24022009 -> 24022010 = 365 days

24 Feb 2009 last year was the day that I legally became Mrs Ong... The day that Mr Ong cannot run away from me liao..muahahhaa. 

after 365 days later, 10,000 miles around the other end of the globe, with snow falls and freezing temperature,  Mr Ong still have not run away...hahaha the last 365 days was different fr the previous 5yrs of dating.. the last yr have seen new commitments, promises, compromises, frustrations, blissfulness and more... and this will cont to help us grow, hopefully not horizontally..hahahah

But Mr Ong keep saying 10 May our actual customary then is our wedding anniversary... whatever.. I still went ahead and did some stuff..hahah made him something which is for his eyes only.. something simple and meaningful(to me)....  For dinner i made Carribean Chicken with Pineapple, Cajun Baked Prawns (attempted to cook Baba Gumps' versrion, Mr Ong say quite close to the taste) and Quick Mexican Rice.. pretty simple to do... and for dessert i made Strawberries coated with chocolate.. ahah not bad for my first attempt lar.. we ate in as Mr Ong have 2 tests the next day...

So make up dinner was on 25 Feb instead.. We went to this newly open Japanese Restaurant but ran by Koreans to have dinner... Nagomi Sushi.. pretty good.. small and cozy place... but price is expensive.. what we paid for can pay for 2 at Kushibo Buffet lar..hahah but no choice.. and we needed some fresh sashimi... Ann Arbor dun really have good seafood...  

Overall very happy..hehehe and looking forward to our next mini celebration...muahahhaahhahahaaha

and of cuz Happy Bday to dearest Mummy.. 24th Feb is also her bday.... this yr could not celebrate with her... but its okay.. called her and spoke to her le.. =) wishing her 身体健康，心想事成！！！！

Caribbean Chicken with Pineapple, Cajun Baked Shrimps&
Quick Mexican Rice

Strawberries coated with Chocolate

Mr Ong looks scare to eat new food i cook/bake...
hahahah 

salad was served free at Nagomi Sushi

USD$12 for 8 pcs of Sashimi lar.. damn expensive!!!

USD$9 for the Spider Roll (soft-shell crab)- taste good!
USD$3.90 for the Salmon Maki- damn ex!!

USD$9.50- My Nabayaki nice!!!

USD$7.50- Mr Ong's Shoyu Ramen

muaacks muaacks!!!

财神雪人！！！！ 发啊！！！

Mr Ong have been wanting to build a 财神雪人 for CNY,but because of the dry condition of the snow, it wont stick together, let along roll into balls... only fresh snow will be able to make the 财神雪人.. so after many days of waiting, fresh snow fell and he had tons of fun building the 财神雪人...

Since its still CNY, again we wish everyone along with our 财神雪人: 恭喜发财，虎年行大运，财源滚滚，大发啊！！！

发发发啊!!!

a big shoutout to all my families and frens in SG a very very very happy Chinese new year!!!

to those who play mahjong, 发啊!!!

to those who buy 4D & TOTO, 发啊!!!

to those who play blackjack, 发啊!!!

发发发啊！！！！

In preparation for the reunion dinner, i've made some food to help curb our homesickness during the festive season:

- shrimps dumplings (turn out okie, 1st batch not salty enough, 2nd batch too salty..hahah), 

- pineapple tarts (fry the pineapple filling fr scratch, took alot of time but it was worth it), 

- fry prawn crackers (bought those instant, just need to fry type), 

- cook curry chicken cuz i miss mummy's version too much.. but it was no where near...muahahahaa

- Mr Ong did his soup base for the steam boat with red dates, wolfberries, yellow beans and mid-section of the chicke wing.. very yummy!!!!

Also did all the necessary spring cleaning and Mr Ong and I had a great time shopping for the steamboat ingredients...hahahaha.. we even managed to find abalone lar... but damn expensive... SG$80... not like SG, if got promotion, 3 about SG$100... but no choice lar... once a yr only...muhahahahah we bought alot of junk food lar... hahah

need to fry till most of the water evaporates...

final product should be dry and sticky and golden in color...

shaping the tarts...

did the long kind, cuz dun have the flower mould

ground chicken with shrimps and water chestnuts.. yummy

the SG$80 abalone!!!

it was not bad actually!!!

this was for 2 of us only lar.... in the end only manage

to finish about half.. and we still have so much more food

in the fridge.. 

Mr Ong: "FOOD!!!! so happy!"

yeah!!

ahhhhh

wow!!!

CNY 2010

Usually this time of the year is spent in SG... preparing for CNY.. buying lots of food for both our families and making sure everyone has new clothes, new shoes, new bags etc...getting ready to eat reunion dinner of endless hot-piping steamboat with everyone at the same table...eating lots of pineapple tarts, bah kuas, egg rolls, cashew nuts, chocolates etc...  lots of mahjong and blackjacks, lots of gatherings and visiting... 

but this year is not... as we are here in Ann Arbor, and ppl here dont celebrate CNY, there is no CNY mood... of cuz no Ang Bao river here to go to as all the lakes and rivers here are frozen,  or Chinatown to go get squashed, ...ahhaha instead of Ang Gong Gong & warm CNY, we have super white & super cold CNY.... muahahhaa... but we have plans lined up.. we are going for steamboat marathon fr CNY's eve to the 15th...muahahha no lar... just for a few days...

heheheh we've got our new clothes already.. now just need to shop for the steam boat ingredients, borrow the slow-cooker fr our fren for the steamboat marathon, and do some minor cleaning of the apartment.... our China fren also gave us 福到春联... so thats going to be paste on our doors... just keeping our fingers cross that the strong winds dont blow them away...

of cuz we will be calling bk to our family and chatting with them over skype.. now thats a first... =)

actually CNY is not my fav festival, always finds it overly noisy... i just like the feeling of family gathering together to just eat and talk... and that can be done no matter what the festival or season is, thats why i always try to have wkend dinners or BBQs , and mahjong sessions at home.

Especially if u are so many thousand miles away from your family and frenz on such joyous occasion, you cant help but think, are they thinking about me while they are having fun?? muahahaaa... i'm grateful that i'm not here alone celebrating CNY with steamboat on this cold and snowy place... i still have Mr Ong.. and i'm sure Mr Ong think likewise, although i think he is thinking of what kind of food he wants for his steamboats.... muahahahaha 

Lack of sun

perhaps the lack of sun is really getting to me.. have been very moody and snapped a few times at Mr Ong...the Vit D pills doesnt seemed to be working either... plus the sprain ankle makes it worse... argh~~~~

Skiing

we went skiing with Mr Ong's classmates at Alphine Valley yesterday. Its mostly for beginners but there are aslo higher skilled slopes if u wanna challenge urself...  tinking that skiing is fun and should be easy to pick up... i was so looking forward to it.. but i was wrong....it was tiring and frustrating... 

perhaps like what Mr Ong say, as we age, we got lesser guts to try risks... hahaha i fell alot on the slopes, especially when on mid-slope... neither here or there... the more times u fall, the more frustrated u get with urself... but since already there and u dont get to ski in SG, i tried again and again and again... and i managed to ski down the slopes perfectly without falling at least once.. the rush down the slope with the wind blowing against ur face is priceless... i tried a few more times and still managed to come down but cannot stop...ahahahah so just fall to the side to stop myself... my last ski down the slope ended when i came done crashing and both skis fell off fr my feet and i felt my left ankle twisted as i rolled to a stopped... it did not hurt as much as i wake up today.. even going to the toilet now hurts... haiz.. come to tink i also sprain my ankle a few yrs back before CNY.. duh~~ dun want it to become a tradition lei...

Mr Ong did much better then me.. at least he managed to went up to the higher slopes and challenged himself....but he was so fast he could not stop that he crashed into the side fences...haahha but he is okay...hahahaa better then me.. 

will want to do it again.. as soon as my ankle recovers if possible.. would want to try snowboard cuz skiing to troublesome.. still need to take care of the ski poles when i really find them redundant... 

Flexible Stomach

my tummy will be quite flat when i wake up in the morning... and as the day progresses and food gets into the body, my tummy will get bigger... by the end of the day, depending on how much food i eat and how much junk food i take, i might look like a 3-mth pregnant woman...ahahha Mr Ong say i have flexible stomach...ahhahaha 

Electocuted

Because of the cold and dry weather condition here... i need to slap on super thick moisturizer, in fact TWICE a day after shower, so that my skin will not get too dry and get '电' by Mr Ong all the time... besides him, car doors and metal legs of chairs also like to electrocute me... this is another problem that i would not have experience in SG... if i forget or get lazy, my skin will still feel okay, just that every now and then certain part will be itchy, cuz the skin is tight and dry, not because never shower smelly then itchy..haha come to think, its twice a day is still not enough, i still feel the itch fr time to time... 

my hair gets super dry too, so bad that every time when i comb my hair.. its gets so much static that it will stand lar, like those u see on TV when a kid places his finger on some static stuff and his hair stand...haha okay okay, not so much but u get the idea right..so i need to use leave-on conditioner lor... my hair not as silky as before le... sob sob..

and cuz of the lack of sunlight, i got to take Vitamin D tablets daily, and i don't think its enough cuz i'm turner fairer, but towards the yellowish side...not ang moh white...hahah literally on the way to become 黄脸婆... hahhaha plus still need to take the high blood pressure tablet everyday... 

hahah sounds like very troublesome but i'm not complaining as its still okay... just need to spend sometime to get it done....anyway like i tell Mr Ong, all i have now is time...