Today is the first day of the Lunar New year. I woke up especially early to cook the sweetened dessert for the family. Joe loves it but the kids just like the Tang Yuan. The Ba bao Zhu they don't really fancy. Anyway, I think that is a great achievement already able to be up so early.
Yesterday was a rather busy day for me. I woke up and the sun was finaly up after many days of absence. I quickly did the 3 days laundry and even washed the bedsheets.
After that, I did a quick clean up of the house with Charlynn's help. Boys were busy playing at garden and I felt happier they were not at home making a din. I did the cooking in the late afternoon. I have 2 seabass and I cooked one sweet sour and the other Spring oinions and soy sauce. As for the cuttlefish, I fried it with celery. I also make some pork spring rolls. Ingredients just like the prawn dates except that I replace water chestnut with apples and no prawn paste. Children like it very much. I also fried the prawns which are to be eaten with Mayonaise. Not foregetting I have the fa cai hao shi- I cooked it in the morning and I stewed it for a couple of hours. We also have yu sheng after we did our dishes. We used smoked Salmon. Children love the yusheng very much.
Anyway, really enjoyed the togetherness and children helping out. Hope the children will be healthy, happy and honest persons for the new year..
Wishing all gong xi fa cai, sheng ti jian kang, wan shi ru yi and pin an kuai Le for the year of RAt.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Happy New Year
Today is Chinese New Year's Eve and everyone will be so excited in Singapore. We do not have much festive moods here in Sydney. Maybe we are not so near to Chinatown so we are not so concerned. I have yet to go and do my last min shopping. Will do so later. After many days of rain, the sky is finally sunny and gay and I have been washing. Weather forecast says it will rain in the afternoon. I relaly hope not.
We can't clean up after today and I hope the children can cooperate with us. The fact that we can't throw rubbish is not applicable here as we will be sending our rubbish bins out tonight so that the rubbish truck can come and collect tomorrow. Well! Hope the saying applies to not throwing rubbish after eleven today and not before that. I remember that we were washing our car in the neighbourhood so that our car can have a good cleaning up as well. Every Chinese New year's eve is busy and fun. We usually have reunion lunch at home with mum in law and joins my family in the evening. Guess what the next day early morning we were back at muy mum's place. I have yet to get the money ready for Angbao for the kids. Will have to remember that.
See all of you back in Singapore......
We can't clean up after today and I hope the children can cooperate with us. The fact that we can't throw rubbish is not applicable here as we will be sending our rubbish bins out tonight so that the rubbish truck can come and collect tomorrow. Well! Hope the saying applies to not throwing rubbish after eleven today and not before that. I remember that we were washing our car in the neighbourhood so that our car can have a good cleaning up as well. Every Chinese New year's eve is busy and fun. We usually have reunion lunch at home with mum in law and joins my family in the evening. Guess what the next day early morning we were back at muy mum's place. I have yet to get the money ready for Angbao for the kids. Will have to remember that.
See all of you back in Singapore......
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
What a fright
Today passed by peacefully and children were reminded to keep their volume down. After I bought the carpet, the noise is not lessen. The carpet could not stop the loud noise so it is a waste of money if we were to carpet the whole house. The timber floor will continue to have the loud " thud...thud...thud" when they run or walk like an elephant. If children don't cooperate, I am afraid we will have to look for another place. With the breech of contract, we will have to bear the cost of the landlord finding a new tenent so our deposit will be forfeited. Moreover, finding another place could be difficult as landlords usually do not prefer big family.
Anyway today's blog is not about the noise which I have no control. Just now at dinner time Channery gave us a fright when she choked on the chicken she was eating. Luckily I have some first aid skills and managed to get the choked item out. I was really not confident of getting the food out for even experienced first aider might not succeed. I kept my cool and did what I know and luckily she coughed it out. I was thinking of what to do at that moment and CPR flashed in my mind. I think I better go and read my first aid book again to refresh my memory. This is one book that I must have whereever I go.
Now we are watching a show" Bondi Rescue". Many people are really not aware of the danger of swimming at Bondi Beach. The beach is a world famous beach as the wave is huge and good for surfing. If you are swept out of sea, that is the Atlantic Ocean. Scary that many people are not so concerned of their own danger. The TV station always managed to catch the life guards in action every summer and there is no lack of surprises.
Alright that's all. I can't wait to go back Singapore and I dread cooking the reunion dinner as Joe will only be back at about six plus. Wishing all of you back in Singapore a Prosperous and happy Rat year. That is Joe and my year so you probably can guess how old are we. :>
Anyway today's blog is not about the noise which I have no control. Just now at dinner time Channery gave us a fright when she choked on the chicken she was eating. Luckily I have some first aid skills and managed to get the choked item out. I was really not confident of getting the food out for even experienced first aider might not succeed. I kept my cool and did what I know and luckily she coughed it out. I was thinking of what to do at that moment and CPR flashed in my mind. I think I better go and read my first aid book again to refresh my memory. This is one book that I must have whereever I go.
Now we are watching a show" Bondi Rescue". Many people are really not aware of the danger of swimming at Bondi Beach. The beach is a world famous beach as the wave is huge and good for surfing. If you are swept out of sea, that is the Atlantic Ocean. Scary that many people are not so concerned of their own danger. The TV station always managed to catch the life guards in action every summer and there is no lack of surprises.
Alright that's all. I can't wait to go back Singapore and I dread cooking the reunion dinner as Joe will only be back at about six plus. Wishing all of you back in Singapore a Prosperous and happy Rat year. That is Joe and my year so you probably can guess how old are we. :>
Monday, February 4, 2008
Noisy neighbours
Today I needed to go to the shop to buy a screw which was misplaced yesterday. It is the screw of the sink. I threw my temper yesterday as boys were there asking me what was it and the next min it was gone.
When we were at the car, my neighbour came by and asked to speak to me. Well! My wishes came true. He wanted to inform me that children are too loud and disturbing their rest. His family is very much affected by the loud noise the boys are making. They like to run in the house and the house is a timber house so the noise is very loud. Furthermore, the boys like to bicker and quarrel and that adds to the noise pollution. If things don't improve after we sent them to school, I think we will consider moving house. This house offers good backyard. My fig and mango trees have given us very sweet fruit. There is also the lime and lemon trees. Children can run about in the backyard and doing some digging so that is also a plus point. The negative aspect is that it is a timber house and my boys are simply too inconsiderate to walk softly. Will consider putting in carpet so that it is not too noisy.
Anyway, it's all in God's hand where we will be residing. I can't change my boys. They have to want to make the change. What I can do is just educating them. God bless my neighbours souls as I also have the same complaint about my sons. Actually my neighbours are just like "balck crows calling the pig black" as they are also noisy lots and they also produces quite a bit of noise. We don't complain as we are used to loud noises so who is more resilience?????
When we were at the car, my neighbour came by and asked to speak to me. Well! My wishes came true. He wanted to inform me that children are too loud and disturbing their rest. His family is very much affected by the loud noise the boys are making. They like to run in the house and the house is a timber house so the noise is very loud. Furthermore, the boys like to bicker and quarrel and that adds to the noise pollution. If things don't improve after we sent them to school, I think we will consider moving house. This house offers good backyard. My fig and mango trees have given us very sweet fruit. There is also the lime and lemon trees. Children can run about in the backyard and doing some digging so that is also a plus point. The negative aspect is that it is a timber house and my boys are simply too inconsiderate to walk softly. Will consider putting in carpet so that it is not too noisy.
Anyway, it's all in God's hand where we will be residing. I can't change my boys. They have to want to make the change. What I can do is just educating them. God bless my neighbours souls as I also have the same complaint about my sons. Actually my neighbours are just like "balck crows calling the pig black" as they are also noisy lots and they also produces quite a bit of noise. We don't complain as we are used to loud noises so who is more resilience?????
What's for reunion dinner?
Today I will be sorting the things required for Reunion dinner on Wednesday. The menu is firstly "Suan"leeks with meat/eggs/ bean curd as mum said leeks so that we have money to count and bean curd as "dao guann" in Hokkien means official so if we eat this dish, we will have promotion and such in our ranks. The second dish is "Fa Cai hao shi". I will cook oysters with fa cai and da bai cai. Maybe to add in the " Jin zhen, fou pi". Third dish is the fish with spring onions and mushrooms. Fish means "nian nian you yu" abundance in the coming year. must remember to keep the fish head and fish tail to tomorrow so that everything "you tou you wei".
The fourth dish we will be having is the broccoli with you yu ( cuttlefish). You yu means there s extra left over so must eat also. The fifth dish I wanna cook is the sweet and sour prawns. To have prawns so that next year we will all be happy and gay. "Ha" means prawns in Cantonese so that is a must to stay "xiao ha ha" next year. I will be cooking some "jiao zi" as the shape looks like gold ingots and eating them means having more money for the next year. The desert for the new year will be "tang yuan" so that we will always be together. "Tang yuan" is round and it symbolises "tuan yuan". I will try to recall what to eat for Chinese new year. In fact some said to eat bao yu( abalone), long xia (Lobster)and yu chi ( shark fins) to have wings that soar. That will be expensive ingredients.
I have bought red date tea and ba bao cha to be eaten for first day of Chinese new year but I have not bought the Mandarin Oranges and Pomelo. Seems like there s no pomelo here. The Mandarin oranges I must try my luck at the shop here. The pineapple I bought seems to be too ripe too. might have to buy another one. I bought so many goodies but we will only be around till 3rd to finish the food. 4th we will be back in Singapore.
In fact, according to Yun Long zi shi fu, today is the Chinese new year already. Rat year begins today rather than on the first of Chinese new year. What do you think?
The fourth dish we will be having is the broccoli with you yu ( cuttlefish). You yu means there s extra left over so must eat also. The fifth dish I wanna cook is the sweet and sour prawns. To have prawns so that next year we will all be happy and gay. "Ha" means prawns in Cantonese so that is a must to stay "xiao ha ha" next year. I will be cooking some "jiao zi" as the shape looks like gold ingots and eating them means having more money for the next year. The desert for the new year will be "tang yuan" so that we will always be together. "Tang yuan" is round and it symbolises "tuan yuan". I will try to recall what to eat for Chinese new year. In fact some said to eat bao yu( abalone), long xia (Lobster)and yu chi ( shark fins) to have wings that soar. That will be expensive ingredients.
I have bought red date tea and ba bao cha to be eaten for first day of Chinese new year but I have not bought the Mandarin Oranges and Pomelo. Seems like there s no pomelo here. The Mandarin oranges I must try my luck at the shop here. The pineapple I bought seems to be too ripe too. might have to buy another one. I bought so many goodies but we will only be around till 3rd to finish the food. 4th we will be back in Singapore.
In fact, according to Yun Long zi shi fu, today is the Chinese new year already. Rat year begins today rather than on the first of Chinese new year. What do you think?
Sunday, February 3, 2008
3rd Feb 2008
Today I woke up as the kids were playing in the hallway. Joe was there trying to control them but kids were trying to keep their volume down but they simply could not. They even said to close mum's bedroom door and windows so as not to wake me up. I stay in bed for a while and see how Joe handled them. Joe really very patient with them. I will be asking them to be quiet if not I will punish them.
After that, we did our laundry and went shopping. We have to buy the groceries as Joe has lessons for the whole of this week till 5pm. I can bring the kids out for shopping but it will be rather troublesome. Will paly by ear.
Today I bought a big chunk of meat to make "dong po rou.". I started cooking immediately we had our lunch. It takes a bit of time but it was worth it. The aroma and taste is great. I watch " Flintstones" and cooked at the same time. Now we are watching a show " The Australian biggest loser". The contestants have to shed the most weight to stay on the show and they show how these contestants can lose weight by doing the exercises in a control environment. After this show, we will be watching " If you think you can dance Australia" it will be interesting to watch.
Anyway, now I am off to eat the dinner.....bye
After that, we did our laundry and went shopping. We have to buy the groceries as Joe has lessons for the whole of this week till 5pm. I can bring the kids out for shopping but it will be rather troublesome. Will paly by ear.
Today I bought a big chunk of meat to make "dong po rou.". I started cooking immediately we had our lunch. It takes a bit of time but it was worth it. The aroma and taste is great. I watch " Flintstones" and cooked at the same time. Now we are watching a show " The Australian biggest loser". The contestants have to shed the most weight to stay on the show and they show how these contestants can lose weight by doing the exercises in a control environment. After this show, we will be watching " If you think you can dance Australia" it will be interesting to watch.
Anyway, now I am off to eat the dinner.....bye
2nd Feb 2008
Yesterday 2nd Feb was a rather busy day for us. We woke up early as we wanted to go and attend a Chinese New Year Celebration at Bankstown. After doing the laundry we set off at about 9 plus. We were not familiar with the place so we walked a long way before reaching the celebration venue.
There was a huge crowd and before long the lion dance commenced and there was a lot of loud noises. Channery can't stand the loud noise and kept clinging on to me. As we were catching the bubbles at one corner, they started to light the fire crackers and that was really loud. Everyone was really excited to see the firing of the fire crackers but I am one who really don't quite like playing with fire. What if soemthing catch fire or a child went too close. Anyway, I was just observing the people and nobody really bothers too much. There were many stalls and the stalls actually has more displays of Vietnamese Chinese NEw Year Stuff. The embriodery, the Traditional costumes etc. Bankstowns has more vietnamese than Chinese so their celebration is not so Chinese afterall. We had balloon sculptures and bought some food goodies. I also bought a beautiful Vietnamese Cheong Sum for Charlynn and she will wear that for Chinese New Year. It cost only $15. As for the boys, I have yet to buy new clothes for them. Better get them at least a T shirt.
When we are on our way home, we walked passed Salvos store and decided to go in. We are looking for a bookcase for Children. Somehow we did not get the bookcase as planned and gotten an ikea shelf. We had to unscrew everything and that took up a bit of time. By the time Joe went to pick up the car, it was already 1 plus so I went to buy some pizza for the kids. The pizzas were nice and each large piece was $3. I bought 4 and that was enough to feed the whole family. An unpleasant thing happend when we were loading the shelf and children. Joe parked his car by the roadside and a car came beside us. The driver rolled down his side window and scolded us "stupid". We were both taken by surprise. He was supposed to wait since we got there first and the fact that he was able to drive bypass us means we had definitely done our part to be a considerate driver. The driver is a young man and his rude attitude really disgusting. Hope my children will not grow up to be like him. Some Australians really need to know what is courtesy.
I was angry for a while but we decided to put this matter behind us as he is simply not worth our attention.
When we reached home I cooked Bak Kyu teh as it was raining and I think it will be so nice to drink the soup. The end result is Yummy and nice. We had nice dinner and watched the movie
"Garfield". We love the Tv Programmes here as there are a lot of choices and we can have nice programmes.
There was a huge crowd and before long the lion dance commenced and there was a lot of loud noises. Channery can't stand the loud noise and kept clinging on to me. As we were catching the bubbles at one corner, they started to light the fire crackers and that was really loud. Everyone was really excited to see the firing of the fire crackers but I am one who really don't quite like playing with fire. What if soemthing catch fire or a child went too close. Anyway, I was just observing the people and nobody really bothers too much. There were many stalls and the stalls actually has more displays of Vietnamese Chinese NEw Year Stuff. The embriodery, the Traditional costumes etc. Bankstowns has more vietnamese than Chinese so their celebration is not so Chinese afterall. We had balloon sculptures and bought some food goodies. I also bought a beautiful Vietnamese Cheong Sum for Charlynn and she will wear that for Chinese New Year. It cost only $15. As for the boys, I have yet to buy new clothes for them. Better get them at least a T shirt.
When we are on our way home, we walked passed Salvos store and decided to go in. We are looking for a bookcase for Children. Somehow we did not get the bookcase as planned and gotten an ikea shelf. We had to unscrew everything and that took up a bit of time. By the time Joe went to pick up the car, it was already 1 plus so I went to buy some pizza for the kids. The pizzas were nice and each large piece was $3. I bought 4 and that was enough to feed the whole family. An unpleasant thing happend when we were loading the shelf and children. Joe parked his car by the roadside and a car came beside us. The driver rolled down his side window and scolded us "stupid". We were both taken by surprise. He was supposed to wait since we got there first and the fact that he was able to drive bypass us means we had definitely done our part to be a considerate driver. The driver is a young man and his rude attitude really disgusting. Hope my children will not grow up to be like him. Some Australians really need to know what is courtesy.
I was angry for a while but we decided to put this matter behind us as he is simply not worth our attention.
When we reached home I cooked Bak Kyu teh as it was raining and I think it will be so nice to drink the soup. The end result is Yummy and nice. We had nice dinner and watched the movie
"Garfield". We love the Tv Programmes here as there are a lot of choices and we can have nice programmes.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Boys Woes
Today I woke up with a nasty headache. After taking panadol at 7 plus I went back trying to get some sleep. However, the boys woke up at about 8am and started making a lot of noise. Our neighbours have informed us that she has to work and she only wakes up at 9am and hope the children can keep their volume down. The boys simply ignored our warnings time and again. Maybe to ask neighbour to give them a scolding so that they will be afraid. IF not the best solution is to send one back to Singapore and just bring the other boy over. My mother in law or my mother can take care of the child. Sometimes I think sending the boys to boarding school is a good solution. They have to learn to take care of themselves and grow up quickly.
My headache did not go away and I ended taking the doctor's headache presciption. However, seems like it's still there- barely under control. Tried asking boys to be more considerate while I rest but they still so noisy. Frankly speaking if anyone can tell me that I dislike my sons. My answer is yes and I hope that they are not my responsibilities. I have been trying to talk some sense in them but they are just so hopeless. Playing and being stubborn all the time. Who can help to tame them??? I simply don't like boys - even when I was teaching I find boys irritating and stupidly naive. They will only become more mature at teenager years???
How to bring up boys?? For those who have girls only do count your blessings that you have no playful boys to handle everyday. The Chinese beliefs of having boys to continue the family line/ name is outdated. Who cares what happens ten twenty years down the roads. Nobody knows what tomorrow holds for each and everyone of us.
My headache did not go away and I ended taking the doctor's headache presciption. However, seems like it's still there- barely under control. Tried asking boys to be more considerate while I rest but they still so noisy. Frankly speaking if anyone can tell me that I dislike my sons. My answer is yes and I hope that they are not my responsibilities. I have been trying to talk some sense in them but they are just so hopeless. Playing and being stubborn all the time. Who can help to tame them??? I simply don't like boys - even when I was teaching I find boys irritating and stupidly naive. They will only become more mature at teenager years???
How to bring up boys?? For those who have girls only do count your blessings that you have no playful boys to handle everyday. The Chinese beliefs of having boys to continue the family line/ name is outdated. Who cares what happens ten twenty years down the roads. Nobody knows what tomorrow holds for each and everyone of us.
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