I’ve come a long way. We’ve come a long way. It’s the 100th post on The Peonies! Let’s rock the house and pop the champagne!

This reminds me of the New Year’s resolutions I set for 2009. More than 3 quarters of the year has passed and I have completed some of the things I set out to do, but along the way I did lots more that I never thought possible. Like documenting my silly, sometimes boring life on a website.  Life is always throwing us with surprises.

Like finding this really old photo on an old hard drive.

How could anyone know at that time this chubby little thing would grow up to be one of the most fantabulous person in the world.

Like I said, life is so full of surprises.

Pipin (a real person, not a hobbit) taught me this dish when I was training in Thailand. She’s a talented cook with a big, kind heart. In fact she’s so nice I wanted to pack her into my suitcase and bring her home.

Having said that, she is also the cause of my typical weekend evening:

me: What shall we have for dinner?
D-man: I don’t know. What do you think?
me: hmm..how about pasta?
D-man: ‘pose we can……
me: you don’t sound excited. how about sushi?
D-man: hmmmm….
me: what about curry?
D-man: *silence accessorized with a face furrowed deep in thoughts*
me: salad?
D-man: *checks his fingernails*
me: pizza?
D-man: *crickets*
me: ok ok, cashew nut chicken?
D-man: YES! Let’s go to the supermart now!

That pretty much sums up how much he like this dish, and my feeding duties.

Ingredients (serves 2 very hungry, very greedy persons)
2 chicken thighs, deboned & cut into chunky bite size
80gm sugar beans, cut into 3′s or 4′s if 3 ain’t your lucky number
1 cup brocolli, cut into bite size
1 cup cauliflower, cut into bite size
1 cup carrots, sliced into thins
1/2 onion, diced into chips
2 gloves of garlic, minced
handful of shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 – 1 chilli, thinly sliced
handful of raw cashew nuts
Condiments
3 tbsp cooking oil (I use veggie oil)
2 tbsp Oyster sauce
Dash of fish sauce (depends on how much you like the stuff)
1/2 tbsp sugar
Pinch of sea salt
Dash of sesame oil (optional)

I’m tabling the ingredients & condiments very loosely cos you should customize the dish to your very own liking. I.e. you don’t have to add cauliflower if it puts you off your mojo.

First heat up a wok and add cooking oil but do not overheat oil (oil must not smoke). With medium heat, lightly fry cashew nuts. They cook real quick so just give it a few toss & dish them up onto blotting serviettes when they get a slight tan.

Using the same heated work, fry garlic and onions till garlic turns golden and onion chips are slightly soft, and add chicken. When chicken turns pale, throw in mushrooms and all other vegetables. Give everything a good stir & wok out those arms! (wok up! Geddit? Geddit??)

When veggies start to wilt & soften (do not overcook veggies or I’ll spank your bottom!), add in all condiments except sesame oil & taste to adjust, or adjust to taste, whichever you fancy. Once everything is perfect, dash in the sesame oil (optional) & serve the wonderful deliciousness with warm rice.

Then be prepared to get demanding request to cook this awesome dish every night.

There was a Yoga by the Sea event yesterday at East Coast Park and more than a thousand people turned up for the mass workout. Pity about the rain, or D-man and I could have stretched for a while longer. I kid you not, the skies were really dark.

I feel in love with this tree. It has the looks of a I’ll-look-out-for-you-and-will-protect-you-from-anything kind of tree.

As luck would have it, a friend brought us to this little hangout named “Going Om” in the evening for a cuppa. We sipped Chakra Lassi’s on the carpeted floor and were well-served by a native Indian (and may I add good looking) chap.

The menus and place do not have much to do with enhancing inner peace but I have to say it was a pretty holistic experience.

Coming back to yoga, I have experienced tremendous health and beauty benefits from practicing this ancient tantric science and I know many others whom lives have been changed by it. Yoga made me healthier, happier and even cleared my skin through the expulsion of toxins and improvement in blood flow. It is an exercise that everyone in every stage of life can enjoy with no ill-effects or strain on the body. Plus you need very little, just comfy cloths and a mat.

Please try it if you have not. I promise it will bring you nothing but good.

The mid autumn festival is one of the nice festivity where sweet pastries & pretty lanterns make a warm comeback from childhood memories. It is a festival of togetherness, where gifts of mooncakes and tea are shared during the family gathering. Kids get to burn, oops I mean carry lanterns and eat little piggy biscuits bundled in colourful basket. It is also a day of romance. When he is not working, D-man and I would bring the furkids out for a long walk to admire the amazing full moon, often ending up at a nearby park bench, with the furries on our sides. Ok enough! Sorry for all the reminiscence. Must be one of those day I’m having a hormonal surge.

Point being, I like mid-autumn festival because it brings people together. Colleagues share an abundance of creatively flavoured pastries, families have dinner gatherings, girlfriends hang around and make mooncakes together, and neighbours have excursions to the park with the kiddos and their myriad of lanterns. Our neighbourhood committee even organized a party for residents to hang out and hang loose.

Paper lanterns are waaaaay cooler than the battery operated ones…..and so pwetty..

Lantern riddles. So traditional I didn’t think anyone remembers it anymore.

The longtime companions of mooncakes. Pomelos, chestnuts, and all sorts of goody goodies.
Come to think of it, any festival that assimilates excuses to eat and feast is a great festival isn’t it?
Not that we need any.

7 BXG warriors gave their hearts and souls for their love of the sport, and fought fearlessly for the gym’s glory yesterday. Was so intense I thought I would get into cardiac arrest. Thank goodness there were medics on standby.

Oh they were not for me?

I don’t care what you are doing. Savour the fight clips right now!

Special thanks to D-man whom we’ve recruited for the camera services.

D-man, the brand you can always count on. :)

Once upon a time I had a wonderful Swede for a boss. He is very cool. I will never forget the time when he wore a tee-shirt that says “My sausage is deadly” to the office. Bet your boss didn’t! Ha! Anyway, he married a gorgeous and kind exotica whom fed us many a great meals. She taught me this wonderful (and healthy) recipe and D-man and I have never gotten sick of it till now. I made it recently for some friends and realize that it’s a really easy and fool-proof dish to bring to a potluck.

Cook pasta, let cool. Then mix everything together. Adjust condiments to suit taste.

Now was that easy peasy or was that easy peasy?

Let me think that over and get back to you later.

*psst:  Tomatoes are one of those “happy foods”. They also contain lycopene which is a powerful antioxidant, and we all know antioxidants make you pretty and fights cancer cells.

Today is the International Coastal Cleanup day (no..I did not make this up!). Every year, hundreds and thousands of sea turtles, albatross, manatees and many other soon to be extinct marine animals are found dead after ingesting plastic bags and all sorts of man-made litter. The Coastal Cleanup is a world wide initiative in preserving the marine life through cleaner, litter-free shores.

D-man’s company was nice enough to sponsor their employees to volunteer at the cleanup in Chek Jawa, the south-east coast of Pulau Ubin. Operations had to start early in the morning before the tide comes in, and the rain made it even colder.  The volunteers were good-spirited and unfazed, and you wouldn’t believe the things that were collected. More than 1,00 kg of trash, truck tyres, shoes, mattresses, and even a refrigerator!

“Woof! I am happy! Please come do this more often & tell your friends about it!”

Some buddies came over last night and we had a good time shoving burgers and taters down our already well-padded tummies. Beer, massive amounts of coke and some crazy DVD’s completed the totally unhealthy but cosy event.

D-man and meself made some quarter pounders from scratch. I was barking instructions, oops I meant delegating to the man, and puting him on my least favourite task, the onion duty. Because I can always count on him to come up with a good solution for all the crying.

*sorry if it was too much flesh in the picture. Can’t help it.

*sorry if it was too much body hair in the picture. Can’t help it either.

Contrary to popular beliefs, you really do not need a lot to have a good time.

Insiders will know that the D-man is a martial arts junkie. He digs all sorts of martial arts and recently, he is a tad mad about BJJ. You probably already know this but for those who don’t, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is a combat sport that involves lots of grappling and ground fighting. This form of martial art enforces the principle of using leverage and techniques to force your opponent into submission, as opposed to using brute strength. Not only is it a great form of self-defense, the sport forces you to use your brain with your body, instead of letting them fight for the telly remote on the couch with a large bag of chips.

I was at the gym early to catch glimpse of the BJJ training session.

Even being a spectator was sheer fun. I was totally sucked into the action and watched my mates with wide eyes and gaping mouth.
Then again what can go wrong with grown, muscly men seizing, clinching and wrestling each other on the ground.
Right girlfriends? *wink*

Yesterday, D-man and I witness the union of 2 wonderful individuals.
She is sweet, kind, beautiful, smart and speaks 5 languages (and possibly more) fluently. No, she does not work with the CIA. But you never know. Rather you’re not suppose to know.
He is funny (think hilarious tales told with deadpan face), patient, has a world-class French accent, is smart and is a Tupperware man. How can any girl not love a Tupperware man?!?!
It was an enticingly elegant ceremony in a romantic outdoor garden setting, amidst lake, swans, and peaceful foliage. The wedding was abundant with loud laughter, fantastic food and interesting people. In other words an urban fairy tale. L.O.V.E. I.T.