Oouch....a swollen elbow.......!

After two long years of the right medication.....my joint pains and swelling caused by rheumatoid arthritis has subsided....and on the advice of my rhematologist...i had stop my medication since November last year.....and less than four weeks ago....i had my normal blood test and check up....the results were good...but two weeks ago ...i started having pain and swelling in some of my joints.....and yesterday my left elbow was so stiff and swollen that i could not even bend it or straighten it to tie up my hair.....seems i have to make another long journey to KL Sunway Medical Centre to see my doctor......and i dreaded to go coz..taking the medication again ....will bring back the nausea which i hated most...will wait a few more days.....

A Show Of True Love.........

Valentine Day is just a few hours away.....and every loving couple is busy looking forward to this big day where their love ones will shower them with flowers and gifts or an expensive dinner to show their love.....and affection. Here is an example of true love........forwarded to me by my friend tenny......

The man had fought for the US in the War against IRAQ and after returning, he had got married with the girl he was in Love with… Real true Love indeed… Hats off… She is one of the great women in the world as far as I can see.

Wonder how many women would have the courage to go this far....true love indeed.

More Food At Sis. House......

After we had our early reunion dinner at around 4.00pm.... my sister.. nancy invited us over for another round of food at her home....with a stomach overloaded with still some undigested food we went over to her place at 9.00 pm....to continue our reunion....here are some pics i took while at her lovely bungalow.....

steamboat fare......we manage to eat something after some hours...of fun in the garden terrace.....one of her friends..Tai Yuk....give us a show of kungfu moves..see video clip...the garden was not brightly lit....so the clip comes out dark......





a glass of red wine.......to go with the food..........

After the late dinner.....sister nancy...a super duper cook.... present us more of these goodies to be taken home.....which she made all by herself... little cupcakes...kuih bahulu...mah lai koh...butter cakes....and so on... (wonder how she managed to made so many goodies.......eventhough she has Parkinson for a few years now....)

little colourful cupcakes..................

kuih bahulu..........................................

her favourite 'mah lai koh'.......................................

crispy ribbon biscuits and butter cake................................

rempeyek...made with groundnuts ... ikan bilis......and rice flour

a green tea cake with red beans....and green tea custard...made by her daughter...... ming

orange cheesecake.......by ming.

could not resist taking a pic of the cute moving ..." god of prosperity".....

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner........

It is the chinese tradition to have a reunion dinner on chinese new year's eve.....it is on this day that all members of the family will gather together to feast on loads and loads of food....some family members who stays far away will on this day get to see their parents or family members.....so it is always a joyous occasion for everyone......

A reunion dinner will either be many dishes of homecook food or a steamboat...but recently you can see many restaurant catering lovely new year reunion dishes .....a convenient fare for busy people and for those who want to spent more time with family members instead of in the kitchen.....i am one of them......i ordered a nine course meal from hometown ......a 'take-away ' full course chinese meal....to Penang at a real cheap price of rm 280......coz son R is working here.....here are some photos of the reunion dishes.....

the cold plate.....of a few varieties..............

the expensive sweet and sour fish maw soup.........

the sinful and delicious 'too kar'...pork leg....braised in mushroom..

the 'hock chiew' fish ball soup.....with meatballs........the fishball has mince meat fillings.........
this is steamed pork ribs with preserved spicy vege and yam in sweet and sour sauce...another typical hock chiew dish.......the meat was very soft, tender and juicy after many hours of steaming......

braised chicken....that nobody seems to touch after so much food......

sweet and sour prawns......this is only half portion....the other half was kept for son R......who was still at work......

this is a sweet chinese dessert.....steamed glutinous rice with sweet yam ...dried longan....peanuts... and raisins.

There is another dish of sharkfin soup....which was miss out by my photographer...... iris...but can be seen in the top picture......what a heavy meal for the 8 of us......there were leftovers ...which i cook into another special dish on the second day of cny........ in addition to these food i cook a big pot of 'too thor thn'g'...that is pork tripe soup.....will be shown in my later post....

Forever Friends Award..........

I am indeed happy to get this lovely award from my dear buddy of ...little corner of mine......to signify our friendship.....which is like the circle of a ball .........going round and round.... to an unending friendship.....thank you...and i too would like to pass this ball to my other buddies who had made my life so full of wisdom .....fruitful ....learned......and enjoyable.....

bokjae......dora.....healthfreakmom.....mylovemyfood

Gong Xi Fa Chai.......

Tomorrow will be the last day of the year of the pig......and every chinese family will have a reunion dinner to welcome the new year of the rat......i will be celebrating my new year for the first time in Penang.....coz my eldest son will be working on CNY.... and here i would like to wish my fellow chinese buddies and readers .....

"A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR !"