FurryMaisy

I have a love for reading, fiction mostly, from Sci-Fi to the classics. Noromance novels for me though, I outgrew them before I left secondary school. Now I alternate between reading autobiographies and fiction sourced from book warehouse sales, or out-of-copyright classics on my phone. Yes, I’m a cheapskate, I know 😛

As a consequence of a voracious reading habit, I have a sizable collection of books, mostly paperbacks. They laid in every corner of my room, and stuffed in the bookshelf in the living room. That was before I got married and moved to my current home.

This is not a post on reading though. This is all about bookshelves, or more accurately, lack of bookshelves. I have no bookshelf in my home. My books are packed into boxes, on the very spot my imaginary bookshelves are suppose to be.

I have hunted for bookshelves at furniture shops around town, but the solid wood ones are all at least RM600 and upwards. I need at least 2 sizable bookshelves for my books and my growing collection of cookbooks. 2 of them, with extra shelves will cost around RM1600!

I have been eyeing on the Ikea Billy bookcases for a long while; they are cheap and functional.  A Billy, although made of particleboard, costs $79 (for the white one), or RM185 at the KL branch. I can buy 3 Billys and still cost less than the solid wood ones I have been looking at. And white Billys blend into the white walls! Every time I drop by Ikea for cheap hotdogs, I would wander off to the Billy displays, drool a bit, then walk away one hour later to the cashier counter with a bunch of stuff I didn’t know I need an hour before. I want a 2 3 Billy bookcases for my home!

The only problem was, KL is 300km away, and how do you get a 202cm long box in a car across the JB customs? My little car can fit the flat packed case if I flatten the backseat and front passenger seat. But, driving through JB customs like that will surely attract the attention of customs officers, and goodness knows how I could get away with that.

What shall I do? Has anyone ever carted a Billy bookcase or other similar items across JB customs with their wallets intact?

I have finally run my first half marathon at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on Dec 6th 2009.

21km.

More running than I’ve ever done in my life.

And I’m glad to say I have done it 🙂

Prologue

I can’t say I prepared adequately for it, unless you count  6-8 1 hour runs in the last 3 months as preparation. I know I have the stamina for an hour of running in a slow-pokey 7.5km/hour pace, but anything beyond that is unknown to me. Hubby helpfully suggested that as long as I can do half the distance without keeling over, I most probably will be able to drag myself over the finish line.

Even bought myself a pair of new running shoes 2 weeks  before the race, because my old running shoes were a bit heavy, and wore once for a proper run before the race. Not advisable, as I’ll explain a little later.

D-Day

Hubby and I woke up at 4.45am, made coffee (for me) and milo (for him), and set off to the race ground, while munching on a granola bar in the car. Reached The Adelphi and was happy that the road leading to the carpark is not closed to traffic (yay!).

Parked our car, took a sip of water, girded our loins and walked to the starting point.

The place was packed with runners, race crew, and even TV crew. We walked to the starting point, which was already fairly packed with people. Feeling a little confident, hubby led us closer to the starting point, saying he doesn’t want to get stuck behind slow runners. Did some stretching exercises, and waited for the starting horn. This was a great time for people watching: the flabby white chicken types, skinny white chicken types, the hulking muscle types, the slim and wiry types, the decked-out-in-performance-bodywear-and-running-belt-with-water-bottle-and-power-gel types, and more. At exactly 6.45am, the half marathon race was flagged off.

The first hour of running was uneventful, and the 10km mark was reached at around 1:10. At each drink station I took a few sips of water and 100Plus, and used the rest of the water to splash on my face. But as I continued running, I found out why it was important to break in a new pair of running shoes BEFORE running a half marathon. My feet started to hurt from the hardness of the shoes and the constant pounding it took from my 130lb frame . At the 11km mark I stopped running and walked.

I usually run with music, either from my (now dead) iPod mini, or my phone. After my iPod died, I decided to run this race with no music. I think it was the right decision. During the race, I constantly saw runners stopping to select music, adjusting their earphones, or tucking the wires out of the way. I just entertained myself with people-watching, reading messages off the back of other runners’ jersey, and the scenery around the race route. It’s not every day that you get to run in the middle of the CBD, you know.

By the 15km, it was a constant run-walk-run-walk-run routine. My feet were hurting enough to stop me from running any faster. The last 5 km was torture. Every drink station was an excuse to stop. Everyone around me was struggling and trying to overcome their own soreness and fatigue. The medics who dispensed heating cream were the most popular, with lots of runners waiting for some cream to soothe their sore body parts.

When the final kilometer beckoned, I decided to swallow the pain and just slowly jog. The supporters by the side of the road were cheering the runners on. Others also started jogging/sprinting the final stretch.

As the finish line appeared, I felt a little shudder going through my body. At the very moment of stamping my foot on the timing mat, I actually breathed a sigh of relief, and a real sense of satisfaction. Imagine, me, always struggling with my weight, with a lack of stamina, and here I am at the finish line of a half marathon!

Finished the race in 2:52.

Epilogue

Collected the finisher’s medal, drinks, and headed to the meeting point. Found hubby sitting on a footpath with shoes kicked off. He finished the race about 10 minutes earlier, and was a little surprised to see me so soon (hehe). Pigged out at McDonalds for our post-race celebration. We were a really odd couple at Funan, dragging our stiff legs around the mall while window shopping.

Finally reached home at 2pm, washed our shoes, ourselves and threw the clothes into the laundry machine.

As we sat on our couch and watched badminton on telly, all sore and stiff, we could see the smile on our faces telling each other, “My darling, the half-marathon runner !”

It started off here …

Things are moving slowly, but steadily….

I started from the middle, and is working my way outward. I try to cover as much ground with a single colour before I go back to the middle and start with a new colour. I don’t know if this will work out well, but it does break the monotony of doing only one colour for long periods of time. It’s not very obvious in the pic, but there’s actually 3 different colours on the aida cloth.

Gambate!

iPod Mini showing error screen!

Upgrade Your iPod Mini With Flash Memory – No More Hard Drive!

and many other similar resources.

Has anyone done the harddisk swap before and lived to tell it?

I’ve just started on a new project:

cross-stitch

And it is based on this painting by Myles Birket Foster titled Children Paddling in a Stream:

Children Paddling In a Stream

Good luck to me!

Stumbled upon a website that showcases pimped-up Ikea furniture:

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com

You may just get inspiration to add bling to your vanilla-flavoured Ikea furniture!

I can’t remember when Portuguese egg tarts first came to Malaysia, but I do remember sampling some on a family trip to Macau way back in 1996. Portuguese egg tarts are recognizable from the uneven browning on the top of the egg custard in a flaky pastry, quite different from the smooth top that characterizes the normal egg tarts you find in dim sum joints.

My first impression was that egg tarts are hard to make. On the contrary, the recipe is simple, and if you can find pre-made pie crust mix, it’s super easy to make.

Crust:

1) 150g unsalted butter
2) 150g flour
3) 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4) A pinch of salt

Egg custard:

1) 4 egg yolks
2) 1/3 cup milk
3) 1/3 cup heavy cream
4) 1/4 cup sugar
5) few drops of vanilla extract

To make crust:

Sift flour and baking powder.  Cut chilled butter into a few pieces, and mix into the flour. Continue breaking the butter into the flour until mixture looks like coarse lumps of grain. Press them together into a dough and put into the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour.

To make egg custard:

Mix milk, heavy cream, sugar and egg yolk in a bowl with a spoon for a few minutes, then strain to get rid of any egg-y lumps. Add a few drops of vanilla extract and stir the concoction a bit.

Now to combine the two:

Take the chilled dough out, tear a ball of dough about the size of a golf ball, and roll out into a disc.  Grease a muffin pan, and place the dough into the muffin cup, taking care to press out the folds and smoothen the rim. Repeat for all muffin cups.

Crust in muffin cups

Pour the egg custard into the muffin cup about 80% full.

Egg custard in muffin cup

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg. Celcius for 15-20 mins, or until the top browns.

Egg tarts all done

The top of the crust was a bit too brown when I took it out. Maybe I should thicken it a little next time.
Anyway, hubby liked it enough to polish 2 at once.

Another pastry recipe learned!

I usually prepare lean pork by slicing them to thin strips, season with a bit of salt (my MIL says it helps tenderize the meat), then sauteed with dark soy sauce, ginger and garlic.

Today I cooked it differently.

Marinate the pork strips with some salt and curry powder for 15 mins. Slice one yellow onion. Chop 2 cloves of garlic and a half cm knob of ginger.
Sauteed onion, garlic and ginger in oil until onion softens. Add pork into the wok. Add a little chili paste and more curry powder. Fry for a minute, then add half a cup of water and some dark soy sauce, then let simmer for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Finally add a dash of pepper and remove from work.

Hubby quite liked it. I think he’s getting used to my cooking more and more.

You’ll always be my Johnny Castle.

Continue dirty dancing in heaven…

Day 2 : Taipei Whirlwind

When I saw the itinerary for the one-day tour, I was happy because it covered places like Yehliu & Jiufen which are out of  Taipei Metro’s long reach.

Our itinerary for the day:
CKS Memorial Hall –> Yehliu –> Jiufen –> Martyrs Hall –> Beitou Hotspring –> Shilin Market

Taiwanese coffee tasted like it was made with yesterday’s used coffee grinds. After a hotel breakfast of porridge & insipid coffee, we waited for the tour bus to pick us up. Bought a big bottle of mineral water from a nearby convenience store, and an English newspaper which was  a broadsheet with 8 pages (seriously, 8 pages!!) . In contrast, the Chinese-language paper is a 1 inch multi-section telephone directory, peppered with colourful pictures throughout, especially the entertainment/gossip pages.

Ximending is deserted at 8am in the morning. The only signs of life were makeshift stalls selling breakfast sandwiches & soya milk, delivery trucks and old men slowly cycling through the empty streets.

Deserted Ximending street

The bus arrived 1/2 hour later.

First stop: CKS memorial hall. It’s a sunny day, so all the womenfolk are hiding in the shade and not wandering around. The National Theater is under renovation, so the facade is obscured with scaffolding. Nothing much to see here except for the statue of CKS in the hall, and of course the name change made by Chen Shuibian to boost his Taiwan independence cred.

When we were on the bus earlier on, the tour guide Mr C made a half-joking remark to us, “You can talk to a Taiwanese about anything under the sun, but do not talk politics with him!” That was very evident when you watch their television: the current affairs news are full of political analysis, and the reportings of every move made by the green and blue factions. Taiwan is now in a Ma Jing-jeou craze after his election win. Even Mrs Ma is the focus of the news the past few days, every detail from their courtship to how Mrs Ma still take public transport to work is laid out in the open paparazzi style. I’m sure after he’s become president, the CKS memorial hall will be changed back to its original name.

CKS Memorial Hall

Next stop: Martyr’s Hall

Martyr’s Hall is dedicated to soldiers who perished in the decades-long war against the Japanese and later on the communists. This is where we get to witness the hourly changing of the honour guards ceremony.

An honor guard

Next stop: Yehliu.

Yehliu Geopark’s attraction lies in the curious rocks formed by sea erosions dotting the seashore. By luck of the draw, some of the rock formations have been shaped to resemble everyday objects, like shoes, elephant trunks, and the now-iconic Queen head.

Yehliu Geopark

Erm, did someone drop their slipper?

It’s a fabulous spot to bring your kids, where you can let imagination take control and try to imagine every weird rock formation as a turtle or mushroom or whatnot. There are footpaths for you to follow with rope barriers at certain places, but if you really want to step over the flimsy barrier and fling yourself to death on the rocks below no one’s gonna stop you.

There are stalls nearby selling sun-dried  – and pungent – seafood, if you’re into that kind of stuff.

Next stop: Jiufen

Jiufen is an old mining town built into the side of hills facing the Pacific Ocean. It was saved from being a ghost town when it became popular with tourists for its charming old town feel. Jostled with crowds of fellow tourists on the narrow streets of Jiufen, soaking in the snacks and souvenirs on offer in the shops.

Dessert

Delicious noodles, i loved that you can add your own chilli sauce

Next stop: Beitou hotspring

What is a visit to Taipei without heading to the hotsprings in the north? Soak ourselves in the sulphuric water and breathed in sulphur-smelling air. Suppose to cure skin ailments and other magical stuff. No pics of course 🙂

Last stop: Shilin market

The mecca of Taipei night markets. Find every conceivable snacks and knick knacks here. The streets are so packed you have to slowly shuffle your way around. I of course tried the fried chicken cutlet, which was bigger than the palm of my hand. Lots of shopping to be done from the roadside stalls and the shop behind them. Bought a few norens for my home; they sell for double the price back home.
I don’t know if it was common occurence in Shilin; the roadside stalls were illegal, and when enforcement officers appeared, the hawkers literally ran with their carts into dark alleys. After the coast is clear, the carts magically appeared from the alleyways and business was back as usual. This happened at least 2 times when I was there.

Fried chicken cutlet, with plenty of chilli and plum seasoning

From Shilin, we made our way back to the hotel via MRT, all full and tired from the day’s journey.