goodies.bag

Last night I went to Helmond for a monthly care meeting. There are a lot of people (mainly Indonesians) that I don't know and is kind of a small Indonesian community at that part of the country.

The meeting went well, food was excellent and Indonesians are very hospitable plus the hostess is excellence in cooking and baking.

Just as we are about to leave, the host passed us a goodies bag. These are what sit in the goodies bag ....

Super duper fluffy, light and airily pandan cake

A not so sweet light cheese cake, the saltiness and the sweetness is just perfect, plus is not heavy or too rich in cheese at all....

Thank you so much i. M....

matcha.rose.patels.chocolate.chip.muffins

hangover.remedy

I woke up with a bit of hangover from Friday's evening drinks.

This is my hangover remedy. 1/4 handful of sliced America Ginseng with a glass of hot water.

Believe me, it works like magic.... It's even more effective if you drink this right after the night of binge and before you retreat to your sleep, then you will wake up as if nothing happened a night before....

friday.drinks

I went back to office today, it's the first time this year and I was organizing an internal event this afternoon. The event is boring (as expected) but the I thoroughly enjoyed the Friday's evening office drinks with my colleagues, some I have not seen for a long time.
Lot's of catch ups, lots of gossips and lots of fun... The beer service is overflowing along with the Dutch party finger food (kroket balls, cheese sticks, nuggets, mini sausages, etc), nuts and chips.
I lost count on the beer I drank (I think four glass) while enjoying the chat and the company... I also lost count of how much chips and nuts I have munched on let alone the deep fried finger food.
All I know is when I checked my blood sugar when I am about to leave the office, it has risen to 16. I was shocked! I thought alcohol will lower the blood sugar level but may be I have munched too much on the junk food that high in carbohydrate...
I have to take my injection immediately to lower down my blood sugar. Anyway, it went down from 16 to 10 by the time I am ready to sleep.
Lesson learnt: All things are permissible but not everything is beneficial....

let.there.be.light

I have been having this verse in my heart for a few days now, Your Word says 1 John 1:15 "When there is light, there is no darkness...."

BUT...

Why there is such a massive of darkness hovering over me and my circumstances.

Let Your light shines Lord!!

hokey.pokey

Yesterday as I was driving to my appointment, Radio West played this song "Hokey Pokey" in retro style. I know this song very well from my teenage time, we did that a lot in Girl's Bridge meetings. Hearing this again yesterday made me laugh and I also mentally move my body according to the lyrics. O Lord, it's been awhile since I even had a smile or laugh from within my heart, and God knows I needed just that!

first.day.of.work.&.craving.for...

I am 'technically' back to work this afternoon, I had a meeting with my counselee at cafe Dudok Den Haag. I arrived slightly earlier than the appointment time and ordered myself a cappuccino and a famous Dudok apple tart.

We had a good chat, he has some concerns so I gave my advice, opinions and also summarized his performance of the past few months in preparation for mid year review before we end the session. I have to do this sort of session a few time with a few counselees...

As I walked out of Dudok and heading to car park, I suddenly crave for KFC, yeah the hot and spicy chicken... so I bought a bucket of six home. It's so soooo cold out there and the spicy chicken would warm me up and oh so satisfying....

I have my share of gym today so I am not afraid of the extra calories and fat... after all, when was the last time I have KFC? must be ages ago....

::to.be.or.not.to.be::

Life goes on regardless ....

I need to get my life straight again, with or without... I am supposed to be back to work but I have been postponing my appointments for two days due to health and unforeseen circumstances that have once again taken me by surprise....

Life must go on ...

I need to gain the foothold in my career again in 2010

I need to seriously pursuing my dreams...

I need to be healthy and happy...

To be healthy, I need to eat food that balance in nutrition, in line with my sweet life and food that makes me happy....

S'more aka a piece of lightly melted dark pure chocolate and marshmallow, sandwiched between two Graham biscuits. A little messy but really gooey, sooooo good and makes me happy.



Corned beef hash patties, a sudden urge for corned beef (my childhood food). Corned beef mixed with chucky meshed potatoes, onion and egg, pan fried till both sides are crisp, eat with green salad, delicious and satisfying!!

Pursuing my blueberries' dream... a batch of blueberry muffins for tea and perhaps breakfast, moist and juicy...

To be or not to be, happiness is a choice, isn't it?

stomach.flu

I can't believe myself slept through till 12:30pm today. Last night just when I was about to get ready to sleep my stomach suddenly gets active and kept me busy for the next 3 hours (i.e. passed midnight). I literally have to sit in the WC or run to it every few minutes and by the end of it I am completely tired and dehydrated...

It happened once last week and it happened again yesterday, my body is now so vulnerable and prone to infections :(

Water is what I need!

holiday.read.over

Most people return to work since 4th January... I am perhaps one of the exceptional ones.
These are the books I read during most part of December and first week of January...
The Gift - Nice and touching story about one should cherish life and everything one has while he can
A Year in Japan - mostly graphical with just a few lines of hand written word supporting each paintings/sketches
Old Kyoto - not really a novel but an in depth recommendation of each old shop in Kyoto that open up the world behind the secluded shop front door. If I go back to Kyoto again, I will definitely use this as a guide in search of the almost extinct old shops of Kyoto.
A piano teacher - a rather surprise pick from Waterstone in Piccadilly and love the story setting of second world war in Hong Kong
Going Home - a rather Christmasy read, light and enchanting with a manor house in between the story line
Eleven Minute - I picked this up at Schiphol airport, a rather erotic and exotic novel typical by Paulo Coelho..
Now holiday is over, from tomorrow I am going back to 50% work.

I have been munching on...

these....

Our pastors gave us a box of chocolate truffles during their visit to our home and I have been munching on these since...

These truffles are light and smooth, it melts in the mouth slowly so that you can experience the gooey, chocolaty and what a pure sensation...

Since it is so satisfying, one or two a day is actually more than enough to keep me going...

cuppa.tea

To be precise, I have been drinking cuppa rose tea whole day...

the subtle and soothing rose fragrance

no tea caffeine

made from beautiful dried rose buds

refreshing and warming on cold winter day!

avatar

Just watched Avatar today, nice movie....

drowsy.day

I had the hysterescopy this morning, not particularly painful than the previous one but I am being toxify by all sort of painkillers (Advil liquid tablet, paracetamol, Naxproxen) a few days before the checkup and that made me hardly think straight, move properly. I have been feeling drowsy and sleepy all day and woke up with a bit of headache and up coming flu....

Did I mention that I switched to insulin injection instead of oral medication? I have been injecting the green one since the day I became a diabetes patient, the orange one is a substitute for oral medication.

Sometimes I feel like I am a drug addict who needs to inject myself 4 times a day...

Here is the needle box, it fills up really fast...

back.to.square.one

It's been very cold, grey and wintry, the extreme weather has hit us....

Two nights ago, I experienced the severe pain again on the left side of my abdominal, the same pain that happened before I was diagnosed with diabetes.

In fact, ever since the "discovery", I always woke up in middle of the night, feeling warm and full of sweat, "slept but not rested" explain it all. My blood sugar is on a roller coater ride again and two nights ago, it was the severe pain that woke me up at 3am and I have to take 2 painkillers to ease myself before I fall asleep again.

Due to the painkillers, I was drowsy whole day yesterday, hardly walk straight or even think properly, and at the round 4pm yesterday afternoon the pain came back again, from subtle to eventually unbearable sharp pain at around 8pm that I couldn't do anything but lied on my bed and endure the sufferings...

I finally went to the after hour clinic at the annex of local hospital and diagnosed with urinary infection. That's explain the blood stripes in my urine and the sensation of always wanting to go to the toilet but nothing pass out.

I am being prescribed with 7 days antibiotic to combat the bacteria infection, another oral medication in additional to what I am already taking, plus tomorrow being the day of Hysteroscopy didn't help either with this infection along side.

Right now, I really feel that everything is back to the square one, just as I took time off to focus on improving my health, going for alternative treatment, kicking start an active lifestyle with fitness, pursuing my hobby in baking and yet right now my health is not getting anyway better but "back to the square one" is the best phrase to describe it all just as I about to go back to 50% work next week.

O well, there must be progress (positive ones) in 2010....

2009.old.2010.new

Playing with my nephew and his friend during old and new celebration... Some time it is good to be a child again CAREFREE.

oceshi.お節会席.2010

After Hermitage Amsterdam, we came to Okura hotel for a Japanese meal....

Lobby of Okura Hotel Amsterdam, the Japanese flowers display (ikebana) and the entrance to either Sazanka or Yamazato restaurants. We had a reservation at Sazanka but I actually preferred to try the authentic Japanese New Year Ocheshi meal than just a normal Kaiseki menu that you can get any time of the year.... so we switched to Yamazato...

Oceshi お節会席menu for 2010

Osechi - the appetizer set, everything (in bite size) come with a name and meaning behind it. The first row is sweet, second row is salty and the third row is complex taste...

Otoso (おとそ) - a cup of New Year spiced sake for health and happiness

The sweet stuffs....

Kuromame(黒豆) - means Diligence. Mame, ‘bean’ in Japanese, written with different characters means ‘diligent’. People eat this dish wishing to live a ‘diligent’ new year. The glass consists of black soy beans simmered in syrup, serve with gold flakes

Tatsukuri - Bountiful harvests. Tatsukuri, literally ‘making rice fields’ is dried baby sardines that have been simmered in soy sauce. In the Edo period, dried baby sardines were used as fertilizer to enrich the soil and increase the harvest

Kinton - Puree of sweet potato with chestnuts

The savory bites...

Kosode - pink and white cod fish cake

Datemaki (伊達巻き) - Omelet rolls with shrimp paste (left)

Ogawakunsei - smoked king salmon in cuttlefish cake (right)

Karasumi(カラスミ) - Bottarga with the meaning of promotion, progress in life. It is made of the fish egg sac. This fish has different names during it’s growth stages, so its name changes as it grows up, so people eats hoping to progress in life.

Kazunoko (数の子) - Many descendants made of cured herring roe, holds an enormous number of eggs and people eat this hoping to have many descendants.

Unohana (卯の花) - Marinated herring coated in tofu flour

Kobumaki (昆布巻き) - symbolize Happiness and joy...eel wrapped with simmered kelp. Kelp is called kombu, or kobu in Japanese. Kobu is a play on the word yorokobu, which means happiness and joy

Then the typical new year soup, Kamo-zouni (鴨の雑煮) - new year duck soup with sticky mochi

Yaki-sakana - Grilled semi dried salmon and yellow tail with teriyaki sauce

Ryuhi-maki - vinegary brill rolled in Ryuhi kelp and Daikon raddish salad

Tempura - assorted seafood and Japanese vegetables

The sashimi Iwai Mori - consists of lightly seared scallop, blue fin tuna and lobster

Nishime - Lightly simmered Japanese vegetables and prawn in mirin. The dish consists of:

(1) Shin Takenoko Fukumeni 新筍子含煮: Prosperity and growth. Bamboo grows very fast, so people eat this hoping for their family’s prosperity and growth to be like that of bamboo.

(2) Matsukasa Kuwai 松笠慈姑: Auspiciousness. Kuwai bulb produces a large sprout, and this is a symbol of growth and development. The bulb is cut into the shape of a pine cone, the pine tree, in Japanese culture is a majestic and auspicious symbol.

(3) Kurumaebi Tsuyayu 車海老艶湯: Longevity shrimp has long whiskers and their backs are curved, they are associated with elder people. People eat shrimp hoping to live a long life

The Shokuji - which resembles a normal and regular Japanese set menu with rice, pickles, miso soup and the main dish of Nishime and Ryuhi-maki in this case, but from this point onwards I am too stuffed and it is no longer enjoyable, even though the food is nicely presented in a tray...

The dessert, serves in a black lacquer box is called "Mizukashi". It consists of Muskmelon, a sour plum (ume) coated in syrup and gold flakes, a punnet of strawberry. Japanese Ice cream red bean (adzuki) and sake flavors and Kasutera cake with green tea (matcha) flavor and small Kyoto style hard candies...

It's an elaborated meal that took us over three hours to complete the full Monty. It would be really enjoyable and memorable if nothing had happened at the end of last year....

But now looking forward to 2010...