The sun is out.....

When the sun is shining and greets you in the early morning, the spirit is lifted up somehow! The clothes will have a nice smell after the drying and the birds are chirping merrily! Even the bananas are happy as they have also turned yellow and the squirrels have already their feed! Plus the flowers in the garden looks brighter and...... look at the blue skies!

I just finished making a dessert to bring along this evening to the Haegers. Want to make a guess? Its a long time since I have tried making this as I have written down this recipe from my mum-in-law who had always pampered her 'maenner' with lots of desserts! This is one of her children's favourite -'apfelsine speise'!


We need 500 ml of orange juice, juice from 1 lemon or grapefruit, 10g of gelatine (powder or 'leaves'), 2 egg yolk, 2 egg white & 3-4 tabsp. castor sugar

Soak gelatine in cold water until soft. I use a water bath to melt the 'blatt' gelatine and pour into the fluid mixture of juice, yolks and sugar. Whisk and mix well. Cool in the refrigerator till half set.

Whisk the egg white until stiff. Fold it into the half set mixture, mix well and place in the fridge until set. (Better to cool more than 2 hours and to put back in fridge as soon as possible if unfinished!)

This is how it should look like when it is completed. Very good for a hot day as it is very refreshing!
Well, have a good time trying and reading as we have to get ready for our dinner invitation soon.

Raining again......

The sky was angry, dark-looking and waiting to pour any moment! It did at 7.30am and still 'weeping' till now 3pm! I don't think it will stop soon and so I'll just stay in the office and do some filing! Our Friday ladies meet today! There were a handful of ladies there this morning when Chye and Joo Ping shared with us about their lives in Kunming. It was interesting as we were also there last year but as visitors at their cafe 'Rasa Aroma'!
It was so wet in our garden that I didn't know how to take some photos to show that the heavens are still pouring streams of water to the earth! Here are some flowers and coconuts from our garden!

Meeting Sohs, Teo's visit & Leanne's birthday celebration with us!

On Monday, my friends from Kunming, back for home visit, came to visit me! They have a time slot free for 5pm and so we had a cup of tea and some chat. I thought it would be more comfortable if we stayed home for dinner, so we had some home cooked food - fish with taucheo sauce, mixed vegetables and potatoes with canned pork chops! Well, I think Rasmey did a good job with her cooking as it tasted delicious and everyone had a satisfied tummy! They left after dinner for another appointment but we promised to meet again on Wed 28/7 for Leanne's birthday! Then we (Rasmey & I) had to clear the fridge so that it is switched off and ready for the guys tomorrow! We had difficulty to squeeze all the food from the big fridge to the other small fridges but we managed somehow!
On Tuesday, I drove to Tai chi in the morning and went to collect the chicken which I had ordered. Then Richard, the repairman came with his assistant, to remove the rubber lining from our ACMA fridge so that he can order a new one for the next day! At 12pm, I went to meet up with Swee Foong and Soh, ex-colleagues of mine from Antara Steel Mills, for lunch near to Sutera Mall! We had so much to talk about after all these years (the last time I saw them was when one of my girls had birthday and I invited her with children to our place!) and I forgot to take some photos! But I have to cut her short at 3.30pm so that I can do some shopping at Carrefour and go home to bake a strawberry cake for the birthday girl the next day! I wasted some time at the shopping complex because it was unfamiliar to me. After circling round and round to find a parking I was so excited to get one. In my haste to go quickly as I was late, I forgot to have a look at the parking lot number!!! Can you imagine? Wandering like a 'lost child' in a car park. After dinner, I quickly baked the cake I promised!

This morning it was raining. So I did Tai chi at home. Then went to the post office to post the 'bafoeg' letter to Carina and to collect the water basin for my japanese garden which we had to send for repair as it was leaking! (On Sunday Rahman promised to come and help me set it back!) Then I prepared the baked sandwiched french toast, bought some curry puffs and 'putu mayam' to add it to the layout but I forgot to take some pictures as I was busy with preparing the cream, attending to the guests and on top of that the streamyx people have also to come at the same time!!! . The repair guys occupying the precious space in my small kitchen fixing back the rubber lining hinders me from getting at my utensils! Isn't it a bit too much?????? Anyway, I am happy the guests enjoyed the food and left happily.......

Today is Sunday.......

Got up early as I couldn't sleep after opening my eyes! Was digesting over our conversation with our eldest girl! Still thinking (tick-tock! tick-tock!) and will write her a mail later! Meanwhile I got ready to go to church as today I have to pick up an elderly lady who just came back from visiting her daughter in Munich! She was waiting for me with her maid at the laksa shop after I make a big U-turn! The main road at our place has been altered to a 4-lane which have inconvenienced many of us at the housing estates. The usual walk across the road has been stopped and if we want to drive to the shop houses, we have to take 4 km U-turn in order to buy something from the shops! Our worship service today was conducted by the Youth Group with nice lively music and performance from the "Boys brigade" singing group where they won runner-up in a competition in Thailand! Good performance! Today's sermon was on "153", the number of fish caught by the fishermen in John 21. It was something to ponder about.
So, I wanted to upload the pictures below but thought maybe I can do it today to brighten up my blog since I don't have any photos for my blog today! Make a guess who is behind the towel? What is he doing? Beauty regime to turn the clock backwards?? Hmmm..mmmm.. home spa lah!

What happened yesterday and today?

Delicious looking strawberries from Giant!

Yesterday was a busy day when I started to bake a strawberry cake. In the late morning, I prepared the strawberries, washed, removed the leaves and centre part and put in some vanillin sugar to sweeten them just in case they are too sour! Then I have to bake the sponge butter cake base (not like in Germany where I can easily buy one at the supermarket!). When the cake base was baked and cooled, I sprinkled some 'sahne steif" so as to avoid the cake getting too soggy! Then I arranged the cool strawberries on the cake base. Now I have to prepare some red gelatine to pour over the strawberries and viola...... the cake is ready! Then we had a quick dinner and then headed for our foot reflexology and body massage!

What is for tea today?

Down memory lane to Pasir Gudang.....

Today we took a trip to Pasir Gudang, for me it is after more than 25 years since I left my place of work! Don't recognise anything at all..... looks all foreign to me....... Then we got lost and have been circling 3 times that we decided to call our friend, Mohd Noh for assistance! At one junction, my better half was so confused that he even drove into the wrong lane with the traffic coming towards us! We stopped somewhere along the road and SOS. After 5 mins Mohd Noh came along to direct the lost 'sheep' to the correct destination! Our reason for travelling this way: Joerg was searching high and low to buy an imported 2nd hand trailer when he remembered one which he wanted to buy over several years ago! Well, the trailer was not well protected, has been under rain and shine for ???? years! Here is Joerg with Mohd Noh! By the way, he will be working in the same office with Joerg very soon! That's it for today!

In a blur......

Hm.m. I am curious how this will all work out, so I am just giving it a try! Nothing venture, nothing gain I suppose. What should I do next? Er.... maybe try to put some nice design or pictures?????? Well, I have been thinking for a long time to start a blog but never get to do it when I figure how complicated it will be! My daughter said 'it is easy, mum' but I don't think I am so IT fit! There are so many things going through my head what I should write or do on the blog but I still don't have a definite idea yet. Maybe I'll start off with some introduction of my everyday life in Johore Bahru. The weather is supposed to be hot and sunny in July but what kind of a weather do we have - raining everyday and sometimes even flash floods! Whoa! Yesterday (21/7/2010) we had a terrible thunderstorm that our poor trembling dog, Sherry, didn't know where he can hide itself from the terrible lightning and thunder rumbling in the open skies! The next time I must take a video and download with the noise and scene of our torrential rain!