What is the right age to settle down?  All depends on your mentality, maturity, upbringing, peers, career stability and of course most important your financial status.   You dont have be rich to get married.  But love is something that cannot stop ourself from reaching out to be with the person who you loved, care, and could’nt live without.   (Yes, someone told me  – Marry the person you could not live without).     Mumzie did not understand that phrase when  was younger but finally Mumzie too found her love too.

All goes well as planned for the whole year of 2008 and finally that grand day - Chu chai became the husband of the woman he loves.  The beginning of chapters in Chu chai’s new family.

Before leaving for the airport, we had brunch at Pan Mee Shop in Puchong.  Very specialised in different tpes of nooddles.

Then she is off to LCCT on 31st December 2008.

Guilin was booked mid-July with offers from AirAsia. Not wanting to go alone, 4 seats will booked for Ngiap, Tikus and Monyet who will join when she comes back from NZ in Oct’08.

Guilin was really beautiful as described by all who had visited in the past and proved once again to that it was worth making the trip. If you don’t go there, you have no right to describe that place.

When we reached Guilin, our itinerary was first to go for lunch. We had steamed freash water fish (their famous local – very expensive and lots of bones), their taro steamed with pork slices, some other local restaurant dishes.

After such a nice meal, we are on a city tour then to Elephant Hill and Red Fleet Cave.

After a full day and we are all so tired, we checked in for a good nite rest.

On the 2nd day, we board on the cruise to Li River where we will see lots of mountainous scenes and also get to enjoy lunch on the cruiser.

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If you get to Yangshou, and walk on the streets, you will think that you are Phuket? Bali? A street full of westerners. Even their cafes and pubs are occupied by them. I checked with my local tour guide and it seems they are never lack of visitors from their own country and neighbouring Japanese, koreans,Hongkies and taiwanese.

The hotel we stay in Yangshou is Hotel Paradesa, a really clean, quiet and good environmental to stay in.

We strolled around Yangshou streets, trying out their local fruits and food.

We enjoyed their local noodles which the cook show his skills on the spot (see picture) which was cooked with their beancurd mashed sauce. By the way, their beancurd sauce is very famous and very tasty.

In the evening, we will at Liu Sanjie where the famous Zhang Yi Mou directed the whole talented show. The attendance was packed with people.

They speaked good american english and show their tour skills like a tape recorder but if you cut in between ; well they dont understand what you actually ask- dont blame them cos’ they dont know the answer. You will have to ask a few times to get your answer or not at all.

Supper time…..

(When I arrived back home, I tried to cook it – but I still cannot get that type of taste. )

We also visited Longji in Longsheng. We stop over to have lunch at Mao village.

On arrival at the mao village, we were served with rice tea. – funny taste but still ok.

The Mao village shows were fascinating esp with the long hair ladies combing and making into a headbum. Various status of the women had their hair tie differently. The married ones, childless ones and unmarried ones whether young or old. Unfortunately, we will unable to see the beautiful terraced rice fields due to misty weather and it also rainned. The restaurant where we had their local food (see pictures) will delicious. I tasted their rice wine – good and strong. I liked it.

As food in the city, you can have everything you want to eat. KFC & Mcdonald as well as a long nite market with stalls selling various items from food to display items.

Their taro steamed with pork slices are best I ever tasted. Taro is really soft and their meat is marinated well.

Anyway, I told myself that I will return to this beautiful landscapes soon but now other destinations comes first.

I have been cracking ideas what to cook for dinner over the weekend and I thought Beef would be nice. Beef with brocoli and lettuce as extra greens since no carbohydrate is involved. First, you marinate the beef pieces with pepper, soya sauce, mixed herbs and left it for 20mins or so. Cut up your brocoli (or yr prefer vege) but brocoli always goes well with beef. Pre-boiled till cooked and set aside on the plate then the lettuce. Pan-fried the beef pieces and then prepare brown sauce and add into the beef and stir in for a short while – don’t overcook your beef. Just make sure your beef is still juicy with some rawness.

Then next day, I have to make do with what I have in the fridge i.e. chicken breast – lean meat. First, cut them into cubes – marinate with pepper and salt. Next add wheat flour and some corn flour with enough water – not too much and mix together with the chicken cubes. Stir well. Next prepare your oil for deep-frying – till golden brown and leave it on the napkin to get rid of excess oil. Then – you can prepare your sweet sour sauce with pineapple cubes, tomatoes cuts and then add some tomato sauce and a little sugar and tapioca flour to thicken sauce. Simple right. If you want the cripsy chicken cubes to stay that way – don’t add the sauce in as it will soften it. Pour over it when you are ready to eat. As always, no carbohydrate – so I prepare pre-boiled french beans. Easy…….

We had lunch at the Gurney Drive at The Gardens in Mid Valley. The entrance was great with the golden door and the above signboard – spectacular place. The only setback was their waiters/waitress were confused over the setting of table and kept bring food to our table when it it suppose to be the bext table. Tikus ordered Sar Hor Fun consists of chicken meat, prawns, vege and char siew meat (is this a halal restaurant) and Ngiap2 only likes Nasi-lemak but when it came (above picture) its setting of food is different. There was no sambal ikan billies but belacan sambal. As for me I order Char Kuey Teow (kuey teow with cockles,prawns and lup cheong pieces ) – which I think the outside one is much better. So the question is this is not a halal restaurant as the brochure did not say so…………………….

These snap shots are taken by Tikus and there are from my unusual garden – like Ngiap2 says – Suka suka the plants get to ‘feast’ well – tak suka no mood – the plants mati lah…..hahahhaha……….From young, my first garderning job was to look the orchids for my teacher, she has a backyard full of different species……I am taught how to replant the orchids (the old ones) and pottering the new young shoots. Fertilising is important as well as using pesticides against fungus, attacks from insects is a must. At times – you have to rescue a sick orchid – see the one up there on the lily flowers ( it is actually attack by insects). Of course, the one lots of white flowers are from the spring onion which has mature into tiny white flowers – try that with spring oinons(big ones) – a simple beauty.

I remind myself that I need to cook the fattchoi with mushrooms with fuchok wrap up to steam for hours – 4 to 5. I also add clams, dry osyters and somehow this dish did not turn up as I expected it to be. Maybe I have to try it again some time.

Well the next one -the prawns big ones cost me RM50.00/kg (never buy during the peak season) I seasoned with mix herbs, little salt & pepper and chop up garlic pieces and fry in a non-stick pan with dash of oil till garlic turns brown and then add in the peeled prawns (Ngiap2 is lazy to peel them – I think it taste better if you leave the shelves on). Stir fry till cooked and put it aside. Since we are all non-rice eater – I pre-boiled some spinach and then serve the prawns on the top…..(Spinach is very good in calcium and for those who have constipation problems – this is a good fibre.

I use left over chicken wings and thighs and marinated with chinese wine, little soy sauce and sugar. I also cut up stips of ginger (young ones). Use non-stick pan, add little oil and fry ginger stips, then add marinated chicken pieces and stir it for 3 mins. Do not add water but you can premium osyter sauce. It brings out the flavour and sprinkled chopped spring onions. There you are not that difficult to cook.

Eve day was all preparations and slaving at the kitchen in the morning till future dau-in-law came back with Piggy to help out. Two days before i.e. was on Sunday – it was a basically spring cleaning fr one corner to the other and the next day mumzie was in pain. Doc called it nerve pain due to overstrained and stress-out. Mumzie knows it is all due to lack of exercise and much comfort zone. The eve gathering day was for my Penang bro (AC) and capable wife (WH) and talented child (Barbie) and also my 2nd bro (Ratty) and his long forsaken kadults…….Nevertheless – I do enjoyed this rattie leap year. Trying to recall the dishes that I cooked – Braised pork leg (my father’s favourite – alas he is not here anymore), Steamed Kampung Chicken, Seafood Casserole (my most expensive dish- I add in fish maws, scallops, sea-cucumber and abolone pieces), Grilled pork ribs, Sambal prawns, fried wantons, fried mix-vegetables and also roast pork and seaweed soup. See the picture is not complete.