I just found out that “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is finally setting sail.  Since there was a problem with the previous handlers it was planned to be scrapped.  But the real hero is Fox for picking it up.  Yipee for Fox!!!!  Here’s the url for the in dept on the story  http://www.narniaweb.com/news.asp?id=2110&dl=22545350  and at http://www.narniafans.com/archives/3269

So I stumbled upon Poupee Girl.  Poupee is the French word for doll.   I’m currently satisfying the inner child in me back in my paper doll phase (Yeah, I’m probably using up my 2nd childhood a tad early hehehehe).  Not only can you dress up your dolly, you can also upload your stuffs, and get to know other members as well.

Here’s a sample of what you can do with your Poupee.

URL - http://pupe.ameba.jp/

Since today is the Chinese New Year.  My family woke up pretty early to temple hop and pray to the Gods that they would bless us a prosperous year.  It was crowded in some temples others are quiet.  It was a sea of red shirted people.  Smoke from the incense wafting around us.  The Dragon dancers and the loud booming of the drums set a festive tone.  All for the coming of the new year.

Wishing everyone a lucky Ox year!

Yep!  That’s right its my birthday today.  And to start off my day, exactly at midnight.  My husband who is in the room with me sent me an email.  Weird you might ask?  No, it’s his way of surprising me on my big day.  I am now officially off the calendar chart!  Nothing to brag about but it’s a reality and fact that I’m ooooolllllldddd.  So continuing with my Froggy’s email.  He said that I must have thought that he didn’t prepare any gift for me.  Knowing full well that I would probably give him a hard time if he didn’t hehehhe.  He sent me 13 questions that I should answer.  Which was easy but a couple I have to ask what exactly he is asking.  Just to make sure I answered correctly.  He then instructed me to get all the first letter of the answers and try to decipher where he kept his gift for me.  I was a little clueless, there are 13 letters I have to scramble around.  He then gave me a hint to make it a bit more easier.  In the end, I was able to answer “Christmas Tree”, which is where I went to next.  Since the Chinese New Year is almost here.  I didn’t put down our small tree yet.  It took me sometime to look around a small sized tree until I found a dark paperbag with the word “Agatha” on it.  Needless to say I was already boohooing while trying to solve the puzzle and I was a mess when I got the gift. It one of the best way to start my day.  Thank you Froggy!!!

In case your curious as to what the 13 questions are then here it is.  Scroll down if your getting tired of it and continue with how my day went.

1  What TV show studio were we originally slated to go in California but then ended up watching the Tonight Show with Jay Leno?

Ellen Degeneres Show

2   What is the 2nd word of the company name which created the Absolute Boyfriend?

Kronos Heaven
3   Who is the 11 year old criminal genius who you got your husband hooked to read?

Artemis Fowl

4   What’s the surname of your husband’s favorite NBA player?

Yao Ming
5   What is the title of the most best-selling internet generation love story from Japan?

Train Man

6    What is the title of the 6th comic papaperback lined on the bookshelf of our bedroom?

Identity Crisis

7  What is the real name of the Wicked Witch of the West?

Elphaba

8   What is the 2nd letter of the name of our hero in Stardust?

Tristran Thorn

9   Which Hogwarts House does your husband belong to?

Ravenclaw

10  What is Paige’s nickname at home?

Siobe

11  Who was the one who helped organize our wedding?

Chiara 

12   Who is the Arabian nursing student whom you always think has a crush on your cute little froggy?

Sara

13   What is your favorite song sang by Cindy Lauper?

Time After Time

 Here’s the gift my husband gave me.

A closer look of the charm.

 The rest of the day went by and a lot of well wishers called, texted, emailed and other electronical means.  Which made my day better, knowing that people remembered me. ^^

After work, my Froggy picked me up and we ordered Crab Rice from King Crab to bring home so we can share it with his family.  Froggy also ordered some BBQ from the nearby stall and I cooked some pig kidneys (Chinese style)  Of course we also got a birthday cake courtesy of my Mom.  Thanks Ma!

Yummy Crab Rice!

Assorted BBQ with vinegrette dipping sauce

Kidney’s Chinese Style taught to me by my Mom!

Basket of Fruits from Icings given to me by my Mom.  I got another cake that was given to me by my sister in law.  But we ate that one right up before we got a photo op.  ^^

 Needless to say, though we don’t have that much selections we ate a lot!  As in a lot!!!!  Oh, well it’s my birthday and I’ll be binge if I want to! hehehehe.

Happy Birthday to me!

P.S. Thanks to Sio Me and Mike for the gifts!

It’s a lazy Sunday.  And right this moment my hubby is at work!  Yep you read it right.  Since his a doc and all.  So I guess I should have gotten used to it after all the months that we’ve been married.  I’m still sleepy but I can’t seem to get back to sleep.  So my plans for the day is to be a house bum.  Probably watch a couple more episodes of Gokusen 3.  Then clean our space.  It’s getting a bit dusty.  And I don’t want our place to look like a pig sty. Oink!

Since the Narnia series is being put into the big screen.  The third installment of the well loved childrens book is not going to happen.  Which is really a downer because I love to see Ben Barnes again *ehem* I mean Prince Caspian in another adventure.   <3   I got this link from one of my many groups and it really made me LOL with the way the letter sender got to the point in a humurous way.   So I’m sharing it to all the other Narnia fans out there that haven’t read this yet.  Here’s the link  http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-narnia1-2009jan01,0,3925428.story

http://blog.hellokitty.com/sanrio_yummies

Sanrio Yummies

In my previous post.  I did mention that I loooove Jap food, plus the fact that I’m making sushi for my large family.  Sushi is quite personal, since this is all in your preference on your taste.  Like what you want for a filling.  So I’m making a new twist to it, thus the Kimchi Sushi.  I also made California roll, Futo Maki and Unagi Inari for our New Year dinner.  Sorry if there’s no exact measurement with the ingredients.  I always do the taste test until to my liking.

Here are the things that you will be needing for the Kimchi Sushi.

Bamboo mat (you can buy this in any Japanese or Asian store)

Japanese Rice

Japanese Sushi vinegar (this is an instant version ask your local Japanese Market attendant)

Nori

Kimchi

Vegetarian sausage or any sausage  or meat you like to use (Cut it to strips)

Left to right: Pink powder, light Japanese Mayo, Bonito Flakes, Sushi Vinegar Mix, Japanese Mayo and Crab Sticks.

Mix the sushi vinegar straight to the Japanese rice.  Pour a little at a time and mix well until to your preferred taste. Let the rice cool a bit before you start making your roll.

Strips of vegetarian sausage.

 Spread the rice evenly on the nori.  Try not to put too much rice. Also wet your hands so that it wont stick to your fingers.

Put in one or two strips of sausage.

 Put in one leaf of Kimchi.  Make sure its not too soggy so try to take off the excess liquid.

Start rolling.  Make it a little tight and packed so that it won’t loosen up when you slice it.  Not too tight or the filling will get squished.   Also put a little water on the end of the nori so that it will stick and seal the roll.  This takes some patience and some practice to get it just right.

Slice the roll up evenly, try to wipe the knife with a wet cloth so that it won’t make ragged slices.  My garnish are the Tamago I made a day earlier.  tThe spiral one is Tamago with nori inbetween. Check out my previous post if your interested with the recipe.

Other sushi variations: *(You’ll still need the basic rice, nori and vinegar mix. And the bamboo mat.)

*For California Rolls:

Mango or avocado (depends what’s available), sesame seeds, crab stick, cucumber and Japanese Mayo.

I put a saran wrap on the mat and do the sushi inside-out style.

I used an inside-out roll style for the California roll.  And sprinkled sesame seeds on the outside.  You can still do the regular roll for this one too.  As I said it all comes to your preference.

*For Futo Maki: (This is a very colorful sushi because of the different shades of the ingredients.  Usually it’s a bit bigger than the regular sushi)

Cucumber, Tamago, Japanese Mayo, Kanpyo, Crabstick, Bonito Flakes, Korean Ham, Pickled Daikon,and some pink powder (it’s on the sweet side, sorry can’t remember the name)

Same rolling principle as the others.

 On the left is the Unagi Inari sushi and on the right is the Futomaki.

For the Unagi Inari Sushi:

You’ll need the Japanese rice, sushi vinegar mix, inari (sweetened beancurd pockets) and unagi.

Mix well the rice,vinegar and the chopped up unagi.

 Then scoop in carefully some rice in the inari pockets.  Don’t put too much or you might break the pocket.

^^Itadakimasu!