Sharing my Ideas, Views and Opinions !

Few weeks ago, I was in Aberdeen.  Due to long cravings for char siu and siu yok, I rushed all the way to Chinese restaurant to order few of these Chinese dishes. A close friend of mine reminded me not to have Chinese food in Aberdeen as it is will not be as good as what we have in Malaysia…but how bad can it be..

Without hesitation, I walked in to a Chinese Restaurant in the middle of Aberdeen City Centre, acknowledging it will be pricy, I ordered few dishes, just to ease my cravings. In a way, I am like ant seeing sugar. Not much of choices there, so, please don’t ask if I can order anything fancy.

Instead of having my dinner in the restaurant, I decided to place a take away order. The first one dish that I ordered is sweet and sour prawns. A lot of prawns in one container but  the taste, I would say it is delicious. If fact, I think I can cook better.

Despite Aberdeen is just right beside seaside, the prawns are frozen type and not the fresh type. That makes the prawns taste more like tendery type of meat instead of fresh juice prawns. How disappointing considering I paid about 16 pound for few of these small little creatures.

The waitress suggests this SCALLOPS with vegetables. From the name, it paints a mental picture in me that the dishes will come with a lot a lot of scallops and few vegetables as side than main. When I opened the aluminium foil, the dish is more like VEGETABLES with scallops.

But this dish is surprisingly good, just a bit stingy on scallops. Ohh.. I can also sense that they put a lot of MSG. All because as soon as I finish eating it, I felt the thirst that lead me to drink a big glass of water.

Finally, I can’t resist my temptation and ordered this, Siu Yok, Char Siew and Roasted Duck rice. This on cost about 17 pound. The rice is just simple plain white rice and not the oily type and the meats, so so only lor. Instead of usual cucumber, they put lettuce as a replacement.

Overall, I will also not recommending anyone to try Chinese Food in Aberdeen but in the event that you need to ease your cravings, you can do so by punching big hole in your wallet for these dishes which are not as good as what we used to have in Malaysia.. now I miss Malaysia a lot..

Last Saturday, while walking around the local market, I spotted this shop which sells a lot of traditional desserts. Yes, I am a fan of dessert and no, I am not so adventurous to try out all of it. My taste buds are customized to Malaysian desserts and not intending to change it yet.

While wiping away my drooling saliva, all of the sudden, I spotted this. The local called it Beze or Meringues or Russian Beze Cookies but I called it, the heaven of all dessert. Most of the dessert that I ate before are kind of too sweet, too fattening, too creamy and too ugly but this one is completely different.

This whole pack costs about ~RM4. Yes, it is not expensive. The uniqueness of this dessert is not on the sweetness but at the texture of it. It is crispy inside out and will not stick on your teeth too.

Once you take the first bite, you will definitely crave for the second one. Half way enjoying these cookies, I was wondering what if I am addicted to it and unable to get it elsewhere.

So, I decided to learn how to make it. The cost of making this is probably just few cents and it is not difficult at all.

Ingredient

2 x egg whites

1/3 cup of sugar.

Method

1. Simply put egg white to the mixer bowl and start beating it on high speed. Please ensure not a single drop of water or oil or it will ruin the whole cookies making process.

2. Beat egg white until it form solid white foam about 3 times the volume of the initial egg whites. Then add sugar spoon by spoon and continue beating it until all sugar is mixed and completely dissolved.

3. Warm oven up to 210F . Use pastry bag to pipe the filling onto parchment paper (normally use baking tray for easier handling).

4. Put baking tray into oven and let it dry for 1 – 1.5 hours (this is depending on size). It takes longer to dry if it is bigger in size.

5. Let it cool down. Once cooled down, it is ready to be served.

Remember to put it in air tight container too!

Cell phone is so common that almost everyone in the world has one.  The convenience of it can almost make you physically and emotionally attached to it at all time, even while you are on vacation, hanging out with friends bla bla bla.

One tip of advice, try to avoid using it while you are in the toilet. It is rude if you talk to someone on the phone while he/she can hears the sound effect of it while you are doing your big business. It becomes really nasty if you accidently dropped the phone in un-flush toilet bowl.

The mess is one thing but try to imagine you are on the other side of the phone?

Maybe this is not a good start especially when I am about to write about Yo.Ba Yogurt Ice-Cream. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to relate toilet to ice-cream although both have H2O elements in it.

What I am trying to say is cell phone makes my photo taking possible. You know, sometime, on this one day that that you feel like you do not want to carry you baby with you, u need em? This time, my cell phone saves my day.

When everyone is busy with window shopping, this the times when I snoop around the mall with my dinky phone to keep me company. Spying around what good on the shelf, snapping photos in a no-photos zone and of course, Angry Bird as my stress relievers once in awhile.

Speaking of stress relievers, Yo.Ba rightfully disengage my cell phone bond with me that never been separated since the day I own it. With multi topping choices, finally, I can forget about my cell phones for a record of 10 mins.

Someone told me, if you take the courage to make the first step, the second, third, fourth and so on will be a lot easier. I am back to defer because as soon as colorful M&Ms, raisins and cold creamy ice-creams are gone, my phone got magnetize back to me again. That shows how strong our bond is.

BUT I discovered a new hypothesis. RMB 24 (RM 12) can help phone addicts to stay away from their addictions for 10mins. M&Ms and raisins are major contributors here.

So, to summarize, with RM 17280 (RM 12 x 10min x 6 x 24hr), you will be free from phone addiction for a day in return. Well, everything come with a price, right?

Yo.Ba Yogurt Ice Cream

Super Brand Mall

GPS:

Maybe it is too early to ask this to some of you but have you think of places where you want to go with your soul mate for honeymoon?

A very special person to me once suggested Maldives. Coming from tropical country, I directly object it, which led to the reason why I travel ALONE nowadays.

Come on, when the weather is at average of 28 deg C, beaches and expensive, how romantic can it be? I can no longer take off my clothes when you are cold and you need a lot of tissues to wipe my sweat.

Why not I suggest an alternative colder place, Honeymoon Dessert instead? It is cooler, sweeter (not sweater) and affordable? If you minus the crowd, we can spend some quality times together.

You might think I am cheapskate but I am not. I am a realistic person. What happen when all of the sudden you are hungry while we both enjoy the scenic sun rise moment.

Aha.. that why over here is better because you get to order at least tofu fah or durian pastry. Forget about the “big egg yolk” sun as these are much tastier for sure.

I might not bring you to love warm heaven but I bring you to sweet desserts heaven. You might say I don’t know you but I can tell you, I know you “inside” out. When I say inside, I meant your stomach and not something else.

Mango and pamelo slush might be ordinary to many but I know you are craving for it. Sweet potatoes and glutinous rice ball is on the list although I remember you said you will have gas when you have it.

Romantic is never about the places but it is always about who you are with at that time. Again, you can call me not romantic but I am not a cheapskate and I can justify it.

With air ticket from Malaysia+ RMB 67, you really think this honeymoon is cheap? Ohh, I did included shopping in the itinerary too and it is on me! Does that change your mind?

Honeymoon Dessert

Road 699, Block B, 3^rd Floor, 200-333,

Pingtang Road,

Shanghai Changning District

TEL: +86 21 6275 5777

GPS:

WEB: www.i-manji.com

How old do you plan to retire? Many will said, “Do I look that old?” To me, retiring is not about sitting there waiting to die but rather quit from your daily responsibilities and do what you want.

Of course you need to get financial independence first. In other words, escape yourself from becoming a slave for money. Question is how? My concept is, instead of savings cents by cents, earn more more more than what you can EVER use.

Rich dad or wife is an alternative but unfortunately, I am not that lucky but hey, money is never enough anyway.

Rather than dwelling too much on what I don’t have, why not just flip the coins, see what I want to do about it. OK. I plan to physically retire in Singapore. Not because I like the ‘fine’ country but I love the food there!

Because of Bedok Hawker Stalls, I will re-consider Singapore again. Why? Foods here are deliciously nice and affordable. For instance, chee cheong fun and Jian Bo Shui Kueh cost less than SGD 5 (~RM 10).

That secures my daily breakfast. What about lunch? All I need is to spend another SGD 5 (~RM 10) and I can get decent lunch such as lemon chicken rice, kuey chap or duck rice. I have tested all and the foods are highly recommended.

With that, I am not going to live in poverty or resorting in something not decent as all these foods are my favorites! Who say I must eat steaks or bird nest on every meal?

When clock strikes 3pm, maybe I can plan to have a short tea break. Over here, I get to order lek tau suan (green pea soup), lotus seed soup, or even tou fu fah. Tou fu fah is common but lek tau suan or lotus seed soups are hardly find in other places.

So, did you get it yet?

The fundamental rule to achieve financial independence is to have a simple life. All you need is getting a decent shelter (not in dodgy place) and securing your stomach (not with bird nest) AND you are a step closer to your retirement.

(don’t act smart by asking what about dinner and supper! That you have to figure it out youself :p)

Bedok Hawker Stalls

Blk 207 New Upper Changi Road
#01-XX Bedok Interchange Food Centre

GPS: 1.325362, 103.930546