Christmas Goodies

OK, Christmas is round the corner.... time to start baking the Fruitcakes and Suggees and Chocolate cakes.... yum!!
After my marathon this Sunday, I'll go full swing into it. Will start soaking the second batch of fruits for my cake today...... Did the first cake on Saturday and eaten and given away most of it already. So onto the next one haha.

follow up Fuel Efficiency and Lactate Test

Yup, after 10 weeks of training, I went back for the follow-up tests. My Fuel Efficiency showed a marked improvement and I'm now supposedly able to burn fats more effectively.... yippee. So I won't 'hit the wall' too soon (or never!!)
BUT there was little difference in my Lactate tests. After 6 painful blood spilling pricks of the needle, the results showed only a VERY VERY slight improvement compared to t he last test sigh.
After looking at the results, the folks at Racer's Toolbox then said that it'll be possible but a little hard for me to achieve my goal timing for this coming marathon on 6 Dec....sigh.... BUT I'm gonna try!!! haha

Lactate Test

Did my Lactate Test on Wednesday. Sheeezeee.... I'm not too bad.... seems I'm able to complete 10 km in 45 mins haha. My body is able to disperse the Lactic Acid quite efficiently to the point/speed that I should be able to comfortably run the 10km in 45 mins.

hmmmm.... tell my mind and body that!!! haha.

Oh well, that's something new to work towards. Will follow the training program and see if I achieve it.

BUT the needle pricks were darn painful - 8 pricks in ALL. Left a bruise on my 2 fingers man!! I dread doing that test again in 3 months time. sigh...

Mizuno Run and Fuel Efficiency Test

Did the Mizuno run on Sunday.... nice cool breezy run tho it was a little late for a mass run.

Would get hot on the return leg but not complaining... cannot wake up for morning races haha.

But wasn't too pleased with my slow timing.... until I heard yesterday that the route was longer than stated. Seems the road marshall directed the front runners to the wrong road so the rest conveniently followed which ended up making many of us run an extra 1 to 2 km. haha. Oh well, laugh it off and let it ride....don't expect much from these organisers anyways as they commonly screw up one thing or another in every race every year haha....
So onto next run....

Went for my Fuel Efficiency test this afternoon. Very sad... not burning enough fat.... so have to correct my running pace.... 3 months to the marathon, pray I can correct and improve in time!!!

still running

ok ok.... all those sweets will surely end up somewhere in the body.... all the wrong places!!! haha. So have to keep running!!! Yesterday I joined the adination group in Bukit Merah. My first time. small group of about a dozen runners. All very friendly people. We ran up Mt Faber.... it was truly fun..... think I'll join them regularly. The daily lone runs in Mcritchie is getting monotonous....

Extra frostings

Hmmm.... what shall I do with the extra frostings from my father-in-law's cake??

I figured the best way not to waste the excess frostings..... bake some cupcakes!!!!

Here they are :)

Busy in the kitchen

Phew!! Am having a blast this week. Baking up a 'storm' haha. Had to bake a birthday cake for father-in-law's dinner on Sunday. So slaved in the kitchen after church, fast-cooled the freshly baked cake, frosted it and got it ready in time. haha.... even had time to go for my Sunday run before the dinner!!

Better not screw up haha, so no experimenting!!!

Did the tried and tested Suggee cake, frosting too!!!
Then on Monday, decided to try out this cheesecake recipe my friend got from this top chef. hmmm..... wonder how it would taste haha.

Well, have a look..... personally, I prefer my old recipe. It's a lot more, heavier in texture. This one was too light for my liking... oh well, to each his own.

But since it was light..... it was easy to polish off the cake in a couple days haha (OK, I didn't eat all, gave some away to my friend who went for an operation and likes cheesecake)

New Recipe

Baked a new cake. Yum yum.... nice and SWEET!!!

CRANBERRY ORANGE CAKE

Made a couple - gave one to church office and kept the other to gobble down heheh. Which means longer runs to burn off the extra calories haha.

But hey, its WORTH it!!! Check it out.... fuel for my runs ....

Run DONE!!

OK, completed the Army Half Marathon this morning..... not too happy with timing although I improved it by 16 minutes. I wanted to cut it by an additional 15 - 20 minutes.

Soooo many people blocking the way, had to weave round them haha. I should have gone earlier and started out in front. Lesson learnt.... next year, I'll do that.

OK, so rest today and start training tomorrow for next run - Mizuno Run in September. That should be 'easy' as it's only 10 miles. Need to work up to the Marathon in December so no lazing around.

My goal is to cut my PB by an hour so have to train hard man!!! 3 months to go.....

Baked it and ATE IT!!

OK, pics not so clear - wifey not around to help me take the pictures so I had to make do with my phone camera sigh....
But, couldn't resist eating - so I've gobbled down a quarter of my cake already.... better give some away before I finish it all off tonight!!! Then I'll need to run more than the 21 km at this Sunday's Army Half Marathon to burn off the calories!!!! sigh
Ahhh... I just bought some Agar Agar this afternoon so I'll make that - it should 'distract' me from my choc cake haha. .... but still lots of SUGAR :)

Run this Sunday

OK, count down to the Army Half Marathon this Sunday.... been running almost everyday to keep the pace.... so should be no prob.
Worried after the recent news of the death of the fit guy at the recent tri.... so better not push myself man!!! Tho, I want to improve my timing. Trying for a PB and working towards the year end marathon.
Now my other indulgence..... think I'll bake a chocolate cake tonight... craving... Made a Kueh Sri Muka a couple days back.... it was YUM!!! (if I do say so myself haha). NOw getting over the Overodse of coconut milk and now need chocolate high haha.

running

OK, back into the swing of things.... chocking up 40 - 50 km run per week now and gearing up for the Bay Run next month. But still chomping down the sweets. Baked a Double Choc cake on Wed and it was sweet!!! Saving my last piece for brunch today.
Today I think I'll try something simple.... Pineapple Upsidedown cake.... with extra sugar haha

back into the swing of things

OK, I'm getting back into the rhythm..... baking and running!!!

I just got back from my night run and now enjoying my Nonya Lapis Kueh.

I couldn't get enough of the kuehs in Penang, still had cravings for them so I made this Lapis kueh this afternoon.

Check it out.... yum yum.

Had to run as I wanted to eat this la haha....

JetSaver Light Challenge - What's going on?? my pics are all mis-aligned

ARGHHHHH!!!!
What's going on.... the missing picture is back with the OVERSIZED text but now all the pictures are mis-aligned and even the team star jump picture is off.... all you see is my dad's leg!!!!

Tried editing it but I can't. ARGHHHHH!!!

So, in case you missed it....

JetSaver Light Challenge... missing picture

I just checked my last post and found a picture missing!!! Argh!!!!
I wonder what happened??? Who went in and deleted it?? Can someone do that?
So here it is again for all to see heheh. You cannot miss this chunky bit of tasty morsel!!!
Cheers :)

This Lor Bak plate cost us only RM9.60. See the chunks of tasty meat!!!! Drool.....

JetSaver Light Challenge aka EATS!!!

Food Glorious Food

Wednesday 1st July 2009












It was a short flight to Penang and we arrived ready for the JetSaver Light Challenge.

My dad and I were seated in the last row so it took us a while to get off the plane but hey, we're on a holiday - no rush!!!

Wow, there was a welcoming troupe of dancers and drummers waiting for us at the immigration. Felt like celebrities! The revelry was captivating.

After clearing customs, we were directed to the bus and another 45 minutes or so, and we arrived at our hotel - Sunway Hotel.

We checked into our room. Nice :)

We unpacked and were soon ready to embark on our “food find”!!! It’s been a long long time since we’ve been to Penang. Naturally, as Peranakans, food is our (my) passion!! So we couldn’t wait to get hold of the famous Penang ‘grub’. My relative, Aunt Anita picked us up and we paid a short visit to our grand uncle of 92 years of age and quickly zipped off for dinner.

First stop was at Bee Hooi Restaurant which is actually a coffee shop.

My order list:

1. Penang Rojak (the sauce is similar to the Indian Rojak you find in Singapore but this dish is more healthy as there are lots of shredded cucumber and turnip, and the crispy batter of prawn fritters doesn’t leave an oily aftertaste)

2. Poh Piah

3. Penang Laksa and

4. Lor Bak (Ngoh Hiang to Singaporeans). In Singapore, the meat is all minced whereas here in Penang, you can actually bite into yummy chunks of pork – both the lean meat and the fat!!! Decadent!! Every dish was only Rm 3.00 to Rm 4.00. If only I had another stomach, I would have ordered more heheh.

This Lor Bak plate cost us only RM9.6 0. See the chunks of delicious tasty meat!!!!

It was a most satisfying feast as you won’t find back home!!! And I washed it all down with a cool glass of "Guleng Ping" (Rose Syrup Milk – similar to Bandung). It was ABSOLUTELY delicious!!!

A 5 Star rating!!!

A most satisfying first meal for our visit to Penang.

Then it was off for seconds .... and where better to get my wanton noodles but in Gurney Drive!! Yum Yum!!

With our stomachs full, it was back to the hotel. However, what meal is complete without dessert? Fortunately, there is a store across from our hotel that sells Tung Yuen (Ah Balling).

They offered all sorts of varieties but I chose the Traditional Tung Yuen – the kind without any filling. Only Rm 2.60.

The owner was so nice, he even gave me the chance to help prepare it haha.

Now I could sleep and rest well for tomorrow’s food finds. Ahhh.... Life is great!!

Thursday 2^nd July 2009

Another glorious FOOD day! Breakfast was at the hotel and they had a very nice buffet spread. The Nasi Lemak Chicken Rendang was absolutely lip-smacking delicious. And there were mini Paus too.

Yellow was custard filled, Green was Lotus Seed, Purple was Yam and Pink was Tau Sa. So many to choose from….. sigh, I tried them all…. and I had seconds heheh.

Then off for more food, good food seems to begat a greater appetite for more great food! Hmm.... YUM, can’t wait for more!…Next on the menu is the famous Penang Curry Mee. The Curry Mee here is very different from that found in Singapore. The curry has a different taste - not so coconut milky and its lots spicier. Plus they add cockles and ‘curded blood cubes’ – truly Scrumptious!! Where can we find this?? Pulau Tikus (Literal translation - Rat Island???).

I also tried their Chee Cheong Fun but

I found that I prefer Singapore’s sauces – they're not so sweet and the chilli has more ‘kick’. Again I washed it down with a cool glass of Guleng Ping – can’t get enough of this sweet concoction! Brunch done!!

Now for some sea breeze to blow off some of the sweat generated by eating so much! So we hot footed to Gurney Drive water front, couldn’t bear to lose sight of the food places. Better to keep them within arms length especially when the food was digesting faster than expected. What a life! That million dollar feeling, good food, sea breeze, how perfect can this be?

The eating and walking off is getting into a nice rhythm. I must keep this up so I can eat more. I must keep telling myself that if that’s not enough, I can run an extra 10km everyday when I get back to Singapore to burn off all the extra weight I’m piling on for this trip. Sigh....

The walking isn’t so bad especially when you think of more food to come. Beginning to feel like a camel, if only I can eat all I want and then store it up somewhere and hibernate in Singapore. Ai yoh, a little far-fetched? So run lah, what to do! Still human,

Yippee, lunch time!!!

747 Café in YMCA serves one of the better Asam Prawns.

Also ordered some Penang favourites: InchiKibin (Marinated Fried Chicken)

Curry Kapitan and

Chun Piah - its similar to fried spring rolls but the skin is thicker and the filling has crab meat - soooo much tastier haha!

OK, we indulged a little as it cost us Rm 37.80 (our share taking out Anita’s). After an absolutely filling lunch, I thought we better do some ‘exercise’ again to quicken the digestion and make space for more food later….and to burn off the calories.

So off we went to the Botanic Gardens to soak in some nature. It was a nice, quiet, peaceful place.

I must say, we got into some kind of rhythm. ... eat, exercise, eat….. and now it’s ‘exercise’ time.

As there was another half-day to go, I thought it was better to let my dad take the tram ride (only RM2.00!!!) so as not to tire him out too much.

As for me, I tried to fill my quota for exercise by running behind the tram haha. It was moving VERY slowly, so it was not much of a challenge haha.

After that, we checked out the gardens together on foot. My dad was really intrigued by this tree – called the Cannon-Ball Tree haha. The flowers and fruits seemed to grow from the roots.

So other than all the delicious food I’ve ‘inhaled’ so far, The Botanic Gardens visit was truly memorable as it gave my dad and I some time to talk and take in all the greenery and beauty nature has blessed us with. Even the waterfalls, which I recall wading in when I was 4 years old was still there, though it didn’t look as big as I remembered haha. This place brought back such fond memories.

The Botanic Gardens is so peaceful, you can just soak in the serenity. If you want to feel at one with nature, this is the place! No sight of any monkeys though. According to the caretakers, the monkeys come out for feeding later in the evening as it was too hot when we were there (no loss to me as I see so many at Macritchie Reservior). So for a non-food place, it got my STAR JUMP stamp!

Enough of nature….it’s food time! What time? Tea time!

Next, Anita brought us to a market that sells very good nonya kuehs – Batu Lanchang Nonya Kuehs. We got there at 3 pm and discovered that they only open at 3.30 pm so we had some Chendol and Ice Kachang as we waited. Only Rm 1.70 each!!!

By 3.20pm, a crowd started to gather at the Nonya Kueh stall so we quickly finished off our iced desserts and joined the ‘mad rush’ It was an enjoyable frenzy as everyone just started shouting out their orders – 10 pieces of this, 8 pieces of that….. so I willingly joined in. Each piece was only 50 sen!!! Felt like a kueh kueh STOCK MARKET.

The Kueh Talam was lip-smacking good!!! The santan was soooo fresh. I had to have more. The Lapis Kueh was also yum yum……. the Kaya kueh was delicious with the FRESH Kaya .... the Binku Ubi was just perfect, not too sweet.…Ang Ku Kueh, soft and tasty…. My gosh!!!…. I was getting stuffed and I still needed to keep space for dinner. But, no!!! – I had to try as many as I could since I was going home the next day. I can start my running again once I’m back in Singapore.

Satisfied, it’s walking time again, this time at the esplanade. Had to keep the rhythm going.... eat, walk, eat, walk...jog.

We decided to have a 'simple' dinner near the hotel – along New Lane. The stores were closed yesterday but they would be out in full force tonight. But on the way back, we had to swing by the famous local ‘biscuit’ store Him Heang to buy some ‘piah’. Bought only one packet. Rm 6.50.

Finally, it was dinner time. The street was filled with sweet smelling smoke from the various stalls.

I decided to try some the Satay and the Wanton noodles. My dad had the Penang Char Kwey Teow (It was VERY VERY GOOD!!! One of the best I've ever tasted!!!). And we also ordered the Lor Bak again. Can’t seem to have enough of them.

Admittedly, the previous night’s Lor Bak was much better but I can’t complain since I cannot find this in Singapore. Anyone know if there is a place that sells this in Singapore?

My last chance for Guleng Ping was ordered to wash down the dinner.

Then as we walked back to the hotel, we caught sight of a couple stalls selling Apong Balek and Apong Manis - this is like a local pancake (you cannot get this in Singapore too!!!). They cost only Rm2.00 for 5 pieces. No need to consider.... I gulped them up!! Burp!!

Finally, I walked by the Tang Yuen stall and bought back the traditional Tang Yuen to the hotel room for my supper. Enjoying every last morsel of the Glutinous Rice balls.... I was truly satisfied....ahhh.... now I can go to bed and dream sweet delicious dreams...zzzzzzz.....

This was truly a most satisfying eating trip man!!!!

Friday – 3^rd July 2009

Early in the morning and we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel. Not much to eat – guess it was too early. Sigh.

We rushed off to the airport and met the rest of the other challengers and we all took a nice group picture (minus one team – couldn’t find them – sigh). That's me in the back in Blue - no more Orange shirts heheh.

In retrospect….. I guess we didn’t see many sights as we’ve been to Penang many times before.

However, as our prime objective was TO EAT authentic Penang fare – I think we did pretty well! Hmmm, wonder when will be the next time!

Thanks Jetstar for fulfilling my food cravings!

Now onto my next food find!