Honey Lemon

Merry Christmas 2013 :)

It's always one of the favourite time of the year.

We've had our yearly Christmas Party as usual. And this year, I've made a little butter cookies with all the Christmas cookies cutter to give to my friends as a small gift :)

Ginger bread man, X'mas tree and bells

This year I have a 5ft Christmas tree of my own and I love it!

Even my penguin loves it :)

Little Penguin in Scarf

And this little ski slipped out from the tree to take a photo ^^

Have a wonderful holidays everybody!

Trying out with Lights

I've always like to take photos next to the huge window in the living room. The diffused lights make the photos a little nicer compared to taking them in the kitchen. I didn't learn any set up because the lights are sufficient, or so I thought.

I have to admit, I committed a crime of buying too many photography books and never really put them into use. The little knowledge that I've learn have always stopped within the pages. So, I decided to read them, and really play with it so I did a little set up. I've wrapped my box with white mahjong papers so that they can act as my cheap reflector.

And so here they are.

With only window lights

With window lights, and the low quality self made reflector

With window lights, white table lamps near to the objects, and low quality self made reflector

With window lights, white table lamps further away from objects shining from front, ceiling lights, and low quality self made reflector

I would say the set up help to reduce shadows significantly. But the last one is not to my likings because I think the image looks a bit flat.

I still like my window lights, but it's too late in the afternoon, the lights are getting dim... I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow and play more of it.

Till then.

Any advice is welcomed :)

Chinggis Khan Statue

No icon represents Mongolia better than Chinggis Khan. Mongolia is what he (Mongolia must be a he, if there's ever a gender for this tough and manly country!) is today because of Chinggis Khan!

It's not a wonder to see a humongous Chinggis Khan statue here! But it is a wonder that this statue was only built in recent years, completed in year 2008. Considering the people had worshiped Chinggis Khan for centuries, this almost real Khan really came a bit too late. But it's better late than never!

The stainless steel statue is standing 40m high at the historical place where Chinggis Khan found his golden whip. Chinggis Khan is symbolically poiting towards the east, his birthday place.

Humongous Chinggis Khan Equestrian Statue

The visitor center and museum are located at the base of the statue, which takes up 10m of the architecture. Visitors can climb up to the head of the horse, via escalators and stairs from the back of the horse. In other words, you have to climb up through the a**.

View of Chinggis Khan from the head of the horse

Honestly speaking, after a few days in Mongolia, I think I have enough of Chinggis Khan. Everything is Chinggis Khan here.

Chinggis Khan Airport
Chinggis Khan beer
Chinggis Khan Vodka
Chinggis Khan wine
Chinggis Khan Chocolates
Chinggis Khan ...
...
..
.

And the list goes on and on. During my last day, I couldn't take it anymore and I asked a waitress in Ulaanbaatar, if all the Chinggis Khan brands belong to a same company. The answer is no, they are apparently different companies but decided to use the same name. Brilliant!

The statue was located 54km away from UB, in Mongolia standard, this is pretty near. I can't recall what is the ticket price of this enormous statue. We got a bundle ticket for visiting the statue and 13th Century Theme Park (which I will blog about later on) for USD75. It can easily be a day trip, as long as you get a guide to drive you along.

Worth a visit for a day tour.

老外口中的家传秘方

我家有个老外姨丈曾经“警告”阿姨，我家新年的传统菜肴——炸肉丸，是千千万万不可以外传！因为，这是家传之宝，家传秘方！

传说中的炸肉丸

虽然，我们一家上下都不把这一番话认真地看待，不过我们心里都知道，这个炸肉丸确实是个宝！

从我有记忆开始，炸肉丸是大年初一不可少的。外婆稍稍迟把炸肉丸碰上桌，我们一伙人就会很紧张！是不是没有肉丸了？！对我们来说，那可是天大的悲剧。就如结婚当天没戒指，考试没有笔，烧饭没有米！

其实，外婆、妈妈和阿姨们肯定好累。因为炸肉丸在家实在有太大的魅力，不管每一年外婆说，比往年准备的更多了，肉丸还是供不应求。永远都是一碟满满地上桌，每人在最短的时间内尽可能抢了几颗就空盘回厨房。

外婆和女儿帮在厨房里，炸了又炸，一轮又一轮，直至所有肉丸都炸完了，才稍为满足精力过剩的一般孙子们。

这些年，外婆老了，妈妈和阿姨们就得扛下这个重任，确保炸肉丸如往常般的上桌。而妈妈青出于蓝，这些年已把炸肉丸的料理完美了！比外婆的更好吃！

为什么炸肉丸是个宝呢？

这些年在外头吃饭，不管是经济饭菜档，还是餐馆，抑或是煮炒摊，从来没见过炸肉丸在菜单里出现。

所以啊，对于在外婆家长大的我们，炸肉丸是实实在在的家传秘方。新年不回家，就错过了吃肉丸的机会。

要菜谱？
不行，都说了是家传秘方，不外传 :)

Grilled Cherry Tomatoes Bruschetta

I like bruschetta because it's simple to make, delicious to eat.

Cherry tomatoes bruschetta

I never really do research on how others make their bruschetta, I just put the ingredients together, and assume I've made one myself.

Ever since the trip to Spain, I realized cheese with strong pungent smell goes very well with honey! And I've tried a feta cheese with honey bruschetta in Cozy in The Rocket in Penang (will blog about it later on), it helps to prove again, this combination is heaven made.

So this is what I did for my own bruschetta:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. While waiting, wash and cut the tomatoes.
2. Spread some butter on the baguette.
3. Place the cut cherry tomatoes nicely on baguette.
4. Toast them in the oven for 13-15 minutes.
5. Once ready, sprinkle feta cheese, honey and herbs as much as you like.
6. Serve.
Oh wait! Asians At Work! Snap a picture and share it on Facebook :P