Backdated: Rice dumpling

You know i'm up to something when the kitchen countertops is full of stuff. I'm going to make rice dumplings.


Well, i helped my mom back in singapore wrap these pyramid shaped rice dumplings since i was a teenager, so i say i'm pretty good at wrapping it. Only issue is, i never had to prep or cook them. All i had to do was, wrap them and my mom handles everything else. Since my mom thinks i do a better wrapping than her. Oh well, there's always a first time for everything..


I'm going to make Nonya rice dumpling simply because my husband likes this. Well, my mom never made Nonya rice dumpling, so this is me following some receipe i found online. This receipe calls for the 50% of the rice to be soak in pandan essence overnight. Which explains the green color. 


Here's the wrapped rice dumplings for boiling.

After 2 hours, the dumplings are done. Let's just say the green colored rice was a little odd, i should have more meat to rice ratio, and also drop the peanuts altogether. Otherwise it tasted ok. Guess i'm going to try it at least a few more times before i give it 100% score.

Yippee! There's a walmart now in Bellevue

Oh yes, for a long time. The walmart nearest to us is a 30min drive, and most of my friends doesn't like that walmart. Well, let's just say that walmart is kinda in the rural area and not exactly the safest place. So we are all delighted when a walmart finally opens in our area. For a long time, residents in this area have been resisting Walmart, because of the cheap labor, etc... I for one, likes it since it's cheaper.

And this walmart is even better. It's 5-10mins drive away. It's new, shiny, clean. Well i guess that's the walmart you get in a more affluent area.

Jamba juice!!!

What better way to chill in the hot summer other than fresh juice from Jamba juice! Also, we found a new favourite - Orange Dream Machine that reminds us of orange yakult drink. Yummzz.. hmm, i wonder if it replaces our favourite - Mango-A-Go-Go...

Where have i been?

Been busy with work, housework and the little one. So forgive me that i been away from this blog for a while. But i do promise to get back to blogging.

Here's a picture of me and Emily. We were at Lake Wenatchee camping last weekend, and our pudding's all grown up. Playing with the rocks by the lake and she was having a lot of fun at this camping trip.

Mama and apple came visiting

Where have we been? Busy? Well, we had Emily's grandmother and grandaunt visiting us from Singapore. And the little girl simply adores the 2 of them. I guess she's really missing out on family love. Just this thought alone, makes us feel like moving back to Singapore, so that she can be with family.

Here's Emily calling mama for grandma and yi po for grandmother, although we all think it sounds like Apple.

New dishwashing liquid

We hand wash our dishes at our house and one of the rules my husband sets on me, is that no cheap dishwashing liquid that doesn't remove pasta stains or oil stains. Well, there was that 1 time, i bought a cheap house brand dishwashing liquid and after several washes, the stains still remain. Hence the rule of dishwashing liquid was set.

Anyway, I received this bottle of Palmolive Fresh Sponge dishwashing liquid as a trial. And i was delighted. It smells good, and really removes stains well. On top of that, it removes any odors from your scrub sponge. woohoo. love it.

It's finally warm enough

You know it's finally warm when we can sit outside and have fun with bubbles with the little one.

My 5th year in USA

Time flies and Free cone day at Ben & Jerry marks my 5th year anniversary in the USA. It's our 6th time participating in this event, and it's the first time it rained.

I kind of make it a point to go for this event every year, not because it's free ice cream. More importantly to me, it's an anniversary to me, of me being in USA. And to think time flew by so fast, and i'm coming onto my 6th year here.


Derrick and Emily enjoying the icecream in the cold rain.


Yup, the rain finally looks like it's going to stop.

This was us in 2007
http://rex-oink.blogspot.com/2007/04/free-cone-day-from-ben-jerry.html

Emily loving Macdonald's hashbrown

It's rare that we have breakfast at Macdonald's and for some reason, Emily decided she doesn't want pancakes or muffin. Luckily she found that she liked hashbrown now, and that she could talk her way to get daddy to feed her instead of feeding herself with the hashbrown.

Mother and daughter

This is a typical weekend. Me trying to catch some time on the laptop while the little one sneak up to you, determined to steal the laptop away from you and have all your full attention.

Isn't it odd to snow in March?

Valentine 2012

first off, back when we were still dating, we 2 decided not to spend $ on outrageous valentine menu. Most restaurants will charge more for valentine day's menu on 2/14.

So what did we do this year?

Derrick took me for lunch at Seastar restaurant. Well, that also means just the 2 of us without the little one



Happy Valentine!

Talking Emily

Oh well.. Emily can talk and I do mean conversation-like talk... Here's an example of a talking Emily;



Although it does sound gibberish, i must say she's getting to a point where, she can convey what she wants already.

Superbowl party

Guess what we brought to the superbowl party last sunday?


7 layer taco dip and chips

Well, we ain't into football, but definitely keen in the advertisements and the food at the party. It was our first time making this 7 layer taco dip and it was amazing. It was super yummy which i guess explains the high ratings/reviews on the allreceipes site. And it look so pretty in the glass locknlock container. And it was really easier to bring it out since it has a lid with a handle.

And it's game time!

locknlock for potluck

We were invited to a friend's housewarming party, and all of us offered to bring something for the potluck. I decided to cook some sweet and sour pork to bring to the party, and what better way to bring it then in a locknlock container?


And it looks pretty and so convenient. Just click the lid on and off we go. And when we were at the party, we just pop the container into the microwave to heat it up.


We had yummy food and everyone was raving about the locknlock container. Rest of the folks had to use pots or cling wrap the container.

青梅竹马 + their mommies (exchange)

Here's Eve and Emily, Me and Mathew. lol... Each mommy carry other's baby

New gifts from locknlock

We just received another package from the locknlock supporter program. Emily is all too eager to check them out.



Lock&Lock Bisfree Rectangular Tableware, Lock&Lock InPlus Cosmetic Case, Lock&Lock Easy & Simple Square Container. Hee.. i already have plans on where to use these.

I think the cosmetic box will come in handy to store random stuff on the table, the Bisfree is good to store snacks, and the square box is a nice size for sandwiches.

It doesn't feel like Chinese New year

Derrick was just commenting that he doesn't feel the chinese new year festive spirit. Granted that we are far away in Seattle, USA, and that we did have a few gatherings with folks to celebrate Chinese New year.

And we soon started asking ourselves, what do we remember chinese new year for...

More importantly, we want to make sure Emily remembers all these festivals the way we did. So we decided some ground rules and make sure that we do plan ahead for future festivals:
- Cook a traditional chinese new year reunion dinner
- Have a christmas tree with pretty ornaments.

Well, there's a lot more festivals, but we want to start making our own traditions.

Snowmageddon 2012

Just when you think winter is going to pass by, the weather decides otherwise. First off, it rarely snows in Seattle, WA. And when it does snow, people in Seattle freaks out. It's really hilly here. So what happens when you have snow storm, ice storm, wind storm consecutively?

Well, Snowmageddon 2012 paralyze the entire city and there's massive outages. As for us, we were lucky to have power. But we were snowed in and stuck at home for several days.

That's us and our Snowmen.


And here's Emily out in the snow

Speedpot and broccoli

Do you know that you can use speedpot to cook broccoli?



The best part about using locknlock speedpot is that, the water boils really fast and you can strain the vegetables without using strainer. Yeah! less things to wash after cooking ...