Lumut 2011: Day 1

Since my mum retired early this month, they have been actively planning for trips. So on local trips, we tagged along as well since we all could fit into dad's Innova.

Last weekend, we went for a 3 Days 2 Nights Stay at Swiss-Court Holiday Apartment Damai Laut in Lumut. Decided on an apartment instead of the resort/hotel so that there will be a kitchen where we could cook.

After breakfast, we started our journey at around 10.30am. There are a few options to go to Lumut from Penang.
Using the North-South Highway, the nearest exit would be Changkat Jering. With this exit, we drove along the old trunk road. We passed by a few little towns such as Terong, Pantai Remis and Kampung Segari. From Segari, take note of a big road sign on the right to go to the Swiss-Garden Apartment.

Reached the apartment around 1pm. Our apartment has 2 bedrooms. We have 5 adults and Shern. The master bedroom has a king-sized bed with an attached bathroom with a bathtub. Shern kept on saying that was a 'big pom-pom' (pom-pom is a slang used for bath)!
The other bedroom has two twin beds. We joined them together and that was where Hubby, Shern & I slept.

The apartment was not so well maintained. The furniture was a bit worn-out but was clean though. The open kitchen was not fully-equipped. There was a gas stove and a water boiler and a few plates and forks and spoons. Nothing else. No pans or pots. No rice cooker. No knives. And no microwave.

Luckily, mum brought everything there. She brought a pan and also a small rice cooker and she brought her own knife and cutting board. In fact, she brought everything except for the kitchen sink! Haha.

We rested and lazed around the apartment after we reached. After a restful nap for Shern, we drove over to the resort's beach.

This is how the resort entrance looks like.

A very nice water-flowing design.

Overlooking the pool and beach from the resort lobby.

Walked down all the way to the beach.

Mum and Ah-yee were already there collecting siput. There were loads of them.

Hubby sat with Shern higher up on the sand.

Shern was then busy playing with sand and water.

I then went to join mum n ah-yee collecting siput. It was fun. Fun because there were loads of them. Once the waves washed them up, you could practically pick them up and into the bottle they went. Or you could just put your hand into the sand and then you could feel them like little stones. Very addictive, I tell you.

Shern then came over and sat on my lap while the waves lapped up on us.

About 2 hours of work, this is what we got. So much siput, ready to be cooked.

Mum stir-frying them with soy sauce and sugar.

Yes, we need to use the rice cooker to dish out the siput. There were really so much! A whole rice cooker of them!

No wonder Shern was having a fun them sucking those siput from the shells. Even Shern loves them!

Pls click here for Lumut - Day 2
Pls click here for Lumut - Day 3

About Shern and Flying

Recently, Shern was watching the Cartoon Network in mum's house when he saw Superman cartoon.

Shern was commenting that 'uncle flying'.
You know, the part where Clark Kent transforms into Superman.

Clark Kent transforms into Superman (photo source: google images)

Well, Shern's comment terrified mum. Mum was afraid that Shern might try the stunt himself and she did not want anything like that to happen.
So, mum decided to explain and put them into words that Shern could understand.

And this is what mum taught Shern. (watch below video)

Shern now is able to say 'Shern-Shern cannot fly. Only cartoon can fly'.
And he knows birds, butterflies and airplanes can fly. Mummy, pho-pho, kong-kong, etc cannot fly.
Hahaha...my clever baby!

Another thing is this. Noticed how Shern can manage sentences now? He can say many words in a go and thus trying to make sentences. Yeah, his vocal and vocabulary is expanding rapidly.

Eating Siput Like a Pro

Guess what? My little baby eats siput like a pro as well. Haha. He seems to love it.

Although I'm a mum who lets his son eats practically anything edible, I still thought twice before letting Shern eats siput (erm..a type of shellfish). Firstly, shellfish are highly allergic food. Secondly, shellfish has their share of freshness issue.

Well, those siput were really fresh. We picked them up ourselves from the beach just an hour ago, how much more fresh can they get? And, since mum cooked them herself, I'm sure they are well-cooked and not half-raw or something like that. So that should kill all bacteria or so, right?

Anyway, Shern seemed to be enjoying it.

Shern eating siput - 26 July 2011

Look at the video below. I haven't seen anyone quite so happy while eating siput. Shern found it quite an accomplishment to be able to suck out the siput from its shell. See how happy he was?

Marble Cake

23 July 2011 - Marble Cake

Another recipe from Ju. Although Ju did mention in her blog that she prefers a finer, tighter crumb texture, but I still went along to use the recipe. Why? Because her photography of the marble cake won me over. Haha. And also I was looking for a marble cake recipe.

And another reason for me to bake a cake that day is because of my sister. You see, we were going to Lumut the next day and my sis was not going because she had to work. So, half of the cake was for her 2 days breakfast before she goes to work. See how much I love my sis! ;)

I did have some trouble understanding a line of the recipe (No.2). What does it means to "Fold through the flour, milk and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth"?

Initially, I did it wrong. I folded the batter in the flour, like the muffin method. The texture came out crumbly and coarse. I knew it was not supposed to be like that. I then did it the other way round. I folded the flour into the batter. And the texture came out smooth just like what the recipe says. Phew...

And I like it when I used a knife and swirled it. It was so pretty.

The recipe says 45-55 mins of baking time. When I went to check the oven at 40 minutes, it was already done and slightly burnt at the top. I quickly took the cake out, and my skewer came out clean when I inserted into the center of the cake, which indicated that the cake was indeed ready.
But because of the slightly burnt top, my swirls were not really visible at the crust.

As a result, the corners of the cake was slightly crusty and dry, but luckily, the inside of the cake was still moist. The cake was delicious with a very buttery taste and aroma. Texture wise, like Ju mentioned, was not so crumb-tight, but I was fine with that.

My ah-yee is a big fan of butter cakes, so she loved this Marble Cake. She requested for me to bake more of this. :)

Recipe: Marble Cake (copied from Ju's The Little Teochew)
- 225g butter , softened
- 225g caster sugar (I reduced to 200g)
- 4 eggs - 225g self-raising flour
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1. Heat oven to 180C/gas 160C/gas 4. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line the bottom with a circle of greaseproof paper. If you want to make life easy, simply put all the ingredients (except the cocoa powder) into a food processor and whizz for 1-2 mins until smooth. If you prefer to mix by hand, beat the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. - (I mixed the ingredient using my KitchenAid mixer.)

2.Fold through the flour, milk and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth.

3. Divide the mixture between 2 bowls. Stir the cocoa powder into the mixture in one of the bowls. Take 2 spoons and use them to dollop the chocolate and vanilla cake mixes into the tin alternately. When all the mixture has been used up (and if young kids are doing this, you'll need to ensure the base of the tin is fairly evenly covered), tap the bottom on your work surface to ensure that there aren't any air bubbles. Take a skewer and swirl it around the mixture in the tin a few times to create a marbled effect.

4. Bake the cake for 45-55 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool. Will keep for 3 days in an airtight container or freeze for up to 3 months.

New TV!

This is how our TV looks like in our living room.
Yes, I think we are the only ones among our friends who has a boxed TV at home! It's a 29-Inch Panasonic TV.

We bought this TV in 2006 when we moved into our 1st home. At that time, flat-screened TV were still very expensive, so we chose to have this. And after 5 years, it is still working perfectly fine, so we are still using it.

Until yesterday......because......
We've won a Samsung 32-Inch LCD TV! Yay!

Yes, hubby was the lucky bird yesterday at The Star Property Fair Lucky Draw. You can read about it here.

So we are going to have a new FLAT-SCREENED TV in our living room! That is until we've got some help to move the huge boxed TV away. It is very heavy, you know!

Chocolate Rum Brownies

20 July 2011 - Chocolate Rum Brownies

Another marvelous recipe taken from Ju from The Little Teochew. Her recipe never seems to fail me. If she says it is nice, it is always nice. I always have great confidence when I tried out the recipe she has tried. Well, unless I tweaked the recipe too much!

This time, I followed almost exactly to the recipe. Besides the fact that we used different brands of chocolate and I reduced a little sugar because I was adding mini chocolate chips into the batter.

As usual, brownies recipes are simple and this one proves the same. It took me just 15 minutes to prepare the batter and about 25 minutes of baking time. 40 minutes later, the brownie is out from the oven for cooling.

I simple could not wait for it to cool before I cut them into bars. So while it was still warm, quite warm actually, I cut them. We ate a few pieces over at my mum's place. Everyone says they are simply delicious.

However, I only managed to take some photos of the brownies late at night because I forgot my camera. So below photos are all taken without natural sunlight. Just the fluorescent light in my kitchen.

The brownie is dense and heavy. I could certainly feel the weight of it when I transferred the brownie to my mum's house on a plate. A thin little layer but weighs more than it looks.
And the texture is a little on the fudgy side. Most definitely for chocolate lovers. The top crust of the brownie is crisp.

I love how the rum gave the brownie an oomphh. And the raisins added some chewiness in it. The chocolate chips also also added some chocolate bursts here and there when you bite into it. Really lovely.

Try it out. I love this almost as much as David Lebovitz's Cheesecake Brownies. This is much simpler and a little less decadent without the cream cheese. :)


Recipe: Chocolate Rum Brownies (copied from The Little Teochew)

Ingredients A
- 250g butter
- 250g dark chocolate (I used 200g of Tudor Gold's 55% Dark Chocolate & 50g of Ghirardelli Midnight Reverie 86% Cacao.)
- 1 cup brown sugar (I used a little less than a cup because I am going to add in some choc chips)

1. Melt all ingredients in a pot and stir constantly under a low fire. You have your chocolate mixture. Allow to cool (you should be able to dip your finger in and not get scalded).

Ingredients B
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp rum

2. Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a whisk. You have your egg mixture.

3. Now, add your cooled chocolate mixture to your egg mixture and stir well. You have your brownie batter.

Ingredients C
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cups sultanas or nuts, choc chips, dried fruit (I used 1 cup of yogurt raisins and 1/2 cup of Hershey's semi-sweet mini chocolate chips)

4. Now, add your flour, raisins and chocolate chips to the brownie batter. Mix well to combine. Pour the batter into a shallow (rectangular or square) tin lined with baking paper and bake at 180°C for about 15-20 mins (mine took 25-30 mins), or when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

5. Allow the brownies to cool before slicing into bars.

USA: Omaha, Nebraska - 29 April to 2 May 2011

It has been 2 months since I'm back from The States, but all I blogged about was the Berkshire Hathaway's 2011 AGM.
So here is the next blog post about our trip to USA - Omaha, Nebraska.

It should take us 36 hours to fly all the way from Penang to Omaha (including transit time).
Penang(PEN) - Hong Kong(HKG) - San Francisco(SFO) - Dallas(DFW) - Omaha(OMA).

Due to the bad weather and short transit, we missed the DFW to OMA flight! We already knew that we might miss it due to the short transit, but when the SFO flight delayed future, we knew we were in deep shit. Once the plan landed in DFW, we ran all the way to catch the other terminal (Omg....DFW airport is so huge!). At that moment, we knew that there was no way we could everr join the Amazing Race. Haha.
Running to catch the next flight was really, really tiring! Coupled with my poor stamina, I was trying to catch my breath while running.
And the worse thing was, after all the breathless running, we still missed the flight...by 3 minutes! And it was the last flight of the day to Omaha! Arghhhhh.....

Hubby was exhausted, but could still smile for the camera.

Hubby, after we missed the DFW-OMA flight

Another bad news; Because it was estimated that there should be about 40,000 ppl going to the Berkshire Hathaway AGM, all flights to Omaha were full. The airline could not confirm our next flight out. At that time, we were like 'Oh shit, dont tell us we paid RM20k here for nothing!'

We were not the only ones who missed the flight. There were 4 others. In the end, all 6 of us were put on standby for the next morning and afternoon flight.

American Airlines then did not want to pay for our hotel in DFW. We were too tired to argue with them. All we got from them was a 'Distressed Passenger Rate' of USD59.90 of a nearby inn called 'Super 8' which was near the airport.

There was a van from Super 8 who kept making rounds around the airport to pick up distressed passengers like us.
The inn was clean and the condition was not bad. We shared the room with our friend.

Our room in Super 8

We were hungry then. Hubby & friend walked nearby the inn looking for food. They found a McD that was closed but has a 24-hour-drive-thru service. They later found out that they do not allow ppl to order through the drive-thru service. Their system's sensor need to sense a vehicle before they could order. Haha.
Luckily, they found a kind soul in a car that could order McD for us. So we did not go hungry that night!

McD

It was the longest 28 April 2011 day ever!

We woke up very early next morning. 6am I think. It was 29 April 2011, Friday, the date Prince William and Kate Middleton got married. We watched the live telecast on the breakfast area downstairs. We ate self-served breakfast of cereals, muffins n waffles while watching the live telecast. The van then took us back to the airport.

Breakfast at the inn

One thing about US airports. The security is really tight. You need to remove your jackets, and shoes and laptop and carry-ons must go through the screening. So the queue at the security check was always long and thorough, which was why we needed to leave ample time for this.

After security check at the Dallas Airport, we had some time to stroll around.
Clinique products were being sold like snacks machine in the airport. Cool!

Clinique

We were so lucky when we managed to get on board the flight although we were on waiting list. If not, we would have to spend many more hours at the airport, waiting for the next flight. Yay!...Omaha AT LAST on a bright and sunny Friday 29 April 2011 morning!

After this, we went straight for all the Berkshire Hathaway's AGM Weekend functions. (You can read about all that here)

Besides the AGM, in between the functions, we managed to walk around Omaha. We also stayed an extra day in Omaha for some sightseeing.
I must say Omaha is very pretty and clean. With wide spaces everywhere. Parks are in abundance.

One of the must-go-must-see places in Omaha is the Old Market.
Old Market is a neighbourhood located in downtown Omaha and is bordered by South 10th Street. The neighborhood has many restaurants, art galleries and upscale shopping. The area retains its brick paved streets from the turn of the century, horse-drawn carriages, and covered sidewalks in some areas.

horse-drawn carriages

cafes at sidewalks

We enjoyed exploring the cobblestone streets of downtown Omaha,

...lined with quaint and unique shops.

And I love this shop selling all kinds of sweets and chocolates imaginable! Even those old-school types. All colours! You just name it and they have it!

And they have many antique shops and shops selling collectibles in Old Market District.

They also have bookstores. This one is huge, with many many books inside. You need the ladder to reach some of the high shelves!

We enjoyed our walks in Old Market, exploring. The shops closed quite early, around 6pm, but most of the cafes and restaurants opens until after dinnertime.

Another place we visited was Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.
The longest pedestrian bridge to link two states, providing safe crossing from Omaha to Council Bluffs over the Missouri River for walking and biking enthusiasts, connecting to 150 miles of trails on each side. The Cable Stay bridge is 3,000 ft long, including the landings; the walkway is 15 ft wide, and allow visitors to stand about 60 ft above the river.
(Source: http://www.visitomaha.com)

We saw many people cycling on that bridge on such a bright and sunny day. Although bright and sunny, it was still cold with the strong wind. But it was a nice day.

Hubby standing Nebraska and me on Iowa state! :)

The next day, we visited The Bookworm, a bookstore hubby wanted to visit.

The moment I stepped into the bookstore, I felt all cozy and warm. The place had me felt all warm and cozy, with cookies and biscuits for customers to munch on. This bookstore is also pet-friendly, which means that customers can bring their pets there.

The other tourist place we visited was Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.

It was a very windy day. The wind was so cold that hubby refused to take off his thick jacket although it was a sunny day.

I find this zoo kinda special. It has many complexes and buildings, with each building housing different exhibits. And you can actually feel how is the condition of the place, the humidity, the smell, etc.

For instance, the 'Desert Dome', which is also the world's largest indoor desert.

Inside the dome, you will see geologic features of deserts around the world, such as Namib Desert of South Africa, Red Centre of Australia, and the Sonoran Desert of the Southwest US.

As I walked into the dome, besides looking at the desert exhibits, I could feel the heat of the desert. It became so hot that hubby had to take off his jacket.

Beneath the dome was the Kingdom of the Night. It is the world's largest nocturnal animal exhibit. The Kingdom of the Night features a wet cave, a canyon, a Eucalyptus forest, a dry bat cave and a swamp.

As we walked into it, the air became more cool. We could smell the cave-like musty smell. It was like we were really walking into a real cave. I do not like the damp and musty smell, so we walked by hurriedly. Furthermore, I was scared of the bats as well.

As we walked towards the swamp, it was almost pitch dark. There were some low lighting here and there though. Our walk was guided by a bridge, with netting on some parts. Only then we realized there were crocodiles (or were they alligators?). It was kinda scary because it was so dark that we could hardly see them, yet you could feel their movement just beneath the bridge.

I dared not put my hands out of the bridge, just in case the crocodiles decided to jump up and snap at my fingers!

Then we went to another bulding which is the Wild Kingdom. This building houses reptiles, insects, amphibians and small mammals.

The Hubbard Orangutan Forest has an outdoor habitat that includes two 65-foot (20 m) tall, 100-short-ton (91-metric-ton) Banyan trees interconnected with vines enclosed by a stainless steel etting. There is also a 20-foot (6.1 m) waterfall nearby.

In Hubbard Gorilla Valley, we saw Orang Utans and Gorillas.

Orang Utans

I think below looks like King Kong, don't you think so?

Western Lowland Gorilla

The Lied Jungle is one of the largest indoor rainforest of the world.
In it, we walked along a dirt trail on the floor of the jungle as well as on a walkway above the animals. In it we saw the blue monkey, common squirrel monkey, pygmy hippopotamus, Malayan Tapir, Clouded Leopard, Gibbons and etc.

Malayan Tapirs

Gibbons

We also saw Polar Bears in the Durham Family Bear Canyon.

(photo: wikipedia)

I like the Tufted Penguins in the Scott Kingdom of the Seas Aquarium.

(photo: wikipedia)

During warmer months, Little Penguins can be found outside near the entrance of the aquarium.

In the Scott Kingdom of the Seas Aquarium, there is also a shark tunnel.

And the Round Pompano Tank.

The Butterfly and Insect Pavilion is a unique exhibit. Viewed from the sky, the exhibit resembles a winged insect.

The name of the donors of the Pavilion

The Butterfly Conservatory has natural light, large trees, rocks and water elements
The butterflies are beautiful.

And what is nice about this zoo is that in many of the buildings, you get to learn things such as below.

After all, Henry Doorly Zoo's mission is conservation, research, recreation, and education.

There is also a Giraffe Complex where you get to be eye-to-eye and nose-to-nose with the giraffe herd.

But I like them in the wild better.

There are many other individual exhibits such as okapi.

Do you know that although okapis may have the stripes of a zebra, they are actually the only living relative to the giraffes.

This is another individual exhibit; Zebras

The place is huge. After several hours and a lunch and several more hours later, our legs hurt and we were tired.

Oh, we also watched a show in the Lozier IMAX theatre inside the zoo. Totally regretted it. It was like paying to watch 1 hour of Discovery Channel. Usually I like watching Discovery, but the show we picked was about polar bears and it was really boring!

But overall, we had a great time in Henry Doorly Zoo. There was so much to see and the entrance ticket is cheap!

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
3701 S. 10th Street, Omaha, NE 68107

Opening Hours
March 1 through October 31: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily. Buildings stay open until 6 p.m.
November 1 through February 28: 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. daily. Buildings stay open until 5 p.m.
Open year-round except for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Zoo Admission
Children (2 and under): FREE
Children (ages 3 - 11): $9.00
Adults (ages 12 and over): $13.50
Seniors (ages 62 and over): $12.00

Zoo and Lozier IMAX^® Theater Combo Rate (includes Zoo admission & 1 ticket to an IMAX^® film)
Children (2 and under if sitting on lap): FREE
Children (ages 3 - 11): $13.00
Adults (ages 12 and over): $17.50
Seniors (ages 62 and over): $16.00

After we left the zoo, GPS took us to Walmart and Borders and for dinner.
Slept early that night as we were to fly to Los Angeles early next morning.

p/s - Click here for more of my USA trip.