First "Lou Sang" for Tiger Wooo Hooo Year!!

"Yee Sang" (鱼生) which literally means "LIVE FISH" (translated from Cantonese) is a typical Chinese New Year dish we folks in Malaysia love to eat once the lunar new year comes around.

This time round, my first Yee Sang was with some ex-colleagues and we celebrated it at Spring Garden, Mid Valley. Every year, our ex-accountant will organize this sumptuous get-together where colleagues past and present are invited to enjoy a "Sao Gong" (收工) dinner just before CNY starts.

The act of "Lou Sang" is quite fun. The higher you "lou", the better your luck will be for the coming new year.

Anyway, the yee sang served at Spring Garden was pretty good. The salmon was fresh and the ingredients are not too sweet.

From the "mess" we made, you can tell that we've got a pretty good year ahead. LOL!! With all the "choi" (财) spilling out, means we expect to be abundantly lucky.... Kekeke... Anyway, it was a mess for the waiter to clean up after us - paiseh... paiseh...

It was a night of lots of "YAAAAAAMMMM SEEEENNNGGGGG" and food. I managed to catch up with some of my old colleagues whom I've not seen for a long while.

Food was great and I'll talk about that in my next post.

Meanwhile... Before I forget, I would like to wish everyone a 恭喜虎年!!!! May the Year of the Tiger be a Wooo Hoo Year for you and your family...

Improving My Skills

Yes, it has been a quiet start to February here...

Besides being busy with my twin nieces (who are at such an adorable age now in their "toddlerhood"), I've been going around shooting the various CNY decorations around the malls. Those pictures are not ready yet as it's still stored in my camera. I'm a bit lazy to edit the photos for now.

I've been studying the articles in my photography magazines in a bid to improve my skills and learn how to use the DSLR settings more effectively.

Certainly, I came across a lot of books, articles and online resources and forums to learn about photography but nothing beats having to apply what you've read or learned when you're out there for a shooting session.


I picked up this guide from MPH a couple of weeks back for only RM19.90. It has a lot of great tips for folks who have just picked up their DSLR or pro-sumer cameras. There are some basic principles in the guide to get beginners started, which is useful after you've gone through your camera's manual. ;-)


Since books are a tax-deductible item, I've gotten myself a few books last year... One of the important books I've gotten is the field guide for my camera which is great for me to learn more about my gear to set it accordingly.

I love the book about light by David Prakel as it gives me an idea on how light affects the photos that we take. The pictures in the book are truly inspirational.

Anyway, I still like my online forums and resources (especially PhotoMalaysia), where you get a lot of tips, critiques and advice from the many sifus there.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to improve my skills so that I will do less editing and more in-camera processing, i.e. setting the camera right before taking a shot. It's not hard when I want to take objects or landscape but when you're at an event, getting the settings right for your camera and flashgun can be quite a challenge!

So... In the spirit of my alma mater's motto - Ancora Imparo (I am still learning)

Sweet Temptations @ Cupcake Chic

Just to demonstrate how "evil" EV can be... Last week, after a scrumptious lunch, she said she had to satisfy her cupcake craving; with full knowledge that I can't have sweets.

She had already declared that she was too full from lunch earlier but when we got to The Curve, she remembered about the little cupcake place just next to Gloria Jeans.

Yep, we checked out Cupcake chic...

No, I did not indulge with her. Only took 2 spoonfuls to taste the cupcakes and frankly, it is just too sickeningly sweet for me. There is only so much sugar, my system can take. After those 2 spoonfuls, I had a sudden craving to do a 20-min run on the elliptical trainer... -_-"

The first cupcake she chose was "Back to Basics". It is a vanilla-based cupcake with vanilla frosting.

The next cupcake EV chose was "Naughty 'n Nice" - a vanilla based cupcake with chocolate frosting. The sugar rice sprinkles completed the dessert.

I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes but if I could have any frosting on top my cupcake, it would have to be a lemon-based frosting. The zesty lemon taste goes pretty well with a moist cupcake base.

Anyway, since I'm not allowed to have any sweets, I can only dream of such desserts.

However, I do enjoy taking photos of these desserts. ;-)

So Curious...

I can't believe that the twins are about to turn 5 months old!!

They are both quite adorable now and are very curious about their surroundings.

We don't take them out often as they were not strong enough to sit on their own. Besides, it is quite a hassle to bring the twins out. You have to prepare 2 of everything...

Anyway, on a rare occasion, we brought both of them out for lunch. Charlotte was sleeping, while Olivia was being entertained by a clown in the restaurant. Her Papa was holding on to her while she leaned forward...

Don't let looks deceive you. She was actually very excited with the balloon dog she had. She kept talking to the toy until she fell asleep.

Haha.. So adorable!

Healthy Sandwich Options - Turkey Breast

It's the start of another week and almost the end of the 1st month of the 1st new decade of the 2010's.

How is everyone keeping to their diets and resolutions?

Anyway, just to share with you a nice sandwich option for lunch. It is filling and very healthy, provided you use healthy ingredients...

I've used the following ingredients for this sandwich:
- Mayonaise (about 2 teaspoons to spread)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (sprinkle)
- Coral lettuce
- Cherry tomatoes
- 3 slices of turkey breast (small)
- 1 low-fat cheese slice
- 1 wholemeal Mini Pide Loaf (Turkish bread)

Absolutely delicious. It tastes even better if you just toast it in the toaster oven for a few minutes.. ;-)

Children of God

Last week was my nieces' baptism!!

Finally, after months of waiting, my sister & bro-in-law got them baptised...

Charlotte being baptised with water after being anointed.

Olivia being baptised with water after being anointed.

Being baptised is just one of the many milestones in life as a child grows up. Soon, both Charlotte and Olivia will go through the rest of the sacraments like First Confession, and First Holy Communion when they are 8 or 9 years old. At that age, both of them will be able to partake with the Mass where they can partake the Body & Blood of Christ.

When both of the twins reach their adulthood at about 16 or 17, they will go through Confirmation where they will fully realize their gifts during baptism, making a commitment to God. They will most likely take 1.5 to 2years to prepare for this as it is a BIG step in their lives.

The twins were fully awake during the celebration and did not cry when the priest poured the Holy Water over their heads. In fact, both of them smiled and laughed when the priest blessed and anointed them!

It is such a joy to see people being baptised, knowing that they will embark on a journey of faith and love with God.

Anyway, I've friends who were baptised as adults and they usually went on "fast track" where they also had Holy Communion & Confirmation at one go. One of my friends also symbolically changed his clothes to wear white once he was baptised to show that he was cleansed from original sin.

Well.. it's a long but fruitful journey in faith for both Charlotte & Olivia now..

Diet & Exercise - Linked Soo Closely...

Just a quick post since I've got to start studying some stuff soon.

Over the weekend, I caught up with my mates whom I've not seen in a while. One of whom I've not seen even before the event of 21-Oct-2009.

I was shocked to see my friend lose so much weight in the span of 3-4mths!! She was on some liquid diets and did manage to lose quite a bit of weight but I think she found it hard to lose the 5kg or so to reach her ideal weight.

Then, she started to work out at home on her treadmill and now is about 1kg away from her goal weight. Back in uni, she was a little chubby and had lost quite a bit of weight by sleeping the entire day - essentially skipping most of her meals.

Well, I'm also happy to report that I've lost some more weight too, i.e. I think I may have dropped a couple of kgs too. It's linked to my diet, medication & exercise. Ever since I've cut away about 99% of sugar from my diet, every thing seems to be better.

However, I still have a little bit of high blood pressure despite me cutting off a lot of salt from my diet. The most difficult part is to have a balanced meal when we're not at home, especially when you're out with friends or colleagues. I've tried to ask the hawker or waiter to help me ask the cook to prepare my food with less oil and salt to much avail. Sometimes it works, most often times it doesn't.

Seems that oil & salt are "cheap" for these restaurants/hawkers? Hey... I'm still paying the same price despite them putting less "ingredients" and that contributes to their bottom line & they still don't want to do it??

Anyway, I'm still on my diet & exercise regime. My exercise is getting a bit more intense after my doctors gave me the green light. My strength training has been slow as I've got to start all over again on building them muscles...