The Precious White Christmas, 12/25/09

Wish everyone a peaceful and joyful Merry X'mas! Isn't he is handsome, cute and adorable? ^_<

To be continued... :)

Oh ya...I'm back! I hope everyone has a wonderful X'mas and New Year. Although it was a little late, but I would like to share and update about what had we done during the X'mas holidays. Well, we didn't really do many activities, except friend gathering, cooking together, playing wii for the new game Super Mario Bros (emm....this is the only video game that I enjoyed alot!!!)....we did'nt even have the chance to buy the X'mas gift exchange as it was snowing the few days before the X'mas, on the X'mas eve and X'mas as well...so, we were stucked at our friend's Eunice place, and couldn't go anywhere else, as there was abt 20" snow accumulated! The only thing we can do is with the SNOW! We played snow war, made a little cute snowman (the pic showed above), the snow snow snow!!! :)

One thing we did on the X'mas eve was the one I would like to share with you all. We got the chance to go a church. Thanks to our friend, Kevin, a Indian born M'sian friend who is a sincere christian, he actually inviting us to go with him. I go to church, I guess just few times when I was still a kid...but this time, we really had a wonderful experience counting down the X'mas in a church, which I never done this is my past life! The church just located about 30 mins from the St.Paul city, it was a large, simple but beautiful church. We're able to see how christians passed the X'mas eve. We just followed what everybody was doing...we sang Holly Carol Songs, the father was having the holly speech praising the Jesus, and I see people were praying to the God, to repent and get the forgiveness from God.

Looking back myself, I asked myself if I'm that sincere to my God too. Anyhow, I really felt peaceful in the church. When I was in the church, I looked at the wooden Jesus cross, I prayed to him, for the peace of the world, with no wars, no natural disasters, but harmony and loves. I prayed!

A little something about Kenny G

...We heart Kenny G...

We had a good, memorable, beautiful experience attending Kenny G's live performance. And, we got to know a little more baout Kenny G's background. Kenny G was born in Seattle, Washington. He was a Jewish, started learning saxophone when he was 11. Kenny G is in the Guinness World Records for holding the longest sustained note on a saxophone: 45 minutes, 47 seconds...this is COOL isn't??? He even showed us how he was able to inhale and blowing the saxophone at the same time, meaning to inhale to exhale at the same second, he called it circular breathing, and he used more than 20 years in practicing this technique...try it, I can't do this! :P

He was just standing less than 5 feets in front of me :) We got a nice seat!

Kenny G and his band, some of the band members were his high school friends, they have been playing music together for more than 27 years!

LKM and I were get to talk to him while getting his signature, we're so proud to tell him that we're from Malaysia :P ....He was kind of gentleman and handsome (or I should say Man :) ), when I asked him if I can shake his hand, he replied with his smiley face: oh yeah, sure...finally, I got a handshake with Kenny G! How good if I don't need to wash my hand! ;)

Kenny G's Live Concert

LKM is the biggest supporter for classical music, and I personally like saxophone alot, especially to Kenny G. I'm always his no.1 BIG fan! We have almost all his CD records soundtrack and mp3. Everlasting, Forever in Love, Jasmine Flower, The Champion's Theme, The Moment, The Wedding Song...etc are some of my favorites.

This Sunday, I will be seeing him in person, his live concert. I just couldn't believe that I do have the chance to meet this Super STAR, it's so hard to express my , wordless to tell how happy and excited I am!***I'm so TOO excited***, really! I was telling my best friend, SM..."this is Kenny G you now...Kenny G, Kenny G...not play play...I'm seeing Kenny G this Sunday!"...She was joking that I made her feel more exciting now! :P

It's hard to believe that few weeks ago LKM was asking me if I want to go for Kenny G's live concert, as I missed out the Jim Brickman's one he attended. Today, I was writing a post about Kenny's G and only 48 hours later, I will be seeing him in person. Excuse me if I sound overly excited, but it truly was a miracle for me. If I were in M'sia, I don't know if I will be able to go for his concert, nor even meet him in live.

I really appreciate it. I thank LKM for treating me, as one of the B'day gifts of mine... ;)

It would be great if I able to get his signature, or perhaps a handshake. It's overwhelming and very, very touching...isn't???

A very thankful Thanksgiving!

A very meaningful, thankful, colorful 2009 Thanksgiving celebration with a bunch of friend! This year, we celebrated the Thanksgiving at a friend, Eunice's place. But why is it so meaningful??? This probably will be the last gathering for few friends as they will be graduating and leaving St Cloud to other states, and back to M'sia as well. And very Yippie that we have no turkey for the dinner, everything is vegetarian...we have an American and Indian new friend're joining us this time......lastly, we managed to celebrate Richard's belated B'day as well!

Arrival the night before the Thanksgiving!

Back from grocery on the Thanksgiving morning...

Preparing Tiramisu for Richard!!!

The chef & his new assistant busying wrapping 'yong fu zuk'...the most yummiest dish!

It was really fun & memorable!

hehe...the Cinderella doing the cleaning...

SS cooking her famous TomYam fried mihun...

the colorful & adorable cups...

-Eunice,Calvin & SS-

Alvin & Eunice

me+LKM+our adopted daughter =p

the sweet & cute couple...KY & Max

...ta-da...beside these...we had hotpot on another table...

Last but not least...the girls in balck+blue...we just came out everyone wearing black and blue, amazing!!!

Dear friends, I know I gonna miss you all very much for sure! Good luck to you all for the future undertakings, do keep in touch, and Love you all! :)

My new project...

It has been a long long time I didn't knit, since 5 years ago- a scarft for my buibui. This year the cold weather visited MN earlier than usual, and I decided to knit one for an aunt here as X'mas gift. She is about 60 years old, instead everyone said she looks like 40 something, which I strongly agreed. Everyone loves her, for her kind, generous, noble-spirited, and beautiful heart. I got her a mixed-colors yarn, with the combination of blue, purple, pink, yellow and green. Just like her colorful and meaningful life! =)

Raspberry Cream Torte

If I would have a chance, I wish I can take a baking course in the future...

Early snow in the fall...

This year, we had snow earlier than the regular season, two snows within 3 days. Supposely, Oct is the season for beautiful orange-yellow leaves, but now we see the snow in the fall. As you can see from the picture, the trees are still green and red. A friend of mine said that we don't really have summer but fall, and no fall but winter in MN...which I think it is very true...I think...I'm a strong polar bear XD

Lousy driver with the GPS...

I do not drive oftenly after I came to St Cloud, it is not because my driving skill not good, but I have a very talented Ahmad-LKM, so I'm the talented passenger too :p I only drive very very short distance to the nearest grocery market and post office.

Today, I wanted to go to Walmart, just located 12-15 mins from our place, yet I can't recognize the way (remember I'm the passenger *wink*). I told LKM that I need to use the GPS...as expected, he stared at me...**speechless**...Guess what happened?Even with the GPS, I got lost...took the double of estimated time to both Walmart and back home...made more than 5 times detour on the GPS, as I missed all the instructions from the GPS...

When I told LKM, he just shaked his head and said..."next time you drive..."

My best friends here laugh at me when they know that I need a GPS for Walmart...

I'm very good at driving & recognizing the way...but I become a lousy driver when this comes with the GPS...my brain, eyes, ears, hands and legs cannot function at the same time =p

A little girl without Mama

Few days ago, when I was taking bus home from the China Town in Flushing, New York. I over-heard this conversation between 2 grandma in the bus, they just stood in front of me. Grandma A was hugging her grand daughter on her chest (I believe this little girl is at least 3-4 years old), grandma B was the friend of grandma A.

This conversation is translated from mandarin, and I just cut the long story short.

Grandma B: Hey...how you doing, long time no see, you doing good???

Grandma A: Tired, really tired...I really don't feel like taking care these kids...I'm just so tired!!!

Grandma B: Where's the mama?

Grandma A: Ran away already...(then she started to sniff...I can see the tears in her eyes as our distance was very close)...nobody can help her dad if I don't help him, he needs to work to survive the family. Otherwise, I would go back to China already...

Grandma B: I'm so sorry...take it easy..easy...don't be sad...

The little girl: Grandma...are we going home for lunch???

Grandma A: Yeah...

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I always think kids without mom and dad are the saddest thing in the world. May be I have the same experience, so I know the feeling. When I heard about this conversation, my heart was so painful, my heart was crying too.

The little girl, she looks so innocent and pretty...I really feel so sorry for her; at the same time I'm touching that her grandma is so mercy and mighty, she is still willing to help and take cares this girl and her other siblings.

I hope and pray for them, for the grandma to stay healthily, for the little girl to be a happy and good person in the future. And lastly, for all the mama-will never never never leave their kids behind.

.....Bon Appetit.....

The measure of achievement is not winning awards. It's doing something that you appreciate, something you believe is worthwhile. I think of my strawberry souffle. I did that at least twenty-eight times before I finally conquered it.
- Julia Child

Synopsis:

Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is Julie Powell in writer-director Nora Ephron’s adaptation of two bestselling memoirs: Powell’s Julie & Julia and My Life in France, by Julia Child with... Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is Julie Powell in writer-director Nora Ephron’s adaptation of two bestselling memoirs: Powell’s Julie & Julia and My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme.

Based on two true stories, Julie & Julia intertwines the lives of two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends...until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

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Julie & Julia. I'm just so felt in love with this movie. On Thursday late afternoon, LKM and I decided to watch this movie before his summer holidays end and Fall semester starts this coming Monday. I watched the review of this movie when I had My sister's keepers with my gf couple weeks ago. I would give an A++, 5 stars, incredible, fantastic, awesome, excellent, SUPER...whatever fabulous word that I can describe this movie. This is the Best Movie I had ever watch in my entire life, perhaps it was about the cooking & baking.

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It was a inspirational, delightful movie full of humor and life lessons. I personally love Meryl Streep this character, of course her acting. Without questioning, Meryl Streep successfully transformed herself into character. She actually had you believing she was Julia Child. She is lovely, charming, humorous and a happy go lucky woman. Her acting was really good, love her slogan "Bon Appetit" which means good appetite or enjoy your meal in the movie, the way an American trying to speaks in French accent. :)

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Julie @ Amy Adams, she is so beautiful in this movie. I must give my salute to her, for her passion and self-discipline to accomplish the project (to finish 524 recipes in 365 days) on time. Although she faces difficulties, but she still managed to cleam them up and keep going. The movie does included her strong, romantic love journey with her hubby. It's funny that Julie mentioned that she loves her hubby so much just like the pigs loves shit. :P

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Things that I've learned from this movie-it's never too late or too old to let ours star shine. One seemingly small step can end up changing our life, just like Julia's (Meryl Streep) husband saying in the movie, when he was trying Julia not to give up on her hope to get some one in sponsoring her to publish the cook book. He said: "Your book will changes the whole world". And yes, she did! Do whatever we enjoy or talented at, with what God has gave us, we never know who we might inspire.

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There're so much I want to comment about this movie...

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Phew....OKOK... I think this is long enough...I wont's spoil this movie for you, go watch it. Hope you enjoy the movie.

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"Bon Appetittttttttttttttt...." :)

Vege Tuna Buns

If you know me very well, I'm a "bread" person, any kind of breads...put anything buns in front of me, my knees start to go weak...hehe...over the years, I've collected various of bread recipes. I particularly prefer the Asean style bread.
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This reminds me of the Indian uncle who used to ride on his small motorbike and sell 'roti' (bread in Malay) in my neighborhood, when I was still a little kid...my favorite bun..."Apollo", a type of long sweet bun with the creamy filling inside with different flavor, such as vanilla, pandan, coffee and chocolate. It only cost 25 cents (the price back to 10 years ago) for this yummy and delicious long bun. I'm wondering if they still sell this bun in M'sia, I hope they do so that I still have the chance to eat them when I go home next time.

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Bread, pastry, cake, pie and cookie. If you ask me to choose which one I like to eat the most, I'll list them in this sequence. There's why I never bake any cookie before ;p Apparently, I do agree that baking bread is much more easier comparing with others that may require special skills or baking method. I'll say baking bread is the most easiest than any other pastry and dessert.

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Last Saturday, I suddenly had the very strong "ohm" to make some buns, and I've decided to use the vege tuna as filling as I promised my friends that I wanna make for time since ages year ago. I remember that I read a pasty baking recipe book before, this famous France baker has mentioned that as a purist, he prefers using the artisan approach, working by his own hands instead of using any eletrical mixer if unneccessary. I was joking with LKM that this save some money on my dream Kitchen aid mixer, because I have a pair of "solar hands" =p
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Can you imagine how powerful is the little yeats, that make the dough size increase in double. I love the dough raising part alot. I love seeing and enjoying each moment, when peeping to see if my little dough is growing or not. ;p It's so exciting!!!

The not-so-good looking before putting into the oven...

...ta-da ta-da...

SUCCESS SUCCESS SUCCESS!!!!guys...these buns really taste very GOOD, they are as soft as those 'chan pau' we eat in M'sia...

.A friend of mine, ate 5 buns at one sitting :) I feel happy I'm able to bake good stuffs for people around me, and they enjoy too. It's really lots of fun in baking, and I'm loving every bit of it.

OK...will post the recipe here later...^^

Go Green-Stopping Global Warming

It has been a while I didn't update my blog so often as before, a little bit busy with my sticker business these days. I guess it was because the time kids about going back to school, perhaps.

I woke up pretty early today, as I promised LKM to make him breakfast before he goes to work. Just a simple healthy combo breakfast-banana pancake with mable syrup, and soy milk. This is a very simple and nice pancake recipe that I found couple weeks ago, but this time I replaced the milk with soy milk, and the margarine with oil. It turn out to be good too :)

I wasn't feel good these few days. As I talked with a friend here, and my buddy in Melbourne,Australia, I don't feel good that everyday when I read the news, typhoon is hitting TW and mainland China, tsunami is expected in Indian Ocean and Japan again, earthquake happens every where, even airplan crash is now happens more and more frequent...the change of the climate and weather, global warming, make the planet earth sick...sigh...

I just read an article couple minutes ago, global warming is actually causes the increase of temperature, much more rain is anticipated as the ice caps melt. As a result, rising sea levels could cause much more severe flooding especially in low-lying coastal areas...if we go back to the beginning, it's no doubts why is it rain flood and forest fires happens so often in everywhere- human-caused greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane.

One's lifestyle changes can actually reduce and solve the global warming problem by reducing the CO2 that leads to this severe problem, these are pretty knowledgeable information even I didn't know about it:

-NO#1 cause of global warming. According to the United Nations, raising animals for food generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars, planes, ships, trucks, and trains in the world combined. So, save our planet-GO VEGETARIAN, at least try to take less meats.

-At home,replacing incandescent light bulb with compact fluorescent light bulbs can save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

-Moving the thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer can save 2000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

-Driving less, carpool to work can reduce annual carbon dioxide output by thousands of pounds annually.

-Buy Local and Organic-chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce.

-Air Dry Your Clothes-Line-dry your clothes in the spring and summer instead of using the dryer. Save 700 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $75 per year.

-Saving energy at home is good for the environment.

-Become a smart water consumer.

-Plant a Tree, protect a forest.

-Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!-producing new paper, glass, and metal products from recycled materials saves 70 to 90 percent of the energy and pollution, including CO2.

-Last but not least, spread the word!!!

For more simple things we can do in our daily live to solve the global warming, here's the link for more details:

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_actionitems.asp

As people like you and I get involved, the future will become safer and cleaner for us and the future generations.

A Day Worth of Hope for All of Us !!!!

Truly inspirational video for everyone....do share this with you friends...

My sister's keeper

Sara and Brian Fitzgerald's life with their young son and their two-year-old daughter, Kate, is forever altered when they learn that Kate has leukemia. The parents' only hope is to conceive another child, specifically intended to save Kate's life. For some, such genetic engineering would raise both moral and ethical questions; for the Fitzgeralds, Sara in particular, there is no choice but to do whatever it takes to keep Kate alive. And what it takes is Anna. Kate and Anna share a bond closer than most sisters: though Kate is older, she relies on her little sister--in fact, her life depends on Anna. Throughout their young lives, the sisters endure various medical procedures and hospital stays--just another part of their close-knit family's otherwise normal life. Sara, a loving wife and mother who left her career as an attorney to care for her daughter, is sometimes lost inside the single-minded caregiver she has become in her efforts to save Kate. Her strong, supportive husband, Brian, is often rendered powerless and passive by his wife's strength and determination. And their only son, Jesse, drifts, at times all but forgotten as Kate and Anna take center stage. Until Anna, now 11, says "no." Seeking medical emancipation, she hires her own lawyer initiating a court case that divides the family and that could leave Kate's rapidly failing body in the hands of fate. The judgement goes on, and everybody has to take sides one way or another. Later on, the idea about emancipation was not Anna's, in fact it was Kate, the always-sick one, who asked her to put a stop to her endless suffering.

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This is a best, inspirational, touching movie that I would encourage everybody to have a watch. I went for this movie with a girlfriend last night. She read the book before, and we both were so interested on this movie. It made me cried. If you plan to go for this movie, make sure you bring some tissue with you. I can hear everybody sniffing and crying so obviously in the theater.

Here're some sharing.

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Watching this movie inspirated me, made me recalling both of my elder sisters, those sweet and sour memories. Time really flies, I still remember vividly when my eldest sis leave to US for her studies in 1998. It seems like just happened yesterday, and now it is about 12 years old. And that time my second sis was doing her studies in the local Uni, we barely meet each other as she came home once or twice every weekend. It is funny that, I spent 6 years together with my second sis without my eldest sis, and now I spent another 6 years with my eldest sis in the States without my second sis, PRETTY FAIR huh??? =p And now, 3 of us are apart from each other and I do miss them most of the time. Especially my second sis, everytime we chat online, she asked me when do I want to go back, if we are going back this Dec as I promised her before. I pray and hope that we will have the chance to re-union soon! I love you two =)

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Kate, I really think she is a beautiful and brave girl, the main character in the movie made me cry the most, when I see her suffer from the leukemia. And the strong-tight relationship between her and the whole family, how they supportand love each other. I was thinking that, how fragile of our live as a human being. Kate said in the movie, "She is pain, her entire life is a pain". This really made my heart feel so pain. All in all, I learn from this movie, to appreciate every single person and thing in my life. To always appreciate and be thankful for having a healthy body to do many meaningful things.

This is the link for a short review of the movie,

http://www.mysisterskeepermovie.com/
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Go watch this movie, experience it by youself...I hope you enjoy the movie!.

Appreciation-no more complaining

Yesterday, LKM was watching one of his favorite TV series. There's a episode about a group of doctors and people doing the voluntary job in Kenya, Africa- dealing and helping a group of poor africans with epidemic diseases. In this particular episode, an infectious boy died in his dad's arm, nothing much the doctor can do as the kid was already in a very chronic condition. Right before he die, the main female actor managed to took a photo of this father and son, Okana.
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It was a very touching moment. All in the sudden, something pop out from my mind. I told LKM that, "I wonder how many people in this world will never had the chance to even take just one photo of themselve in their whole life???" My thinking, may be it is an infinity figure!
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This give me an opportunity to reflect myself. Most the time I told my friends that life is not easy, life is suffer. But, compare with people in Africa, and many other poor countries, I really think I do not have the right to say the word of suffering. No more complaining or questioning such as the food is tasteless, the bed is not soft enough, why loads of work with such low pay,...why me???...why do I need to overcome all these problems...etc...
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I told myself that-I need to learn again, the true meaning of appreciation, and no more complaining, but sharing! Let's all add oil together!
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13 days old...

7/15/09 . Wed . 13 days old . Baby Leaves

Keep Going!

Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall
Product Details
ISBN: 140273607X
ISBN-13: 9781402736070
Format: Hardcover, 144pp
Publisher: Sterling Publishing
Pub. Date: October 2006
Sales Rank: 42,069

Synopsis
From bestselling Native American writer Joseph M. Marshall III (The Lakota Way, The Journey of Crazy Horse) comes an inspirational guide deeply rooted in Lakota spirituality.

Grandfather says this: “In life there is sadness as well as joy, losing as well as winning, falling as well as standing, hunger as well as plenty, bad as well as good. I do not say this to make you despair, but to teach you…that life is a journey sometimes walked in light and sometimes in shadow.”

Grandfather says this: “Keep going.”When a young man’s father dies, he turns to his sagacious grandfather for comfort. Together they sit underneath the family’s cottonwood tree, and the grandfather shares his perspective on life, the perseverance it requires, and the pleasure and pain of the journey. Filled with dialogue, stories, and recollections, each section focuses on a portion of the prose poem “Keep Going” and provides commentary on the text.

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Hey guys, this is another good book! Recently I have a BIG BIG obsession with reading. YES YES YES i Do!!! I found this great book from Barnes & Noble. Saint Cloud, the place we are staying currently is a small beautiful, peaceful Uni campus town. Meaning, nothing much interesting places or things we can go or do. For this reason, hubby and I used to hang out there, a dating spot in our list. ;p

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To save money, we usually we go there look for good book, then copy down the ISBN and get a cheaper copy from ebay and amazon. I just bought it from ebay last week and it is still on the way to me, can't wait to read it!

July 4th Long Weekend

We didn't go anywhere this 7/4 long weekend. But just a gathering with few friends and picnic at a garden in our neighbourhood.

The beautiful water fountain.

The "Yin Yiong"

Me enjoying the book...

Some of these lily can be as big as our face...

LKM's favorite flower!

The purple lavender...

Barely see this

color of lily...

Nasi Lemak as dinner

with friends...

Last but not least, the homemade pizza!

Just a simple and relax long weekend with my buddies!