Making New Year Resolutions is Easy, Keeping them is NOT so Easy... 아니?

Today is the last day of 2006 and it’s that time of the year again…. yep, time to reflect on what I’ve done. Have I kept all the 2006 New Year Resolutions I made?

Well, I did a half-year review in June and when I just checked, I realised I only did 1 out of the 6 that I had listed in June. That’s not very good, is it? Sigh… Guess the consolation is I achieved 7 out of 8 resolutions I listed in January (although one is only half completed).

This makes me wonder if I should set next year’s resolution. Would I be able to fulfil and keep them? Nonetheless, I think I should still do it so that at least I’ll have some targets for 2007.

So here goes:

1. Be Happy, really – even though I’m generally happy, there have been a few times this year when I kept thinking about the past. Sadly, some things are back to haunt me.
2. Be my parents’ good girl – they’re growing older each year and I really should spend more quality time with them and do more housework so they won’t nag at me too often.
3. Do a marathon – after completing my half marathon this year, my initial aim was to do a biathlon and marathon. But I’ve had to give up my biathlon dream ‘cos I can’t meet the swimming trial of completing 50m x 30 laps in 40min. My current timing using my breaststroke just will not do. I’m over 8min above the approved limit. The plan is now to learn free style so I can go for it in 2008. 4. Be more patient with traffic, people and things that don’t go according to plans. I must learn to like a bit of untidiness and not be so organised ; ) And learn to take things slowly.
5. Take better care of my health and lose at least 3kg. I have not been that healthy this year... some illness just will not go away.
6. Learn two new skill (?) This will contradict with item 4, wouldn’t it? I think I’ll cut down to one – either Japanese or html.
7. Bake or cook something new every month. This will be really fun but I’ll have to find friends, colleagues and neighbours to give them away ‘cos my parents refuse to be my guinea pigs.
8. Read more management books. I think 80-90% of my collection of books are on hobbies -- cooking, baking, photography, yoga, aromatherapy, massage and yes even keeping fishes (he he, yes, this is an ex-hobby).


Here’s wishing everyone I know and their family a Fabulous and Fantastic 2007. May it be filled with happiness, joy, peace, excitement, great health and fortune.

Cooking Korean Food is Fun

With long weekends and more time on my hand, I’ve been trying out a few new dishes and new bakes. I must say my craze for Korean food is back. Been trying out new Korean restaurants and cooking new Korean dishes.

On Christmas Day, I tried 삼계탕 (Ginseng Chicken Soup) and two new appetisers -- Stewed Lotus and pickled radish (don’t know their names in Korean). But I think떡볶이 or spicy rice cake is still my favourite.

But today, I tried a new dish – zucchini kimchi. It’s something I adapted from a recipe I got from My Korean Kitchen – a fantastic blog with step-by-step guides for those who loves to cook Korean food. The original recipe uses tofu instead of zucchini.

It’s more a side dish but I had this as a main dish for my dinner tonight. It’s really easy to make. Cut zucchini into 0.8 cm thick slices. Blanched in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Leave it aside. Put 1 tsp each of sesame oil, hot pepper sauce (I bought some from Auntie Kim’s Kitchen at Thomson and it’s really good) and sugar in pan, fry kimchi (about 200g) for a few minutes. Add enoki mushroom.

Put kimchi mixture on top of zucchini and add toasted black sesame seeds as garnish.

Enjoy ; )

What is Christmas?

Time really flies… 2006 is ending soon and tomorrow is Christmas Day. What would I be doing? For some, Christmas is partying the night through… for others, it is a time to get together with family or old friends. And for the religious ones, it’s a time of giving and sharing.

What’s it to me? Many years ago, it was a time of giving and sharing, going to church to confess for all the sins that I’ve made during the year. Now, it is just another normal routine ‘weekend’ day. Frankly, I think Christmas has become quite meaningless in our society. Many offices have little celebrations, gift exchange, feasting etc. Many end up with gifts which they have no use for… some probably recycle them. Then there’s the endless feasting, of which, people (like me) will be quite stressed over losing all the excess calories taken.

And it’s sad that people are only thankful at this time… Seize the Day is what I believe in. Let me share two stories:

A girl gone mad
There is a girl who lives in her own world of grandeur. Let’s call her Jenny. She’s very clever and has many friends. But she has a bad habit – gambling. No one knew when it started. When the problem became known, Jenny had become a compulsive liar and gambler. After dropping out of varsity, she borrowed money from friends, family and associates. She bought expensive gifts and luxury items she didn’t need. When no one lent her money, she started stealing from her own family. No one believed what she said anymore. Those close to Jenny were angry at how she had changed. Sadly, soon she became deranged and finally ended her own life at a very young age of 25. I was there after it happened. I can still remember the cries and how everyone blamed themselves. I wondered if this tragedy could have been prevented… guess it’s something that I’ll never know.

An unfilial son turned good
The second story revolves around a son who somehow didn’t like his father. Let’s call him Ben. Ben is married with 3 kids and lives with his nucleus family. The father loves him very much and would call him regularly to keep in touch and check if the kids are alright. For no good reason, Ben rarely wants to talk to the father. One day, the father was sick – not very seriously but Ben’s brother sent him to the hospital as the clinics were closed. Ben was told in the morning but didn’t go down. In the late afternoon, the father, while waiting for the doctor, fell off the wheelchair and what was a simple fever, became fatal. While in the emergency unit, the brother called Ben. But again, Ben didn’t go down. When he arrived, the father had already passed on. Ben was really sad. But it was too late. Nonetheless, I think Ben learnt his lesson. Now, he visits his mom regularly and helps out at her hawker stall. So, all’s not lost.

These two incidents taught me two things :

1. Life is very fragile. Whether it is mine or those around me… you’ll never know when you’ll be asked to hand in your identity card. So, don’t wait till it’s too late to tell someone you love ‘I love you’. Or say ‘Sorry’ when you should. Don’t cry and think about doing this and that with the person when he or she is gone. ‘Cos it’s too late.

2. Seize the Day. Since the life we have is given to us and not ours to keep as we wish, do what you want to do NOW… seize the day. I’m thankful for each day that I wake up in good health, able to breathe in the fresh air and feel the warmth of sun or the light breeze on my face. Guess age does these things to you… Now, I appreciate the simple things in life more and I’m thankful for each day that I have.

Merry Christmas to everyone and may all your wishes come true.

Making Sushi is Really Fun ; )

Two weeks ago, I was at a friend’s house for a pot luck party and learnt how to make sushi. It was something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time but was too lazy to do it on my own.

For those who are keen, these are the simple steps:

What you will need:
* Japanese short grain rice
* Sushi seasoning

* Toasted seaweed

* Sushi soy sauce
* Wasabi
* Bamboo mat for rolling sushi
* Cling wrap for reverse sushi
* Ingredients for sushi toppings/ rolls: anything you fancy – Japanese omelette, roe, sashimi, wakame, pickled daikon, etc or try some local favourites – pork floss, luncheon meat, hai bee hiam (spicy prawn bits?? Hmmm, don’t really know how to translate this hokkien name); and sesame/salt mixture or salmon roe for reverse sushi

Steps
1. Cook Japanese short grain rice (readily available at Cold Storage). Realised that the amount of water used to cook the rice should not be too much or they’ll be too sticky and look like what’s in the photo.

2. Add sushi seasoning (again, readily available at Cold Storage or you can make your own with rice vinegar and sugar) and fan the rice at the same time so that they don’t stick in clumps.

3. Once you think the sushi rice taste is right, you can start making your sushi:
* For those with topping, just shape the rice using a palm and two fingers. Dab some wasabi and top it with sashimi, omelette or luncheon meat
* For rolls, lay half a piece of toasted seaweed on the bamboo mat, spread rice on seaweed (dab fingers in diluted vinegar so that the rice do not stick to your fingers), leaving a gap of 2cm at the end. Put your favourite ingredients – crab stick, cucumber etc – across the centre of the rice. Use the bamboo mat and roll the rice tightly. Once done, cut the sushi in swift movements using a sharp knife.

4. Serve with sushi sauce and wasabi.

Really easy, isn’t it?

Yes, I did the Singapore Half Marathon!

Things of sentimental values to me... my shoes, my number tag and medal (on my Korean blog)

After training intensively for more than 3 months, I finally did it. Yes, I completed the Half Marathon, the first one in my life. Crossing the finishing line was a bitter sweet feeling.

Of course it was great to complete 21.1km amongst 6,800 runners. But my timing was worse than I had expected. In my past three 21km training, I had always managed to do it under 2hours. Today, I took 10 more minutes than usual to cross the line at 2:00:11. But I guess with a fall (luckily it wasn’t a bad fall and there was only a slight abrasion) and more up slopes than I had expected, the timing’s not surprising. After the first 5km, I started doubting if the officials had measured the distance correctly! Because when I did the 10km Sheares Bridge Run which covered the same part of the route, I managed to do 5min for every km or less. And I had expected to be better after intensive training… But today’s run just felt very tough.

Anyhow, I’m glad I made it and the following are three lessons that I had learnt from my first competitive event:
1. Go at least 45min before flag off and warm up for at least 15min before going to the starting point. I thought I could warm up at the start pan (like my previous 10km run which didn’t have that many people)… little did I know it would be so sardine packed this time round!
2. Lose weight and try to be in tip top condition – this is a wish but something hard to control. I’ve been having an ankle problem for a month but I just couldn’t stop training.
3. Always try out the actual route before race day. At least you can be prepared and know what to expect.

What’s next? Well, I’ll be signing up for the Singapore Biathlon happening on 17 Mar 2007. And I’ll be training for my first full marathon next year, wish me luck : )