Some ppl said that bloggers are ppl who has lots to say but no one to listen to – I think i started out blogging this way – hhahhaa!!  But blogging has brought me many valuable friends over the internet – and did you know I met my spouse online some 16 yrs ago?  Yes, yes !  we spoke online for 6 years before coming to Canada and the rest – as they said is history.

I’ve always loved making friends with new bloggers and some you know will turn out to be lifelong friends like Jen Cheung from Toronto.  Jen is a very young and pretty gal – who is not only fashionable but passionate – someone who dares to show you her true color as well as very, very good with her hands.

If you are a fan of this blog – please hop over and show some support to Jen’s blogs and you might find that there are some gems there – from food in toronto – to handicraft work/sale by Jen herself and of course – she also tells you all about her life and her preparation for her upcoming marriage.

Some of you may already know her but nevermind – still can hop over and say hello – leave comments – donch be shy – Jen donch bite.  These are her blogs :

http://charmoflove.ca/
http://passion4food.ca/
http://charmoflife.ca/

Thanks for your support – new fans get special treatment after saying hello and leaving comments on Jen’s blogs – *wink, wink* – your passport to passwords (donch say i didn’t share with you)

Notable: Replacing In the Eye of the Beholder, Flora Chan’s comeback series
Release Date: April 5, 2010

In order to rescue her best friend COCO KAM (Lau Yuk Chui), masseuse CHENG SIU-YAN (Flora Chan) is embroiled in a triad murder case. Misconceiving that she has killed someone, YAN hides away from the police and gangsters by reluctantly returning to her long-separated father CHENG TSUN-CHEONG (Shek Sau). CHEONG opens a Chinese herbal tea shop but the business is failing. YAN drags through the days stressfully until NG CHUNG-MING (Ma Tak Chung) comes into her life. MING claims to have a secret prescription for making Chinese herbal tea but he is actually an undercover police. By investigating YAN’s case, MING hopes to get promoted and marry his inspector girlfriend CHEUNG SZ-MAN (Sharon Chan) at the end. MING’s supervisor CHEUNG SZ-CHAI (Chan Kwok Bong) used to oppress him a lot and MING is losing confidence at work. However, ever since he meets the cheerful YAN, MING begins to develop his self-esteem and find his life path. His delicate relationship with YAN also starts to grow.

MING’s younger brother NG CHUNG-HONG (Law Chung Him) meets YAN’s younger sister CHENG SIU-MAN (Mandy Wong) and love grows spontaneously. However, YAN finds out MING’s identity and she believes that the two brothers are making use of them to carry out investigation. On the other hand, MING learns that YAN’s cousin LEUNG KING-HO (Yuen Shiu Cheung) is just released from jail and he is familiar with the gang leader, and YAN is considered in connection with the case. Their blossoming relationship is thrown into turmoil as they get closer to the truth.

A Sneak Peek

More Synopsis Here

It’s that time of the year  – with Tim Hortons – the roll up the rim contest is when you buy a drink – coffee or tea – you roll up the rims and then you can check if you won anything.  Usually you win a coffee or a donut – I haven’t won anything big so far but I do get my free coffee.  When I first came to Canada – i usually give away the free coffees or donuts to the employees – PB usually think i am crazy – but i figured I didn’t need the coffee or donut that much since i couldn’t take any sugar and my coffee i couldn’t take more than 1 cup a day – while i do my daily  online backup .

I’ve heard of people winning cash $1000 and some said they won tvs but not here in this town but in Toronto – obviously because they have more ppl there that drinks more coffee i am guessing.  Do people drink more coffee with the roll up the rim contest on ?  I think so – but me – i drink my usual 1 cup a day and never more.  What about you?  do you drink a lot of coffee..??  how much sugar and cream do you take..??  i have a medium coffee with 1 cream – absolutely  no sugar – else i can’t drink it – and i have had to return some coffee initially but not anymore now because everyone at Tim’s knows that this crazy chinese woman is diabetic. muahahah!!

You all know that I’m keen to try any new food and so since a new cafe in town opened up -this is not the first time – I’ve tried their food.  They have their daily special put up on Facebook – unfortunately, it does not explain exactly what type of food it is – so i had to google it before i ordered.  The other day – they had beef shawarma, hommus (this i know) and Fatouche salad (this i also knew).   I know you are wondering why i couldn’t call to ask what kinda food it was – well, i did a few times – but they didn’t really know how to explain nor upsell their food – i’m guessing it’s because it’s quite popular and new – so they are sold out every lunch time – so their customer service – well – lets say – it’s much to be desired.   Anyhow, I was actually looking for mac memory when i got hungry and called last minute and they had enough to make one order.How was the food..??  not bad at all – it was something different but nothing to really shout about.  Would i eat it again – sure .. but not too soon eh.    For $7.95 + tax – one can’t really ask for too much eh.

I’ve been busy as you all can see – between the store – the kid – the school – well – you get where i’m coming from.  Plus, I’m pretty popular with my blogging friends and I get asked a lot of different things on different issues.  Sometimes, I get asked to help to find cherry flavor kit kat and even advice on various things.  Like just the other day – I was asked by a blogging friend about how I chose a pre-school for Chloe.

So here I am throwing this question back to you about an online university.  As you all know – nursing is one of the most respectable occupation here in our small town.  And when a young adult tells me that they want to go into nursing – I’m all for it.  Why?  because with a nursing degree – you can just go anywheres – because there is always work for nurses – in any part of the world.   But what if you are like me a mom and a wife or/and already a nurse but wants a better chance in getting that promotion? someone who is already so busy  but want to make a  change in your life and lifestyle?   What do you think about an online nursing degree ?  Would you succeed?  would your degree be recognized?  can you find time for online studies? what are the times? and many, many other questions – like how would you get help.

What is your take on an online degree – i was asked – just yesterday.  My take ?  Do your research – choose the right online university – and lots of determination and discipline is required – and stay on track.  I’ve seen others do it and it worked for them but if there are others who wants to chime in – please feel free.

They are not really pickled fish but they sure looked like it eh.  hahhaa!!  it was really funny to see the fish this way – i think it’s like fish cake – because they were a mixture of different kind of fish – but they looked like sausages soaked in water.  Pretty gross actually !  nope i didn’t buy it.. but I thought i would share it with everyone.   I bet you and I won’t eat it but Chloe’s grampie might..   I’ll have to check with him next time i am out visiting.

I don’t drink the regular tea here in Canada – i usually ask for Owl’s 3-in-1 tea – but you see the Asian grocery store isn’t here in Yarmouth but in Halifax and they were outta it – so Mr R – was so kind and went over to Bedford side to get some for me.  Well, they didn’t have Owl’s brand as you can see – so they gave Mr R this instead – which isn’t too bad.  But wait a minute – you must be thinking that this must be loaded with sugar.  YES ! it is .. but before you wag your fingers at me.. and say .. “naughty old fart” … hahahah!!!  i only drink half a pack and not the full one.  Like i said to everyone – having diabetic doesn’t mean you can’t eat or drink anything – you sure can.. but everything in moderation.   I’ve never drank ipoh tea before – so now i know how ipoh tea taste like eh.  I know a few fans here who are originally from Ipoh – i wonder if they would say the same about my instant ipoh tea.

Last week, since Chloe spent a lot of days at her grandparents – i didn’t need to cook for her – so i decided to take a breather – and order some take out.  But days of having wanton soup and egg rolls can be quite “jerlat” (tiring) – so i called the Zhu’s up and asked if she can make me a side order of sweet & sour pork (kow low york) and a bowl of rice.    The Zhu’s only charged me $3 dollars for a whole bowl of sweet and sour pork and a bowl of rice and you all know that is way too little.  The food was good and the next day i tried to give them more money for the sweet and sour pork but they won’t take it.  You see PB had gone to collect the take out for me – and he never argues  – the cashier tells the price – he just give it to them.  The Zhus are really nice to us – I don’t know how to thank them to be honest.  I’m just grateful for good ppl from both near and far – especially when there are so many bad ones we see at work.

Last week during March break – Chloe went to visit her grandparent’s on her own for the first time.  In fact, she went back again the next day and again on Saturday – because she had so much fun out there.  Grammie’s and Grampie’s has lots of garden to play with and they did all sorts of things  – from planting peas to digging worms and learned to shoo the cats away.   But the most important thing Chloe did was bake a cake with her grammie and then stick flags that Auntie Anna had sent from USA last year.  Of course – the frosting had to be pink!  so if you see any cakes in pink – it had to be Chloe’s cake.

Jenny had sent this postcard all the way from Western Australia when she was on vacation – which i received a few weeks ago – but didn’t even have the time to post it up.    Wasn’t she sweet to think of us even when she was on vacation.  This blog has brought me many wonderful people from around the world and they are always so kind and thoughtful to us.   The postcard is of CApe Leeuwin Lighthouse – I haven’t been there but Jenny – we have lots of lighthouses here in Nova Scotia too – I haven’t been to all but there is one near our town – John’s Cove – another famous one is near the city called Peggy’s Cove.   The next time I’m in these places I’ll be thinking of Jenny too.   Thank you for your postcard – i show everyone who comes into our store – and they all think you are so kind.

I’m constantly looking for healthy stuff to eat because of my diabetes, just like PB looking out for free seo tool to help the people who are hosting with us.  My quest to share healthy and edible diabetic snack had been very fruitless.  Take for example this bag of pita puffs that i found at the local supermarket – they are not cheap – at $3 a packet but i still bought it to give it a try.  The first bite, i already know that it would be really hard to stomach – unlike eating BBQ chips – not like i eat a lot of chips.  Whenever i do eat chips.. i only take a few chips to satisfy my craving – but still i want to find something healthier because i know not everyone can eat in moderation.  This pita puffs contains no sugar but it was dry and horrid in taste – so i definitely don’t recommend it for anyone.

Who needs expensive ice cream when you can buy a box of sugar cones for $0.99 cents a tub of ice cream for less than $5 and still enjoy it tremendously.   We used to go out and get soft serve ice cream in Hebron during summer and spend close to 10 bucks for 2 ice cream cones – must more expensive than buying a new blackhead extractor – and the sugar cones lasted good for days.  Most cones they get soften and taste bad after a few days .. but not these sugar cones by local no name brand from Sobeys.

See a perfectly happy kid with a happy cone.

I had told PB that I wasn’t cooking on Sunday because it’s my rest day and on last Sunday – I had a mission and that was to re-arrange my pantry and look into some womens vitamins that i’m keen on buying.  By the way – we have 2 pantries – one for my food and one for PB’s food.. hhahah!!! yes..! kinda crazy..!  but guess what..?? i ended up cooking on Sunday..! because it was sthe only right thing to do .. for Chloe… afterall, she needs wholesome meals right..??

So at 4.30pm on last Sunday.. i started chopping and cooking… and since we haven’t had Emperor’s chicken for so long – i decided to steam some.  It was a 2hrs cooking in low flame – and since i didn’t wanna use a whole chicken..  I decided to get some drumsticks instead.

With whole chicken .. we end up not eating all the chicken.. so i decided that this will do.  But when you are using the herbs meant for this steam chicken.. make sure you don’t use as much paste as i did because it might just turn out to be a bit bitter.. and add some water into it.. because not much came out of these drumsticks.

We also added red dates and wolfberries into the steamed chicken .. for a healthier meal.

And at 5.30pm .. PB helped me cooked some hainanese chicken rice to go with the steamed chicken… so there we had whole home cooked meals for the weekend.  I feel pretty good about it… because I like knowing that i didn’t give junk food to Chloe.

A Fistful Of Stances (New)

Mcdonalds in this town must be poor – we went thru’ the drive thru’ ordering a burger and some fries for a snack and I had asked for those new Zesty mango sauce to dip with my fries – and guess what?  they want to charge us $0.11 .. muahhahahha!!!  that’s too funny!  usually when Chloe orders her happy meal, we get one and throw them out because she wouldn’t eat it  – and now they wanna charge us – $0.11 ..???  I can understand that they want to prevent ppl from wasting stuff but c’mon !!!   So my deduction..?? the Mcdonalds here must be poor – afterall, this is the only Mcdonalds that doesn’t have a children’s playground indoor or outdoors – nor do they provide Wi-fi like the ones in Halifax.  Holy Moly!  poor management.! especially when you see how bad the birthday parties for the kids are being planned.

I love corn bread – no i should say i love the corn bread from Kenny Rogers – from back home – boy! do i miss them!  I’ve tried in vain to get the same kind of corn bread her in our town but to no avail.  I bought some from a bakery and they tasted horrid.. and i bought this from Sobeys – they tasted ok .. but nothing spectacular.  Chloe’s grammie is gonna make some of her special – to see if i like it or not – so hopefully it’s the kind I like eh.  Anyone got Kenny Roger’s recipe .. please let me know eh.

Airing Date: March 17, 2010
Notable: Replacing: My Better Half (2010)
Episodes: 25

AU YEUNG WAI-LAN (Yuen Qiu), owner of a martial arts training school, is reunited with her long-lost son KOO YU-CHEUNG (Kevin Cheng) after years of agonizing separation. On his return home, CHEUNG is shocked to find that his younger brother KOO YU-TONG (Ma Kwok Ming) has been critically ill and that his father was murdered long ago by WING TAK (Lam Ka Wah), the existing director of a pharmaceutical company and a bitter old foe of the KOOs. CHEUNG has never been into kung-fu but shows glimpses of his potential when he strikes back at the impudent, arrogant WING MAN-KWAN (Jacky Heung), also the son of TAK. Pinning all her hopes on CHEUNG, LAN not only teaches him a special set of kung-fu skills created by the family, but also registers for him for the Guangdong Boxing Championship Tournament. Out of the blue, CHEUNG’s opponent in the final turns out to be KWAN.

CHEUNG starts losing his bearings after achieving growing success and recognition in the field of martial arts. Caught up in the love triangle between LAN’s apprentice YING NGAN-MING (Natalie Tong), his dream girl CHOW MUI-MUI (Nancy Wu) and himself, CHEUNG is utterly confused and exhausted, which later causes his failure in the final tournament.

For more info about the show click HERE.

As usual, I’m always looking for something new to eat and taste – so when I saw on this  Cafe facebook post that they had Curry Chicken & Vegie Rice, I had to try it.  I got PB to call to ask how spicy it was – since i didn’t see a respond from another person asking.  They said it was spicy but not unbearable – in which PB had replied – I probably wouldn’t think it was spicy.

So $8 and change later – PB came back with the above.  The food was pretty good – but the curry as I had suspected wasn’t spicy – abit more gravy would be nice.  But the rice was awesome – light !  there was a lot of chicken given but I would have preferred more gravy and potatoes but not bad at all.  This food is lebanese style.

Most “ang mohs” that I’ve come across – always knows how to cook.  Unlike my brothers or some of my school friends who never left home during the time when i went to college – but stayed home where mom can be closed – they are usually the spoiled ones (during my time).  But isn’t it pleasing to a woman’s eye, when you see a man cook?  regardless whether he is chinese, ang mohs or of other ethnic group?   The french – well – all that i’ve come across – loves food and loves cooking – so they go without saying were my favorites.

The above pork chop wasn’t cooked for me or by me  – PB’s brother was cooking it one day while we were out visiting.  Meticulously, he would cooked and eat his food without a word – when he is hungry – well most time i think PB’s mother cooked lah.  But it’s nice to know that he will survived with or without his mother around – moreso, in this generation – i have to make sure Chloe knows how to do the same too – because when she goes away for college – she needs to be able to take care of herself.  What do you think?  will you be teaching your kids – to cook – so that they won’t be spoiled?