Beef and Mixed Mushroom Stir-Fry

I DID IT!!!

Since I took up the challenge, I researched and created a list of basic ingredients, condiments and sauces I needed to buy. I walked up and down Queen Vic Market several times during one lunch break. I looked for veggies (short for vegetables) I knew how to eat but had no idea how it looked uncooked. Nor what it was called!! Pretty embarrassing and flustering actually!!…. Sellers were either not sure if I was pulling their leg, or just plain rude. I’d say, “Is this spinach/bok choy?” They say, “Wha? You dunno? Ayaah!” or “80cents, pay pay, no talk, this buy, no talk”. I was soooh glad when I was back to buying common tomatoes, mushrooms, capsicums, potatoes, etc from friendly sellers whom I always bought veggies and fruits from.

Then Harold took me to an Asian store after work to buy my sauces and other veggies I gave up looking for so he can show me. He wasn’t much better than the sellers at making me feel stupid, but hey, at least I know now. J He did not help me find the things I needed “so I would learn”, so I took forever finding all the sauces, spices and noodles, which Harold grumbled about. No bloody sympathy!! I almost gave up trying then! But I just considered him as showing signs of being a grumpy old man, never happy, hard to please J.

Then I had to wait for the right time to cook. Harold cooked Thursday and Friday last week and left for Sydney on the weekend so… nada cooking. I was worried my veggies would go to waste. Currently I don’t like cooking for one.

Sunday night Harold was back, some friends came over, and for the first time in ages, I… (drums rolling….) cooked!!

I initially planned to keep it VERY intimate – just the two of us – in case I stuff it up. But if became a “catch-up night”, and was happy to see friends I haven’t seen for a while.

I prepared the ingredients earlier, cutting the veggies alone and very carefully. Given that I chose to cook stir-fried noodles (hawker style), I had to wait until they were ready to eat. I also had to cook in front of them! Within the first minute I stabbed my thumb while opening the lid of the peanut oil bottle. It hurt and it bled!! I pushed on… L. Then hot oil sprayed on my eye, eyelids and arms!! I screamed and my friends almost kicked me out of the kitchen. I think they thought dinner was never going to eventuate. But I persevered.

I finished it, recipe on hand. Dinner was served. I was given a rating of 8 out of 10 by the Iron Chef (Harold) and Rob – not enough Oyster Sauce but still tasty. It was hard to change the amount of ingredients to feed an odd number of people – 5 in total. But Travis loved it! Loved it!! I love Travis ‘cause he always loves my cooking! J Glenda was quiet, struggling to finish the meal. She said she liked it.

Not bad for a first time.



Here’s the recipe if you want to try it. If I can do it, so can you J!

Beef and Mixed Mushroom Stir-Fry
Serving size: Serves 4
Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS
600g fresh hokkien noodles
¼ cup (60ml) garlic oil
100g button mushrooms, halved
200g flat mushrooms, sliced thickly
100g Swiss brown mushrooms
2 sticks (150g) trimmed celery sticks
2 small fresh red chillies, sliced
750g beef strips
½ cup (125ml) oyster sauce

METHOD
1. Rinse and separate the noodles in hot water; drain.
2. Heat half of the oil in a wok; stir-fry the mushrooms until browned. Add the celery and chilli, stir-fry until the celery is softened; remove from the wok.
3. Heat the remaining oil in a wok or large pan; stir-fry the beef, in batches, until browned. Return the beef to the wok with the noodles and sauce; stir-fry until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Not suitable to freeze.
Not suitable to microwave.

Torino 2006

Winter Olympics – Women’s Aerials

Did you see it??!! It was short but what an awesome event! I was glad I witnessed all the jumps the ladies performed for the final round.

I was supporting defending champion Alisa Camplin (Australian, Oi! Oi! Oi!) but after the first jump, I felt immense pride for the Chinese ladies Guo Xinxin, Li Nina and Xu Nannan - ranking 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Their jumps looked so well executed, deserving of their places. I heard from earlier news Alisa bagged the bronze medal, so I was naturally curious of how it eventuated after the final jump.

I didn’t pay much attention to Evelynne Leu after the first jump. But she “popped” from the TV screen when her determined look really caught my eye. She mesmerized me. She looked about to punch something, pumping herself up seconds before the jump! I didn’t know she was about to perform the hardest trick in the program. But when she flew up… she looked… absolutely beautiful!!!

Evelynne ranked first, but there was still Alisa, Xinxin, Nina and Nannan. I thought, “Wow! Alisa and the others did better jumps!!??” I was in awe of the Chinese after the first jump I was sure 2 of them placed gold and silver.

There were no more spectacular jumps. So when Xinxin was about to jump, and I saw Alisa in 3rd place already, I knew something bad must have happened. I immediately felt sorry for her; EVERYONE thought she would place higher than bronze. Apparently she tried to do the same trick Evelynne did. She face planted so badly on landing, everyone was shocked beyond belief, including the cute looking coach? who was next to her on top of the hill. (Trust me to see the cute guy, I wonder who he is? Heheh...) Anyway, my heart was wrenched watching her wait for her score with snow all over her face. I would have cried right there in front of millions of people if I was in her shoes….

What an emotional event!! The drama!!!

Sorry, I Cant Help Bitching About My Haircut

I only go to recommended hairstylists or VERY professional looking salons whenever I decide to either colour my hair or have some curling treatment. Because I’m very tomboy and I mostly tie my hair back, I rarely require their service.

But whenever I wanted a haircut only, I used to just go to the nearest salon. Care factor close to zero, vanity maximum 5 out of 10. I asked for a straight cut to rid of split ends, or a little layering. The most radical decisions I’ve made were usually length related - such as cutting my waist length hair to chin length. Hairstyles so simple even a barber could do it. And if the layered effect didn’t work, it couldn’t be too bad, surely. I could just keep it tied back, nothing to it.

Then… HAIRCUT FROM HELL!!

During my lunch break I walked into a salon with long, curly hair. I have very thick, heavy hair so my curls were getting pulled straight in the back. I told the 2 stylists I wanted shorter hair in the back (around the nape of my neck), longer in the front (around my chin) to optimize my curls and be able to tie it back still. I asked them to layer it as much as possible so my “curls would float”. The Caucasian lady translated it to my stylist who was Japanese and left. The language barrier concerned me but she said she understood. I thought, “That’s cool, I’m still in good hands – she knows Asian hair; and her hair looks funky. It’s a simple layering style, can’t go very wrong”.

I walked out with blow-dried straight hair (what happened to my curls!!??); with some rat’s tail looking layered cut! A huge chunk of the top half of my hair was cut really short I couldn’t tie it in a ponytail. And when I try tying back half my hair, I have this stupid belly button/bunion looking glob on the back of my head with a layered rat’s tail thinning towards the middle of my back!

I thought it was weird she was blow-drying my curly hair straight, but I thought it was to determine whether the layering was even on both sides (which was done to my hair before). I kept grabbing my back hair saying, “short, very short”. The stylist kept nodding and said, “yes, very short”. I thought she must be concentrating on the crown first and working herself down. She’s the professional; she must know what she was doing!! Then she told me she was finished! I complained to the Caucasian lady; she said something about, “you said layer cut, not length cut”. Hairstylist lingo?? Excuse me? Doesn’t “cut this short up to here” while grabbing the hair mean the same??!!

Because I wasn’t too fussed (then!) that the exact style wasn’t followed, I rushed back to work pissed off mainly because the blow-drying was a waste of my time, which I told them not to do, because I was going to tie my hair and wear a hardhat on top of it straight away. Plus I love my unruly, curly hair!!

I got home and that’s when I gave myself time to see the damage!! It was like some 80’s style cut everyone’s wearing now! But I never said “80s” nor do I like this style!! I felt like a poodle whose head fur was shaved off but left with a shaggy body fur!!! Waaaah!!! Nooooooh! Waaaaahhhh!!

It’s been almost 3 months now. I never had time to go back to get the salon to fix the mistake. I did not feel like letting them touch my hair ever again anyway. I cut as much of the rat’s tail as I could. Grab and cut style. At least, it’s straight now in the back, I think. The top chunk’s also grown. It still stupid half-tied, like I’ve got short wings flapping out. It looks so unbalanced with the rest of my hair. So I tie my hair in a full ponytail, always.

I’ve been planning to get another haircut since, but there's always something else more important to do, like rest J... or see friends. Need to make time to see a well-recommended English-speaking specialist. I'm a changed woman after this incident. My care factor and vanity level at least 6, from now on. This time I’ll make sure I say, “Length cut please”.

More on Friend's Baby News

Yey!! I visited one friend last night and she looked great! She made giving birth seem like an easy thing to get over!! Im semi-convinced to start popping them out myself now... *wink*.

I was holding back tears coz i was getting a little melodramatic about living far from her/them and not being able to just pop by. It has been hard for me coz i do really want to stay close to them. I also want to witness the baby's growth. I kept looking at the baby and her thinking, "sweet G the baby had a baby". I told ya... melodramatic!

The baby was soooh small and soooh cute!! So very fragile, so light. When i carried him he was making little hiccup sounds Harold and I's hearts just melted!G, I cant remember if i kissed and/or hugged you bye...? Or was i concentrating on saying goodbye to the baby?? The topic of 'forgotten parents' that a lot of parents i know comment on came to my mind... whooo-ooops! *wink* ;-P

J, thanks for the highway tip. It was cruising til the exit, but it definitely saved us at least 30mins compared to the freeway we used to get there. And we realised it was the way we used to use to go to basketball years ago!! :-)

Hoping to see them again soon... before the christening!!!

Aaahh... cooking.

I am trying to improve my kitchen skills. I’ve now grand-mastered pots and dishwashing techniques. There are always drinks in the fridge and it's always clean - nothing past use-by-dates and edible stages! J

Next challenge – cooking.

I used to be a good cook, even though some dishes I tried to cook for the first time were disastrous. For example sinigang, cooked with sayote. I grabbed a packet of sinigang broth and bought vegetables that looked the same as what was on the packet's picture. Sayotes are "never used" for sinigang, but it tasted good. Unfortunately I also didn’t know the skin was inedible so my brother was spitting it out while eating!J Even so, dishes I knew to cook may be limited but my picadillo, beef stroganoff, quiche lorraine, beef goulash, mango mint sambal and a few others were always… superb… to say the least.

I don’t like cooking, which made me detest kitchens. My stress level goes up and the air feels somewhat thinner as soon as I enter the imaginary line separating the kitchen from all the other spaces in our house. I’m also a klutz in the kitchen so I get hurt easily. There were many incidences involving knives and other kitchen equipment. Once Harold asked me to wash a pot he needed, I grabbed it and within 5 seconds I had a long cut on my finger where blood was dripping profusely. How and where I cut myself on Harold’s well-used pot we don’t know.

Some people are relaxed when they cook, and they even love it! Others think it has to be done, nothing to it. For me, it’s always a big deal so I choose to eat out, bring home food, order for delivery, or cook the easiest meal I can think of and get it over with quickly.

My man loves his food, especially home cooked meals. We are lucky he can whip things up really well. Like today, salmon with coriander – cooking it for the first time, but smelling good already. Unfortunately for him, he’s particular about his food. He likes very specific dishes. He’s not an adventurous eater. If dishes are different (e.g. salmon and coriander), it needs to be his decision. That’s why he’s not a fan of the dishes I can cook, or like to cook.

Harold said he loves cooking for me, taking care of me; but he whines that he is always the one doing it. It’s a very touchy subject for me, so when he bags me to our friends, I literally growl and say something like, “If you eat what I like cooking for you, then I’d cook more”. If you could see me during those times, you could actually picture me like a bull with horns on my head, and smoke coming out of my nose and ears. It’s a very touchy subject….

I do hate being at times helpless. I’d like to eat healthier at home. I crave for more variety. Plus I LOVE the look on my baby's face when I prepare food for him. Wish I can feed him breakfast cereals or fried eggs/sausages all the time!J

I’ve conquered harder fears… I’ve faced head on many challenges. Learning and being able to just “whip things up” could be treated as another obstacles to cross over. So… next challenge – cooking. Any good tips, anyone?

Friends’ Baby News

I received great news this week about my 2 very, very, very, VERY, very good friends – one gave birth to a healthy baby boy and the mother didn’t endure a very long labour; and the other pregnant with her 2nd baby!!

I am so happy for them I wish I can just drop by and celebrate! But both live almost 2 hours away from me (approximately 3 hours return travel)! Work’s tying my movements up lately especially with the Commonwealth Games coming up. This month I’m conducting a lot of courses and have just been told I might also do another intensive training myself, if I pass the psychometric test and fitness assessment. All tasks are challenging which I love. Yet physically wearing.

I really want to visit them!!! Aaaarrgh! I’m planning for it to be a weekend. But phone calls and/or video calls the best I could do for now….

2 Gruelling Days

On Saturday I participated in a race that took about 7 hours (plus another hour for introduction, lunch, presentation, etc). I was absolutely knackered at the end of it!! The next day I was in pain from the waist down, with my upper body not feeling much better. Walking across the room took a lot of effort. I rested the whole day dreading Monday….

Instead of another Monday in the office, I was invited to go rockclimbing and abseiling at Werribee Gorge. I was going to be paid to do it all day! Awesome! Plus I really liked what I’ve seen of Werribee Gorge. Some time ago my friends and I did the 5-hour circuit walk there.

However, I dreaded the activity because the info sheet given to us said we had to do “a steep, hard thirty minute walk along the Iron Bark Gorge Track to the cliff”. I remember how steep some areas could get! With my daypack carrying food (lunch and snack), drinks (2 litres), rain gear (light rain expected, and it came), warm clothing, and equipment – and my stiff legs and muscle pain, I felt I would really struggle to just make it to the site. I could barely keep myself standing up past 5 minutes!!

But I really wanted to go! I’ve never rockclimb outdoors before and I didn’t want to waste the opportunity. The fun factor was too high! I thought, at the least, I could abseil once and enjoy the scenery.

Come Monday, I took a deep breath, grit my teeth and hoped for the best. I headed off to Werribee Gorge. Where I had the best time!! I rockclimbed and abseiled the whole time we were at Falcon’s Lookout. I couldn’t get enough of it! I fared well rockclimbing, even with my weak legs. Only one cliff remained unconquered coz I couldn’t “bridge”, my legs and arms were shaking from exhaustion. Going back up the cliff several times to abseil again was torture, but I was grinning all the way.

Pack-up time I was hiding behind the big guys so I wouldn’t be handed ropes to carry back up to the car. I was running on reserves for ages already, there was still “a steep, hard thirty minute walk” from the cliff to the car to do. I ended up carrying karabiners that I attached to my daypack.

My legs were lead walking back. I concentrated on staring at my workmate’s calves and followed him all the way. My friend told me yesterday she was worried cause she knew I was still recuperating from my sickness and the race. I was breathing loud so she sensed the effort I was putting in. I may have overdone being active outdoors again. I have a habit of doing that. It’s worthy of its own blog….

Anyway, once we were next to the cars, I was beaming a huge smile again. I did it!! I did it!!! All the strenuous activity were done! And I felt great!! Well, I was sweaty, dirty and all that… but I could actually say my fitness IS better. It was hard for me to gauge if there was any improvement until then. The 2 gruelling days proved it! I was fitter!

Its Wednesday now, there’s only a slight discomfort on my shins but other than that, I feel fine! It took less than 2 days for my muscles to recuperate… I feel a little self-pride for this achievement. I am giving myself a pat on my own back…. Very good.