A Little Puppy's Camwhoring Request

The Natural Defense Against Chill

Left: Pigeons along the canal of Amsterdam  Right: Chilled cats beneath the Great Wall of China

The Perfect Breakfast: 5 minute soft-boiled egg

My perfect breakfast - soft boiled eggs with runny yolk and a slice of toast!

I was in pre-school then and used to join my grandpa for breakfast. And, this was what mom would make for grandpa and me every morning. Grandpa would enjoy this with his Kopi-O (black coffee) and I would have mine with a cup of Milo (chocolate malt drink).




Since we have no electric toaster in our kitchen back then, the toasts were prepared over charcoal fire. As for the eggs, a special yellow-and-white color plastic gadget was used to make soft boiled eggs. Mom just placed the eggs in the gadget and pour some boiling water into the container. In a short few minutes, the water in the container will be drained, and the perfect soft boiled eggs were ready!

Seriously I have no idea where to get the gadget if you ask me. However, I can share with you another simple and fast method to make the prefect soft boiled egg. Here you go ...

Instructions:
Step 1: Get a pot with a lid and place the eggs in the pot (Note: eggs must be in room temperature)
Step 2: Pour the boiling water until it just covers the eggs and put on the lid for 5 minutes
Step 3: Remove the eggs and crack it in a tea saucer. Add some soy source and pepper according to your preference. Enjoy!

The runny yolk is undoubtedly the highlight of the egg. This is my perfect way to enjoy the yolk. First, break the yolk gently with a spoon. Next, mix the running yolk with some pepper and soy source. Enjoy it while it is still warm with a piece of brown toast.

Yum... it tastes divinely good!

Transformation

What a magnificent piece of art by Mother Nature !

In a short span of 5 weeks time, the trees at the back of my apartment have transformed from green leaves to bald branches.

Winter is definitely around the corner ...

Ideal Food for Picnic

A sunny day is definitely a perfect day for picnic.

I always look forward to weekends with great weather, so that I can pack my picnic box and head to the park for a relaxing picnic.

So, what is in my picnic box?

As I could recall, my childhood picnic was way elaborate when it comes to food. For my family, picnic means feast. That was the reason why my mom and aunts would prepare food that was enough to feed a village. Exaggerated? Not at all as there were 4 families in those 'expedition'.  The MUST have food were fried noodle, fried rice, curry chicken, tidbits such as fried nuggets, cocktail sausages, spring rolls, curry puffs etc. As for the dessert, it must be our all-time-favourite, cendol jelly. Typical Asian food since no salads or sandwiches were found in the menu.

My version of picnic food is simple. Home made salad and some sandwiches are good to go. Check out my picnic box.

1. Denise's salad -> a mix of hard boiled eggs, cucumber, tomato, ham and luncheon meat
2. Pizza bread -> oven baked bread slices with cheese, tomato, cucumber and ham
3. Chicken nuggets

All these took less than an hour to prepare. Less prep time means I have more time to spend in the park.

I'm ready to go for a picnic now!

Denise's Salad

Pizza Bread

Houseboat in Europe

T Tree

We all know about the benefits of tea tree oil. It helps to get rid of skin problems such as acne and skin infections. Some even use it as mouth wash to treat bad breath, inflamed gums and plaque.

Eemm, just a quick question. Have you seen an actual tea tree before?  I haven't ... but I have seen a real T Tree.

Check out the photo below: A tree in T shape

Wake Me Up When Autumn Comes

I am completely awoke as the awesome autumn has arrived ...

Autumn signifies romance, beauty and colours. For me, autumn is much more than that, it is the most mysterious time of the year. Almost every year without fail, I will spend at least a week in Europe. However, I have yet to visit Europe during autumn. Why? It still baffles me till now.

The spell has finally broken in 2012! Yes, you read me right. For once, I finally got the chance to savor my very first autumn in Europe.

I feel like I am stepping into a colorful fairyland. Everything is so surreal and sometimes, I really thought I am living in my own dreams. Perhaps, I am awoke in my own autumn's dream.

Anyway, I know I've fallen for the fall ...

Quick and Easy Indian Curry Chicken Recipe For Busy Urbanite

Yummy Indian Curry Chicken

I have always been fond of spicy food such as Thai, Korean and Indian cuisine, especially on the cold and rainy days. However, for a busy urban folk like you and me that needs to juggle the 9 to 5 on top of public commuting, it always seem impossible to prepare and cook these spicy dishes quickly due to the myriad of spices, ingredients and preparation steps required.

If you always have the thought to try cooking curry yourself but are either too busy or lack the know-how of quick, easy and tasy recipe, you are lucky today. This is my fail-safe Indian curry chicken recipe that is ready to serve in under 30 minutes.

-- Serving for 2-3 pax --

Ingredients:

• 400 grams of chicken breast cutlet
• 4 medium size potatoes
• 1 large green bell pepper
• Half a bottle of Indian Curry Sauce (my favorite is Patak's Original Indian Curry Sauce)
• 2 table spoon of light soy sauce
• 1 table spoon of sugar
• 1 table spoon of sesame seed oil
• 3 table spoon of olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Step 1: Cut the chicken, bell pepper and potatoes into bite size pieces
Step 2: Marinate the chicken cutlet with light soy sauce, sugar, sesame seed oil
Step 3: Parboil the potatoes in lightly salted water
Step 4: Heat up the olive oil and brown the chicken cutlet then add in the bell pepper and potatoes
Step 5: Add in the curry sauce and cook for 10 minutes. Adjust the thickness of sauces with some warm water and additional salt and pepper to taste 

There you have it, my version of spicy, aromatic Indian curry chicken with green bell peppers and potatoes on a bed of fluffy steam rice served in 30 minutes tailored for the busy folks. 

If I can do it, so can you!

Ingredients for Indian Curry Chicken

Cooking Steps

Indian Curry Chicken on Steam Rice