lei. How ah? He never switch off tap!

Guard 2: Sure or not. Don't bluff lei. No joking matter lei.

Guard 1: Yah lah. How?

Guard 2: Okay, we go inform the Special Duty Operative.

They rush to the Special Duty Operative.

Guard 1 & 2: Mdm Mdm! Massy in the toilet but no reply lei. How how?! (Starts to panic a bit.

Special Duty Operative: Confirm? Maybe he constipation?

Guard 1: No Mdm, I call him a few times already!

Special Duty Operative: Okay, so what happen if he comes out from the toilet now and both of you not around?

Guard 1 & 2: Oh. Yah hor!

Special Duty Operative: Never mind, I go and ask his case officer to kick down the door since I am female and I cannot kick open the door in the MALE toilet even though Massy is a dangerous guy who wants to bomb people. A rule is a rule.

So the three of them run to the assistant Case Officer.

Special Duty Operative: Sir Sir! Massy is in the toilet but no reply!

Assistant Case Officer: What the heck! Then how? I'm only the assistant lei!

Special Duty Operative: No problem Sir, I think you should be authorized to kick down the door.

Assistant Case Officer: Okay okay, I go kick but you three be my witness ah. Anything happen must vouch for me. In case I kick the door too hard and hit Massy.

All three: Yes Sir!

So they rushed to the toilet and the case officer gave his best imitation of a kung-fu kick to the door.

All Four: What the F***!!!

Another crucial mistake is that the windows in that particular toilet had no grilles. Apparently it was a miscommunication with the vendor installing the grilles.

So, the superintendant decided to take matters into his own hands. By using his vast knowledge and experience accumlated throughut the years and his top notched education, he decided to... (drum roll...)ask the vendor to saw off the handle because he reasoned that no one can open a window without a handle.

Wow.

He might as well ask the Vendor to put a "DO NOT OPEN" sign.

Kudos to his 100% creativity. And jeers to his 200% stupidity!

It's like saying I remove the handle of a mug to prevent you from drinking from it. I have no idea why the superintendant made that decision. Maybe because he foresaw that the price of rice would rise and decided to save some money.

Like one saying goes, "Smart is good enough. Don't act smart."

Anyway, no point crying over spilled milk. They have decided to improve the security features of the detention centre. Well, here's my two cents worth of a top class detention centre.

New Detention Centre

Pardon my child-like drawing. I hope the picture is self-explantary. Ha. Just in case, let me elaborate a bit. The new centre will be surrounded by a moat that is filled with crocodiles and piranhas that are only fed once a month. Surrounding the moat will be high voltage electric fence. And of course to make sure that our building is "Green" we have a rooftop garden!

So if someone to manage to escape from the centre, he will have to swim across the hungry crocodiles and piranhas infested moat. Let's say he heng heng managed to survive, the high voltage fence will stop him dead in his track. You know what happen when a wet body touch a live electric current right?

Even if the current is not enough to disable him, the shock will be strong enough to throw him back into the water where some new found friends are awaiting...

If all else fails, we always have the window with no handles and a DO NOT OPEN sign. Ha.

*siukai would like to clarify that everything mentioned in this post is purely for entertainment purposes. siukai do not mean any harm and he is in fact a pro-government singaporean and is confident that Massy will be caught eventually.

Exams exams and more exams!

Wanted to blog but there's simply no time! Ha. Been studying from morning till night. Wah, damn tired! Gonna watch the champions league match btw Chelsea & Liverpool now... got to relax a bit mah. Ha. Hope I can make time for one entry later. Cya!

Weekend Feast - Black Pepper Chicken, Korean Meal & Devil's Food Cake

Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Have been too busy preparing the feast and feasting at the same time! Ha. Oh, just to clarify, we didn't have Black Pepper Chicken, Korean Meal and the Devil's Food Cake all in a single day! Don't be mislead by the title!

First let me present Dar's and Mine Anniversary Western Dinner last Saturday to celebrate our 2 years and 9 months together; Black Pepper Chicken meal, one of my favorite dishes! The main course was prepared by head chef Siukai and the omelet by Chef Dar Dar! Ha.

Black Pepper Chicken Meal

Meal for 4!

Rating:
Verdict: Not bad! Can Eat lah!

Oh yah, when we prepare our feast we normally include my dad and bro's share. So please don't think that we eat so much! Though sometimes we do eat a lot... Ha. For this weekend, we thought of going Korea, seeing how there were 4 big packets of Korean Instant Ramen Noodles lying in the kitchen. :)

For those interested to prepare a weekend Korean feast, here are my humble ingredients: 4 Packets of your favorite Korean Ramen Noodles, Chinese White Cabbage, Tofu, Crabstick, Golden mushroom, Prawns, Eggs, Spring Onion and some chilli if u like your dish more spicy.

The Ingredients

Once again, I was the head chef this week while dar dar was the assistant chef. Yah, we take turns to head the kitchen. Ha. Here's a photo of dar dar steaming the toufu.

The Soup

Since this is not a cooking website, I shall not go into the details of how to prepare the dish, those interested can simply email me. :)

Korean Ramen

Korean Ramen Meal for 4

Rating:
Verdict: Not bad! Can Eat lah!

And for desert today, we have baker siukai preparing one of his speciality, Devil's Food Cake. Ha. Super sinful and fattening desert but the amount of chocolate inside is bound to make you feel europhic!

With Dark Chocolate Frosting

Coated with generous serving of Chocolate Powder

Slice of the Devil!

Rating:
Verdict: Wah! Can sell already!

Damn tired now after all those running about buying ingredients and baking and cooking. Gonna sleep early tonight. Ha. Bye! :)

Siu Kai's Weekends Feasts

Was watching Arts Central Taboo series @ 10pm and today's episode was on extreme cusine. Wow, the things that some people eat! The appetizer to kickstart the episode day was this "Balut" which is a very popular snack in the Philippines. What exactly is "Balut"? It's actually a soft boiled duck embryo. YUCKS! In more details, it's a fertilised duck egg but in which the duck is not fully grown yet. DOUBLE YUCKS!

I thought of putting some pics here but then... better not. In case you are reading this and having your dinner at the same time. Ha. You can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut if you are really interested to see Balut in its full glory.

Oh, by the way, just to clarify. This Balut has nothing to do with my title, "Siu Kai's Weekends Feast." Ha. I only like ducks when they are fully cooked. So why the title then? I'll come to it later.

Throughout the show, there were other exotic dishes that people eat like bats, grubs and even live octopus. Yes, small live octopus which people in Korea eat! No, it's not a typo, they do eat the octopus when it's still alive and the poor creature will struggle in the diner's tounge and mouth. It's actually quite a dangerous meal because there was a case of a man who died while eating one. OUCH!

So, now that I've whet your appetite, let me come to today's entry; Siu Kai's Weekends Feast. Yes, some of you might know that i enjoy cooking and baking and every weekend, my dar and me will take turns to prepare dinner. So I've decided to dedicate every Sat post to the delicious meals we prepare, pictures included of course. Of course you are might be interested to know that I'm quite good with photoshop. Ha.

Here are some photos from our previous weekend meals.

Bon appetite!

Chilli Roasted Chicken

Garlic Sasuage

Sushi Meal

Siu Kai's Mango Cake

A journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step

Hi, it's me again. :) So sorry that I did not post any entry yesterday. Well, to act on my new found lesson on "One small step can change your life", I've decided to make it a point to write at least 5 sentences everyday and if the theory do work, then the crappy siukai will be back in business! Ha.

Since I'm feeling pretty talkative today, I shall blog a bit more. :) These few days, I've been preparing very hard for my test this coming Saturday. ie going to the library from 1pm to about 7pm daily for the past 3 days.

For some of you, that might not really be much of a kick cos i do noe some who mug 24/7 as the exams approaches. But for siukai, it is a BIG DEAL. Because I've not been so hardworking since... I think... during my O Levels Time! Wow! That's like a decade ago!

Yah, during my Os, I would stay at home and study from morning till the sun goes down. Ha, so why the sudden change siukai?

Well, contrary to what some of you might think, I have to admit I'm quite struggling in this new champions league; where everybody is so damn good that if you are just good, you are quite average. Imagine if you are just average...

I know I might cause an uproar if I say what I'm going to say next but I'm still going to say it anyway. Ha. I've never really considered myself a great student. I think I'm just pretty much above average, maybe bordering towards good. Ha. But back in the poly days, I guess everybody else was at least average, that's why I appeared to be VERY GOOD.

Now, that's a rather dangerous illusion cos it can do unrealistic boost to your confidence. Ha. Now in the champions league, the truth is out. And as we all knows, the truth always hurt. I'm pretty much just average, hovering above below average. Ha.

Yah, that's why I have to really pull up my socks and work real damn hard to avoid relegation. It's not really nice when you are at the top of the world one moment and then suddenly find yourself amongst the bottom. (Think Leeds United.) Ha.

Well, I also do not know why I'm so motivated to study these few days. Maybe it's the eagerness to prove myself wrong, that I am indeed quality material. Ha. Or maybe it's because I don't like to lose, that I don't like to be at the bottom. Hmm... I guess it's a combination of these two.

Before Gys's death, I was ready to quit school by this end June because based on our plans we would have developed and published a great game and I would then quit to concentrate on our newly formed business. Well, his sudden leaving really changes things quite a lot.

He was really the driving force behind the project, without him I don't think I will be able to continue. Not now, but I hope in the future.

Have been contemplating on quitting a few times after his sudden departure. I guess the stress from his death and school work was really too much to take. Have been coping better these few weeks...

It seems that a university degree is really important in Singapore as it opens up a lot of doors to your career. A check on the Singapore Prisons Website shows that a first class honors degree holder can get close to $3700. And he enters as an assistant superintendent. That's... rather impressive. Compared to a diploma holder? I rather not say.

But the thought of working in a 9 to 5 job, office bound really does not appeal to me, no matter how I try to imagine myself in such a job. I want freedom, I want flexibility and I want to make my own decisions. And at the same time you want to make lots of money?

Ha, I think everybody wants that kind of life also right siukai? Don't you think you're being a bit naive? Yes, maybe I am but it's always okay to dream right? If not, what's the point of living?

If I do complete my studies, it will be 2010 and I will be close to 29, just starting my career while my peers might already be holding senior positions or managers. That's not really a comforting thought.

But like what the Kaizen way teaches, "One Small Step Can Change Your Life and A journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step." Let's takes things slowly and one day I'm sure my dreams will come true. :)

One Small Step Can Change Your Life

I'm currently reading this book titled, "One Small Step can change your life." So, I'm taking this veri small step of updating my blog. Let's see whether this small step will eventually bring back the writer in me :)