One for the road

No postings from me for the next few days as we are out of town.

Meantime, happy holidays and have a merry celebration into the New Year. Happy New Year everyone and be safe! See you all next year!

Meatballs...

... with gravy and mashed taters are really simple to make and does not require a lot of time. Here's my version of meatballs with a little improvisation to give a little oomph! to the taste.


Ingredients:

• 2-3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 25g butter
• 50 ml milk
• 1 tspn nutmeg
• 600 grams minced beef
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 2 garlic, chopped REALLY fine
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp paprika powder
• 3 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 4 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 4 tbsp bread crumbs
• Beef stock (liquid form)
• some butter for frying

Method A - Mashed Taters:

1. Boil potatoes in salted water till done
2. Mash them and whisk in butter and milk until the puree is creamy. Add more milk if you prefer a creamier texture
3. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Can add nutmeg here if you prefer a little bit of spice

Method B - Meatballs with Gravy:

1. Add in the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and knead them altogether
2. Add salt & pepper to taste and form the mixture into small (or big) balls
3. Melt some butter in a pan and brown the meatballs over low heat for about 10 minutes.
4. Sprinkle some liquid beefstock over the meatballs. Cover them so they will be well-cooked and check every 2-3 minutes to turn them and make sure they are not burnt
5. Once browned, remove from pan and set aside
6. Add a dash of water (or leftover liquid beefstock) and stir to loosen the bits on the pan until you have a nice gravy
7. You can add on some flour and butter to thicken the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can even add on parsely, spring onions at this stage.
8. Pour the gravy over the meatballs and serve together with the mash taters

Hard Talk

BBC Hardtalk's presenter, Stephen Sackur rates really high in my list. He is a very skillful interviewer and in my mind, his interviews borders on unrelenting, guttural interrogations. Having followed Hard Talk for a while now, I am ever so impressed with the way he asks and handle the conversations in this one hour program. Hardtalk is an interesting program to watch, especially if the personality being interviewed is one of controversial nature. Even more compelling to watch the reactions of the one in the hot seat. Sackur has left me pinned to my seat several times now. I've been enlightened and at the same time, amazed by his skills and knowledge. One thing for sure, I'd piss in my pants if I was the one in the hot seat!

Genghis Khan

After watching Mongul, the Japan-Mongolian co-production epic feature of ‘Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea’ royally sucked in my opinion. It was a little draggy and was dramatized a bit too much. Felt that the acting was also a bit exaggerated. Kind of strange to watch it in Japanese too. A little disappointed in that one.

Mongol, however, felt authentic overall. The portrayal of Temudjin and the entire production of the movie was awesome. Huge thumbs up for Mongul.

Gone off the shelves again!

I'm convinced there's a conspiracy against me and all the things I like. They recently took Sprite Zero and my favourite Fisher Cheeseballs off the shelves! The moment I become a regular buyer of a particular product item, they take it off the shelves! Why oh why!

Some of my favorite and no longer available items include Bvlgari Green Tea Au de Parfum, the shade of my L'oreal compact powder, Birdy Mint Coffee, Simple (a skincare brand), and Starbucks Mint Frappucino (usually served around Christmas) to name a few. Suay or what!

Tiramisu anyone?

The Dessert King went all the way this time with his Tiramisu all fancied-up! It really is something to die for.


Here's the recipe if you are ever interested to give it a go:

Ingredients

• 200 grams ladyfingers


• 4 large cups of espresso coffee


• 70 grams caster sugar


• 350 grams mascarpone cheese


• 3 shot glasses Tia Maria/Amaretto (optional if you want to use)


• 6 egg yolks


• 3 egg whites


• Pinch of salt


• Cocoa powder

Preparation:

1. Make the coffee. Pour in a large bowl and let it cool down. Once cooled, add the Tia Maria/Ameretto if desired.


2. Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Make sure the whites stay pure!


3. Heat a pan of hot water until almost boiling point. Place an empty bowl on top and put in the egg yolks and the sugar.


4. Mix well over the hot water until creamy and slightly stiff. Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved, and the color is about ivory.


5. Add the mascarpone cheese to this mixture and mix well until smooth (preferably by hand).


6. In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites with the salt until stiff.


7. Fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites (not the other way around). Do this carefully to prevent the whites from collapsing. Mix carefully until all lumps have disappeared.


8. Take an empty tray for the tiramisu. Cover the bottom of the tray with the egg and cheese mixture.


9. Dip the lady fingers in the coffee (not too long, just enough for them to absorb the coffee, else they’ll break and the coffee will leak out), and place them on top of the egg and cheese layer.


10. Add another layer of the egg/cheese mix. Cover this layer with a thin layer of cocoa powder (use a sift to do this) .


11. Put another layer of soaked ladyfingers on top. Again, cover with the egg and cheese mix and top with cocoa powder.


12. Put the tray in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.


13. Before serving, sprinkle a little bit of cocoa powder over the top.
    

Home-made Olliebollen

Finally a success in attempting this Dutch dessert apparently only served around New Year's Eve as of the Dutch tradition. Seems like a really difficult snack/dessert to find even in Holland! Yummy as hell.

Silver Bullet has earned himself the title of "Dessert King" with his one-time attempt of Olliebollen and his plenty attempts in making Tiramisu. Strange to find out that the biggest secret of making a succesfull Olliebollen lies in the deep fryer!

Here's the recipe of Olliebollen (literally “Oil balls”, deep fried dough balls) by the resident Dessert King:

Ingredients (for about 20 pieces)

• ½ kg all purpose flour


• ½ litre lukewarm milk


• 10gr instant yeast or 40gr fresh yeast


• 40gr butter (softened)


• 30gr caster sugar


• 10gr lemon or lime juice


• 5gr salt


• 2 eggs


• 100gr Raisins


• 100gr bleached raisins (krenten in Dutch)

Preparation:

1. Soak the raisins in lukewarm water for about half an hour. Drain and rinse.


2. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm (never cold) milk. Stir well.


3. Sift the flour and put in a large bowl. Make sure the bowl is large enough to accommodate the risen dough. If it isn’t, it can be divided between two bowls after mixing.


4. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and add the butter, sugar and eggs. Then slowly mix the milk through the flour until the dough is smooth without lumps. At this stage, mix in the raisins and the lime or lemon juice. Stir well and finally add in the salt.


5. Give the dough a final good mix. The dough will expand about 3 times the original size, so if your bowl is not big enough to contain that amount, divide the dough over two bowls instead. Cover the bowl(s) with a wet cloth or towel to prevent the dough from drying out, and put it in a dark, warm, draft free area to rise.


6. Let the dough rise for AT LEAST 1 hour, but longer is no problem.
   
   Frying:
   
   Once the dough has risen, carefully move it to the area where you’re going to fry the oliebollen. Do this with care; go too rough, and the dough will collapse again.
   Make sure that your oil is about 180°C. If the oil is too hot, the balls will brown without the insides being fully cooked. Too cold, and the balls will be hard by the time they are ready. Sunflower oil is a good oil to deep fry in, or peanut oil. Other oils will do, but make sure before using them that they can be heated to about 195°C or higher before it starts boiling.
   The easiest way is to use an ice-cream scoop to create the balls. Put the scoop in a cup of water. Then, from the edges of the dough scoop a ball of dough out of the bowl and drop it into the hot oil. If the oil is hot enough, the dough should immediately start to float. Don’t fry too many at a time, as this will cool the oil too much and make turning them more difficult.
   Some will turn on their own after about 2-3 minutes if they’re nice and round, others will have to be turned by hand. After about 5 minutes in total, the balls should be ready (nice and brown on the outside, soft but cooked on the inside). Put in a bowl or on a plate with some paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Continue until all the dough is finished.
   Serve with a generous sprinkling of icing sugar.

The cook-out

It was unfortunate that 2 friends decided not to show up - 1 MIA, the other couldn't get out of bed. With more than 5 different types of Asian & Western dishes combined, there was plenty of food to feed the whole apartment after the cook-out at home.

We started off with home-made Olliebollen and Bitterballen as appetizers. The main course consisted of cold potato salad, deep fried whole marinated chicken, beef meatballs with gravy, creamy mashed potatoes, chicken sausages, deep fried fish fingers and satay goreng with peanut sauce. Home-made Tiramisu and Uncle Schuurhof's Irish Coffee were the marvellous finish to the carnivorous meal! Couldn't get any better than this.

Friday I'm in love

The long awaited last working day of the year has finally arrived! Add on to that, it's Friday and there's usuallly nothing not to like on a Friday.

To celebrate, we are having some guests today and Auntie Antsy has offered to cook for the modest party at home. Triple hooray!

No tacky Christmas this year. The hosts have decided to make some home-made dishes to accompany Auntie Antsy's cooking. It's a "balls" theme with Bitterballen, Oliebollen and Meat Balls!

Cheers to a Friday Fantastic!

Massage Galore!

Being a sucker for massages, I would usually pop-over for a foot massage at my office building during lunch hour. For 300 baht p/hour (12 SGD), it’s a great way to soothe the aches and pains away, relieving the stress of a busy day.

There are a few "clean" places I'd recommend from personal experience:

1. Ruam Rudee Spa & Massage
- a 10 minutes walk from Ploenchit BTS Station
- decent establishment and excellent foot massage @400 bht p/hour

2. Pudao Massage
- located at Ekamai and STILL one of the best foot massages ever received
- it's a small establishment and nothing fancy, but the masseuses really seems to know what they are doing
- a foot massage will set you back by 250 bht p/hour

3. Bangkok Oasis Spa
- A luxury and the top end of massages located deep into the Soi somewhere in Phrom Phong
- The aromatheraphy massages are the ones to die for
- Expect to pay through your nose (by Thai standards) from 1,800 - 3000 bht p/1 half hour

4. Health Land
- A chain of very reputable health centres located at Sathorn and Ekamai
- very organized but impersonal
- reasonably priced at 800 bht p/half hour for an aromatheraphy massage

5. Ploenchit Centre
- Located at Sukhumvit Soi 2
- There are several different massage shops in this building, spread over several floors
- The one on the 2nd floor has so far struck my fancy @300 bht p/hour

A good therapist is an important factor to a good massage experience. You know that when you feel like a mushed-up pulp, you have had a fabulous massage experience!

Little Luxuries

Getting a regular massage is one of the little luxuries in life. Bangkok offers just that at affordable prices as hundreds of massage shops are sprouting all over Bangkok. The trick is finding a decent, no-nonsense establishment and sometimes, you can never tell.

There's a new massage place near Ploenchit BTS station called Porncharoen. The foot massage was great (not the best!), but changed our minds after experiencing a not-so-comfortable body massage on a separate occasion. What a shame! Perhaps the name , PORNcharoen says it all!

42 Below

Witty, quirky and self effacing. In two words: Just Cool!

Moms the word

Always trust moms to remember sending greeting cards either via email or snail mail. Thanks Moms! Really sweet of you to do that. Sorry that your kids just can't be bothered to send out anything to virtually anyone...we don't even have any day off work to have that holiday feeling...but you know we always think of you. :)

Seasons greetings to you and Dads. Enjoy the holidays!

Here's the one from SG Mom

Here's the one from Dutch Mom (always with a cat)

First time to everything

It is a shame that 25th December is not an official public holiday in Thailand. This would also be the 1st time ever in the history of my working life where I have to unwillingly drag my ass to work over a supposedly public holiday that's granted almost throughout the world and I'm not too pleased at all. Ok, one could argue that I could have taken the day off...but that's not the point. The annoying thing is that I'm actually extremely busy at work when it's supposed to be the most lull period of the year! Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve-Eve was spent dealing with unnecessary crisis and leaving the office late. Plus the fact that clients just can't seem to make up their minds for the longest time resulting in hours of re-work!

I'd say, I much rather work as a zookeeper picking up real crap from the animals who can't think for themselves rather than picking up someone else's shit! That would be more satisfying given that I like animals better. I'll give myself a pat on the back for sticking it out, though.

Inspired!

Had Indian food for dinner today and I'm inspired to try making chapati! I've always had a soft-spot for this Indian flat-bread. Chapatis bring back memories when I used to grow up at a place called Chin Bee Road. As a kid, I always looked forward to home-made chapatis accompanied with keema which was usually given by our Sikh security guard's family. If I remember correctly, it was at least a few times a week! It was the yummiest and it was one of my fondest childhood memories.

The recipes from the web seems simple enough to give it a go. One of these days it will be at the dinner table complete with keema!

Joke of the day

A great joke for a little bit of Thailand.

"God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangle, found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God."Where have you been?" God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction, and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made." Archangle Michael looked puzzled, and said, " What is it?"
"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance." " Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth."For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over there I've placed a continent of white people, over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things,"God continued pointing out to different countries.
"This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice"The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, " What's that one?"
"Ah," said God.
"That's Thailand, the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful beaches, rivers and streams, lakes, jungles, hills, plains and waterfalls."Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then he proclaimed,"What about balance, God? You said there would be balance." God smiled,
"I populated it with Thais."

The one with the view

Donut seems to like perching-up around the house. At least we can now truthfully say that we do have a friend in high places!

Short Bites

Bite size quotes of the "perspectively challenged" in the advertising industry:

"Internet only reach the younger audience. Those older above 30 years old don't use the internet"

"I don't see the strategy. I see internet more of a sustaining media and not for launch"

" The launch needs new innovative media that's impactful. The billboard space at xxx is innovative as ABC brand use it. We have xxx budget (usually small!). Agency please explore and recommend. "

"Nobody will click on ads on search engine as I never click on them."

"I don't want my ad in that shopping malls, the 30+ year olds don't go there"

And I'm not kidding when I say that these are REAL quotes from those in the supposedly marketing industry. *Roll eyeballs*

Chicken Skin Man

I was at Phrom Phong today and usually, this is where my favourite chicken skin man lurks. This guy has been really elusive. It's hard to find him. And all I want is to buy a few packets of deep-fried chicken skins from his mobile stall! I have tried many a deep-fried chicken skins in Bangkok and the best tasting one is from this elusive man. It's been my mission to specifically look for him everytime I'm in the vicinity. I'm definitely onto this ninja, man!

The case for catnips

Barcajax asked if it seems cruel to give cat nips to cats. It seems like it is some form of a drug and it's similar to making your friends drunk on purpose just for kicks. Hmmmm....

Cat nips generally trigger strange behavioral changes in cats when they come in contact with it. It's the chemical that's present in these perennial herb belonging to the mint family, Labiatae, with an active ingredient called Nepetalactone. The cat's response to this chemical is mediated through the olfactory system that cats have a special receptor for. This chemical is thought to mimic the effects of a pheromone to cause a variety of behaviors. And that's just the more intellectual answers gathered from the web...

The actual answer really is that, we get a kick out of it! :p It's really hilarious to see your cats go all crazy and nutso even for a few minutes. It' s not toxic and they'll stop when they have enough. It's a natural stimulant. Andy somehow reacts the same way when she smells coffee and start rubbing herself silly on the coffee cup!

Chilli Crab

Wonder if "Bird-Nest" Auntie will ever want to share her chilli-crab recipe...? It really is one of the best chilli-crab and I'm raving because I'm craving for it!

So, tried my hand in making my own chilli-crab from a recipe I got off the internet. There are many variations and I guess some experimentations are required. It doesn't taste like Auntie Bird Nest's, of course...but it will do for now while I try to perfect it and share the recipe then.

Used ready crab-meat instead as I was a bit lazy to have to eat it with the shells

And it case it sucked, there was satay goreng (fried satay or beef with peanut sauce) which is already tried and tested before. A safety net for a weekend dinner at home.

Home-made Bitterballen

Seems like my bitterballen became quite a hit since my 1st attempt a few months ago. Already onto my 3rd batch now and it's looking like this Dutch snack is here to stay! Apparently, they tasted authentic as verified by 2 natives. 2 Dutch can't be wrong, right! Perhaps I can even do a side business catering to the Dutch community in Bangkok who craves for some comfort food of nothing less than a good home-made bitterballen. :p

Here's the recipe which was slightly improvised:

• 400g minced beef/veal/chicken
• 400 ml of water
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1 onion (chopped finely)
• 125g butter
• 125g flour
• 1 tbsp nutmeg
• Parsely (chopped finely)
• 1 tspn Wocestershire Sauce (optional)
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1 tspn paprika
• 1 cup milk
• 3 egg yolks
• Breadcrumbs

Method:

1. Combine beef, carrot onion in water and let it simmer
2. Add beef cubes and simmer, then slowly bring it to a boil
3. Strain the meat from the liquid. Set aside
4. Melt butter and stir in the flour, blending thoroughly to make a thick sauce


5. Add in the strained liquid from the meat into the mixture and keep stirring until smooth and till a ragout appears
6. Season with salt, nutmeg, parsely and paprika. Add in 1 egg yolk
7. Stir in the strained meat into the mixture and simmer for about 10 minute. Add in milk and stir

8. Transfer to a container and cool off - add more seasoning to taste if desired
9. When cool, roll them into balls
10. Separately beat the other 2 egg yolks with some water
11. Roll balls into breadcrumbs, then into the egg yolks and back to the crumbs again. Set aside to chill


12. Deep fry when ready to eat. Serve with mustard

The Constant Gardener in the making

In support of the green environment, we have decided to have some greenery at home in our balcony. I don't have green fingers, I probably will unwittingly cause the death of the plants. For crying out loud, I actually killed my mom's cactus a few years ago by merely touching the spikes!

So, it is all up to Silver Bullet now as he is probably better at it and he enjoys the gardening. We finally bought a bunch of plants yesterday after saying that we should have some plants at home for the longest time! They are lovely and bring about a brighter and cozier home atmosphere.

A mere 10 baht for the small flowered ones (40 cents SGD) to less than 60 baht for the bigger plants (~SGD 2.40). Amazing what plants can do to brighten up the place. Hopefully, we can keep this up!

Bangkok's Cool Weather

The cool season lasted longer as compared to a few years ago. It has been more than a month now where minimum temperature averages at about 20-22 °C. It wasn't like this a few years ago. The cool season (or "Winter" as the Thais call it) was intermittent and had lasted for only a few weeks, some weeks in December and/or January. A 7-day forecast for this coming week of Dec 21, 2008 - Dec 27, 2008 from the Thai Meteorological Department indicated minimum temperature of a cool 17-22 oC with morning fog in some areas. Despite an average temperature of 28-30 oC in the day, it is still quite windy. Nice and just perfect! If only the weather is such throughout the year...

The weather change did bring bouts of colds and dry skin, though. I should know - I am currently the victim of it! Nothing much one can do with the cold in tow...just a matter of riding it out. With dry skin though, I am a fan of Body Shop's Shea Body Butter! In my opinion, this is one of the best moisturizing body lotion ever created. It worked really well for me and it rids of the dry skin almost immediately when used liberally and consistently. Perfect for the colder climate!

What's more, one box lasts me for more than a year. That's value for money to me! I also appreciate the fact that the packaging and materials is acquired from a Fair Trade process (a concept Body Shop pioneered in the field a few decades ago). Nice!

Xtreme 100% Natural

This catnip spray bought in Singapore works wonders for cats who just can't keep still. There's something about catnip that drives them crazy. They become subdued and docile accompanied by a "high" look in their eyes. It really is fun to watch them go crazy rolling themselves around with their toys where the catnip was sprayed on. We have tried the different catnips before, but so far, this works the best for them. It does seem like they are having endless fun for about 15 minutes while on it.

Catnip facts:

Approximately 15% of all cats do not possess the gene needed to respond to catnip. Cats less than 6 months old rarely respond. Catnip added to food will often coax a finicky cat to eat.

Food Issues

I think I have a problem - I don't know what to cook anymore. For a foodie, this can be a serious issue! I've run through all the dishes I know in my head and flipped through the recipe books we have at home. However, nothing really jumps out and just not compelling enough. I have my occasional cravings for egg pratas and most recently, Mee Hoon Goreng Merah Indian-style. Dad used to buy them a lot when I was back home. Come to think of it, I miss those days. Unfortunately, those are the things I can't quite dish out in a couple of hours. If only they have similar Indian hawker stalls in Bangkok like they do in Singapore. Cravings....they are driving me nuts!

I used to wonder how difficult it could be to decide what to cook when Mom used to lament that she doesn't know what to cook for the family. Now I understand how she feels! Miraculously, she's always able to come up with something on the table and we love her cooking. She's an awesome cook and she's been doing that only for more than 30 years. It's only been less than 4 years living on my own and I'm already running out of ideas what meals to whip out. I'm in trouble. Any food suggestions anyone?

The Resident Slut

Who else but Andy, our 3-year old Scottish Fold. She's a whore for attention, especially from Silver Bullet. She ignores me most of the time and this picture is a strong evidence that she prefers the big, furry one. I was actually sitting right next to Silver Bullet when this picture was taken. The ingrate - to think that I was the one who picked her up from Chatuchak! What a slut! :p

Paradise Island: Koh Lanta

Nothing like a weekend getaway from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok over a long weekend. We decided to take a trip to Koh Lanta, an island off Krabi in October this year. Unfortunately, it is the rainy season and it pretty much rained buckets almost through-out the time we were there!

Good thing was, we booked ourselves into a nice, secluded resort where we had a private pool villa all to ourselves! There was even a separate utility room next to the main bedroom fully furnished and well equipped with state-of-the-art home theatre. We told them we were on our honeymoon (we were not!) and they pretty much ensured we were taken care of; even leaving us little surprises during our stay.

The resort we stayed in, Langham Place, has great ambiance with excellent services. Prices are really reasonable, contrary to the beliefs that private pool villas usually come with a huge price tag. Not in this case and definitely value for money. I must say, the massage was probably one of the best I have ever had!

The resort is a little bit of a pain to get to, though: flight-car-ferry-car-ferry-car. But, it was all worth it! The town itself is really small, but people are really friendly and a definite plus with no touters around. It is a sleepy, sleepy, sleepy town and there's something about the area that makes you feel at ease...a feeling of sincerity so genuine you can't believe it's real. If only domestic flights in Bangkok are a little cheaper!

Nevertheless, we hope to make this an annual trip if our pockets allow it. Enjoy the pictures!