Running Stuff

Went on a shopping spree recently and bought like 3 running tops, 3 sports tee and 1 pair of running shorts at one go! I have no excuses that I have got nothing to wear for running now :P

Quote of the Day

"Love means giving something you don't have to someone who doesn't want it"

- Jacque Lacan

Teriyaki Chicken

Another attempt on the slow-cooker. Teriyaki chicken who only needed 2 hours in the slow-cooker. I learnt what is a molassa sauce from this recipe :)

Chicken - washed and sliced The ingredients - chicken, garlic, ginger, pineapple juice, molassa sauce...

Mixed the sauce and added the cherry tomatoes
The final product!

Steamed some carrots and broccoli to go with the teriyaki chicken and brown rice. Yummy!

What are you looking at?!?!

Coffee had a day out at the East Coast Park recently when I went to support some friends taking part in the Aviva Ironman. He had a blast!

He had this look "What are you looking at?!?!" Coffee enjoying the sun, sea and sand...
Sent him to the groomer 2 days after. It was a different groomer from the usual one and the groomer gave him a bandana. We kept commenting that he looks handsome and being the vainpot that he is, Coffee loves it so much that he forgot that he is supposed to sulk after every grooming session. Ha! So no black face and sulking this time round. :)

Chicken & Veggie Chowder

Another dish from the Slow-Cooker Bible - Chicken & Veggie Chowder.

Chicken meat - cut and washed Onions Broccoli - my favourite! Button mushrooms - my favourite!Sliced carrots I like the kaleidoscope of colours when you put everything into the pot After 5 hours and before adding the milk The final product! It was not as "chowdery" as it was supposed to be coz decided to add less milk to make the dish more healthy!

It was yummy and I love it coz of the tons of veggie in it!

10km in 49:55 minutes

Took part in my first 10km race - came back better than I expected: sub-50 minutes :)

Max & Me before the run. As usual, I have my "cannot-wake-up morning" look. I was running "together" with this group of guys for some distance. We were taking turns over-taking each other. I think men has an ego problem - they simply cannot accept a female overtaking them! :P Me @ around the 6km mark That's me crossing the finishing line :)
Terry & Me after the run

Yummy Sashimi!

Went for a nice Japanese buffet lunch on a hot Saturday afternoon! Great food, even better company - what more can I ask for? Life is good.......:)

The first of many servings of sashimi Assortment of fishes There was even salmon belly. Yummy! Zaru soba Agardeshi Tofu Sphagetti with salmon roe sauce - a bit of a fusion taste but very nice!! Soft shell crab hand-roll Octopus balls Bro Chia Yew Hai & Me The "other" Bro Henry & Me

South-of-Border Cumin Chicken

My third slow-cooker dish! Using the slow-cooker works wonders in terms of schedule because I would wake up early in the morning on weekends for my long run. I usually take about 2.5 hours for the long run. Including warm-up, cool down, wash-up, dilly dally etc., the whole affair takes about 3.5 - 4 hours.

Depending on the dish and the number of hours required, I would start the slow-cooker either the night before or the morning before the run. Coming back home to the smell of wholesome home-cooked food after a long and tiring run is an awesome feeling! :)

Green, Red and Yellow Peppers - aren't the colours georgeous?! Lime for that extra sour taste... Onions - full of anti-oxidants! A kaleidoscope of colours. The peppers and onion go into the bottom of the slow cooker. Next to go in are the chicken drum-sticks Then the chicken thighs Last to go in is the tomato sauce mixed with a variety of spices The tomatoes with the peppers makes the gravy yummilicious! The chicken pieces were soft and tender..Yummy!

Regrets

Got the following note from a close colleague:
"
Do you have any regrets?

I don't do the regret thing, you make choices everyday, and some work out and some don't. You can pull something good out of every mistake. But you don't get to do it again. You just apply the learning going forward.
"

Every so often, we worry about the choices we have; and the decisions that we make. We live in an imperfect world with incomplete information. With the benefit of hindsight, all decisions seem so much easier and obvious.

But that's not life. Life is about having the courage to choose and then having even more courage to stand by the choice that you have made. Life is too short for regrets. What is more important is that at the point in time when the decision/choice was made, it was the right one; it was the best one.

My Dog Ate My Homework!!

Coffee has been in a bad mood recently. We really don't know what is wrong. He is less playful and refuses to eat sometimes (a big deal considering how greedy he is!).

Recently, he took to chewing paper as a past-time; my mum caught him in the act and stopped him before he swallowed more paper into his stomach!

He has not chewed on our stuff for a long time It's my brother's documents and Chia Yew Hai is definitely not amused :P But he can definitely go tell his boss," My dog ate my (home)work!!" Haha!

Sweet & Sour Chicken Soup

Inspired by the success of the beef stew, I picked another recipe from the Slow Cooker Bible I have and did another dish. It’s the Sweet and Sour Chicken Soup this time.

The chopped chicken pieces Chinese parsley for garnish - I love them! Bamboo shoots Cubed bean-curd How the soup looked like before cooking. The red taint is from the chilli oil. Ta-dah! I improvised from the recipe and ate the soup with noodles to make it a meal on its own. Yummy!! Next item is planned for the Cumin Chicken....Stay tuned for it! :)