My Simple Life.My Simple Blog

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I still miss her so much...

It has been over a year since she left... 1 year 8 months and 21 days to be exact... but time has yet to heal the wound in my heart, when she left so suddenly...

1st Tear
The red sky meant it was time to go back home after a long day at school. But as I made my way up to the second floor to get my book back from a friend, i did not expect the life-changing event that I was about to experience.

Ever since my days in Temasek Poly, I've always had a problem with opening the number locks on the school lockers. It would take me ages to get it open. No, to be exact, I was never able to open them no matter how hard i tried, even though Karin can open them easily right after i give up. But after I entered SMU, i finally managed to "crack the code".

As i entered the code and spun the lock, my phone rang. Mummy was calling. Curious on why my mum was calling at a time like this, I picked up and uttered, "Hello?!?". Mummy then said, "I am going to visit mama, mama is in hospital".

"Huh?, what happened? How come she is hospitalised?" I questioned, concerned and confused. "She went for her check-up today and doctor wanted to admit her to do a thorough check-up, he said that it is wierd that she suddenly lost so much weight, so I will go home after visiting her, you settle your own dinner ok?" My mum replied. So I agreed, hung up the phone and proceeded to get my book out from the locker before making my way home.

When I reached home, Daddy was watching his Korean Drama on cable and i ploughed myself into the seat next to him, like i did everyday. Time went by and we both laughed at the funny parts, cursed and sweared at the characters we hated, teared with it was time to be sad...

Just then, the familiar sound of the keys dangling from the keychain, entering the lock, turning in the lock ringed into my ears. Mummy and Jie Jie was back. As i turned my head to greet them, what came into the light in the living room were 2 faces with tears flowing down their cheeks. They had been crying.

Curious on what happened, i asked, "What happened?". But mummy didn't utter a word, instead she started crying again. I turned to my sister, waiting for an answer and that was when she said the 3 words i did not expect, "mama has cancer".

My mind went blank.

I then proceeded to give my mum a hug, that was the only thing i could do. She then added to the news by saying, "doctor says she only has 3 more months to live...." It was then that i wailed like a baby...

Labels: Mama

| 2:29 AM |

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Newest addition to the family - Noah

The 8th of October proved to be a day of joy and anticipation for my godsister.. For she brought a new life into our family at 1935hours that day.... With Baby Noah - her son, together with gor gor David..

With that, I present the Happy Family, with the newest and cutest addition - Baby Noah...

As I listened to Pei Pei Jie Jie's conversation with her friend, it just dawned upon me that she has really grown up over the months of her pregnancy.. Gone were the days where she was the cheeky girl who seemed to have something up her sleeve to bring cheer and happiness to the people around her.. Now, I see her as someone who has matured, someone with great responsibility, someone with lots of love to give, someone who has a child - a mother...

Thinking back, when we were younger, much much younger, we used to go to each others place for stayovers, to swim, to play with barbie dolls and even hold our very own miss universe competition with our cousins... hahaha.... those were the days... lol... With a blink of an eye, she is now a mother, ready to impart the teachings of life to her son.. Like she said, she has to be responsible now, she has to grow up and look after the life she and gor gor David brought into this world..

Her pregnancy allowed me better understand the pain my mum had to go through to bring me into this world.. Hearing her describe the amount of pain she underwent during labour is quite frightening... After thinking on how to bring across the pain to someone who hasn't given birth, she finally said, ''it is like having your menstral cramps and stomach ache all together", then her friend added, "times 1000'' ... it really sounds unbearable... this is what our mothers went through years ago... quite scary and frightening ya....

Up till now, I still find it wierd that she now has a child... It's like yesterday she was still the funny, cheeky girl and today she is a mother.... I guess i will need some time to get used to it...

But i am sure that she will be a good mother... Seeing her comfort her crying son with her soothing words really touches me... Baby Noah, here's something from your yi yi Candice... you are one lucky boy... with such loving parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties... may you grow up to become a pride to your entire family by spreading the love and joy your parents have for everyone....

I am sure SHE would be so glad to Baby Noah...

| 11:59 PM |

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Japanese Curry 101

I am definitely a japanese food lover... that's why i like to experiment and cook some japanese dishes for my family...

recently, my elder sister reminded me that i "owed" her a pot of japanese curry... hahaha... how did i owe her a pot of japanese curry??? i have no idea... lol... but still i decided to cook it for her, since she had been asking for it since quite far back...

i usually use this brand of the curry mix - Golden Curry Sauce Mix and always the Hot one (cause Japanese Curry isn't spicy at all...)

ingredients for Japanese Curry (Serves 5):

1 pkt Japanese Curry Mix
Approx 300g Pork Belly, sliced
1 Carrot, cubed
2 Big Onions, cubed
1 can of Button Mushroom, sliced
water

you may change the proportion of the ingredients to your liking, i usually choose pork belly because of the amount of fat in it.. it kind of makes the curry smell more fragrant... you may substitute it with chicken as well... all up to you...

Step 1:

Heat frying pan with a little oil. Once the pan is hot, throw in onions and fry until fragrant and see-through.

Step 2:

Once onions turn transparent, throw in carrots and fry for about 5 minutes

Step 3:

Throw in meat and continue to fry till meat gets cooked

Step 4:

Then add in the sliced button mushrooms and continue frying for a few minutes.

Step 5:

Add in 2 1/2 cups of water into the pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes under slow fire. (Note: boil it longer if you want the carrots to be softer)

Step 6:

Then break the Sauce Mix Cake into smaller pieces and throw it into the pan. Mix thoroughly to ensure that the sauce is evenly distributed. Simmer for 1 - 2 more minutes

Step 7:

Finally, scoop a generous serving of your Japanese Curry onto a plate of piping hot rice and enjoy your very own Japanese Curry!

I do hope that the curry will turn out to your liking, i was quite satisfied with my creation... hehe... quite idiot proof... lol

anyway, here are some tips to improve on the taste and texture of your curry... (i haven't exactly tried this method but it should do the trick to improve the taste of the curry)

if you prefer your carrots to be very soft, you may want to start frying the carrots first, then put them aside to fry the onions before putting the carrots back in to fry... the carrots in my curry were still a little too crunchy for my sister's taste, so i think i will try this method next time
to make the meat softer, tenderize the meat by pounding it, this would make the meat softer and nice as well

hope that you guys will like this recipe... Itadakimasu!!!

Labels: Japanese Curry

| 12:33 PM |