JOanna’s Life

This is a birthday related post….

A Pretty-Looking & Yummy-Tasting Cake with Fresh Fruits by CrystalJade My Bread

This is also a church related post. Currently i’m pretty caught up with school and have no time to go out for meal, partially due to money constrain too. So my life is basically school-work-church of a routine which i actually quite enjoying it.

Anyway, this happened last Sunday, when my team was serving. We celebrated my Team Leader’s, T Christine’s birthday.

                                                Teacher Christine with the Cake

It was a surprise mini celebration, with a cake and a simple birthday song singing.

            A snapshot taken while we sang the Birthday Song to the birthday lady

I like this particular photo. The smile on T Christine’s face was so sweet. It resembled a smile on a child’s face, the simple & genuine joy, enjoying the sing-for-her-but-hopefully-not-out-of-tune birthday song.

But… Why did i call it a surprise celebration?

Because, T Christine is always the one, who plan the purchase of the cake and celebrate our birthdays, for each of the servers in the team. You might say, "because she’s the leader what.". But it holds a different meaning when she actually takes note of each of our birthday and celebrates our birthdays with the entire team.

                                               Beautiful Servers of Team A for jkidz

Sorry if you don’t see any guys in the picture. First of all, Adam is very precious in Rock Kidz,haha. Secondly, in this case, one Adam went straight off after serving (probably had something on) while the other went to the main auditorium to "chop" seats for the ladies. *wink* 

Thank you T Christine! It’s been great knowing you and serving together with you in Children Ministry. You’re a great and caring leader, always soft-spoken and kindhearted. May you be blessed abundantly by our dear Daddy God this year!

With Lots Love.

Recently, my church’s children ministry had a major revamp. It’s going to be more dynamic and more exciting, all for the precious children of God. *wink*

Currently I’ve taken up a new role in Rock Kidz, as a teaching teacher. Meaning i’ll be the conducting the teaching in individual classroom after Praise & Worship. In my case, i’ll be teaching Primary 2.

I’ve never thought i’ll be in such a position to impact & impart God’s love to the children.

"God shall expand me to the right and to the left" 

                                                                             Isaiah 54:2-3

 

As the Pastor Prince shared in the last service of year 2007, he shared with the congragation that God will increase us in Quality and Quantity, as in the promises in Deutronomy 28. I truly believe that God is increasing my standard, in all area of my life ie: my school, my work place, my ministry in church, my friends and family etc. in year 2008. I just couldn’t imagine how much i’m going to receive in 2008, it’s going to be a great year with lots of testimony. A lot of expectation *excited*

Oops.Digressed too much from what i wanted to post. Getting too excited about God *bleah*

I received this book today.

Few days ago T Su An messaged the teaching teacher, encouraging us to get the book. It talks about how to teach with power and passion, excitement and excellence.

I hesistated for just a while when i saw the sms. School just started again in January and my expenses went up quite a bit due to some purchases, textbooks etc. But clearly, somehow, i wanted to get the book. I wanted to learn and improve as i’m taking up this new role that i’m totally unfamiliar with. I thought in my heart: "I work as student assistant in school (which is a blessing from God) and i should spend the money in the things worth investing. No point earning my pocket money just to see increment in my bank account." So i replied her soon after she smsed me, "Sure, count me in!"

T Su An took the trouble to group order the book and the books reached the church office on Friday.

Su informed us like "the books are here" "pls pay to Ronnie when you meet him this Sun" on Friday. Sorry Su, i didn’t reply to your message. Thanks for informing though. I’ll be more responsible next time.

So i got the book today when we (the teaching teachers) met up (for just a short while) to discuss the next few lessons on worship.

I was late, due to the late dismissal of the main service and blur I went to the Convention Centre (where we normally have Rock Kidz service) when it was held in Marina Mandarin today!!! The Super Late I,managed to get to the correct location after being so blur for a while. *thank God for wisdom*

Still in time for the short meeting all because T Ronnie was sharing to the GEMS’ teachers *phew*

After the meeting, nobody mention anything about the payment. I look at T Ronnie, then i asked…

" I’m supposed to pay the money to you right?" looking at T Ronnie while taking $20 from my purse.

Passing the $20 notes to T Ronnie.

T Ronnie took the notes, looked at me and asked,

"Are you  still a student?"

"Yah" I answered.

He chucked the notes back into my hand.

"Let me bless you with the book." said T Ronnie

 

I think i looked kind of stunned (maybe my jaw dropped a little) that T Li Li said "Students get the blessing" asking me to accept the blessing.

Actually, still felt a little stunned + warmth-hearted + touched now.

Really touched! An unexpected blessing, from T Ronnie, from God. It’s the first time i received a book/gift/blessing from a church friend in Singapore (X’mas not counted okay?).

Thank you Abba Father. You see my heart, my desire.

The joy of the Lord is overwhelming me as i type this post. Feel like shouting it out loud:     "Thank You! Thank You! Abba Father!"

I’m…

"Greatly Blessed, Highly Favoured and Deeply Loved"….

Felt so loved….

PS: Want to know more about the book? You can read the review here.

20th Jan 2008 marked a new beginning.

For my journey in Children Ministry in New Creation Church, the Rock Kidz!

jkidz it is. alive! it is. There were 300++ of them yesterday, for both first and second service.And there I was, together with a very pretty mummy, Teacher Elizabeth, hosting pre-service games.

It was my first time as the main host. (O_o)" But everything got to have its first time.

Nervous? Anxious? Gan Jiong? Cold sweat?

All i know was i had a sleepless night on Saturday. Scenes of how it would turned out and how to conduct the games were flashing through my mind.

Rest… Psalm 23. Leave the rest to Jesus. We did our preparation.

Liz bought all the necessary props on Saturday evening and we did our brainstorming session over the phone a couple of time. I brought whatever that i could find in my room and brought to church as props. Fancy me bringing a badminton racquet to Suntec Convention Centre, not mentioning carrying it around after service.

All i could say is , it doesn’t really matter how many times you go through the game in your head, it is when real scenario that matters.

Human efforts like preparation is crucial, but annointing and grace of God is far more precious and important in real play.

Thanks to Teacher Ronnie. He gave us good advice. Real good servant of God. Lots of annointing. Yeah, and i know i’ll be next. *amen!*

He gave us a few tips after the first service. The pre-service game for first service was ok, actually, it was way below my expectation. The responds from the kids were…. Err… You know-lah. It was a good try, none-the-less. My first ever pre-service games. Teacher Ronnie advice on letting the kids settling down, my tone, the voice that holds authority, don’t rush things and don’t ever ask the kids whether they want to have some games etc etc… Many many pointers on how to conduct a successful fun-filled pre-service game.

So, the pre-service game for second service was, err… GREAT!!! Seriously. By putting everything in the hands of God, with His grace, the second service pre-service game was a blast. Hmm… Not exactly a blast. But we had real crazy fun!!! When there is time limit, when there is a challenge between both group, when you tell the kids the scoring after each round, the intensity of the game and competition is involved, kids get engaged. Pointers i learnt from T Ronnie.

Thank you so much to be by our side (on behalf of all the games teachers), giving us chances to explore our abilities. Teaching us and imparting your skills to us. I’m not good yet but i know i’ll be better and better, learning and improving. Pardon me if i call you Teacher Ronnie, but you are indeed my teacher, because i’m learning a lot from you. And through Rock Kidz, I believe God is helping me to extent my tent and territory, wuahaha!

There are many many things which i couldn’t express, on this whole experience. You should be thankful that i’m not good with words, or else this is going to be a super long post! *Wink*

But i thank God, for using me, expanding me in other area, moulding and shaping in process. I trust in the Potter’s hand. I truly believe God is teaching me and exposing me in this area for my future. How and why and what are you talking about? I also don’t know. But i know i’m learning. I know this will play an important part, in my ministry in future (which i don’t know what ministry) and this post will remind me of my journey to fulfill God’s promises in my life.

Ok, if you read until here you really don’t understand, is alright. It meant for my own reading only. *faintz*

We said we are going to Bugis for shopping, cos Chun Chun wanted to buy New Year clothings. We wanted to help her makeover. We wanted to tag along. But it was last week.

This week. Everybody was too lazy to go shopping. No mood. Overwhelmed by lectures after lectures for the whole week. And it was only the second week since school started. Getting tired, faster than any other semester. At least for me…

A meal would be good. In the end, there were 11 of us. Trying to conquer Maxwell. Trying… Trying… Haha…

Too much Dried Kiwi during lesson, keeping me awake yet made me felt bloated, even at 2pm.

I was looking for something that was not too heavy.

Browsing through the stalls. I like this food centre. Lots of variety though the food items sold are pretty generic.

I wanted to try everything but limited space in my tummy restricted me from doing so.

The little Hakka in me was pretty active on Friday. So when i saw this stall (Stall 32), i  decided to order a bowl of Hakka Tou Fu @ $3.00. There were 2pcs of white toufu, 2pcs of Tou Fu Pok (Fried Toufu) & 2pcs of fish paste wrapped in Beancurd Skin. The Toufu’s size was big and the stuffing was homemade. But i was expecting more. The stuffing wasn’t really flavourful, just plain pork. The meat wasn’t well-seasoned and the texture was too soft. A little bit of disappointment but Yu Chii said it was pretty nice. Different people different taste, i guess?

                                                         Hakka Yong Tau Fu @ $3.00

But something else surprised me.

This stall doesn’t only sell Yong Tau Fu. They also have some other Hakka Dishes such as Shuan Pan Zi (Da-Pu Yam Nuggets) and Mei Chai Kou Rou (Braised Pork Slice with Mei Cai Veg).

                                                           Shuan Pan Zi @ $3.00

The Shuan Pan Zi was pretty good. Topped with fried shallots and spring onions which added crunchiness to the dish. An authentice Hakka dish which is not my favourite when i was in Kluang. But now, i sort of miss it. My evil twin said the one made by her grandmum tastes better. Duh…Homemade vs Hawker Centre. How to compare ???

We also had the Pisang goreng recommended by ieatishootipost which was superb. The Pisang Raja was moist and soft. The batter was crispy. A perfect Pisang Goreng! But priced at $1.20, a little too expensive for me.

                                                                  Ice Kacang @ $1.20

We ordered a cup of High-Calcium Soy Bean. A tint Horlicks taste together with the thick homemade Soy Bean drink, it’s a pretty filling yet satisfying after-meal-drink. Ice Kacang topped with peanuts from Red Bean Peanut House ended our meal and you know what? We all prefer the ice-kacang without the peanut topping. *lol*

A simple meal with my school friends. Not much of such oppurtunity to dine out as a group. I think this is the first time after 2 1/2 years of studies in NTU. So, it’s time to go out more, folks!

Hehe… Then i can take more food pics…. *wink*

This isn’t about food. My friends are complaining my blog makes them hungry. *evil laughter*

I attended a small gathering with my high school friends who are studying in NUS yesterday evening. And when i say small, yes, please believe me. The gathering eventually turned out to be 6 friends eating and catching up with each other.

Clementi it was. Hoping to have a higher attendance. It wasn’t successful.

But we get to see JH’s girlfriend. *grin*

She’s a sweet & lovely girl, a Chinese Teacher teaching in Raffles International School. *wow*

The world is small. This wasn’t the first time i met her. The first time i saw her was in Penang during my BS Club Main-Comm Trip. We were at "Ji Le Si", the famous chinese temple in Penang Island. The couple & my friends & I, What a small world!

Everyone but one, was fashionably late. Or was it because it was a friday evening, coincide with all the working crowd knocking off? Perhaps. If not for the heavy and late lunch, i would have been famished.

Walking through the neighbourhood of Clementi, many stalls are already selling new year deco & food items. The CNY mood is gaining its power.

Sumo-House it was. It is located right beside Clementi NTUC, a slight walk from McDonald. All because the other Japanese Restaurant was already closed down.

Food there are reasonably priced. You can get one Bento set as cheap as $4.90, comparable to my school’s price. No wonder there was a dinner crowd and a long queue waiting to get their seats.

I also couldn’t remember the name of the udon i called. So, again I emphsise, this is not a food related post. But, food here is cheap!!! Pretty darn cheap!!! Taste wise, is pretty ok. But definitely worth the price you are paying. You can even get 5pcs of Shisamo at the price of $2 !!! Gosh…

We left the place pretty early. We didn’t carry on with any more programme because Little Red (JH’s gf) wasn’t feeling well. Giap Giap & Bullet Car went for their guy’s talk & walk-walk @ Jurong East while Ting Ting & I headed back hall to watch the 2nd last episode of Golden Path. lol…

I wanted to post a picture of all of us, But…. *SCREAM* Just went i wanted to download the photos from my camera, i deleted it accidentally!!! *cry*

How How??? How to retrieve deleted photos from memory card??? Or is it gone forever??? *bang head*

Sad…

Kahang is a small town, located at the outskirt of Kluang.

It’s a town with just a street of double-storey shophouses and some housing estate. One couldn’t believe in why so many banks swamp there to open their branches. Probably that’s the attraction of a town rich in oil palm plantation.

Wild animals are commonly found in the restaurants in Kahang. Wild boar? Deer meat? Little cutie squirrel? Too common? Or would you like some bats? Crocodile? Or some exotic animals like tiger meat or bear palm? You name it, and it will be served on your dining table in no time.

But this is not what i wanted to introduce. What i wanted to introduce is this.

             The man behind the scence, selling the yummylicous Kahang Pau

A scene i’m so familiar with. A scene i miss.

The uncle will always come at around 5+pm,just before 6pm to set up his little stall located at Jalan Lambak. Putting up the table, taking out the gas cylinder, stacking of the bamboo steaming tray and arranging the pau before he heads into heating up the pau and manning the stall for the rest of the night.

I’ve eaten the pau since young. During the late nights spent in my mum’s office. Or just a pau for supper after attending church’s prayer meeting. It holds my childhood memories.

He sells a varieties of pau. No too many though, but it’s enough to appeal to customers like me. Reasonably priced for the yummy tasting pau, he has many regulars as well as customers who would just stop at the side of the stall to get a few of it.

Peanut Pau, Red Bean Pau, Kaya Pau, Veggie Pau are all priced at RM1 while my favourite of all time Lian Rong Pau (Sweet Lotus Paste Pau) is only selling at 70cents. Small Pau or Little Meat Pau and Char Siew Pau are priced at RM 1.20 and Big Pau is RM 2.30. He also sells Nor Mai Gai which is Steam Glutinous Rice with chicken and it is priced at RM 2.30.

Never really treasure those days. It seems so common. So plain you might say.

But now, i missed the chance of holding the warm pau in my hand, especially on a cold rainy night. Or what i miss the most is the pau bought by my dad & mum? I seriously don’t know.

Chewing on the handmade bun with piping hot filling, happiness filled my heart.

Then now i resorted to eating Kong Guan Pau in Singapore, which you didn’t need to peel the skin off. (FYI, you can’t get to peel it off anyway. It just stucked to the bun itself) And the bun has no texture at all =(

                         A Simple Peanut Pau that can bring a smile to my face

It was a joy when i managed to patronise his stall last friday when i was back in Kluang. I insisted that i want to buy a pau despite my family were going to have dinner right after that. The child in me was calling out for the familiar food that i missed when i was in Singapore. I wanted to get Lian Rong Pau but uncle said it wasn’t hot yet. So i resorted to another fav of mine, peanut pau! The texture of the pau was just so right, soft yet chewy, with the sweet roasted peanut filling. Sugar grains were found in the filling and it added to the flavour and made the filling a little crunchy.

And this is one of the things I missed, from my beloved town of Kluang….

        Sometimes, enjoying the simplicity of life can be a form of happiness…

I was watching TV programme at my beloved QQ’s room.

With the rest playing Mahjong.

I never learn how to play.

QQ says "don’t bother to teach her", cos i always forget what i’ve learnt, even after Many Many times of viewing their MJ session.

No talent in Mahjong, perhaps.

But… I always wanted to learn, but without playing with $$$ *hint hint* Any taker?

So back to my room, there I go.

Left my key in QQ’s room all alone.

Slippers i changed, downstairs i went.

To get my poor key was my aim.

To get back to my room, to bathe and sleep.

But… But… But…

Hijacked, there and then.

And this was what i did in the end.

             Bruschetta with diced tomato in herbs & olive oil and mozzerella cheese

Being asked to be a Sous Chef, how could i resist??? Lol…

And we made, Bruschetta!!!

" Bruschetta is a food whose origin dates to at least the 15th century from central Italy. It consists of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Variations may include toppings of spicy red pepper, tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, and/or cheese; the most popular American recipe involves basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomato. Bruschetta is usually served as a snack or appetizer. "

It was tedious, for the 9 slices of Bonjour Herb Loaf, we took almost an hour to prepare. Restricted by the mini oven, or should i call it toaster instead, it’s so small, food production was extremely slow. =(

People waiting and calling out for their supper, i heard from the pantry. They were drawn by the luscious buttered toast.

After a few mishaps, like

• "The Fell of Cherry Tomato" by JOjo on the way to pantry,
• "The Fell of Freshly Grilled Bruschetta in the Oven" by JOjo too and
• "The Sticking of The Cheese on The Glass Panel" by our Ms.Shu Pei who claimed that she would make sure no more mishap happen to our Bruschetta,

our supper was finally ready to be served. Yeah!!!

The effort of putting the bread in and out of the oven for 3 times was paid off. Every bite of the Bruschetta was crispy and burst with the aromatic smell of butter and garlic. Extremely delectable!

A glass of Nepal’s Mint tea (with compliment by ShuPei) with NTUC’s honey and a slice of freshly made Bruschetta, Hall life couldn’t be any better. Just for this once…

Ps: All the ingredients were provided by Swifthawk, with compliments. Lotsa thanks!

"Cooking is such a joy, with friends who love the process of cooking too…"

                     Homemade Fusilli with Brinjal & Capsicum in Simple Tomato Sauce

A ticket to JB - RM 7.50

A phone call - RM 0.30

A plate of homemade pasta - Priceless

Sounds familiar? Haha, yup.  The time spent with my brother in his humble-rented apartment with three handsome-bachelor residents. It was indeed priceless. *wink*

I was referring to the time spent with my brother as priceless, What are you thinking ??? Hah. It was a surprise visit to my brother.

It wasn’t meant to be a visit.

Actually i was on my way back to Singapore while transiting at JB. Being too bored, i decided to give a call to my beloved brother in JB to tease & tempt him of all the good food i had at home, including "telling" him i "ta bao"=packed homecooked food from home to bring back to Sg. He, happily mistaken me sending homecook food for him. It was a bit complicated and I also didn’t know how i ended being fetched by him at Larkin & the next thing i know i was already at his rented apartment, 1km away from Larkin. *my bro kept emphasized "my place is only 1KM away from larkin"*

Homecooked pasta was what he managed to whip up to welcome my first visit to his place.

My brother dotes on me a lot. All the little gestures showed it all.

Capsicum, brinjal & a handful of fusilli were all he had. Added with lots of love of a brother for extra flavour.

A bowl of Campbell Soup was all I can offer, using whatever that was leftover.

Mum’s cooking is still the best! "Stainless-steel Pot Chicken" is what I meant. Well-marinated and full of flavour. Having it for 3 meals in 3 days was not bored at all.

At the end of the day, my brother was robbed by his little sister of his starbucks voucher.

It will be our next date. I promise! together with mum & dad, hopefully…

After a long day walking around in 1-Utama, mum wanted to go back to Uncle Vincent’s place to take a shower before the last appointment with her ex-colleagues from the bookstore at 8pm.

It was 6.20pm and it was raining heavily. The long queue at the taxi stand was such a turn off. We probably need to wait for half an hour before we could hop into any taxi.

Bringing mum to a Char Chan Teng seems like a good idea. Let her rest her tired feet with some sweet bites seemed like the best solution.

I saw Wong Kok Char Chan Teng from the corner of my eyes when we were purchasing some gifts at Watson’s. Its location was pretty hidden by the Nicole’s Booth set up right in front of the shop. So we walked straight or to be exact, dragging our tired-self by walking slowly but directly to the shop from the taxi stand, without being distracted by anything.

I was still feeling very full from the Steamboat lunch. But the extensive and attractive menu fulfilled its purpose *lol* I was tempted. Extremely tempted. I ordered Banana Waffle with a scoop of ice-cream. 我敗給了美麗誘人的照片。。。*bang head, stupid menu*

                               芝士面包布丁  Peach & Cheese Bread Pudding @ RM 5.50

Mum ordered the bread pudding. She opted the sweet bread pudding (Wong Kok offers savoury bread pudding *roll eyes* ). Anyway, this bread pudding turns out ok. Served with two thick slices of peach, the bread pudding was covered with a very thick layer of cheese (Mozzarella cheese, if my tasted correctly). My mum liked it, but i still couldn’t associate cheese with bread pudding. Maybe i was still in the era of egg+raisins+milk version of egg pudding. But taste wise, it was pretty ok. Bits of peach can be found at the layer of egg custard with trace of peach flavour. I supposed Peach Syrup was added.

                  香蕉淇淋夹饼 Banana Waffle with Single Scoop Ice-Cream @ RM 6.90

A little disappointed. First of all, i was expecting a light and crisp waffle. But it turned out to be soft and dense. Maybe its Hong Kong style? Secondly, i was looking forward for more banana on the waffle served. For the seven slices of banana, i could get one more scoop of ice-cream with the same price.

Mum had a cup of hot Hong Kong Style Yin-Yang 港式鸳鸯@ RM 2.50 but she claimed that the taste of tea overpowered the coffee. *Shrug* I thought it was decent. I had a cup of almond drink with egg white 杏仁蛋白露@ 3.80. Lovely. Smooth and aromatic. But too little egg white.

                 A "forced" post by her beloved daughter *the little photo devil in me*

Nontheless, it was an enjoyable time to dine with my dearest mummy.

It satisfied me.

Not the food.

But the look of my mum enjoying what’s on the table.

Wong Kok Char Chan Teng

Lot F225, 1st Floor,

1 Utama Shopping Centre,

Bandar Utama, 47800 PJ.

Tel: (03) 77108611

Late breakfast, snacking here and there resulting us having lunch at almost 3pm. Hmm…But i kind of like this kinda lifestyle. My tummy grows but it does not growl… *wink* A lifestyle of Tai Tai that i’m looking forward…

Looking around at the "interactive directory" again, couldn’t make up our mind what to eat. *what the heck, don’t understand the machine at all!!! Too high tech~*

We were actually heading to Jack’s Place because we saw they were providing set lunch promotion which was priced reasonably. On our way, mum saw this steamboat shop served individually. She was attracted to it. So we had steamboat in the afternoon instead or plain western.

                                                        Mixed Set 杂锦锅 @ RM 12.90

We ordered a mixed set which include the soup. Mum chose the Fish Head Soup. If you are ordering ala carte, you will need to pay for the soup. For set lunch, you can only choose between Winter Veg Pork Soup, Teow Chew Salted Veg Soup, Fish Head Soup and Ma La Soup. There are a few more variety of soup like TomYam but it is not included in the set lunch. The mixed set includes 2 prawns, 2 scallop, some fish, chicken & pork, beancurd skin aka Fu Chok with fishpaste, 2 crabsticks, a few miserable leaves of cabbage & 2 tiny weeny slices of pumpkin, an egg and one big ee-mee.

I’ll not post the pic of the soup as the picture turned out to be foggy. Hungry girl wanted to fix her stomach than to take good pics. *giggle* But mum’s soup came with many chunks of fried fish head. Nice!

I ordered Teow Chow Soup @ RM 6.00 which was the salted veg soup with toufu & tomatoes. It was salty but it meant to be that way. I shared the ingredients from the mixed set with mum topped with Tong Hou Veg. What’s that in chinese, i don’t know the PinYin so i can’t type it out. So sorry. Anyway, it looks like this…

                                                          Tong Hou Vege @ RM 5.00

Overall, the ambience of the restaurant is good and you’ll get free-flow drinks with the choice of Nestea Greentea or Ice Lemon Tea. Furthermore, Jelly-O will be served when you have finished youe meal. Service staffs are pretty attentive and the price is very reasonable. All set lunch are priced between RM 12.90 - RM 15.90 only.

If you are there, don’t know what you want to eat, can try this restaurant. It’s worth trying.

Plus One Shabu Shabu

Lot F337-338, 1st Floor,

1 Utama Shopping Centre.

Tel: (03) 77253322

Fax: (03) 77256322