M & J opened their home for the “Mamak Stall” Chinese New Gathering as usual. We are always grateful for their generosity.
It was a beautiful sunny day after the wind storm a day before.
Mandarin oranges for fullness and wealth, i.e. good fortune.
J made a lot of Chinese New Year goodies. We can always find some comfort food here. The above were some pineapple cookies in the shape of tangerine and little piggy. J is so creative. (more…)
A few of our closed friends met up at the Langley Events Centre for a picnic. The key to the selection of a place is the water park where younger kids can enjoy in the hot summer weather.
We were not able to find a table with shades as good spots were all taken up as we arrived there short of 2PM. We managed to find a tree with some shades and set up blankets on the grass to have our picnic.
J&K family made “nasi lemak” (coconut rice with sambal). They were authentic, even to the wrapping.
J&K also made chocolate cake for dessert. They also brought “sirap bandung” which is a popular drink in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It is made with evaporated milk and or condensed milk flavoured with rose syrup. It was very refreshing in a hot summer day especially served icy cold.
There is also “sambal prawn” to complement the nasi lemak. (more…)
Ben and I celebrated Chinese New Year at a friend’s house. This is a group of Singaporean and Malaysian friends that is like family to us. We called our group Mamak Stall.
The hostess of the house always prepares the Raw Fish Salad for Chinese New Year gathering. The salad is tossed high in the air while we wish one another with auspicious Chinese New Year greetings. This dish is commonly eaten on the 7th day of Chinese New Year which is a day the Chinese celebrates everyone’s birthday.
K & J made a spicy prawn dish. Prawn is also a popular dish during Chinese New Year as the name prawn sounds like laughter in Cantonese (“ha”). It symbolizes happiness and laughter.
K also made a “Sayur Lodeh”; a vegetable soup prepared with vegetables like cabbage, lady fingers, long beans, carrots and tofu puff. The broth is a coconut based broth. (more…)
Lorna invited me to a Christmas party organized by the Gardening Club at Pui Ying Christian Services Society.
The Pui Ying Christian Services Society is located at Sexsmith Road and Cambie Road. The gardening club meets on the second Tuesday of every month for gardening seminars and workshops. The club also holds a variety of tours to visit farms, gardens, nurseries, wineries, and hatcheries on the second Saturday of every month. Some other seasonal events include going to tulips festival, cherry picking, salmon return sight seeing, and corn maze tour.
The party started with the singing of “Joy to the World” in Cantonese. After several speeches by the chairman of the gardening club, the coordinator of the society and a guest speaker, dinner commenced. There were a lot food, some were catered and some were homemade. (more…)
I attended the annual Christmas Party organized by Canada Praise Dance Association for the first time last Saturday.
The event was attended by 370 and represented by twenty over groups all over metro Vancouver.
The event was well organized by a lot of volunteers.
The event opens its door at 2:15pm while the actual program starts at 3:30pm.
Fruits and desserts were served while we wait for the program to start.
The desserts were mostly made by volunteers. The above jello was so pretty. (more…)
A small group of our Malaysian and Singaporean met up for a picnic at Derby Reach Regional Park in summer.
Ben and I arrived first and we managed to get a table under the shades.
I made “Mui Choy” Braised Pork Belly to go with steamed rice.
For dessert, I made Young Coconut Agar-agar. (more…)
The community kitchens in Richmond got together for a potluck to celebrate the end of 2016.
Lots of home-cook food for sharing.
Assortment of noodles dishes.
Japanese dishes. (more…)
Our group of Southeast Asian friends got together for a summer BBQ. It’s sort of a house warming event too.
The star of the BBQ event is beef steak. We had steaks from different sources. Sweet potatoes on the side.
The one in front was from Costco while the one on the back was from local farmer.
Some of the steaks were marinated and some were just seasoned with the Keg’s steak seasonings.
The BBQ master actually using an app to make the perfect steak. (more…)
A few family friends gathered for a picnic in summer. We had such picnic for many years.
This year, we had the picnic at Derby Reach Regional Park. The picnic spot is at the Edgewater Bar. Derby Reach is a large park. One of the family who attended the picnic brought their bicycles and did the 12km trail ride to Fort Langley.
Ben and I were there about 12:30PM and we were the first family to arrive. Fortunately, we were able to find a picnic table under shades.
The picnic area is just steps away from the rocky beach of the Fraser River. A train track is located across the river and during our stay, at least four or five trains passed by. There is a camping area just beyond trees at the right end of this spot.
This group of friends are mostly ex Malaysian or Singaporean. So, the food that we brought were mostly south east Asian style. I made curry chicken. (more…)
Landa, a friend from the Richmond Community Kitchen, invited Lorna and me to attend a Christmas Celebration at her church, Richmond Chinese Evangelical Free Church. The theme of the celebration…