Application for Extension of Visit Pass (Malaysian Spouse Visa)

Actually I went to Immigration the other day to apply for the approval to work. When I submitted my documents to the officer for that purpose, she checked my visa will expire soon within 3 months, she offered me to extend my visa for 2 years and pay on the spot, so why not right???

Approval to Work for Spouse of Malaysian Citizen

Recently, I have just gotten my approval to work. Since I am holding a spouse visa, it is stated clearly in my passport that any forms of employment is strictly prohibited. So if I get a job, I need to apply for an approval to work from the Malaysia Immigration.

Sneak Peek: My Recipe Development Project with Worldfoods

So recently I have done few cooking videos with Worldfoods (check out my portfolio), this time I worked with them in developing new recipes for their cooking  pastes.

Butterfly Pea Reaction to Acid, Magic!

Few years ago, I ordered butterfly pea juice in one of the Thai restaurant in Bangkok, I was so impressed, the juice turned from blue to purple when I added lemon juice. So I'm very excited to do this little experiment.

Eat in Bangkok (Thailand)

This is just a short getaway trip to Bangkok. My husband and I went there for 3 days 2 nights. It was not really a well planned, but kind of a last minute trip.. :D but anyways, here's some of the food that we had there.

Day 1

1. Lunch at road side
What: Local economical rice, so cheap and nice!
Where: Sukhumvit Soi 21, near Terminal 21 & Sukhumvit MRT
Price: THB 50 (with mineral water!)

Tau Suan (Split Mung Bean Soup) - Chinese Dessert

This is a famous Chinese dessert, especially in Singapore. You can find it in almost every dessert stall in Singapore.

My Magenta Smoothie (Watermelon + Dragonfruit)

This is a super pretty smoothie, the colour is just amazing and the taste is as bright as the colour.

French Toast with Fruits

I love having some fruits during breakfast. This is a great combination of carb and fibres for a healthy morning meal.

Baked Egg Cups

Another fun and easy breakfast idea. Baked egg cups. I did 2 versions - with toasts and with bacons.

How to Make Silky Scrambled Eggs

This method is taught by Chef Gordon Ramsay which I think it works brilliantly.

Pork Floss Omelette

Sometimes you have to be creative in using what you have to create a meal. This is just something that I have on hand and put it together as an omelette.

Easy Congee for Breakfast

Congee is always a good thing for breakfast in a Chinese household. To make the hassle-free congee, cook in a slow cooker at night and leave it for 7-8 hours. And you have a nice congee the next day.

Chinese Scallion Pancake

This is a crispy pancake. The scallion (spring onion) and sesame oil makes it so fragrant and delicious.

Korean Pancake

I love this Korean pancake which is slightly chewy.

My Red Smoothie (Watermelon + Strawberries)

Layer Cake (Spekoek)

I'm making the Indonesian version of 'Baumkuchen' (layer cake) and the locals call it 'Spekoek'. 

Tamarind Gula Melaka Parfait (without Ice Cream Machine)

Baked Crispy Fish Fingers

Homemade Breadcrumbs from Leftover Bread

Here's a quick tip to make use of leftover bread. 

When you have leftover bread, don't throw them away. Freeze it if you don't have time to process it immediately. Then, whenever you are ready, take them out, cut it into chunks and blitz in a food processor until it's fine.

15-min Yoga Sun Salutation

My first video on yoga tutorial - Basic Sun Salutation for beginners. It is a great way to stretch out the whole body muscles and anybody can do this at home. Normally, I repeat these 3 sets (as shown in the video) few times which takes about 15-20 minutes, plus some warming up and cooling down. So the total time for my yoga is about half an hour.

Pineapple Ice Cream (without Ice Cream Machine)

Another variation of my mango sorbet recipe. This time I made pineapple ice cream.

Ayam Penyet

Ayam Penyet or literally means flattened chicken is a popular Indonesian fried chicken. The method of pre-poaching the chicken in coconut milk before frying then flattening it with a cleaver is the key to the tender fried chicken.

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

Make this teriyaki sauce and store in a jar. You can use it to stir fry noodle or vegetables, make chicken or salmon teriyaki.

Chicken and Prawn Siew Mai (Dim Sum)

For the ingredients, please refer to my wonton recipe. Instead of boiling it, we shape it like a siew mai and steam it for about 12 minutes. You can make a lot, store it in freezer and steam it when you want to eat it (add 5 more minutes when steaming).

Pork Bun Spin-Off: Helly Kitty Buns

Suddenly I have this idea to make a cute bun with my leftover ingredients. So I made Hello Kitty Pork Buns. I did not take a step-by-step picture of how I made it. Probably I will make more cute stuff like this and post in more detailed next time. 

Hope you enjoy these pics for now ;)

Before Steaming

WORLDFOODS Classics with a Twist - Japanese Udon with a Thai Twist

Another quick and easy meal recipe, Curry Udon Noodle with Worldfoods Thai Panang Curry Paste, that instantly brings out the zing of the fresh kaffir lime leaves into the curry noodle.

WORLDFOODS Classics with a Twist - Thai Seafood Pizza

Check out my other favourite video from Worldfoods Fusion Taste Team: Thai Seafood Pizza, made with Worldfoods Thai Red Curry Paste. 

Laksa Puffs with WORLDFOODS Nyonya Laksa Paste

We love our curry puffs. But since I have the Worldfoods Nyonya Laksa Paste, what about I make laksa puffs???  It turned out to be successful. I love the laksa puff flavour, more tangy compared to the normal curry puffs and super easy to make.

WORLDFOODS Classics with a Twist - Humble Shepherd's Pie

This is my very first experience working as a hand talent with Worldfoods for their cooking series: Classics with a Twist. This is a Shepherd's Pie recipe using Worldfoods Thai Masaman Curry cooking sauce. It was so easy and quick to make and the taste was absolutely spot-on.

Pork Buns

This is also my first attempt in making Chinese pork buns. It turned out well, quite happy with it.

MSG-free Wonton Soup

My first attempt of making wonton soup. The soup base is made from scratch and is MSG-free.

Five-spice Roasted Pork

Here's the super easy roasted pork that you can make at home.

Educational Trip to Luzern (Switzerland)

Every year, KDU UC send their hospitality students for an educational trip to Luzern, Switzerland. KDU UC has been partnering with IMI University Center, an International Hotel Management Institute Switzerland, since 1997. The objective of this trip is so that students have a chance to be introduced to the IMI University Center, and most importantly, to learn more about the Switzerland's hospitality, tourism, food and culture.

Making Compound Butter

Compound butter is a very versatile thing for cooking. It can be used in many dishes e.g. garlic bread, chicken, fish, prawn or steak.

Eat in Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia)

Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah State in the East Malaysia,  has a huge Chinese population, most of which are Hakka ethnic. So are their foods, most of the Chinese foods there are Hakka-influenced dishes.

I went there twice actually, first in 2009 and the second time in 2012. And here's the compiled list of the local foods that I had there.

1. Sang Nyuk Mian (Pork Noodle) @Kim Hing Lee Restaurant

The most popular noodle in Sabah, it's a must-try. 

Eat in Melaka (Malaysia)

This is another road trip to Melaka, the historical town of Malaysia. It's a one-day trip and here's the list of food I had (or saw) there.

1. Chicken Rice Balls @Kedai Kopi Chung Wah

This is a must-eat food when you visit Melaka.

Road Trip to Ipoh & Cameron Highland (Malaysia)

I'm going to share my Malaysia road trip and the food we ate along the way. Me and my family went to Cameron Highland from Petaling Jaya, passing through Ipoh. Here are the places we visited.

1. Ipoh: Eat Dim Sum 

We went to 2 dim sum restaurants, both are just nearby. The first picture is Ming Court. The second one is Foh San. I prefer Foh San. Besides a more comfortable seating area, they also have a lot of dim sum variety.

Ming Court Dim Sum

Ginger Cookies

I got this Worldfoods' ginger paste. So I decided to make ginger cookies. It is a good company for the earl grey tea.

Top 10 Local Foods in Malaysia

Here is the summary of my top 10 Malaysian local foods. I also recommend the locations, most of which are located in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur area.

1. Bak Kut Teh @Yu Kee, SS14

This is D best Bak Kut Teh so far. The taste of the soup is very consistent all the time, earthy sweet with the fragrant herbal tea aroma.

Top 10 Local Foods in Singapore

It's been more than 2 years since I left Singapore. And within the past 2 years, the food scene in Singapore has changed tremendously. There are new restaurants and cafes opened at almost every corner in the neighbourhoods. 

There are countless of good foods in Singapore really. The foods I am going to write here, are those that I ate, either near my old apartment or near my ex- working places. It's not those fancy restaurants or cafes, but those are the exceptionally good foods that can only be found in Singapore. It brings back memories and I certainly would like to eat them again when I got a chance to visit Singapore. 

1. Boon Tong Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice @River Valley

One of the best Hainanese chicken rice besides the Ipoh chicken rice. The chicken is consistently very soft and succulent.

Image Source: Boontongkee.com.sg

Making Mango Sorbet (without Ice Cream Machine)

Since I have a lot of mangoes, I decided to make a mango sorbet.

Mango Smoothie

I saw big mangoes on sale today. So I bought them and made some mango smoothie ;D

Exotic Foods in Asia

I always like to try new food or to be exact, 'exotic' food. Some of the food might be a little unusual to some people but totally normal to the others. However, from the culture point of view, all foods have their own history, how people came about sourcing it, cooking it and making it as a delicacy. So do not be too judgemental.

1. Crocodile Stew 

The stew was actually quite nice with the ginger and spring onion to cover the gamy crocodile meat. The meat itself was like pork but leaner and tougher. I had this in one of the hawker centres in Singapore.

Making Financiers

Financier is a small French teatime cake. The difference between financier and the normal sponge cake is that it contains ground almond and egg whites only. The key to the moist texture of financier is the ground almond itself and adding some honey to the batter.

Eat in Vue de Monde, Melbourne (Australia)

Vue de Monde is one of the top ten restaurants in Australia, featuring a modern Australian cuisine. The Head Chef, Shannen Bennett's vision is to make Vue de Monde a sustainable restaurant by utilising the most cutting edge technology in his kitchen to preserve the energy, also uses recycled products, homegrown and small-farm organic produce wherever possible. 

The restaurant is located at Level 55, Melbourne's iconic Rialto Building, with 365 degree views over the city. The atmosphere of this restaurant was cozy and sophisticated. We went there for lunch. The food was fabulous with an absolutely stunning presentation.  

Starfruit Smoothie

Eat in Melbourne (Australia)

Here are the top 8 restaurants/cafes I went during my holiday in Melbourne. 

1. Kinfolk @673 Bourke St. 

Kinfolk is a social-enterprise cafe that re-directs their profits to various development projects. The people who work there are mostly volunteers.

Eat in La Maison 1888, Danang (Vietnam)

La Maison 1888 is opened by the world renowned Chef Michel Roux. It is located at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, at the beautiful Son Tra Peninsula.

Image Source: Vietnamdiscoveries.com

Cooking Class in Siem Reap (Cambodia)

I joined this cooking class during my holiday in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I thought it's a good experience to share.

It was a 3-hour class and we learned to cook 3 local dishes - Fish Amok, Khmer Mango Salad and Sticky Rice Balls with Palm Sugar. We were first introduced to the local ingredients by touring around the farm just beside the place where we learned cooking.

Roti Paratha (Indian Flatbread)

A quick recipe for a basic roti paratha. From this recipe, you can make a lot of roti variations, e.g. you can add compound butter, onion, cheese, egg, banana, whatever you desire.

Potato Curry (Indian Style)

This potato curry is a great company for the homemade roti paratha.

Eat in Fujiya 1935, Osaka (Japan)

Fujiya 1935 is one of those few 3-Michelin Star restaurants in Osaka. The whole experience was great, I must admit - the food, course by course, was like a little bundle of surprise. The atmosphere and the service was pleasant and casual. 

1. The first appetiser is Fig from Osaka with Sauce of Rhubarb. It was a refreshing appetiser to awaken the tastebud.

Osaka Fig & Sauce of Rhubarb

Eat in Osaka (Japan)

Here are the reviews of some of the foods I ate during my holiday in Osaka last year (Sep 2013), including the famous kobe beef, fugu (the poisonous blowfish), a snapshot of a 3-michelin star restaurant dining experience (Fujiya 1935), ramen restaurant, grill and beer house, some cafes, tea house and random street foods, delis and food souvenirs that I bought back. 

1. Kobe Beef @Steak Land, Kobe

Eating Kobe beef is one of the highlights of my Osaka trip. We traveled to Kobe, about half an hour train ride from Dobutsuen-mai Station (2 stations away from Namba shopping district), to Sannomiya Station. The restaurant is just within walking distance from Sannomiya Station. It was quite easy to find.

Lemongrass Pork Chop with Ginger & Spring Onion Dressing

Here's a quick recipe for the lemongrass pork chop I made this morning. You can serve it with a white rice or a simple fried rice like I did with a sunny side up.

Making Gyoza

Here's a quick post on my first attempt in making gyoza. It's not bad at all.

Stuffed Tofu Dumpling

This is the stuffed tofu dumplings that I put in my previous post (yellow curry), with chicken, potato and rice vermicelli.