Now Everyone Can Fly On Delayed Flights
AirAsia should really change their tagline from "Now Everyone Can Fly" to "Now Everyone Can Fly On Delayed Flights". 4 of us were waiting at Kota Bharu airport, waiting to board our 2040hrs flight back to KL. Less than an hour to our flight departure, hubby received an SMS from AirAsia, stating that our flight has been re-timed to 2350hrs due to technical issues. Fark!!!

A group of people had gathered at the AirAsia counter on the ground floor, some demanding for an explanation for the sudden flight delay (note that AirAsia used the term "re-timed" instead of "delayed"). There were many frustrated people to say the least. The AirAsia people manning the counter of course kena gasak kau-kau from the customers lah. I asked if the officer could reschedule the 4 of us to be placed on the earlier flight out (2253hrs) instead. He said no, because even that flight was delayed and he can't confirm when the plane would arrive in KB! $#@%

The good thing out of the delay was that each of us would get a refund of RM 200 in voucher, to be used for the next flight with AirAsia. The bad news was that we had to wait close to 4 hours to reach home. And after 4 full days of island retreat, you do get pretty tired LOL.

By 2300 hrs, a huge number of people had gathered inside the departure terminal, many of whom were pretty pissed with AirAsia already. Both planes were late. Then we saw that our flight was again "re-timed" to 0010 hrs. FARK!!! Tensions were building up, there were a lot of very angry people around. Some tourists had already missed their connecting flight too.

AirAsia personnels were not exactly in the best of experience to handle the massively large angry crowd either. The attendant was making some announcement, but it only made people even more confused. Angry words were heard from all over the place. When the gates opened, people started to shuffle in one by one, many cursing under their breathe.

Once on the plane, everyone settled down and we took off from the runway at 0030 hrs. Hubby asked if there was any form of beverages for AirAsia customers as a form of service, which was only appropriate for causing so many people to wait such long hours for their flight. The AirAsia flight attendant cheekily replied "Sorry sir, we don't have those. But you can suggest that to Tony" and giggled.

When we landed in LCCT, only one door was opened for everyone to disembark from the plane. The female flight attendant didn't dare show her face at the door to greet us good night/thank you for flying with us, fearing people would curse and yell at her I s'pose. Once outside the terminal, we got ourselves a budget taxi. The taxi driver was telling us that since 2pm, all AirAsia flights have been delayed, for some unknown reason.

I've also noticed that AirAsia's "On Time Performance" has dropped below the 90-mark. Buck up, AirAsia. No doubt you're a no-frills airline, but that doesn't mean you can suka-suka delay and take your customers for granted. Your flight tickets may be cheap, but your competition is coming on very strong these days. In fact, because of your no-frills policy, sometimes you cost even more when you add up all the small amounts.

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Hiatus
Hubby and I are taking a short break from city life a bit. We're gonna be gallivanting on the soft sandy beaches on the South China Seas, soaking up the sun and just be a beach bum. I can practically hear the sounds of the waves crashing by the shores. The hot tropical sun on my fair skin. The hot tropical breeze in my face...

... here! :D

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Adios Twitter
After much consideration and reading this article, I've decided that in the best interest of certain quarters, I'm omitting Twitter from my Facebook acount. The main reason I set up a Twitter account, was for the convenience of syncing it to my FB status, which I update via TwitterFox. But off late, it became quite apparent that some of my tweets, which in turn, is published as my FB status, has raised some "uneasiness" to certain quarters.

And these quarters have raised their concern to me, they gave me some feedbacks. Which I'm grateful of course. Constructive feedback is always a good thing, right? That's how people improve for the better. If people were to bottle things up and keep silent all the time, you wouldn't know what is building up deep inside, would ya?

So I've decided to tackle the issue head-on. Seeing that my tweets, well actually just one, have raised some concerns, I'm going to do 2 things:

1) Edit and re-edit and re-edit before posting, remembering to avoid words that could possibly lead to unnecessary conflict. Even if it doesn't mean anything to me, it could mean something major to another (I could say I don't like the economy rice from ABC stall, and some bugger who's a die-hard fan could just hentam me over that statement. You never know LOL!). Since the problem is arising from me, it's always a good move to admit the flaw and find ways to correct/rectify the issue, right?

2) Remove the Twitter app from FB. Yes, I've tweeted my last tweet which syncs to my FB account. I've completely removed the Twitter application from my FB account too. There are other ways to update FB statuses without having to login to FB, Twitter's just one of the many programmes available to do this task.

I'm aware that in FB's privacy settings you can also limit the people who can or cannot see your status (amongst other things), but that option doesn't work LOL! Hey, it's social media, social networking. Everyone is supposed to "connected" one way or another. So there's no secret.

I've actually pondered over several options, on ways to completely minimise unnecessary confrontation when it comes to FB statuses. I could remove people. I could block people. I could quit FB & Twitter altogether. I could even stop updating my status completely. But I wouldn't want to do all that, because FB is still my little playground for connectivity. I share my photos there. I tease my friends' comments. I feed my pet cat and dog there. I poke people there.

I'll bet there's a sigh of relief somewhere out there. Finally, this bitch is going to clam up about her opinions and bluntness ROTFLOL. Thinking aloud is not allowed.

Hmm, or maybe I should just quit social network altogether... *ponders* Whatever the decision may be, the beach awaits~~~!

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Twittering: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
I previously blogged about how Twitter is possibly the fastest growing phenomenon today. According to research, between 5,000 to 10,000 people sign up for a Twitter account every single day. That's way faster than the blogsphere community growth LOL. So what is Twitter again?

Some say Twitter is a micro-blogging platform. Some say Twitter is instant messaging available to the public. Whatever people call it, you're limited to 140 characters.

The growth of Twitter is so huge, just about everyone's jumping into it now. Businesses, brands, marketing, everything and everybody wants to be part of the Twitter community now. And, like any hot trend, there are pros and cons to using this tool.

Many businesses and individuals are hooking up with Twitter for its vast community network. Knowledge sharing has taken another step forward. With Twitter, you gets news in an instant. You can keep track of tweets, sift through them, and share them. Some brands are also leveraging on Twitter to build their brand name. So yes, it cannot be denied that Twitter, is more than just micro-blogging/instant messaging. It's a business tool.

Now, this is my thought on Twitter. I use Twitter on a daily basis. I sync my Twitter account with my Facebook status. Hence, when I update my Twitter status via TwitterFox (a Firefox browser plug-in, beats having to log into Twitter's website), my FB status is updated too. It's convenient for me. Plus people who read my blog can also see my tweets on the top left column. I tweet about anything. Twitter to me, is not so much a business tool. Rather, it's for the convenience to update my FB status more.

I've also realised the bad side of tweeting. Because Twitter is on a public network, anyone on Twitter can read your tweets. Which means that if you tweet something like "I don't like Mr XYZ, he's such an @$$."... Chances are, people will pick it up and spread the word. This is known as a viral. Now virals can be positive or negative, depending on what people tweet about. I'll give you some examples of virals:

The Good
When news broke out that Maxis was bringing the iPhone into the country, there was a buzz in the Twittersphere. People were tweeting all about it etc etc. It created a whole lot of buzz for the launch event, which is good news for Maxis. The more publicity, the better. Another example was the Mumbai attacks and the Hudson River plane crash. People who were present at those moment were actually tweeting about their experience/encounter, hence spreading the news way faster than any other media out there.

The Bad
Tweeting about how doing server maintenance during office hours resulted in a miscommunication between workmates. Even though the server nor company name was neither revealed (the matter was in fact, resolved very much earlier in the morning. It was brought up again later in the day), someone got generally pissed and demanded for an apology. The reasoning was that because such status were published in the public network, hence the public might be able to associate and connect the dots, even if no names were mentioned.

The Ugly
An employee for a firm in New York flew into Memphis for a presentation to Fedex. When he touched down, he tweeted "True confession, but I'm in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say, 'I would die if I had to live here!". Now he didn't say the name of the town, nor where he actually was. But someone from Fedex had picked his tweet up, and forwarded it to some big shots. Least to say, the happenings that follow ain't a very pretty picture lah. It's a seemingly innocent private thought. But it did cause some irreversible damage. A group of us did talk about this, and half of us think it's just a general statement coming from one person. Some one could tweet "I hate this town!", and suddenly you might just find a whole group of people jumping onto him/her, all because of one little tweet. The problem here wasn't so much of what this employee tweeted. Rather, it was where he was when he tweeted. He was in Memphis, headquarters of Fedex.

So there you have, just some simple example of how Twitter can make, or break. You know, with such technologies available now, I can't help but feel that it's making society, and people, even more prone to being even more jumpy and sensitive than before. Censorship has to be practised a lot more rigid than previously, because these days, everyone is connected one way or another. I practise censorship too, though my practise may not be as rigid as some (I may fly off the handle once a while, guilty as charged). But yes, I'm making it a point to reshuffle my thoughts before actually posting them.

The other day we had an internal sharing about Twitter, its power as a tool, and its weakness. There was a "Dos & Don'ts" list about tweeting. We're of course, advised to always tweet about positive things, and to stay clear from vulgarities and the likes. Although I didn't agree with some items on the list lah. Like, there's nothing wrong if a person tweets about their meals "I had KFC for lunch, yum" or "GAAAAAAAH!!!" Not everyone uses Twitter as a business tool, and it's not against any rule to tweet about something which has no specific context. Some of us, like me, use it to update my FB status.

Here are some articles for you to read about Twitter:

Link 1 (the Fedex story is stated here)
Link 2

The phrase "ignorance is bliss" holds a lot more truth these days than ever before. You're not allowed to think aloud anymore.

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Kitteh

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Supporting Role
Between hubby and me, I play the supporting role. Yup, that's me. The supporting role a.k.a "keh-leh-feh".

Sometimes hubby and I have casual chats about things. Sometimes when I feel down about my life, hubby's always there to cheer me up and reassure me that no matter how small my contribution, it's still a contribution and it's still a very important role.

I was venting the other night, about how sometimes no matter how much effort I put into something, it never seems to be enough for others. It's like no matter how hard you try, it's never good enough and there's always fault. Which tends to make me feel dejected and just want to throw the towel in and walk away from it all. Really, it does that to me.

Yes, I'm playing a supporting role. But that doesn't mean it's not important, right? I don't aspire to be a great leader, cos I know that I'm not exactly built with that sort of leadership quality within me to be a good leader. But I'm also not a follower because I have my own mind and I make my own decisions. So why is it so difficult sometimes for people to fully understand that, maybe some of us just want to be appreciated for what we can do? Why is it that some people would only acknowledge/see a person if he/she is a leader? What about the rest of the world who are not leaders? Are they not important too? Do they not play a vital role as well?

Hubby said that even though I'm playing the supporting role in the household, it's a very important role because he depends on me to take care of a lot minor things. My monthly monetary contribution may not be as big as his, but it's still an important contribution to our household. He's glad to be playing the main character, but he also needs a good supporting character to excel.

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

It's been a long while since I actually picked a book up. Recently while browsing Borders, I caught sight of the book 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini and was contemplating on getting it, but decided not to yet. I was telling my colleague about it, and she said she had gotten both Khaled Hosseini's books from MPH and loaned the first book to me first, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'.

What can I say about 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'? The book was both remarkable and thought provoking. I finished it in 4 days (to which my colleague exclaimed "SO FAST?!?") . Ok, so maybe 4 days is a little bit fast, but I know some people who can finish thick novels in 24hrs, maybe even less! But honestly, the book was gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. And it has been quite a while since a book like this one caught my attention.

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' talks about the Afghan women. Their lives, their tales, their sufferings, their story. Particularly, 2 Afghan women. The characters in this book are entirely fictional, but the places, historical facts and the descriptions of the locations is very much true. It starts off with one little Afghan girl, how she was made to wed a man 20 years her senior, to a very far of place, away from the people whom she had grown to love. The second part of the book will introduce another Afghan girl, and as you keep reading, the lives of these 2 women would eventually intertwine with each other.

As I read the book, I can't help but feel for their fate. All the pain they had to endure, all the suffering. And yet, amidst all the terror surrounding them, they stood by with all their might, and hope. The book doesn't just talk about the age-old traditions being practiced in Afghanistan past and present, it also touches on Afghanistan's history. There was a time, very long ago, when Afghanistan, Kabul to be more precise, was actually quite modern. All that changed when the war came raining on the land and people of Afghanistan. The war ravaged everything, Everything. And it's a wonder that a human heart and mind can actually be so strong during times like these.

Even though the characters in the book are fiction, somehow I felt that these characters really existed. They may not carry the exact names in the book, but yes, these women do exist in war-torn Afghanistan (and other war-torn countries) and this book gives us a glimpse of them. And yes, for years, centuries even, the women in Afghanistan, especially in the rural parts of the country, are enslaved by their men, treated worse than animals, stripped of all their rights as women. And this book tells it as it is. It's very hard to believe that pride and the pretext of religion can make a man treat a woman so cruelly. And some women also being cruel to their own sisters. Perhaps not cruel, rather, they've been living in fear and only fear. They don't know anything else other than fear. But the good thing is, not all Afghan men treat their women like possessions, as portrayed in the book. There are men that love their women and respect them as human beings.

My heart goes out to all the Afghan women out there. Now I'm eager to pick up 'The Kite Runner'.

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Earth Hour 2009


I'm pretty sure many of you would've been exposed to all the media ads regarding this. On the 28th of March 2009 at 8.30pm, turn off your lights for one hour. Come together to fight global warming.

We all know global warming is affecting everyone. And we all know what will happen should we not heed all the warnings Mother Earth has been giving us. We should all play our part in preserving the planet we're living on, should we not? Every little bit of action counts, be it recycling items, shutting the lights and electrical items when you're not using them, reduce water wastage, making garbage enzyme etc.

If you wish to participate in this global event, drop by the website and sign up. Spread the word as well, to your colleagues, organisation, family and friends and get everyone to take part with you. Large organisations like Media Prima, Fuji Xerox and landmarks like KL Tower, KL Sentral and Penang Bridge are also going to participate in this event.

And remember, try to make it your daily practise to take care of our little planet too :)

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Big Or Small?
I caught this snippet over the radio a few nights ago while driving. It was a snippet from the breakfast show in the morning, played again as an ad that night. The snippet goes like this:

The deejay was asking a certain rock group if they prefer big melons or small melons. And one of the group members said "Ah ah ah, well, as long as they are melons, I'll put my face in them!"

So, do you prefer big melons or small melons?

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Kjeldsen Butter Cookies


I loved butter cookies since I was a little girl. What's not to like, right? Kjeldsen butter cookies is one of my favourite brand of butter cookies. It's not just because of the cookies, the packaging itself brings back a lot of sweet memories I had which were spent growing up with my late maternal grandparents.

My late ah-gung will always buy this brand particular brand of butter cookies for the family, hence I grew up eating this brand a lot. Even though both my grandparents have passed on, seeing this brand in the market evokes a lot of memories which I cherish until today. So hubby bought one container back for me, and I just had to take pictures of them.



Everything about this brand of cookies was just as I remembered it to be. The colour of the container. The shape. The taste. The 5 different shapes of butter cookies. Right down to the little paper holders inside the container. I'm actually very glad the manufacturers of this brand kept everything as it was. It's a real classic, for me anyway.

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Kiku-Zakura @ Tropicana City Mall

Kiku-Zakura has always had a pretty good reputation for serving good Japanese food. The first time I went to Kiku-Zakura was to their outlet at Great Eastern Mall, KL. I found their food quality to be pretty good, though their pricing is a little on the high side when compared to places like Sushi Tei. They also have an outlet in Midvalley, and now Tropicana City Mall.


The first thing that caught our eyes were their menu was, how extensive it was! To be honest, it's been quite a while since we dined at Kiku-Zakura. And what we remembered from the menu was a one-fold menu, printed on all 4 sides (cover + 3 inner pages). The menu then had only a few bento sets, some ala carte dishes, sake and beverages range. Their current menu now? Fuiyoh! Pages and pages of Japanese cuisine to satisfy your taste buds, complete with pictures.

Seating arrangements in one of the sections at Kiku-Zakura.

The water feature at the entrance.

The interior of Kiku-Zakura is nicely done, simple lines and wooden flooring dominate the interior. You'll be greeted by friendly ever smiling waitresses dressed in a simple Japanese wraparound kimono-like attire.

Unaju (unagi with rice), priced at RM 33.

Thumbs up from hubby :P

Hubby's lunch was Unaju, essentially rice topped with unagi slices. The unagi was nicely done, not too sweet. Some Japanese restaurants serve really sweet unagi.

Senbon Zakura set, priced at RM 42 (dinner pricing is RM 43)

I had the Senbon Zakura set, shared it with hubby. The set had a combination of tempura, sashimi, some pan seared beef, unagi, a couple of broiled salmon pieces and a small piece of tofu. This bento set comes with salad, miso soup and fruits. Some of the bento sets at Kiku-Zakura don't come with rice, while others include rice, so when you're there, do refer to the menu's guide at the bottom (it's colour coded for customers to understand).

Exterior shot of the restaurant.

Overall, Kiku-Zakura's food and service is pretty good, although hubby had one complaint. And that was the rice they had used was not the usual Japanese rice, which is rather disappointing coming from this restaurant. I also told hubby that between Kiku-Zakura and Shun (located in Subang Jaya, one of our fav Japanese restaurant), Shun is still our top choice for good quality Japanese food :)

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Papparich Kopitiam @ 3 Two Square
I first heard about Papparich from Autumnmoth, who was telling me their Pappacham drink is so tasty, a certain Old Town can 'charp larp' LOL. So I told hubby about it, and he too heard about Papparich from his colleagues. So off we went on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon last weekend for lunch.

Papparich menu, pretty funky illustrations :)

Wah, so much food to choose from!

Papparich's menu is pretty extensive, with quite a wide variety to choose from (if you must compare to places like Old Town). Prices are a little higher when compared to Old Town too.

Papparich's PappaCham, the drink Autumnmoth told me to try.

Interior of Papparich.

Papparich has a pretty rustic interior. Simple wooden furnitures, some of which reminds you of those wooden chairs and marble tables from a typical kopitiam. They also have some modern looking chairs and sofas along the walls. I quite liked how the drinks bar was renovated.

Roti roti!

There was also this space for their soft breads. Customers can also opt to buy their jams, home-made I presume? In their menu, you could also char siew buns, which you can see steaming in the picture above (halal of course).

Pappacham cham cham~~~

And here's our drink, Pappacham. Cham is essentially a mixture of coffee and tea.


The drink is pretty nice actually. It has a creamy texture to it. I can't really compare Papparich's cham to Old Town's cham. Both drinks have their good points really. Pappacham has a creamy foamy texture to its drink, priced slightly higher and notably served in a larger glass. Old Town's version has a stronger flavour to it, priced slightly lower and in a smaller glass.


I had their dry curry mee, and it's served with a small bowl of soup. The noodles come in 2 varients, either with chicken slices or fish cakes. Served with some mint leaves, the overall taste of the dish was fairly ok.


Hubby tried their nasi lemak dish and said it was overall ok. Ok, I have to admit, we were comparing it to Old Town a lot LOL. Papparich's nasi lemak was ok, but the sambal can't really beat Old Town's nasi lemak sambal just yet. Also, the rice from Old Town's nasi lemak had a more pungent flavour to it.

Aaahhh~~~ One of our must haves when we eat at kopitiams, 2 half boiled eggs. According to the menu, Papparich serves kampung chicken eggs. I think you have to order the Hainan bread separately.

The service in Papparich was quite alright too. No doubt they did hire quite a few foreign workers, but thankfully they speak English. Service was quite prompt and polite. We were observing the crowd, and the crowd was slowly building up during lunch hour, with families coming in to have their meals.

I will definitely pay a next visit to this rustic kopitiam again in the near future. Gotta try their white coffee you know ;)

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Random Thoughts
Is it because I've lost it before, hence I want it?

Or is it because other people seem to be having it, hence I want one too?

Or is it because I just want to have one?

I guess I'm still trying to find the answers to my questions. And chances are there are no answers to my questions. I'm constantly reminding myself that I should not to lock myself in the realms of sadness. That I should look forward and always find happiness in everything, because that's the most important. But being human, I'm also very much flawed like everyone else. Emotions can sometimes be overwhelming. Sometimes it's just good to let it all out, rather than bottle things up. Let the emotions flow, let everything out, and show the world my weakness. And once that is all out, start picking up the pieces again and move forward with a smile :)

The scars will always be there. The healing process is still working its way through. But I'm glad they're not as deep as they once were.

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Random Conversation
Via GTalk

SS: i'm telling my gf to put salt on her big ulcer to get high

Oli: oh yessssss! i tell LK to do dat too. he said i'm CRAZY!!!! XP

SS: finally someone agrees with me..the pain is intense, but later on it's like a numbing pain..

Oli: it's damn high ok! :D:D:D syok!

SS: the high is incredible and the tears are immediate

Oli: and it heals damn fast!

SS: and your mouth feels numbs and you drool like an idiot *numb

Oli: and ur lips all go numb

SS: yes, heals damn fast yeah yeah!!

Oli: and u jump like some sohai

SS: so HIGH..yeah

Oli: bang ur fists on the tables as the intensity hits u

SS: jump jump...salt is good, listerine is second, tomato sauce is third

Oli: colgate is a bit mild

SS: colgate is for pussies

Oli: salt is da best rememdy for ulcers. u get high legally lol

SS: yeah..when it press on it..fuyoh!

Oli: even wasabi can't give u dat high

SS: yeah..geng ah!

Oli: in such a short time. split second. i shld blog about this LOLOLOLOL

SS: split second when your body realises. yeah you should. then it gets so numb and the whitish stuff just disappears

Oli: yayayayaya

SS: and it becomes a raw wound

Oli: and swells a bit

SS: then you lick it, it's a bit chewy hahahaha

Oli: hahahahaahhahahaa omg we r sick!

SS: no!!! it's a fact! ulcers on the lips are ok, the ones on the gum are a bit tricky, on the tongue. also and under the tongue. sometimes u can put salt on your finger and rub the ulcer down like sand paper...whoooooooooooooooooo

Oli: hahahahahhahahahaa

SS: pain like fark

Oli: but feels gooooood!!!!!!

SS: oohhh yeahh baby. it's like peeling a healing wound, the crusty crusty bits. pain but wow

Oli: yessssssssssss

Yes, this is the method my sis and I adopts whenever we have ulcers on our inner lips. SALT! The perfect remedy for ulcers. The feeling of rubbing salt to an ulcer is pure torture. The pain is so intense you can practically tear on the spot. You'll jump up and down from the intensity of the pain. Pain doesn't even describe the feeling LOL! Hubby thinks I'm insane whenever I suggest to rub salt onto his ulcer, and would steer clear away from me ehehehehehehehehehee!!!!

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... You'll be left behind...
You make it sound like people not on Twitter are losers, bound to be left behind to wallow forever in the misery of darkness. Let me just remind you that sometimes it's also good to stop and smell the roses and realise that life is a whole lot more than just the constant chase of technology/wealth/status etc.

It's also about living it.

Some of us may be able to keep up with your great mind. But sometimes some of us may also choose to slow down a little, just to re-evaluate our lives and what we really want out of it. So please, do refrain from saying things like "... you'll be left behind...". It only brings out the negativity and arrogance of a person. I appreciate you sharing all your knowledge with us, but I most certainly do not appreciate when you try to put any one of us down just because we're not up to date with what you think is advance.

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Home-made Roasted Pork Belly a.k.a Siew Yuk (very non-halal)
During CNY, hubby's friend SZ had made his own home-made roasted pork belly with much success, and this prompted us to try the recipe out too. Even Loopymeals had quite a success on his first attempt, so we decided to give it a go! I had followed Happyhomemaker88's recipe, but halfed all the ingredients as we bought a 1 kilo pork belly instead (small oven ma).

Ingredients:
Marinade
1kg pork belly
1 cube fermented red bean cube (nam yee)
1 tps 5 spice powder (ng heong fun)
1 tps white pepper
1 tps salt
1 tps garlic (pounded)
1 tps sugar
1 tbps rice wine

Rubbing on pork belly skin
1 tbps salt
2 tbps rice vinegar

Our roasting method differs a little from Happyhomemaker88, as we have a counter top oven. So if you're attempting to roast your own pork belly, I guess it's advisable to observe the entire roasting process and adjust according, as every oven works differently.

Porky porky~~~!

Step 1: Make sure the pork belly you bought is thoroughly cleaned, and pluck out any hair you come cross. Ask your butcher to clean it for you.

Hot jacuzzi~~~!

Step 2: Blanch the pork in hot water for 3-5 minutes, to get rid of the musky smell.

Macam kuih lapis, tapi tak halal mia kuih~!

Step 3: Using a very sharp fork or clean nail, prick the surface of the pork skin. The more holes the better! There's actually a tool (see pic below) to help you prick the skin faster, but we didn't have it at that time, so we had to improvise. It's a pretty tiring process, but you have to be patient when pricking the skin will ensure the crispiness of the skin when roasting. Don't try to cheat!

Yat pek yeh~

Step 4: Prepare the marinade for the meat in a bowl. Mix it all up into a paste.

Pig arrr pig... marinate nicely haarrr~~~!

Step 5: Score the under side of the pork belly about 1cm in depth and 1.5 cm distance between each score. Rub the marinade onto the pork belly (give it a nice massage :D).


Step 6: Using a pastry brush, brush the rice vinegar onto the skin. Then brush the salt. Keep the meat in the fridge uncovered for several hours to marinate. Or you could marinate the meat overnight like we did. The dry condition in the fridge will dry the piece of meat nicely.

Pork belly roasting in the oven for about 5 minutes.

Step 7: Preheat the oven at 200­°C for about 20 minutes, using top and bottom heat. My timer was set at 40 minutes. Place the pork belly into the oven to roast for 20 minutes, skin side up. The aluminum foil is optional, as we didn't want to oil to splatter too much. I was observing the pork belly when hubby thought I had placed the pork a little too low from the top heating element. So I moved it one rack up, and switched to top heating only. It was then you could see the surface of the skin crackling non-stop, and you could hear the little popping sound too! We decided to leave the pork belly for another 5 minutes, before brushing a bit more rice vinegar to accelerate the cooking process on the skin. With the remaining time of 10 minutes, we left to pork belly to roast.

And this is the final result...


It sure does look like the real thing, doesn't it? Actually the top part of the skin would be charred during roasting, which is a normal process because it would indicate that the skin is roasted thoroughly. Just take a knife and scrape the charred parts off to reveal a nice orangy roasted pork skin. We took a bite and the texture was just heavenly! The skin was really crunchy, and the meat was flavourful (can't go wrong with the marination process really). I gave some to my neighbour and they gave the thumbs up! Since it's 1 kilo of siew yuk, it's quite a lot for both of us to eat, so we called a couple more neighbours to be our (willing) guinea pigs HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

We believe that the most crucial part of the entire process is pricking the pork skin. It's a tiring job pricking the skin really, but you have to prick as many holes as possible because I think that during the roasting process, as the vinegar gets heated up, it will cause the pork skin to sort of crackle and bubble up, making it crispy.

Thanks to Happyhomemaker88 and hubby's friend SZ for the recipe and also the tips. Now I really wish I have a self-cleaning oven, as the splatter from the pig skin left a bit of a mess to our oven XP

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Crab Chow-Tut
Hubby and I, together with my parents and 2 family friends, had a massive crab *chow-tut session yesterday night. My dad had gotten several kilos of mud crabs from a friend who is in the fishing business in Pulau Ketam. My dad sold some crabs to some friends, and kept the rest for his own consumption.

We had fried bihun (vermicelli) with crabs, sweet and sour crabs and the much anticipated steamed crabs. WOOHOO!!! I didn't take pictures of the dishes, too busy eating lah! Gotta get your hands dirty when eating crabs you know :PpPpPpP But just to entice some of you a bit, here's a picture of the one of the crab pincer I had...

W00t! And that'st just the pincer!

The length is longer than the size of my palm!!! And that's just the pincer ok :P At the background you can see the 3 crab dishes we had last night. That large pincer came from a crab weighing about 1.5 kilos. My dad's friend had given him 3 large crabs of that size, and he and my mum had 1 each the day before. This type of large size crabs doesn't come along all the time.

%$#@#%& you!

My dad gave us 3 smaller crabs to bring home. Here's a picture of one staring me right at the face with a very menacing look. This photo was taken about 1.5 hours ago.

And here's a picture of the little fella and his 2 other friends, after some cleaning and steaming :P

Yummilicious crustacean delight~~~! NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

*chow-tut: It means to overdose/get high on something, be it food, sex, alcohol etc.

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