yup...as predicted..popiah aka spring roll for lunch. our fillings?
stir fried turnip, chinese sausage, beansprout, omelette, lettuce, crushed peanut, shredded chicken, long bean, cucumber, shrimp and sweet bean sauce. grandma forgot tauhu this time.
below are my two popiah rolls.
this is the normal one lah...with sweet bean sauce....and i put lots of egg. yum yum.
this one is just one crazy idea. trying to make use of the chocolate sauce aunt ginny gave last year....so tried making a dessert popiah. replaced the sauce with choc one instead. the result?? err....the ori one tastes better. hahaah...
i can try popiah with banana and choc sauce hor? next time maybe.
check out the name of the movie...return of the bastard swordsman.the chinese are celebrating duan wu festival tomorrow. and of course the preparation for the compulsary glutinous rice dumpling (zong zi) has started way earlier. i think 2 days earlier grandma had started soaking those bamboo leaves to wrap the dumpling. then it was soaking the ingredients for the filling.
the ingredients we use for our version are glutinous rice mixed with mung beans (stir together), marinated pork (my favourite in a dumping yum yum), chestnut, oyster, mushroom and yellow beans (???). others use salted egg yolk which i am sure to dig out and give to someone else. haha...i will dig out the oyster and give it away too in ours.
as i am writing this, the dumplings are boiled outside using slow charcoal fire. so dinner today and lunch tomorrow...no prize for guessing correct- dumplings! hmmm...come to think of it, i think i heard grandma talking about popiah. might be lunch tomorrow since wei is back. so tomorrow's post will be popiah to wet your appetite.
aaaawww....he is cute right?? congratulations to pikkien and paul for being proud parents on 2nd june 2008. gosh, they have become daddy and mommy. they have really grown up now. hahaha... but listening to their funny antics while in the waiting room during labour time...one would think twice.another one...artists singing in sichuan tv station. again it is andy lau who wrote the lyrics but the song's beyond's.
http://www.youtube.com/v/afNMgvMG4LU must see...the clearest version of this song is this one. there are a few versions...sung by other groups.
it is not always you see these artists sharing the same stage singing the same song. sammi, miriam, andy lau, andy hui, denise ho, leon lai and richie ren. gosh, andy lau looks thin!! got wobbly knees seeing leon lai...love him!
love this song (promise) more than the previous one posted. it is the music i guess. but still, for a good cause.
even ah niu shared the same stage as faye wong, eason chan and another china singer in an event in china. search you tube for the video if you want. that is what i have been doing today. haha...just looked for 512 promise fund raising..that was the one held in hk.
East Asia artists working to sing a song for the sichuan 512 earthquake victims. i think the song is written by andy lau. putting this because sammi is in it as well. hahah....
the live version can be found here http://ent.163.com/08/0601/17/4DCBT59Q00032MTM.html
they had a marathon fund raising event which involved artists from hk, taiwan and china in hk on 31/5 and 1/6.
we arrived at about 5.30p.m. there was a massive jam outside the stadium as tv3 also had their carnival jom heboh there. so imagine the number of cars and the trouble of looking for parking space. luckily the parking lot opposite the hockey stadium is huge. rm2 per entry. i went straight for registration- rm10 per person and you get a white tee shirt with a purple star in the middle. they were in the midst of officiating the event already then. so above you have the health minister there officiating world tobacco day and launching the event. the crowd was very enthusiastic and you can see the official tee shirt in different colours. white- participants, yellow- cancer survivors, green- volunteers and blue- staff. 
the more than 1o0 tents one could see in the middle of the field and around as well. they were necessary for this overnight event (6p.m. to 10a.m.) they were for you to take away. just register early, pay rm50 to book the tent and you can pack them with you as you leave the next day. cheap huh? most were blocked booked by corporations which took part like astro, xixili and kajang specialist hospital. suria fm was there. herworld mag- they gave away april issue of eh! mag. nestle sponsored milo.
the cancer survivors getting ready to start the first lap for relay for life at 6p.m. i think there were about 100 of them. overheard from one of the survivors who came last year- this year's crowd was thinner and they got less rousing welcome. i guess it was the publicity. i din even know about this event if not for the sms i received. oh, mr yee came at about 6 with bags of sandwiches from subway. he called himself the sandwich man...yes, sandwich was our dinner...damn expensive as well. his friend a couple came later, and lastly his boss with his family...waaayy later. by then, they had no more tee shirts.
photos of cancer survivors strung using yellow ribbons being brought around the track.
members from different embassies were there as well but the one that came with banner was the american embassy. the ambassador and his family were there the whole night and his children really did the relay aka running/ jogging/walking. let me see what i remember of other countries- japan, ecuador, the phillipines, ...haha...that's it. getting old....but there were a few more...more than 10.
the mardi gras ladies.
the ministry of health walking together with organiser. the minister of health was pushing the wheel chair in this photo and he was blocked by the US ambassador.
xixili. their tents were all decorated with heart cut-outs.
teletubby from astro ;P
luminaria ceremony at 9p.m. white paper bags decorated with drawings and messages. a candle was put in every bag and lit by the volunteers and the owners of the bags. only rm1 per bag. going through each of the bag was quite emotional.
it was really beautiful. it was the most beautiful time in the stadium i think when the lights were dimmed and you only saw the flames of the candles. too bad it did not stay long that well. personally i felt they really wasted quite a lot of electricity in putting too many spotlights on. oh, national sports council sponsored the stadium for the event.
this is one with more trimmings and decorations.
those with messages.
and i think this sums up the spirit of everyone who attended. cancer does not equate death! well, personally cancer is such a common disease nowadays that it is not something new. with the advancement of technology and in the medical field, we have more knowledge and choices. everyone faces the risk of getting cancer so we better take good care of ourselves and live each day to the fullest. there is no point regretting or feeling sorry for yourself or for your loved ones later.
the crowd started thinning by midnight. i think only 1/3 was left in the stadium including yours truly's group. only jet, wei and i stayed. i don't need to list those who left in my group. some participants really had the never-say-stop attitude.
bravo to those who ran/walked/jogged non-stop. bravo to those who stayed till the next morning be it lingering around in the stadium or in the tents. bravo to those who stayed up the whole night and gave support to the games they had on the mini stage. bravo to the kids who never complained of fatigue or boredom. bravo to those who donated.
oh, i have to put this in as well. there was a part where local celebrities took part. those i know are sazzy fallak, jac victor, harith iskandar, aishah sinclair, aflin shauki, etc led by yasmin yusuf. they showed up, in their respective gears, they held the glow swords, they walked one lap, they left. maybe i was harsh but hey, at least you can stay and go a few more laps or be geared in the tee shirt (when u register for rm10) to show some support.
anita sarawak performed. jac victor too and this is the first time i heard her live. her voice was good! she is really a great malaysian singer. there were dances, elvis impersonator (i din catch his name), kids choir, relay races, suria fm showcase, pajama party, relay 'boy' contest (cross dressers), yoga and endurance race (2 hours). entertainment was aplenty. but it was not that crowd engaging...which i think is the letdown of this momentous event. you were just drifting in the stadium the whole time. there was no sense of togetherness...that we were all there for one good cause. well, like chailih said it would be difficult since there were so many participants from different groups, but for me, it was not something which could not be done. everyone was enthusiastic to begin with, so getting them to do group stuff would not be an impossible task.
no tent..not a problem. i got my stuff too- 2 sleeping bags (borrowed) and yoga mats. so this was where we spent the wee morning from about 2-6a.m. things had quietened down by this time so you could really catch your nap then. luckily no soreback. it was quite hard mind you...and no pillow.
jet slept the least. he was sticky all over having run about 50 laps the whole night. that crazy man. he really ran! wei ran too but i dunno how many. i only ran a handful and brisked walk the rest. i did 30 laps. nothing to shout about. both heels felt the strained. hated that sore! that was the only frustration.
the biggest group which survived till the next morning. they were all dressed up again for their group laps by 7a.m. a few of them were in traditional customes and they all had head decorations. their spirits were still high.
my 'alertness' was booosted when starbucks gave their free coffee. yes! free starbucks coffee. so refreshing and they pumped up the music at 7a.m. but... we chose to leave at 7.30a.m. feel so ashamed to reveal this here. after surviving the whole night and we chose to leave when there were only a few hours left to reach the last lap. well, jet just could not stand it anymore and he needed his bath. pity him lah soaked in his sweat and all 'marinated' already.
so off to breakfast at sri petaling and then to wei's place at bukit kinrara 5. aaaaahhh.... but the morning had not ended yet.
i went to see the pregnant pikkien as i have not seen her ballooned tummy since she was 3 months pregnant. gosh, it was bigger than a basketball. but she was healthy...good to know...and the baby is due these few days...so everyone, keep your fingers crossed for a healthy baby boy. yes, it is a boy.
lunch at pavilion, kl. yeah, i still have time to go shopping...but only for yeelin lah. went to try the offerings at the loaf. the pastry was yummyand the uhu!hu! cheesecake...but expect to pay double the price lah. luckily jet was not in hunger mood, or my wallet will be thinner. oh, they have lunch promo now. buy any two types of bread during lunch house (12-2) and you will get a cup of coffee free. their second anniversary promo.
yeelin...your watch...finally. it was a blessing in disguise that i did not get this watch on friday! cheating parkson! said they gave additional 10% discount to bonuslink members on that day...it was only 10+10 on friday. today i went, this watch was going at 30% discounts!!! i am so disappointed. how am i supposed to trust the bonuslink member sale gimmick again???
my pick-up at pavilion ;P 50% discount...our malaysian price.
nice bangle huh? no lah...i din get that...stupid to get it here. it is US$68 at www.coach.com and guess how much they are selling here? rm350! so do not ever buy retail if you wanna buy these branded stuff in malaysia!!!
there are quite many books...english fiction for me to choose from, hence it is easy for me to find them and grab them at the same time. i din bother going into the chinese halls but i heard there are quite many books as well. after all this is the biggest book fair in south east asia.
i finished reading the bridges of madison county by robert james waller there while waiting for my 'entourage' to finish browsing their chinese books. it was by accident that i found the book but it was purely intentional when i decided to pick up the book and finish it there and then. one of the greatest love stories ever and the story still lingers with me. my only regret is i have to browse through the words on the pages quite fast and not have the time to let every word, every phrase and every quote sink in. this is one book i would like to read again in the comfort of my own room without any disturbance. the powerful love felt by the 2 characters really moved me and if i were not in a big exhibition hall, tears would have flowed for their story. actually tears welled in the eyes but din make it out of the eyes at the hall. this is one love story everyone should pick up and it is easy reading as well because it is less than 150 pages. 
the nine books i got:
the boxes of photo albums i got as well. love the covers of the albums. and i do develop my digital photos...so yes i need them. but i just have a storing problem at home. well, they make good gifts as well...if i can't finish using them.
off to suria klcc after that. as busy as ever after office hours.
i was supposed to help cousin from germany get the watch on the left, but she replied me too late. she wanted a watch that can tell two times. haha...i picture messaged her when she was still in bed at germany time. by the time she got back to me, i had left parkson pavilion and was in parkson klcc. yes, went to times square to develop photos and checked out jeans at pavilion first. parkson klcc did not carry the model on the left. sigh...so i have to go back to parkson pavilion to get it for her. in germany you will have to pay 90Euro (rm400 plus) for that, here in malaysia, rm368 and 10% discount.
will be off ofr the cancer relay thing in a few hours. hope it is not a disappointment. my legs were aching from one whole day of walking yesterday, luckily we have osim usqueeze. haha...that massage yesterday helps. so i can walk lah...my exercise this holidays.
, count him in. so now 3 of us are going on saturday.
