My good friend's wedding and 2nd roast chicken attempt

My old friend Thiru had his wedding at Cyberview Lodge on Boxing Day 2008. It was my first time there, and I have to admit that it was a very pretty place for a garden wedding. Pardon the pictures, they are taken with my Sony Ericsson W700 camera phone ^.^

Thiru, Theva, Govin in traditional Indian attire

The newlyweds together, Thiru & Evelyn

It was a very sunny day. Had a bit of cloudy weather, but thank God it held up nicely. Our mutual friend Donny Tan was playing guitar and singing during part of the ceremony. Donny and the music team had the full blast of the evening sun on them when they went on stage. Poor them! You can see they were sweating like nobody's business. Donny had to squint his eyes a lot too to avoid the glare.



Thiru and Evelyn exchanged their own vows on top of the normal one. Very sweet... The guests were given coloured rice to shower onto the newlyweds. However, most got over enthusiastic when the groom kissed the bride, and sort of pelted them when they were sharing an intimate moment. The bride's father got rained with the rice too... poor daddy ^.^

Rice anyone?

The wedding dinner was filled with performances from the friends and family. Definitely 2 highlights was Evelyn's dad's singing "Love is a many splendoured thing", and the final dance item from the newlyweds and the entourage. The song from Evelyn's dad was very well sung, and he was even backed by 2 violins and a piano. The final dance item was in true blue Bollywood style, with Indian music and playful choreography.

On a side note, the next day, I did another roast chicken. This time with patatoes in the tray. However, I only put the patatoes in after I removed the foil. The toaster oven really isn't very hot, so some pieces weren't cooked all the way through. Still quite successful I think. See my previous effort here. Ate this with some lightly steamed brocolli with melted margarine. Lovely lovely... washed down with some simple red wine.... bliss baby, bliss!

Making right on past wrongs

Heard a lot of good press regarding this book and movie, so I finally decided to rent it.

Kite Runner: Awarded a "Truly Moving Movie" honour

The story is set in America and Afghanistan, with 2 boys as the main characters. One is wealthy and of high status, Amir, the other is a servant's son, Hassan. Amir is intellectual, waited on hand and foot, spoilt. Hassan is courageous and overtly loyal to the point of self sacrificing. Despite this, they are close friends up to the point of Kabul's kite flying contest. Both boys worked together and managed to clinch the kite flying tournament. Later on, during a moment of incredible cowardice, Amir allowed Hassan to be beaten up for his sake. Amir even went so far as to get Hassan and his father evicted from his home, deeply wronging his companion and severing ties with each other. Then the Russian invasion of Afghanistan began, and Amir flees to America.


Amir leads a sheltered, safe life in America, whilst the Taliban takes over Afghanistan. Later on, news reaches Amir that Hassan has been murdered in Afghanistan, and that both these childhood friends are really brothers of the same father.


Trying to right a wrong with Hassan, Amir journeys into the heart of Kabul to pluck Hassan's young son, Sohrab away to America for a better life. On the way, we see examples of Taliban extreemism, violence, injustice. After mortal danger, Amir succeeds in locating and whisking Hassan's child, and rightfully his nephew back to America.


The film concludes with Amir teaching Sohrab kite running, and gives Hassan due praise for all his skill and nobility by sharing all of Hassan's goodness with young Sohrab. Sohrab, although initially treating Amir as a stranger, slowly accepts Amir, and the Amir's wrong is slowly being righted.


I thought this film would be highly preachy. There are some gruesome highlights, e.g. stoning of an adulterous couple. But other parts are handled with deftness, e.g. class and social standing, honour and shame, courage to stand up for belief and being loyal to those you care about.


One of my favourite scenes is how Hassan's bravery with the slingshot is again shown by Sohrab years later, and again it was done in defence of Amir.


Another part I love is the beauty of Kabul and the Afghan mountains. Instead of the images of war and violence, we often forget that the Afghan countryside are amongst the most scenic in the world. Kudos to the film makers for highlighting this.

That is postcard perfect, that is...

Righting a wrong done to an innocent party is not a new theme for movies. Kite Runner succeeds in using childhood friendship as the key element and ending it with a salute to this element again when Amir reaches out to Sohrab.

It was a good movie. It exceeds expectations. Is it exceptional in the tear jerking and heart moving department? Not for myself personally. But in a world where high tech gimmicks and unbelievably photogenic movie stars grace the screens, Kite Runner is a welcome breath of fresh Afghan mountain air. Here's hoping more such tales of human spirit continue to be written and made to films.

Sohrab-jan.... fly as your father flew.

Pavarotti and Pangkor Laut

Back from work... quite tired, but thought i would type a little blog post of my Pangkor Laut trip. Heaven knows I enjoyed it lots. Only fair that I give it some blog space.

The opera tenor Pavarotti once visited this island more than 10 years ago. He declared it one of the most beautiful place on earth. He gave a very exclusive performance to a handful of VIPs during Tan Sri Francis Yeoh's official opening that time.

Cousin Vivian and young An-An boarding the plane.

Went via Berjaya Air to Pangkor Island first. It was a modest plane, but highly convenient because it left from Subang Airport instead of KLIA or LCCT. Then onto a ferry to the exclusive Pangkor Laut island. It is wholly owned by YTL Corporation and only has 1 hotel. One of the world's best spa resorts and small luxury hotels.

This is a special hotel indeed!

Comfy bed and room

I cannot do justice to the beauty of the place no matter how many photos I place on the blog. I just want to say, if you ever have the chance to honeymoon or just relax at this place, you will love it to bits. Incredibly well maintained, never overcrowded, excellent dining and recreation options... *sigh* just a fantastic place to stay and let your worries slip away.

my humble attempt to create a romantic photograph for my folks :)

A night shot from the island jetty of the hotel.

The beautiful infinity edged pool just beside the sandy beach.

Such a lovely setup at the spa village

I had a massage for the first time in my life. It was included in the package for this holiday. It was bliss. The spa "village" is away from the main hotel area. Quiet and peaceful, only spa guests may enter the village.

I was told to change into a sarong, and sarong only. I was quite self conscious of course due to my skinny physique hahaha! No cameras allowed, so no photos from me... sorry about that. A personal spa attendant will lead you all the way through your spa session. Mine was a young lady from Bali. Then had a brief foot massage first, before a spray of ice cold water on my body and a wading pool session. The pool was also cold water, then I was told by told to wade across the pool. Oh dear I thought, but I did it anyway. Then walked up to a small landing area with 4 steaming columns of aromatherapy steam. "Breath in each one slowly, and relax", she says. They smelt divine.

Then was a bath session. Old fashioned malay style, with a 'cedok' (small scoop), more aromatherapy toiletries and warm water. I forgot how refreshing this kind of bath was, and enjoyed it immensely. They had a very interesting banana shampoo too.

Then was a body scrub session. This was quite an eye opener to me too. I was covered in some exfoliating paste, rubbed down, then had warm water splashed on me till I was squeaky clean. Then came a short session for warm ginger tea. I was left to drink and relax for a few minutes.

Then the main event, my Balinese massage. I was lead to a massage room, with soft lighting and Enya music in the background. I chose one of three massage oils, and was rubbed down with "Medium" strength. I was ticklish in some parts, and tried my best to control myself. My attendant was so good. I really felt relieved and relaxed. The massage was almost 40 minutes, and she did my whole body. Oh my goodness... how I miss it!

every night, they give you a fresh aromatherapy candle in your room!

All around the place you can see how YTL cares for the establishment. Amongst the daily routine of the hotel staff:

• Fresh flower petals are laid near decorative jars around the hotel.
• The sand in all ash trays are pressed with a decorative motif
• All decor are gently dusted and cleaned... even the big pots that are used to stored umbrellas!
• All guest rooms are cleaned only during breakfast time when the guests are NOT IN THE ROOM so that you are not disturbed
• The beautiful bath tub in the room is provided with bath salts
• A fresh fruit is provided to your room everyday: mango, papaya, apples
• When you are out for dinner, the staff come to your room, turn on the dim lights, and set the air con to low, turn on the classical music radio station, so that when you return you arrive in a confortable, welcoming room for rest!
  

look at this gorgeous bathtub!

When I get hitched, I am going back to this place for sure!

Roasted Chicken and other updates

Ha! Another entry in my blog! Which I'm sure no one else reads because its only updated twice a year maybe and I never publicise it except when I feel like it.

So Saturday night, I had a themed dinner event with my colleagues. Theme was East and West. Emphasis on having both elements together in the dressing. Almost 90% came in a chinese top. Some were more adventerous, doing Thai, Japanese, hip hop street style. One of them even crossed dressed, as in a guy wearing a ladies' gown. Undoubtedly this one drew the most cat calling and photo oppurtunities. I myself went to Giant hypermarket to get a casual Indian top. The food was quite tasty, and mostly italian fare done in buffet style. The restaurant is Rick's Cafe Casblanca at One Bangsar. Our event occupied the entire upper floor. Quite happy to see that we had 90% turnout in numbers and all took some effort to match the evening's theme. There was free flow of wine, red and white. Of course, this lead to some extravagant toasting attempts, and many had to chill out after the dinner to allow the effects of alcohol to settle down.
Christmas is just round the corner.

Oh yeah, my house has been fitted with Astro now. That's Malaysia's sattelite TV service, and has channels like CNN, BBC, HBO, Hallmark etc. But my favourite channel is Discovery Travel and Living, and also the Asian Food Channel (AFC). Favourite program is cooking shows. Its just so relaxing to watch food being prepared. No Hell's Kitchen for me thank you. Gordon Ramsay is too theatrical and the show is far removed from any level of sanity. But I do know people who are fans... so to each his and her own.

I'm always amazed at how the western chefs do so much with their ovens. So I decided to try using our "oven" for a cooking attempt. Except... that I don't have a real oven. My home only has a toaster oven. So here is my first attempt using a toaster oven to try roasting a chicken.
Mom had bought a really nice and clean Nutriplus air dried chicken from Carrefour last Friday. Very clean bird, and the flesh just looked lovely. Saw a tip from a show by Kylie Kwong, to cook the chicken in the oven but wrapped in foil first. After an hour, remove the foil to start the roasting proper. Cooking in foil will ensure the chicken is steamed with lots of moisture first, thus keeping the juices.
So my recipe today was taken from some internet website and the cooking method from Kylie.

1 chicken, about 1.5kg, cavity cleaned

5 cloves of garlic

1/2 a large red onion

2 tbsp paprika powder

1 tsp dried rosemary leaves

1/2 cup of olive oil

1 lemon

Salt

Black pepper

Aluminium foil.
1. Make sure chicken is properly defrosted.

2. Rinse chircken cavity and season with salt and pepper.

3. Cut lemon in half. Stick one of the lemon halves into the chicken cavity.

4. Pound garlic and onion in a pestle and mortar. And some salt while pounding to increase abrasion.

5. Once onion and garlic are evenly mushed up, add paprika and rosemary. Pound again.

6. Add olive oil to pounded mixture, and stir with spoon. If you choose to pound it instead of spooning, you'll just make a mess I think ^.^

7. Rub chicken all over with mixture... i mean, rub mixture all over the chicken

8. With leftover lemon half, cut into 4 slices to obtain 4 circular pieces.

9. Oil a roasting tray.

10. Lay 4 pieces of lemon on the oven roasting tray.

11. Place chicken on lemon. The lemon pieces prevent the chicken skin/flesh from direct contact with the tray.

12. Cover roasting tray with aluminium foil. Wrap it well, keeping in mind to not allow any gaps, else moisture will escape.

13. Place into oven at 250 celsius for 1 hour.

14. After 1 hour, remove from oven and discard foil.

15. Place back into oven for 45 minutes.

Here is the result!

Tada! Chicken from toaster oven

Extremely juicy and tender. So juicy I had problems to cut it up because juice was spurting out everywhere. Maybe I should have rested the chicken on a drip tray or something. The flavour is very simple, but my mom quite likes it. So I feel validated enough ho ho ho. More paprika would've given the roast a deeper colour too. The original internet recipe called for onion and garlic powder too, not fresh onion and garlic. Maybe that made it too wet too.
I count this as a success!


Maybe I can roast something every other week. God knows my bottle of paprika powder still has lots of leftovers! I wonder what else can you use paprika for? I add rosemary to my fried eggs and tuna sandwich fillings. But paprika is a mystery still.


So I think I will do the same roast for Christmas. Will do my roasted mash patatoes too, and think of something for a cold salad.