Fathers Day Gift Idea: Easy Canvas Prints

I've seen advertisements for canvas prints before, and I always thought it was a snazzy idea.  Recently, the lovely humans who work over at Easy Canvas Prints were kind enough to make me a print for my wall.  To make a long, which picture should I use story short, I am now the proud owner of an Easy Canvas Print.

I used my standard favorite, our family picture from my youngest brother's wedding.  We are all clean, dressed, looking in the same direction and smiling.  These pictures are a once-every-few-years occurrence.

Father's Day is quickly approaching, and if you need a gift these are different from the standard framed picture.  Scan old family photos to make into canvas prints, or use current pictures of your kids.  Already set with a gift for Father's Day?  Put your Father's Day photos on canvas, and give your dad or Hubby a great canvas print for his next birthday. 

I'm now signing off, with beds to make and dishes to scrub.  A very big thank you to Easy Canvas Prints for my new wall art.

Happy Tuesday!

I've seen advertisements for canvas prints before, and I always thought it was a snazzy idea.  Recently, the lovely humans who work over at Easy Canvas Prints were kind enough to make me a print for my wall.  To make a long, which picture should I use story short, I am now the proud owner of an Easy Canvas Print.

I used my standard favorite, our family picture from my youngest brother's wedding.  We are all clean, dressed, looking in the same direction and smiling.  These pictures are a once-every-few-years occurrence.

Father's Day is quickly approaching, and if you need a gift these are different from the standard framed picture.  Scan old family photos to make into canvas prints, or use current pictures of your kids.  Already set with a gift for Father's Day?  Put your Father's Day photos on canvas, and give your dad or Hubby a great canvas print for his next birthday. 

I'm now signing off, with beds to make and dishes to scrub.  A very big thank you to Easy Canvas Prints for my new wall art.

Happy Tuesday!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Chicken Rice @ Fong Yem Coffee Shop in Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru

I was walking pass Fong Yem coffee shop when I saw this fascinating scene. Whole, fresh, plump, juicy chickens deep fried to golden brown on the spot. I couldn't resist snapping away with my camera J

It was 9:30am and the popular chicken rice stall had just opened for business. Obviously, their famous fried chicken is the main draw here. They sell these fried chickens with rice or we can also buy the whole chicken at RM26. 

The neat row of fried chickens and siew yoke 烧肉 is all swapped up in a matter of a couple of hours of frantic business J

My set of freshly fried chicken breast on a bed of fresh taugeh (bean sprouts) - naturally sweet and slightly firm as is usual with breast meat. Next time, I shall try their chicken thigh which is a favourite.  

The set comes with good quality, well cooked rice that is just nice, and not too oily at all. The tasty soup that comes with the chicken rice set is made with generous amounts of chicken parts and preserved vegetables. The whole set costs a very reasonable RM4.

Restaurant name: Chicken Rice stall in Fong Yem Coffee Shop

Address: 5, Jalan Dedap 13, Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/dm5zd
GPS: 1.542325,103.801724608
Hours: 9:00am till sold out (usually by 1:00pm)
Non Halal

Date visited: 18 May 2012

I was walking pass Fong Yem coffee shop when I saw this fascinating scene. Whole, fresh, plump, juicy chickens deep fried to golden brown on the spot. I couldn't resist snapping away with my camera J

It was 9:30am and the popular chicken rice stall had just opened for business. Obviously, their famous fried chicken is the main draw here. They sell these fried chickens with rice or we can also buy the whole chicken at RM26. 

The neat row of fried chickens and siew yoke 烧肉 is all swapped up in a matter of a couple of hours of frantic business J

My set of freshly fried chicken breast on a bed of fresh taugeh (bean sprouts) - naturally sweet and slightly firm as is usual with breast meat. Next time, I shall try their chicken thigh which is a favourite.  

The set comes with good quality, well cooked rice that is just nice, and not too oily at all. The tasty soup that comes with the chicken rice set is made with generous amounts of chicken parts and preserved vegetables. The whole set costs a very reasonable RM4.

Restaurant name: Chicken Rice stall in Fong Yem Coffee Shop

Address: 5, Jalan Dedap 13, Taman Johor Jaya, Johor Bahru
Map: http://g.co/maps/dm5zd
GPS: 1.542325,103.801724608
Hours: 9:00am till sold out (usually by 1:00pm)
Non Halal

Date visited: 18 May 2012

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Miniature Black and White Cupcakes

On Friday, I made black and white cupcakes for the school bake sale.  They are just different enough to be exciting, but just not different enough to still be easy.

Did that make any sense?

Regardless, they are delicious.  They are chocolate, vanilla and complete sugary goodness.  And because I'm a firm believer in boxed cake mix, the only tricky part of this deal is frosting these bad boys.  Oh, and for the miniature, bite sized version, you'll need a mini muffin pan and some mini liners.

And then you will be ready to get crazy.

1 box white cake mix, prepared
1 container milk chocolate frosting
1 container vanilla frosting
small cupcake liners

Makes about 45 miniature cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350.  Line mini muffin pan with liners and fill each cup 1/2 full with batter.  This is just about one tablespoon.

Bake about 10-15 minutes.  Do not overbake.  Remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool.

Once cooled, open chocolate frosting.  Using a butter knife, take about 1 tablespoon and starting at outer edge of cupcake, frost towards center.  At center, pull down and make a crisp line.  Finish with remaining cupcakes.

Repeat with vanilla frosting.

Stand back, admire, and enjoy!

On Friday, I made black and white cupcakes for the school bake sale.  They are just different enough to be exciting, but just not different enough to still be easy.

Did that make any sense?

Regardless, they are delicious.  They are chocolate, vanilla and complete sugary goodness.  And because I'm a firm believer in boxed cake mix, the only tricky part of this deal is frosting these bad boys.  Oh, and for the miniature, bite sized version, you'll need a mini muffin pan and some mini liners.

And then you will be ready to get crazy.

1 box white cake mix, prepared
1 container milk chocolate frosting
1 container vanilla frosting
small cupcake liners

Makes about 45 miniature cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350.  Line mini muffin pan with liners and fill each cup 1/2 full with batter.  This is just about one tablespoon.

Bake about 10-15 minutes.  Do not overbake.  Remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool.

Once cooled, open chocolate frosting.  Using a butter knife, take about 1 tablespoon and starting at outer edge of cupcake, frost towards center.  At center, pull down and make a crisp line.  Finish with remaining cupcakes.

Repeat with vanilla frosting.

Stand back, admire, and enjoy!

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Good News - No Need for White Immigration Cards at Malaysian Checkpoints from 1st Jun 2012

Secretary-general of Malaysia’s Home Ministry, Tan Sri Mahmood Adam, announced on 20 May 2012 that, with effect from 1^st Jun 2012, foreigners entering Malaysia need not fill the white arrival cards to enter Malaysia.

This should mean quicker clearances at the immigration checkpoints for trips to Johor's famous makan places J

Secretary-general of Malaysia’s Home Ministry, Tan Sri Mahmood Adam, announced on 20 May 2012 that, with effect from 1^st Jun 2012, foreigners entering Malaysia need not fill the white arrival cards to enter Malaysia.

This should mean quicker clearances at the immigration checkpoints for trips to Johor's famous makan places J

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

To all the Mommy Bloggers

One of the wonderful aspects of being a "mommy blogger" is finding a circle of other mommy bloggers.  You find women you only know through what they share on their blogs, and you find yourself following along in their story.  You support each other, "tweet" back and forth and like Facebook pages.  You laugh at the insanity that is being a woman.  The insanity that is being a mom.  The insanity of  being whoever it is you are.

And without these other bloggers, many of us would never know about blog design.  Or making our own fonts.  We would know nothing about reviewing products or how to grow our blogs.  Without other bloggers to post tutorials and lead the way, many of us would have quit at day two.  We would have thrown in the towel, making even more laundry for ourselves.  The frustration would have been too much.

But we forge ahead, regardless of crappy stats and blog blunders.  Regardless of comments that may or may not sing to our souls.  We keep going because we have a circle of women just like us, all over the world, and they keep going.

They keep sharing.

They keep moving forward.

I want to thank all the "Mommy Bloggers" out there, who also sit in their mismatched pajamas typing away while crumbs lay on their floors and dishes sit unwashed in their sinks.  Who find something to write even when there is nothing left.

Thanks for sharing your stories.  Your tricks.  Thanks for whatever piece of yourself you opened up to the world, because it's not easy putting it all out there.

March on ladies.  March on.

One of the wonderful aspects of being a "mommy blogger" is finding a circle of other mommy bloggers.  You find women you only know through what they share on their blogs, and you find yourself following along in their story.  You support each other, "tweet" back and forth and like Facebook pages.  You laugh at the insanity that is being a woman.  The insanity that is being a mom.  The insanity of  being whoever it is you are.

And without these other bloggers, many of us would never know about blog design.  Or making our own fonts.  We would know nothing about reviewing products or how to grow our blogs.  Without other bloggers to post tutorials and lead the way, many of us would have quit at day two.  We would have thrown in the towel, making even more laundry for ourselves.  The frustration would have been too much.

But we forge ahead, regardless of crappy stats and blog blunders.  Regardless of comments that may or may not sing to our souls.  We keep going because we have a circle of women just like us, all over the world, and they keep going.

They keep sharing.

They keep moving forward.

I want to thank all the "Mommy Bloggers" out there, who also sit in their mismatched pajamas typing away while crumbs lay on their floors and dishes sit unwashed in their sinks.  Who find something to write even when there is nothing left.

Thanks for sharing your stories.  Your tricks.  Thanks for whatever piece of yourself you opened up to the world, because it's not easy putting it all out there.

March on ladies.  March on.

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Big Pau @ MR Pau 包大人 in Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru



This is the first time that I have seen traditional Chinese buns or pau 包 made and sold right on the spot in a coffee shop. I was amazed and fascinated, watching the entire pau making process as I enjoyed eating my paus J

包大人 MR Pau is in the same Austin Food Zone coffee shop as 哥打泥鳅王, the King of catfish.

The dough is freshly kneaded and rolled at the coffee shop. 

Making braised pork pau 扣肉包 using big chunks of homemade braised pork.

Natural vegetable dye is used to mark the paus so that the different types of fillings can be easily identified.

This hot seller is a unique pau 臭豆包 that I have not seen any where else. The filling is made with belacan (spicy shrimp paste), ground anchovies and unions, and petai (stink beans) 臭豆.

The fillings for the chicken pau. Unlike the factory made varieties which use minced meat, MR Pau uses thick, well marinated fresh chicken slices.

枕头包 Chinese styled "Swiss rolls" - these come in many flavours including strawberry, chocolate, coffee, peanut, pandan, pumpkin, butter, lotus seeds, and mung beans.



Look at that tall steel steaming tower. The bamboo steaming trays with the raw paus are stacked one over another onto the drum of boiling water in the foreground. The tall stack of bamboo steaming trays are then covered over by the tall steel tower.   

This big pau 大包 with snowy white, airy, fluffy skin wraps a generous ball of tasty pork and mushroom fillings - this huge delicious pau costs a reasonable RM3.20 or SGD1.30.

The low mai kai 糯米鸡 was sweet and tasty.

Definitely a must try - good, delicious food, freshly made on the spot at very reasonable prices.

Restaurant name: 包大人 MR Pau

Address: 24, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/20, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/3grmu

GPS: 1.551393,103.769055

Hours: 7:30am to 7:00pm (closed on Sunday)

Non Halal

Date visited: 11 May 2012



This is the first time that I have seen traditional Chinese buns or pau 包 made and sold right on the spot in a coffee shop. I was amazed and fascinated, watching the entire pau making process as I enjoyed eating my paus J

包大人 MR Pau is in the same Austin Food Zone coffee shop as 哥打泥鳅王, the King of catfish.

The dough is freshly kneaded and rolled at the coffee shop. 

Making braised pork pau 扣肉包 using big chunks of homemade braised pork.

Natural vegetable dye is used to mark the paus so that the different types of fillings can be easily identified.

This hot seller is a unique pau 臭豆包 that I have not seen any where else. The filling is made with belacan (spicy shrimp paste), ground anchovies and unions, and petai (stink beans) 臭豆.

The fillings for the chicken pau. Unlike the factory made varieties which use minced meat, MR Pau uses thick, well marinated fresh chicken slices.

枕头包 Chinese styled "Swiss rolls" - these come in many flavours including strawberry, chocolate, coffee, peanut, pandan, pumpkin, butter, lotus seeds, and mung beans.



Look at that tall steel steaming tower. The bamboo steaming trays with the raw paus are stacked one over another onto the drum of boiling water in the foreground. The tall stack of bamboo steaming trays are then covered over by the tall steel tower.   

This big pau 大包 with snowy white, airy, fluffy skin wraps a generous ball of tasty pork and mushroom fillings - this huge delicious pau costs a reasonable RM3.20 or SGD1.30.

The low mai kai 糯米鸡 was sweet and tasty.

Definitely a must try - good, delicious food, freshly made on the spot at very reasonable prices.

Restaurant name: 包大人 MR Pau

Address: 24, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/20, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru

Map: http://g.co/maps/3grmu

GPS: 1.551393,103.769055

Hours: 7:30am to 7:00pm (closed on Sunday)

Non Halal

Date visited: 11 May 2012

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Claypot Catfish @ 哥打泥鳅王 in Austin Food Zone, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru

This is another "stumble upon" good food find J We were driving around the industrial part of Taman Mount Austin when we saw this large purple coloured banner proclaiming immodestly that they are the 泥鳅王 or  "King of Catfish".

 

Well, the banner's eye catching, sparkling catfish logo and self assuredness worked - it got us curious enough to get down from the car to test their claim. We walked into a large coffee shop buzzing with chattering customers and had to wait a while for empty seats. We did not mind waiting as this is usually a good sign that we had discovered a new good food find J

There were only two stalls here, besides the usual drinks stall. One was this stall 哥打泥鳅王 serving claypot catfish and the other was "MR Pau 包" a handmade pau stall. Seeing that most of the tables had a claypot, I knew we had found a "must try" dish.

The boss Candy had been running 哥打泥鳅王 for more than 10 years. Candy personally does all the cooking which was done completely at the front of the stall - this is the usual set up in Johor food stalls. Lots of ginger shreds and dried chilies were used in making the claypot catfish.

Candy stir fries the thick meaty chunks of rosy hued, fresh catfish with the ginger shreds and dried  chillies.

When nearly cooked, Candy added large dollops of special blend homemade sambal chili and dark soy sauce to the claypot of catfish.

Our large sized claypot catfish costs RM16

A quick stir with deft movements by Candy and the claypot of piping hot catfish chunks was ready to serve.

These catfish chunks may not look very photogenic, but the sweet tender meat with smooth skin on, was simply deletable. The ginger shreds, dried chilies, sambal chili and black soy sauce gave the dish a tangy and spicy hot flavour and taste. There was none of the "muddy" taste normally associated with catfish at all. As I like my food extra spicy, this was absolutely delicious to me.

Noticing that their yellow wine chicken 黄酒鸡 was also very popular, we decided to add it to our order. Candy poured generous dashes of rice wine to the claypot of fresh chicken chunks.

Small sized yellow wine chicken costs RM7

The fresh chicken meat was tender and naturally sweet. The rice wine broth had an extra robust rice wine flavour and taste due to the generous doses of wine.

We are very pleased with our latest good food find and highly recommend 哥打泥鳅王's claypot catfish and yellow wine chicken.


Restaurant name: 哥打泥鳅王 (no English name - literal translation "Kota Catfish King")
Address: 24, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/20, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru, Johor
Map: http://g.co/maps/3grmu
GPS: 1.551393,103.769055
Hours: 10:30am to 8:00pm (Mon to Fri); 10:30am to 3:30pm (Sat); Closed on Sunday
Non Halal

Date visited: 18 May 2012

This is another "stumble upon" good food find J We were driving around the industrial part of Taman Mount Austin when we saw this large purple coloured banner proclaiming immodestly that they are the 泥鳅王 or  "King of Catfish".

 

Well, the banner's eye catching, sparkling catfish logo and self assuredness worked - it got us curious enough to get down from the car to test their claim. We walked into a large coffee shop buzzing with chattering customers and had to wait a while for empty seats. We did not mind waiting as this is usually a good sign that we had discovered a new good food find J

There were only two stalls here, besides the usual drinks stall. One was this stall 哥打泥鳅王 serving claypot catfish and the other was "MR Pau 包" a handmade pau stall. Seeing that most of the tables had a claypot, I knew we had found a "must try" dish.

The boss Candy had been running 哥打泥鳅王 for more than 10 years. Candy personally does all the cooking which was done completely at the front of the stall - this is the usual set up in Johor food stalls. Lots of ginger shreds and dried chilies were used in making the claypot catfish.

Candy stir fries the thick meaty chunks of rosy hued, fresh catfish with the ginger shreds and dried  chillies.

When nearly cooked, Candy added large dollops of special blend homemade sambal chili and dark soy sauce to the claypot of catfish.

Our large sized claypot catfish costs RM16

A quick stir with deft movements by Candy and the claypot of piping hot catfish chunks was ready to serve.

These catfish chunks may not look very photogenic, but the sweet tender meat with smooth skin on, was simply deletable. The ginger shreds, dried chilies, sambal chili and black soy sauce gave the dish a tangy and spicy hot flavour and taste. There was none of the "muddy" taste normally associated with catfish at all. As I like my food extra spicy, this was absolutely delicious to me.

Noticing that their yellow wine chicken 黄酒鸡 was also very popular, we decided to add it to our order. Candy poured generous dashes of rice wine to the claypot of fresh chicken chunks.

Small sized yellow wine chicken costs RM7

The fresh chicken meat was tender and naturally sweet. The rice wine broth had an extra robust rice wine flavour and taste due to the generous doses of wine.

We are very pleased with our latest good food find and highly recommend 哥打泥鳅王's claypot catfish and yellow wine chicken.


Restaurant name: 哥打泥鳅王 (no English name - literal translation "Kota Catfish King")
Address: 24, Jalan Mutiara Emas 5/20, Taman Mount Austin, Johor Bahru, Johor
Map: http://g.co/maps/3grmu
GPS: 1.551393,103.769055
Hours: 10:30am to 8:00pm (Mon to Fri); 10:30am to 3:30pm (Sat); Closed on Sunday
Non Halal

Date visited: 18 May 2012

reade more... Résuméabuiyad