Ambarella Plum Sorbet

 

Got the inspiration for this sorbet from a drink so popular at a Ipoh Chicken Rice Shop located in Kota Damansara that I usually frequent. I think they have one of the best chicken rice around, but they also make  the most amazing blended Kedondong (a.k.a ambarella, ambra, golden apple) and sour plum drink.  I have been to many other eateries which also serves this very drink but no place prepares this drink better. In fact, it was the boss himself that suggested the idea of turning this drink into ice cream.  He says instead of drinking it, people could then slowly savour the taste by eating it. I thought better sorbet, to maintain likeness to the drink. 

Two days later in the morning as promised, he shows up with 5kg of kedondong fruit and I decided to make this new sorbet that same afternoon! End result is a really fresh tasting sorbet, tartness of the kedondong is rounded and balanced by a mixture of sourness and saltiness of the grated sour plum. To thank him for his brilliant suggestion and also obtain his stamp of approval on the taste, I sent the Chicken Rice Boss a batch of the sorbet that very same evening =)

A.L.O.E: Kota Kinabalu in April 2011

A.L.O.E = A litte of Everything

This time I bought a one way ticket back to KK because I didn’t know if I should stay for 3 days or a week. I ended up staying 20 days. Well there are more valid reasons to why I extended the trip but at the same time I had fun.  I owe it to a good friend who made it a point for me to experience new things, meet new people, discover the new eateries in town and also the club scenes. For all that, thank you for including me in your circle of friends and reminding me that KK is still made of beautiful people and beautiful experiences. These are some of the best things I got to do and experience in KK this trip.

HAKOD OASIS SPA @ Warisan Square

Started off the hot stone foot reflexology treatment with fish spa! I have heard about fish spa, but I didn’t know if I was ready to put my feet into a pool filled with hungry Garra Rufa fishes. Apparently they are always hungry and never seem to get full.  There were four of us in the pool, me being the last one to enter, and all the fishes just swam from the others and ‘attacked’ my feet. It was a little scary for me in the beginning. They looked like fat leeches. But later I was all giggles as the fishes nibbled at my dead skin. My only tip would be to bring a friend to chat with through the session just for the distraction. After the fish spa, the skin is baby smooth. The hot stone foot reflexology that came after was awesome!

 

ULTIMATE FRISBEE

I have been invited to try out this sport a couple of times when I was still based in KK, never did get to try it. This time I finally attended a few of their practices. What I love most about the game is “the spirit of the game”. There are no referees, and fouls and disputes are actually discussed among the players based on the simple rules of the game. Naturally this calls for honour, respect between players and fair play. In the essence of maintaining the spirit of the game, they are more than happy to welcome new players to try out and they make it easy for you to understand the game. They play on the Tanjung Aru field every Sunday 4-6pm and at the beach Tuesdays and Thursdays 6pm to 8pm. I was so confused the first two times I tried and play, but it got a little better the third time I joined them. My only regret is not getting to play the 2nd week and 3rd week I was in KK because I twisted my foot. 

 

OUTDOOR PHOTOSHOOT with JenifferKu

A few months ago, I turned 30. I normally take a picture of myself every year on my birthday just to document how I have changed every year. This year I am honoured to have Jennifer Ku, a very good friend to capture me. I have had some studio shots done at the studio before but this is my first time having a shoot done outdoors.  We went to Nexus Karambunai for the shoot. It is also Jeniffer’s first photoshoot but we wanted it to be relaxing and fun. A girls day out!The concept of the shoot was just Elaine. I asked Jennifer, who am I in her eyes and asked her to try to capture that. So I would just be me and Jennifer would try to capture me as who she saw me as. Had my own minimal 5 minute makeup done and it’s good that Jennifer does not believe in touching up the face on Photoshop. So happy with the results and the high quality prints she gave me simply because I think I really look like me with a beautiful setting as a bonus, unlike the other photos that were taken of me at the studio where the make up was probably too much.  We did the shoot in under 3 hours, including running in and out of the rain, scouting for good background, etc. It is funny that in the beginning  I worried that I wasn’t an experienced model (and I am not) and she was worried that the photos will not turn out (even though she has captured gorgeous photos of her children) as she wanted them to be. In the end, we were just having fun and I was laughing away. At one point I remember her saying to me “Ok, I think we have enough of smiling and laughing shots. We need contemplation shots.” LOL.   That contemplation look on that rock was hard! I have 5 insect bites to prove it. Haha! I wished we had more time to take photos before dark so you would have more time to experiment, also wished that the weather was a little better but nevertheless what I enjoyed more than anything was having a chance to catch up and laugh with a good friend who is also a supermama. I know that you will make something out of your passion Jen =) Thank you for such a memorable time. More to come…

The one other thing I normally do whenever I am in KK is Sunset watching. KK has glorious sunsets! This trip I watched sunsets from a roof, from beaches, from a platform on the sea (sort of) and from a hill!

The End!

Random thoughts & a soothing lullaby…

 

Late Saturday night and again I can’t sleep. Tummy rumbling so got up and had my own cookies & cream ice cream (probably not a good idea, sugar rush!), figuring what to do. I’ve finished reading all my novels, watched all my DVD’s and Astro seems to be showing repeats. Been glued to CNN and Al-Jazeera since yesterday just to watch the latest news on  the Japan Quake and Tsunami aftermath and the worldwide relief efforts being undertaken. Watching the news channel nowadays makes me sad and angry, so many sad stuff happening around the world. Or is it, that only sad stuff makes a good cover story? It is like a  gossip goes round in a minute  and a good deed goes unmentioned or is just forgotten.  Anyways, I got online again. Browsed YouTube, stumbled on this song and fell in love with it. Love the simple melody and lyrics.

“Can we just slow down, while you make this mistake, so my heart don’t break~~” “I’ll be forever yours” Nice sing-along and a soothing lullaby. (starting to feel sleepy now) Tyler Ward has some amazing songs. Love his quirkiness in his videos. Check him out. Time for bed! Happy Sunday everyone!

 

Avocado Ice Cream

One of my favourite ice creams is AVOCADO ICE CREAM. Avocadoes has a creamy texture and very subtle taste. The blended creamy flesh of ripen avocadoes combined with a great ice cream base results in extra smooth and densed ice cream. Avocado ice cream reminds me of the avocado milkshakes I drank in Indonesia, so I normally top mine with chocolate sauce. It is difficult to get Avocadoes in Kuala Lumpur. I can only find the imported ones from South Africa and Australia. So making this ice cream here is expensive! One small avocado cost RM5.00 to 6.00 each in the supermarket. I even tried scouring few wet markets and still I see imported Avocadoes.So this time I asked my brother who was returning from Sabah to KL to get me as much as he could carry from Sabah. I was so excited to see them when he arrived. Avocadoes are in abundance in Sabah when in season. I have seen some as huge as a papaya when I used to buy them at the market! The ones he brought back were not as large but they were still larger than the imported ones we have here. Now I have a plan to get avocadoes air flown in whenever someone returns from Sabah.

Saturday Night Reflection

It is 11pm on a Saturday night, Om Mani Padme Hum by Imee Ooi is playing in the background coupled by the sounds of the falling water in my guppy aquarium. After a session of yoga in my living room I try to forget everything else and find inner peace. When I open my eyes from my 5 minutes of meditation, I thank God for this comfort and luxury I am surrounded with. Yes, I am like others out there, every single day there is havoc and new problems to resolve but I am still thankful to be in a comfortable place and at least I have power to influence what goes on in most of my daily life.



Having nothing to do I sorted out old emails in one of my older email addresses. Found a link to my old blog. I started blogging back in 2006. I am not an avid blogger by any standards, you can call me a 'casual blogger'. The only reason I blog is perhaps to share my thoughts at the same time I hold back because I am worried about how much I was putting myself out there. Conflicted, Haha! I find myself laughing at a few posts I published in the old blog and appreciating those happy moments I had. We sometimes forget about those privileged happy moments we had and I guess writing them down or blogging about them freezes those moments for future reflection. Just like what a photographer does. He captures a photo of a scene so that when we look back we can remember.

There is a nice memory about this song that is playing in the background now as I write. I don't think I told anyone this story , people may find it insignificant. Anyway. it was 2006, I was so lost. I was overwhelmed by so much troubles. It was the first time I prayed to God and confided in Him that I couldn't take the burden and the trials, although I know that He would never give me more burdens then I can handle, I just couldn't be more miserable than I already was, I needed help. To people who know me, I am a person who never easily admitted defeat, and I felt so defeated. I believe God sent me an Angel as an answer to my prayers. This guy who came into my life and just picked up all the broken pieces. On one of the occasions when he had to leave KL, I was again very sad because he being there made everything okay. He opened his lap top and played for me another version of this song. This song is a Buddhist Chant and I am a Catholic but I felt calm. It reminds me of Gregorian chants. I started sobbing, and he just held both my hands and asked me to breathe. I found difficulty breathing in between my crying and he said we'll do it together. He motioned me sternly to breathe in and out, but I was occupied by shame and by the need to apologize for breaking down in front of him. I felt silly but he tighten his grip on my hands, asked me to close my eyes and focus on nothing but breathing together with him. After three inhaling and three exhaling breathe I felt better! He didn't solve any of my problems then, only I could do that and only I had the power to choose which road to take. All he did was simply being there for me and showing me that I could only be in control of the whole situation when I am first in control of my emotions and thoughts. That to me was more powerful. Until today when things get too much, I remember to Breathe.

Memories like this how small, brings me much happiness. Good night all.

Moroccan Inspired Ice Creams

We received a request from one of our clients who was hosting a Moroccan themed dinner party to make for them Cardamom or Cinnamon Ice Cream for dessert.

I for one love spices and I am quite adventurous when it comes to trying out new flavours. However, most of the Malaysian customers normally prefer classic flavours. So I get excited when customers request for out of the ordinary flavours like cinnamon and cardamom.

We decided on making Cinnamon Ice Cream as I thought it would be easily more accepted because it is sweet, aromatic but not too overwhelming. Cardamom has a faint lemon taste and eucalyptus overtones which is nice but indulged as it is, am not too sure. I would think combining Cardamom with another citrus fruit would make a lovely ice cream.

Made a rich ice cream mix and infused Cinnamon sticks in milk together with a stick of Madagascar vanilla bean. Nearing the end of the freezing process we added cinnamon powder so that every scoop of ice cream would contain golden specks of cinnamon.

This ice cream would go well with a chocolate dessert or any poached fruit like apple or pear!

Walaa~~~The finished product!

N.B. Post published on written date. In February, we also made Coffee Cardamom Ice Cream and Orange Thyme Sorbet for other clients.

Welcoming 2011~

Its 1.1.11 today! New Year started with a bang this year with a party with good friends at the Ice Bar Street Party Bash with Hitz FM, although by my watch and friend's watch countdown was 5 minutes pre-mature.

{Play the video while you read on =) My favourite song for now. Linkin Park Rocks! =)}

To think of it 2010 went by just like a snap of a finger. Normally, I would had planned my 2011 Resolutions but this time round, I didn't really think about it. The next morning I woke up after one the best sleep since I had in awhile, and realized that I had to have some form of resolution or goal to achieve in 2011. I normally would have a long list of detailed things to achieve, but this time I wanna dedicate 2011 to having a joyful life.

I want 2011 to be more fulfilling personally I want to be happy every single day, not worry too much or over analyze situations too much and live in the moment for we never know when is our last. Worries doesn't take us anywhere. I want to love myself more, listen to my heart, find love again, receive love, be loved and love like I've always loved. Okay okay… sounds corny or a way tad emo, but I believe we do our best in lives when we are loved or in love. All of us wants to feel appreciated and wanted one time or another. This is gonna sound greedy but I also want financial freedom by focusing on my business and other opportunities that has surfaced. It has always been my dream to be financially able to help those in need. =D

From business aspect, 2010 had thrown me a multitude of obstacles and I am blessed to be working with equally passionate, dedicated and brilliant people. Doing business always involved risk and because of the hardwork and morale support of a few key people in my life, we are still here and happy to report business is good. 2010 was all about starting up and entering into the market, with yummy and consistent products. I remember making that decision in late 2009 to come to Kuala Lumpur and gave it my all and it has been a year and we are on stable ground. We've seen other businesses around opening and closing since, it reminds me every single day to stay grounded, focused, humble and appreciative in this current economic situation.

I look forward to 2011 although all the Feng Shui experts says that 2011 is gonna be a bad year for this little monkey. I scanned through all the feng shui books at MPH and this year decided not to get any. Ha Ha! I put my faith to Lord Almighty instead for He has been there and I trust as always He will bring me through any tough times ahead. My life philosophy have always been to try to do something good everyday and be nice and I think that matters.

Ending 2010 is a little nostalgic as it also marks the end of my twenties (boo hoo) and I must say the twenties was one heck of a roller coaster ride. Looking back, am appreciative of all the experiences including the difficult and dissapointing ones. They have made be stronger and taught me to be more careful as life isn't a bed of roses. Plus, I do always have a tendency to see the good in people I meet and never question their motives until it is too late. 'Humans are scary' my good friend used to say. I didn't understand that 6 years ago and always argued with him but, I find that very true now. Humans often tend to complicate matters which are otherwise very simple. This applies to work and also personal relationships.

You like your job or believe in your business, do it 110%. You love a person and think that they are perfect for you, appreciate them and love them 110%. My 2 cents worth of advice!

Here is a prayer which I think is powerful and summarizes what we should do to be at peace and accept and welcome whatever 2011 brings:

O Lord,
Help me live this year quietly, easily,
To lean upon Your Great Strength trustfully, restfully;
To wait patiently, serenely;
To meet others peacefully, joyfully;
To face each sorrow courageously.

AMEN!