Travelling tales

My travel itch has been acting up and I'm thinking where next - literally begging L to take a weekend off so we can be whisked away to a faraway isle villa (ok no need very faraway lah). I'm hoping to get away for a short jaunt before July when I already chob 3 weeks leave so I can pack my bags and hit the road again - maybe even on my own, since L's career is uncertain. We are manifesting his dream job and good news are just around the corner! Yes and so be it!

Anyway I've completed a few travel articles including a 6-pager on NZ for F+T mag, and these 2 gorgous spreads for F.B. Mag which is yet to be published. Here are the sneak previews in low-res. You can't beat the joy and pride in seeing your own works in print; the extra pocket money is also welcome. I'm still wondering if I'd publish a book - maybe if I were to live abroad one day.

Reading others' travel tales also inspire me especially if it was as well written as "Head Over Heel - Seduced By A Southern Italian" by Chris Harrison. He's like L, except he gave up everything in Sydney to move to south Italy to be with his woman. I read somewhere - people migrate for 3 main reasons - career, war and love. Love is always the most inspiring reason, isn't it?

Manifestation magic

I've been practising the Law of Manifestation quite often recently; starting with taxis. You know how sometimes it is near impossible to get a cab in S'pore, but after learning about the power of manifesting, I no longer fret. Instead I turn to the skies, focus my energy on visualising a cab, and voila it appeared in less than 5 mins! It has been successful the last few times to the amusement of friends.

The trick is to be:
1) as SPECIFIC as possible in your visualisation
2) be POSITIVE and 200% confident of the results (to the point of being almost cocky and do not have any doubts/sniggering thoughts)
3) and be THANKFUL! :)
For instead of saying 'please give me a cab', I'd say 'the cab is here in 5mins, thank you for it and so be it!' at the same time I'd visualise a blue cab with a green lit 'TAXI' sign and imagining it pulling up in front of me.

You can apply it to anything in your life - be it a partner, career, apartment, dream holiday, etc. But remember to apply the above rules. Everyone has the power to create and manifest - so start practising your manifestation muscle today! L has seen it worked a couple of times and is slowly manifesting his dream job. I've also just shared it with my younger cousin ZJ who is recovering from a sudden rare VKH eye disease. He's much better now but his vision was still a tad blurry. But he's showered with golden light and love, and in no time he'll be fine. I told him - 'you have the power to self-heal, just have faith!'

Marching on

February came and went away in a flash - and for the first time I was truly exhausted as a tour guide. Maybe it's because L's folks didn't speak inglese (which is why my brain is always churning subtitles/ transcript for every conversation). Also I didn't want them to get lost altho technically it's very hard to get lost on our tiny isle and they ve been trained to say 'bedok north ave 4, police station'. I just want to wow them and show them that S'pore is the new Asia - that it is safer, cleaner and more efficient than Napoli/Italy, and that L is well taken care of here by an equally loving family and not living among the slums. When I was in Italia, they and the rest of the family would ask if Spore has this and that. It was hard to tell them yes we are actually a civilised, accomplished first-world society in Italian without trying to roll my eyes. 

So it's good that they experienced it first-hand and went away so impressed that they say it'd be a nice idea to visit every 6 months. As my uncle said, they would be like triumphant voyagers  and sail back with glowing descriptions of the wonderful faraway land in Asia. Funnily if L and I aren't together, they'd probably never step into this part of the world. All it takes is a relationship to build bridges for many individuals.

Now that the italians came, saw and were convinced, I think it's high time for my family to experience italian hospitality and culture. Granny would love to go but we doubt she'd make the 10+ hr flight. It'd be delightfully hilarious if my aunts, uncles, cousins and family are all walking down Pozzuoli's streets and stopping by Mel's for lunch! I do hope that day will come soon.

Anyway I think we're ready for the next stage of our life, and even starting our own family. I'll be 35 this July and all I can think about is the use-by-date of my eggs! I've always wanted kids before 30, now I'm lucky if I have 1 before 40! Hmm we'll see how the future unfolds... 

For now, I'm happy harvesting my tomatoes (yay!) and also the fruits of our labour. My company is 9 this year and we're finally taking the leap of faith by hiring a full-time staff who is likeminded and equally passionate! It's a great feeling to see that our agency has expanded to more than 4 of us and that our staff is happy and motivated - including. K, our recent intern, who is a happy bunny. We've all come a long way as colleagues, partners and friends. I think we'd make great bosses too :)

Year of the puss

We can't believe it's mid Feb already. 2010 is flying by. This weekend, we're expecting 2 VIPs in town - L's folks lol. It's Mel's and Raf's first time in Spore and Asia, so I'm sure we'll have a blast in the next 2 weeks. Already mamma mel is lugging a few kilos of food to feed a small Italian contingent. Ma questo e' l'amore di una mamma.

I'm a bit afraid to face all that yummy proscuito, mozzarella, dolce, ecc. Already my tummy is as bouncy as a burrata cheese, even after all that yoga. I think I need to exercise more to purge out all the toxins and rid the pimples. Arrgh.

Anyway how apt that it is the year of the tiger... a tribute to all our feline friends! Cats Of The World is just 4 and half months away (OMG) and I can't believe it's the 4th year running. I'm truly, truly grateful for all the warm response and hope to raise more funds for CWS. They're also organising a Tiger Show after CNY and we've donated 20 photos for exhibit/sale. Be sure to catch the show; visit http://www.catwelfare.org/ for more info.

Tea a tea

Since the new year started, I've been pretty busy at work and yoga and weekends are my only escape. Back at the secret garden, we replanted flowers and weeded the chilli patches. D is busy laying the grounds for new pipes that'd bring water to the other end of the garden, so we don't have to wheelbarrel buckets of water or waste time dragging the water hose over.

We're also pleased with 2 additions to the team - the cheerful W and her precocious 10 year-old daughter S - both in matching yellow boots. S guessed that I was 20 (good guess, babe ;) while W sighed in jest that she's turning 40. S nonchalantly replied: 'But mom, they say that women are in their prime at 40.' We giggled. Hallelueh.

Just over the weekend, W organised a birthday party for S at the garden and it was a delightful picnic attended by her friends and family. Donald gave a tour of the mangroves while the rest of the volunteers took up different assignments that please us. I busied myself with trimming the four mulberry trees, which will help them to flourish further.

Left with a big pile of leaves, I lugged them home and was inspired to turn them into tea. It's not entirely impossible, I imagined, as I had seen and tasted mulberry tea at an organic farm in Laos. So I looked up its website and true enough, there were basic descriptions on making tea out of the freshly-plucked leaves (except they left out how long one needs to boil the leaves, or how fine one should cut them). Anyway as a first-time recipe tester, I experimented with the steps and got it right the first time! Yipeee. Here goes:

Carla's Marvelous Mulberry Tea (organic)

Ingredients:
Fresh mulberry leaves

Method:
1. Wash the freshly picked leaves thoroughly.
2. After washing, cut them into thin slices (remove the stalky bits) and then simmer them in water over low heat for 6-7mins, just enough to soften the leaves.
3. Rinse the leaves in cold water and strain / remove any excess water gently without crushing leaves.
4. Dry or 'fire' the leaves in small batches by carefully stirring and separating them by hand over low heat to ensure even heating. **I found that using the hands, as opposed to using chopsticks, to handfire the leaves also allows me to feel the texture of the leaves as they slowly crisp and turn dark green.
5. Allow to cool before storing in airtight containers. To serve, pour hot water over a tablespoon heap of leaves and let it steep for at least 5mins. **I like my marvelous mulberry tea with raw sugar or honey, yums!

Mulberry tea is very healthy and contains lots of antioxidants to fight cancer, prevent diabetes and heart disease. Like green tea, it also has slimming effects. For your dose, you know where to find me :)

New Zeal Land

I can't think of a better way to kickstart the new year. The 12 days in New Zealand were incredible; it's much more beautiful than I could imagine. A kind of raw ancient natural beauty that touches the soul. The Golden Light Celebration was an apt way to explore the country on our spiritual journey together and open up our hearts to download light and love during meditations at different sacred sites. At times, it feels like the journey is a movie in the making - a mixed bag of characters with each unique gifts to bring to the mission.

There were our spiritual guides and tour organisers - the lovely inspiring Yvette (3 weeks from delivery!), her effervescent and loving husband Barney, his best friend 'man-of'the-land' Karlos (nicknamed Jesus cos of his resemblance), Mic, Yin, Sista, me (all from Spore), L. Yen (Malaysia), Def (Turkey), her husband Crist aka Christ (Germany/ USA), Chika, Izu, her son JY and her sis M (all from Japan).

We started from the wonderful Auckland - aka the City of Sails - and packed in a host of activities and sights touring the North Central Island, from Hamilton to the sulphur town of Rotorua, to the gorgeous Bay of Plenty.

We swam in lakes and bays, gawked at majestic volcanoes and gushing rivers, dipped in thermal mud baths, hot springs and waterfalls - and felt the magic of nature in all these places. NZ is simply too big; it'd take 1 to 2 months to explore it thoroughly. Even B who lives there hasn't explored the whole country. Many people said the South Island is more stunning and majestic with its mountainous range. But locals said the 2 islands' beauty just differs in mere degrees. In any case I know I will be back soon with L. He's extremely envious from looking at my foto but is equally spurred to plan a trip to NZ.

New Zealand calls

Ho deciso. It will be New Zealand for the year end trip. As much as I hate to leave Luigi in S'pore, I want to get away to recharge my battery and seek greater spirituality and positive energy in a faraway land. What better way than to join the Golden Light Celebration organised by the goddess circle and usher in the first light of 2010 in a very unspoilt country. I will also take time to reflect on the year and jot down my new resolutions. Till the next blog entry, I wish you all a glorious 2010... it's gonna be so zealously fabulous! With blessings and love.

Penang gals

I haven't been to Penang since 2002 - when I had popped into the gran E&O Hotel on the way to Bangkok in the super-luxe E&O train. I briefly remembered it as a child when granny, uncle, aunt, mom and us the kids visited it during a whirlwind Malaysian vancanza (very typical in the 80s). So it was appropriate that I bought air tickets for my fav gals - granny, mom and sista - to Penang so we can spend some quality girly time together. Plus gran was up for it and this was her first holiday since her stroke more than 1 year ago. We had a fab time eating and exploring the streets of Penang which incidentally also shared the UNESCO heritage site as Malacca in 2007.

One cannot go hungry in PG. We ate our way through the famous Penang laksa, char kway teow, old skool wanton mee, rojak, lor mee, chee cheong fun, popiah, hokkien prawn mee, seafood porridge, sarsi-flavoured ice kachang, etc and burnt off the calories walking a fair bit. Penang laksa was the shiokest - silky flour noodles in a fragrant assam-scented broth, singing the notes of chillies, ginger flower, pineapple, cucumber, mint, flaky sardines and generous lashings of hay gor (fermented prawn paste - a local pride).

It was a close tie between the mother and son stall at 99D Lorong Selamat and the family-run stall at Air Itam pasar. Both businesses have been passed down from generations so you can taste the pride and passion in each bowl. When prodded, Mr Loh who runs the L. Selamat stall with his mom said that his dad started the business 40 years ago and he has helped his parents since he was 5. I last met them at the Penang hawker buffet at York Hotel in Singapore in Oct (which they ve been participating for years). Mr Loh used a generous amount of fresh sardines in PG - a glorious bowl just for MR$4 (in Spore the slab of sardine was missing).

At the Air Itam pasar roadside stall, the hawker gamely posed for me as he busied himself with unrelenting orders from passerbys and motorists. He told me that it is a 3rd generation business since 50 years ago. Here, it's MR$2.70 for a small bowl; the taste is more robust compared to Mr Loh's lighter and sprightier version but nonetheless packs a punch. If variety is your game, the popular Gurney Drive open-air food centre starts to pack them in at sunset.

Some locals insist it's too touristy and overpriced (like Newton Circus in Spore) and they avoid it and patronise hawkers tucked away at smaller street corners or coffeeshops. Still, I guess it is worth a visit to see the span of hawker delights. Everyone has their favourites and the best advice came from the friendly taxi drivers. (Tip for travelling: always ask the locals for their favourite eat-outs). One chatty uncle gave us a tour of his food hide-outs, including his wife's fav wanton stall next to the Padang (along Anson Rd) and the row of roadside hawkers along New Lane at Sunway Lagoon Hotel.

He even showed us the new outlet of Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendol located at Komtar Walk and we invited him to join us for desserts. The best chendol is still at Malacca but it's not too shabby here. What surprised us was the ice kachang with its mix of fresh red beans, atap seeds, corn, grass jelly, sago, peanuts and a lovely tinge of Sarsi (instead of artificial coloured syrups). He also said that PG has changed a lot over the last 40 years but it still remains very laidback and makes a great place for retirement.

What I like about PG is also a sense of history, particularly the rows of gorgeous seafront colonial mansions at Georgetown. You can imagine the hi-society parties, the horse-drawn carriages, the ballgowns and tuxes, the heady Champagne and the light breeze caressing the balmy coconut trees.

There are many places celebrating PG's rich history from these beautifully restored mansions and monuments to places of worship. We managed to visit Kek Lok Si temple with its 120-feet bronze Guan Yin statue visible from afar and the intriguing blue mansion Cheong Fatt Tze circa 1890. For a bit of nature, we popped into the tranquil Spice Garden and lapped up its serene vibes before lunching on some really tasty beef and chicken rendang at its hilltop cafe. Here, a cooking class was underway under the shady trees and the Nonya instructor spoke to us briefly and asked if I liked to cook. Of course I do!

We loved the magical Butterfly Farm not far away from the Spice Garden. The lush garden enclosure is home to an eye-popping variety of colourful butterflies, some I have never seen before and some as big as my palms. My favourite are the black and white polk-dotted ones which contrast so well with the greenery. At times, these celestials creatures landed on my head and even on my outstretched arm, and I feel very connected to them (I swear they are fairies in disguise!). On the whole, we had a great time at Georgetown (although traffic was terrible with the out-of-town visitors clogging the many one-way roads).

Batu Ferringhi, 20mins away, was more like a beach resort town with many seafronting properties such as Hard Rock and Shangri-La. In the evening, the roadside stalls came to life and it felt like a mini Phuket (without the go-go bars). Here is also the playground for many Middle-eastern tourists - judging from the slew of Arabic and Lebanese restaurants. Afterall, here is one of the few places in Asia where they can be guaranteed of a good halal meal. I guess that's the beauty of PG - everyone gets to eat well.

Grow baby grow

I just have to show off our new babies - the pomodorini are 8 weeks old and range from 10cm to 30cm tall... Oh they do smell heavenly! The first time I was struck by the raw natural profumo of tomato vines was at Casa Lanzarotti, where I twirled happily in the greenhouse and my mouth was gap-open at the glorious bunches of these bright red and orange hued fruits. I can just imagine our joy when the first flower appeared on the vines and bear fruit. Ooooh.

Today I was at the secret garden again and boy was it a hot day! Darwin and I got to fertilising the chili bed with a mix of dried chicken dung, mix of horse dung and rotting compost crawling with maggots. They make their own compost from natural waste and everything came out from their own pockets. Tending to nature is not glam but it's pure passion and lots of hard work! The European herbs patch needed weeding and we definitely could do with more hands. (Let me know if you want to volunteer 2 hours of Sat or Sun from 10am to 12pm - come enjoy the fresh air and sun).

Anyway I've been cooking lately and experimenting with the produce from the garden. Last week, I made a Thai-style salad with a turnip (tomatoes, coriander & lettuce). Today I whipped up a prawn-zucchini omelette flavoured with a type of Chinese herb parsley called Asiatic wormwood (apparently full of antioxidants and good for riding wind). We'd concoct combos of this leaf with that herb and throw in a young papaya and some sugarcane for yummy cooling teas. Anyway I hope to share more of these wholesome recipes using produce from the garden.

For now I shall leave you with my recipe of Fried mee ta baht noodles - L's favourite (his request on his day off last Tues) - buon appetito!

Ingredients - serves 4:

Mee ta baht noodles (500g - pour hot water over noodles in strainer)

Eggs (2)

Fishcake (3 - sliced thinly)

Pork (100g - sliced & marinated with light soy sauce & sesame oil)

Cai xin vegetables (100g)

Bean sprouts (2 cups)

Garlic (3 cloves - crushed)

Chili padi (2 - optional)

Dark soy sauce (2 -3 tbsp dep on how dark you like)

Pinch of salt & pepper (adjust to taste)

Oil for frying

Method:

- Beat eggs and fry as an omelette in wok, then slice and keep aside for later.

- Fry garlic and chili till fragrant, add pork and stir around, then add fishcake.

- Add mee ta baht noodles and mix thoroughly on medium heat. Add half cup of water followed by dark soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

- Add cai xin vegs and sliced egg, mix well for 1 min before adding bean sprouts.

- Stir well for another minute or untill bean sprouts are cooked.

- Serve warm with toppings of chili flakes and fried shallots if desired!

Recipe by Law

Peace be with girl

Sorry for been MIA for the last month since the Thai holidays. Work again has been hectic (not complaining) which left little time for writing. L and I began a 'diet' too as we have put on a couple of kilos from the 2 food trips and a few wine dinners on my part. So far, the diet's working along with plenty of yoga and gardening. L has also began working at a new ristorante italiano and gotten his Employment Pass (so no longer a fugitive!).
And the best news of October is an email from Marina Sands asking if he's keen on the position of a Games Inspector. They'll be in touch again closer to the opening date in Febbraio. Funnily L wasn't that enthu about the IR because the shift work is quite taxing and his sleep patterns would be terribly screwed up again! Anyway we'll see what their offer is then.

Some of you might have heard the bad news - si, our Ah Girl, Ripley, has passed away on 25 Oct. We're quite prepared for it as she has been on a steady decline. The inevitable happened when she stopped eating and peeing/pooing on Sat and Sun. On Sun, she was so weak the poor girl was literally dragging herself around in a stupor. I called mom and asked her to come home early to say goodbye. Ah Girl was her favourite cat and my mom was her pet. They were the best of TV companions for years. Amazingly Ah Girl held on until my mom came back and comforted her in tears. Shortly after, she struggled with 3 short breaths and slipped away.

As we held her lifeless skeletal body one last time, we wished her a safe journey and thanked her for being part of our family for the past 10+ years. I could still remember the day when I found her on the streets of Tiong Bahru. This white scraggy cat was feeding on some leftover rice given by an auntie who said she's been abandoned. My heart melted and I contemplated bringing her home. On a return visit, I coaxed her into my carrier and brought her to SPCA but they wouldn't take her in as 'she's quite old' and might even put her down.

So I took her for a check up at the vet and he confirmed that she's quite old (abt 8 to 9 yrs) and had an ear infection. On that 1st visit, we knew she has a great dislike for vets as she left a bloody scratch on the vet, despite being held down in a straits jacket (this happened at almost every vet visit)! Thus her bad-arse fearless attitude led me to name her 'Ripley' - after Sigourney Weaver's character in 'Aliens'. Ah Girl went on to blossom into a white furball and terrorised Jarvis for almost a decade (haha poor guy) until sweet Mimi came along and kinda loosened up the tension.

Given 'how old' she was when we adopted her, Ripley had lived a damn long life and might be at least 18 to 20 yrs old at her passing. Although it was really sad to lose her, I am also so proud and happy to have given her a safe and loving home, and that I went with my instincts and didn't put her down. She passed away with dignity; surrounded by love and comfort. We cremated her and brought her ashes in a 'Kit Kat Time Out' container (yes, she's only taking a time out!) to bury in my secret garden where we visit regularly.

Ah Girl, you'll always be remembered for your beauty, resilience and strength. Although you're in kitty heaven now, you'll always live in our hearts and we'll see each other again, my love. Baci =^.^=