From The Sessions

If you want to learn about humanity, about strength and about love, expect to be touched beyond the depths of your heart. Mark O'Brien wrote this poem. It is amazing. I was left breathless.

Love poem for no one in particular - Mark O'Brien
Let me touch you with my words
For my hands lie limp as empty gloves
Let my words stroke your hair
Slide down your back
And tickle your belly
For my hands, light and free flying as bricks
Ignore my wishes
And stubbornly refuse to carry out my quietest desires
Let my words enter your mind
Bearing torches
Admit them willingly into your being
So they may caress you gently
Within

And if you are still wondering, I definitely am a romantic at heart.

Southbound to Toronto

This is my reason for Toronto. I took a train from Montreal down to Toronto which was the same price (they have pretty good internet deals) as taking the price and way faster by 2 hours! It was so good to see Derek and Sun again. The last time I saw them was 4 years ago back in Malaysia. Oh, I've missed them Too Much!

Toronto is a pretty cool city. Very young, very vibrant. I loved how they've managed to build around the old houses and the vintage looking street cars was a fun way to get around town. According to Derek, Toronto is city of parks. There was so much green around and it was lovely to walk and cycle for days on end. I loved wandering along Queen's west admiring the street art and funky stores, Yonge street, Chinatown, checking out cute Kensington Market (which kinda reminded me of the markets in Thailand somehow but triple the price!), not forgetting the trendy Distillery District and of course St Lawrence market for all the food you could ever want! One day I even spent a few hours at the ROM (for those who actually know me, there was a heavy downpour on that fateful day. enough said) and was duly surprised by the interesting Mesopotamia exhibition (babylon, assyria, tower of babel).

I think I walked for days, and I every day there was always something new. The thing that I liked most was how everyone was uniquely dressed. The styles ranged from preppy to punk, trendy to conservative. Yet, no rules applied and it didn't seem like anyone cared.

Catching up with Katie, Angie and Mirium whom I hadn't seen for years was one of the highlights of Toronto, other than losing very badly in a game of Catan (which Derek & Sun take very very seriously, hence I was happy to lose). I was also seriously informed that the Torontonians take their beer very seriously. That is a fact.

My big east Canadian Adventure

I arrived in Montreal totally exhausted. That was entirely my fault due to my never-ending excitement of non-stop in-flight entertainment, I spent 12 out of 14 hours of my flight to Toronto with eyes wide open glued to the small screen. All hopes and dreams of not suffering from jetlag totally flew out the window.

This is my second time in Montreal. Due to circumstances I still find this vibrant city a little sad for me. Denise picked me up from the subway station at Henri Bourassa. She is lovely. We talked like I just saw her last week. Nothings changed even though I was last here more than a year ago.

I did manage to get to the city more this year. Manuela and I walked up Mount Royal. It was a beautiful walk and we were blessed with blue skies and sunshine. It was so good to see her and we managed hours of giggly "girly" talk. Its what girls do when we get together. We even managed a trip down to McGill. I've always heard so much about this university. It was as beautiful, classic and elegant as they say.

My favourite part is of course Old Montreal. The small winding cobblestoned streets with small cafes lined side by side illuminated by little streetlights almost brings you back in time. Horse drawn carriages riding along the water at the old port somehow brings back the romance in me. I could just about see gentlemans in tall hats and elegantly dressed ladies stepping out of the carriages to attend a ball. There I had dinner with Magaly. It was good spending some time with her as last year I didn't really have the time amidst all the chaos. She was starting school again, just as I was ending mine.

Somehow this square is similar to Innsbruck, Austria and Bern in Switzerland

In the weekend, Stephane and Manuela brought me to Mont Tremblant. When we got there, we were surprised at the amount of people that was getting there, and belatedly realised that the Iron Man was having a race there. However, undeterred we still decided to go up the mountain. It was a gorgeous hike. We took the hard hike named "The big burnt" (translated directly from French). It was a 3 hour hike up to the peak and well worth the time. I don't know what is it about being at the peak, it always takes my breath away when you get to see just how big and beautiful the world is. There I'm always reminded that no matter how big your obstacles are, they will never be as big as the entire universe. I like that. I am and always will be a mountain kind of person.

The ironic thing is just as the world is so big, it is also small in many ways. After the hike, as I was walking down at the village, I bumped into Janice, Aaron and their newborn baby Winter! Now this is purely coincidental because they live in Niagara Falls with no knowledge that I was in Canada (let alone Montreal). We were so stunned we just screamed! It was such a good coincidence though because the last time I met them was years ago back in Malaysia. Like I said, our world so big yet so small.

I left after a week of spending time with Denise. She's now off on one of her long trip this time to Italy - Africa. I'll miss her. I'm glad I managed to spend some time with her. She's after all like family to me. 

Dragon Boat Day is a big day in Hong Kong!

Its the dragon boat season in June, every year! A big must-watch when you are here! This year we are back at Daryl & Tristan's boat again cheering for their team.

Dragon boat races are way fun. To be honest, I think its a massive junk party. Boats from every company in HK are lined up side by side. After the race, the team gets back to their boat. Beers are free-flowing (See what I mean).
The races itself are really entertaining. Some teams go all the way dressed in costumes. My personal favourites were the man-slaves & the crayon team! Some are really professional and serious.

The best cheerleading team ever

 After the races are over, the party continues on the street in Stanley.

Stanley in the evening.

Random post

Doesn't this just say it all?

In Memory of an amazing soul

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Mary Elizabeth Frye

 

It's your birthday today. You would have been 37. 

 

What if you were still here? I imagine you would be in the middle of another adventure, travelling an exotic country, climbing another mountain, running through an unexplored trail. In my mind you still are. 

But that's how it is. You live in all our memories and through everything we do that you have taught us. That is how we honour you. Even when you are gone, you are still the teacher and we are your students.

In memory of an amazing soul (5/6/76-11/11/11)

These friends are for life

Tomorrow I will be getting back to Hong Kong. It will feel a little empty. I am already missing a few friends who have begun their next chapter in life elsewhere in the world.

Call me a dreamer. I believe that everything that happens, well it happens for a reason. The people you meet on this journey in life, each and everyone stands for something. The people you connect with, none of which was accidental. Each one affects the other. And I suspect, I've changed a little after I met all of you. I appreciate this. Every little things, every little moments.

Nirvick, Rachael & Anya. Each one so different and yet so similar and so special in their very own ways.

I've only known you guys for a little over 1 year. Seems like such a short time but seems like forever as well. All the long hikes, the heart to heart, the crazy jokes, the fun home cooked dinners. None of these are replaceable. None forgotten. Ever.

I'll miss you guys a long long time. And I definitely look forward to seeing you somewhere, anywhere in this big yet small world of ours.

We are after all friends for life.

Rocky Roads galore!

Every chocoholics dream come true...rocky roads. It's so easy to make, yet it tastes so good plus it makes you look like a pro! After watching the Great Gatsby and tearing my heart out at the movies (trust me, you will too when you've watched it!), I knew I needed a chocolate fix.

This is what you do, get a foil and wrap your container (this is so you wont need to wash it later), break digestives into careless bits and place at the base of the container. Place roasted hazelnuts and chunks of marshmallows on the digestives. Now, the best part of all...melt dark and white chocolate over saucepan placed over boiling water in a pot and pour into container. Place in fridge and leave to set. Voila..!

The best part is yet to come, sharing the chocolate around during a long case in the hospital! After all, chocolates are best energy boosters and happiness starters. Don't you think?

The best way to enjoy chocolate, with friends no doubt!

Jerangkang Waterfalls

Let me tell you about a little piece of heaven on earth.

In Malaysia, there is a place in the middle of the forest where a cascade of waterfalls exist. You can climb along the side of the falls, and when you get to the upper level, you will see another fall, and it goes up and up and up...it seems like forever.

And when you camp by the falls at night, you can climb to the rocks and lay listening to the powerful sound of the water while staring up admiring millions of bright stars in the darkened skies. They look like diamonds glistening brightly, keeping our secrets, holding all our dreams and our hopes. If you are lucky, you may catch sight of a wishing star. Don't forget to make a wish.

It really is as lovely as it sounds.

And one day if I get lucky, I will show my piece of heaven to you.

  

Double Trouble!

The chocolate rage continues....Rach had another dinner party and this time I found a really simple but exquisite recipe for Chocolate Marquise by none other than the ever famous Gordon Ramsay!

It reads, "for the serious chocoholics only" so I knew I qualified automatically!

The usual suspects when it comes to a chocolate recipe

You need 4 separate bowls.
Bowl 1: melt 300mg of dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
Bowl 2: mix 150gm unsalted butter with 75gm caster sugar and 6 tbsp cocoa powder
Bowl 3: beat six egg yolks and 75gm of caster sugar
Mix bowl 1 and 2 and 3 together slowly, and lastly add 450ml of whipping cream/thickened cream.
As you mix everything, the entire combination will look like chocolate mousse. So that's when you know you are on the right track (trust me, it's tried and tested).

Next smoothen a layer of this chocolate mousse, and top with a layer of after 8's chocolate on a foil pan. Repeat another layer and add a layer of after 8's chocolate until you have up to 3-4 layers of chocolate. Yep, just like a layered cake. Only better!

Cover foil and refrigerate overnight!

The white's in between are the layers of After Eights. Okay I admit, there's some room for improvement in my presentation...

Now this just took a mere 45 minutes to prepare. By Saturday, I found myself restless (yet again) and so decided to try make this flourless chocolate brownie by Nigella. Imagine flourless, a less guilty chocolate experience! Heavenly!

So start with melting 225gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa of course) with about 225 gm unsalted butter of course in a saucepan in low heat. Add 2 tsp of vanilla essense. Beat 3 eggs and add into saucepan. Now add 150gm of ground almonds and 100gm of chopped walnuts. Mix well.

Pour batter into foil and bake in oven for 25-30 mins (until upper crust hardens slightly) at 170 degree Celsius. It will be a little squidgy but that's okay as that's probably from a little excess butter.

Now my favourite part is the hot chocolate sauce. Mix 75gm dark chocolate, 125ml double cream, 2tsp of espresso powder diluted in 2 tbsp of hot water and 1 tbsp of golden syrup into saucepan and melt together under low heat. Voila, that's your hot chocolate sauce for the brownie!

Both desserts were served on Saturday night. Both were (obviously) well received.
That was how I made my Saturday perfect.

And this is the end of my chocolate obsession.

I hear myself snort as I typed the last sentence.

Diary of a Chocoholic

So, I've been moping around with chocolate for 2 months. Frankly, I'm getting a little sick of pure chocolate. I've had everything ranging from Twix, Cadbury to Lindt, Merci, even all the flavours of Toblerone. You name it, my entire "secret" stash is all gone. Okay, I lie. Nearly all gone.

I've decided to try some other variant of chocolate.

So I baked. First time in my life. Moist chocolate cake from scratch. The simplest recipe I could find. However, I struggled a little with the measurements, "ounces", ml, mg, gm, cups. So Daryl's advice was just as long as you can "correctly estimate" the amount. Huh? Easier said than done.

Here's the recipe:
1 and a 1/2 cup of plain flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tsp baking soda,1/2 tsp salt, 2 ounces (half a bar) or unsweetened chocolate, 5 tablespoon of butter, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

Melt the chocolate and half the butter together. In another bowl, mix buttermilk, the other part of butter and egg, then add the rest of the unmixed dry items into the bowl and stir. Lastly add the melted chocolate into the bowl as well. Add vanilla essence last. Mix well.
Grease baking pan and bake in toaster oven for 30 mins +/- 10 mins. Cover the top with foil to avoid the top from getting burnt. Check if cake is done by poking the middle part with a knife. Nothing should stick on the knife.

For the icing,
1/2 cup sugar, 4 tbsp cornstarch, 1/8 salt, 1 ounch (1 line) of chocolate, 1/2 cup of hot coffee (whatever you have is fine), 4and 1/2 tsp of butter, 1 tbsp vanilla essence

In a saucepan mix everything except butter and vanilla under low heat until low boil. Then remove from fire and stir in butter and vanilla. It will sort of thicken eventually. Then spread on cake.

 

This was super easy (surprisingly). It only took around 1 hour in total. Thanks to the careful guidance of rach and daryl who were nice enough to not roll their eyes at my unconventional but vigorous mixing technique and my utter loss while trying to make sense of the quantity measurements.

We spent the rest of the beautiful Sunday by the pool. Perfect day!

I then took the rest of the cake to work the next day and of course tried it on another sample - my colleagues of course. Well, needless to say the plate was all clean and cleared up to the last drop of icing! 

Next on, Chocolate Marquise!
That and 10000km of running just to make up for all those chocolate....