Saturday, July 17, 2010

Hokkaido - 10 to 16th July 2010

The main purpose of my trip is to see Furano...
But ironically, I found the clouds to be more beautiful.

I have always been fascinated with clouds, cause they are never the same shape. :)
Every cloud has it's own unique shape. Guess I will continue to be amazed by them for the rest of my life. Never get tired of admiring them :)
And it's a beautiful sight, be it against the skyline, looking at them on the plane, or against the mountains, lake etc.
Sceneries you hardly get to see often in Sin...

Who can beat the Japanese in terms of packaging?
You already feel tempted to buy just looking at those lovely packaging... :)

Before I even reached farm Tomita to see the lavender fields, I have already seen many other flowers planted in either the roadside, or in people's residential gardens.
It's such a pretty sight to see, and got my spirits uplifted this Summer.
Smell the fresh air, taking a stroll, or sipping a cup of coffee slowly at a cafe...
That's a fantastic way to relax in life! :)

I am sure this is not full bloom yet, but the Lavender flowers smell was already sufficient to instantly relief all my stress.
The flowers emit a strong, aromatic, uplifting scent when crushed/rolled between my fingers.
Inhale the scent slowly and deeply to calm nervous tension, anxiety and panicky feelings within minutes.



Besides the Furano being a popular tourist attraction, the night view from summit at Mount Hakodate is renowned in Japan as one of the best in the country, and one of the top three in the world along with Hong Kong and Naples.
Indeed the view was spectular.



The night view in Hokkaido are all impressive. Perhaps cause they have alot of colourful billboards that makes the city come alive come night.

The ice-cream in Hokkaido is extremely good, but to prevent over-indulgence, me/sam always share one so we can try more variety :)

The famous Hokkaido crab which I do not really know how to appreciate :)
Cost us 6500 Yen. Luckily we shared with another couple.

I am not exactly a seafood fan. The only thing I like in the seafood family is fish.
I got quite afraid after a few meals of scallop, prawns.
I will need to avoid seafood for some time now. :)

We preferred the food that were not included in the package. The sushi, ramen all taste very good.
Even their Mos Burger tasted better than in Sin.



It was a great trip for us.
A renewal of love for our marriage, although nearing the end of the trip, we were already missing darling K alot.

There are lots of souvenir shops in Japan and most of their stuff are all Kawaii. But things in Japan are rather expensive, so a better way is to snap them and keep as memories.





It's the season now. The reddest one are not the sweetest. It is the mixed orange/red that are the sweetest. I know cause the cherry-picker gave me some while she was picking the cherries :)

It was raining when we went there, so could not see much. Luckily for us, this is the only day it rained and was only for half a day. The rest of the days turned pretty warm after.















Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Angsana Bintan

It has been 3 years since I last visited Bintan.
The feeling is great as I finally got to see the other side of Bintan.
My last two trips was at Bintan Lagoon.

It has been a long while since I had some "ME" time since the birth of my darling K.
So this trip was a much needed break.
And I appreciated it lots :)
Especially so with my sister :)

Having the chance to get in touch with the other side of me too.
I took up photography so that I can take clearer/better photos of my darling's life.
But as time goes by, I realised it has turned into my hobby and I find peace when taking photos of this beautiful world.
It just makes me feel happy seeing the prettier side of life :)























Saturday, June 12, 2010

Sweet and Sour Pork



















Below is the recipe for those who are interested. :)
Ingredients (serves 2)

250 g pork chops / pork loin
1 small potato, sliced
1 tomato, cut into wedges
1 onion, quartered
9 Hup Seng cream crackers, crushed into fine crumbs in ziplock bag
1/4 cup plain flour
1 egg, beaten

Marinade for pork chops

a pinch of salt
rice wine, 1 tbsp
a dash of pepper
a dash of 5-spice powder
a few drops of sesame oil
cornstarch (1/2 tbsp)

Sauce Mix

water (1/2 cup)
cornstarch (1/2 tsp)
light soy sauce (2 tsps)
sweet chilli sauce (1/2 tbsp)
tomato ketchup (6 tbsps)
sugar (2 tbsps)
rice vinegar (1/2 tbsp)
a few drops of sesame oil

Method
1) Sandwich the pork chops between 2 sheets of cling wrap and beat lightly with the blunt side of chopper knife or a meat mallet to tenderize them. (Note: thick chops must be sliced to at least 1 cm thickness)

2) Mix pork with marinade, wrap and set aside for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

3) Pan fry potato slices until lightly brown. Set aside.

4) Get ready the flour, beaten egg and crumbs in 3 separate plates. Dip pork into flour, then egg and finally crumbs. Make sure pork chops are thoroughly coated with crumbs before deep fry until golden brown.

5) Let the chops cool before cutting them into strips. Arrange them on a serving dish.

6) In a non-stick pan, saute onion. Add tomato wedges and tomato, stir-fry for 2-3 mins.

7) Add water & cornstarch mixture. Next, add sugar, chilli sauce, ketchup, light soy sauce and vinegar. Stir to mix evenly.

8) Add fried potatoes. Allow sauce to thicken. Add a few drops of sesame oil. Adjust seasoning if needed.

9) Pour over the pork chop strips and serve immediately with steamed white rice. Enjoy! :D