1st time cooking fish

After the fishing trip on Thursday, I brought home 4 fishes - the stingray and 3 smaller fishes.

At first, I was hoping to find some place where I could get someone to help me cook them. Din really wanna try cooking them myself and perhaps waste them in the process... Tried searching online for a place but to no avail. Then I tried to get DK to help me ask the zi char stall tat he used to co-own. But he also told me tat they cant cook them for me. Haizzz so bo bian lor, have to do it myself liao.

I dun tink I have ever cooked anything other than stuff like fried eggs, sausages, etc, or maggi mee, which isn't actually really cooking? So this would be like my 1st time actually cooking something. Definitely my 1st time cooking fish. Decided tat I would 1st try to cook those 3 small fishes for dinner on Friday.

Brought them to the wet market and tried to ask some fishmongers whether they would help me process the fishes - descale, take out the organs, etc, for a price of cos. Sadly, the 1st few tat I asked turned me down, giving reasons tat they are too busy, etc... Finally found 1 frenly uncle who even asked for my no. so tat he can jio me when he goes fishing with his frens. Eventually declined his offer as I still prefer to go with my own group.

So I happily headed home with the nicely processed fishes and started to search online for recipes. Decided to steam them cos this seems like the easiest way to do it. Found this recipe which uses tau jio (豆醬， or bean paste sauce), one of my favourite sauces to eat with steamed fish cos it usually makes the fish very appetising. Thought abt doing it our Teochew way with salted vege, tomatoes, etc, but worried tat it may turn out to have a strong fishy taste. So I decided to go with the tau jio recipe as tau jio seemed to have a stronger taste which shld help to lessen the fishy taste.

Decided to 1st try out with the smallest of the 3 fishes so tat any wastage is minimised. Din really follow the recipe exactly as I left out those ingredients tat were for garnishing. Seemed to me tat it was mostly just to make the dish look nicer and also din wanna waste these ingredients as I dun tink I would be cooking again anytime soon.

So I roughly followed the recipe and poured the ingredients and seasoning onto the fish in a plate and left it to steam in the wok for 10 minutes.

I opened the wok lid and ehhhh, the fish looks kind of weird... tink i put a bit too much of the tau jio already... i took out the fish and nervously tasted it. actually taste not bad lah. quite sweet with the fried garlic and a bit of sugar tat i added. the meat was quite tender also. at least it wasn't undercooked, i tink... not bad for a 1st timer like me lah. tink i would give myself 4 out of 5 stars. Haha. Anyway, I finished up the 1st fish and decided tat I'll just steam the 2nd and 3rd fishes in the same way, maybe just with less tau jio...

The 2nd and 3rd fishes still din look really appetising but at least they look slightly more normal... Tasted quite good also. Tink I'll try the Teochew style next time.

After my relatively successful 1st attempt at cooking fish on Friday, I decided to try cooking the stingray on Saturday. Din bring it to the fishmonger for processing as it only needs to be cut. Hmmmm but cutting it proves to be quite hard also... Dunno izzit tat our knife is too blunt or tat its skin is too tough, i spent quite a bit of time before I finally managed to cut out the 2 wings, which seemed to be the only edible parts.

Ehhhh the wings look kind of small don't they... So much effort just to eat so little meat. So those tat we usually eat outside must actually be much bigger than the one I caught.

I poured the sambal belachan which I had bought over the 2 wings and also sprinkled some chopped onions over them. Also added a bit of cooking oil as the sambal seemed a little too dry. Then I wrapped everything up in some aluminium foil and put it into the oven to bake for about 25 minutes.

As I took it out of the oven, I could already smell the fragrance of the chilli. As I unwrapped the aluminium foil, smoke was oozing out and I couldn't wait to try it! Hmmm really taste not bad. I squeezed lots of lime on it and it was really quite appetizing and goes well with white rice.

So there it was, my 1st experiences of cooking fish. Tink i'll try out other ways of cooking them the next time I bring them back from my fishing trip.

Fishing Trip - 02/04/2015

Went for my 2nd open sea fishing trip last Thursday and it was really more enjoyable than the 1st time, not least becos we caught more fishes this time round!

We planned to set off from Marina Country Club about 1 hour earlier than the 1st time, cos the captain said the waters in the morning would be better for fishing. It meant tat I had to wake up at 4.30am... On leave and I had to wake up even earlier than for work...

So off we went out to sea. Although it was my 2nd time, still a bit blur on wat to do. Even forgotten how to hook the prawn on... But after a while it all came back to me. Another reason y it was more enjoyable this time round was perhaps becos I had my own rod and reel to play around with. I had borrowed from Jimmy the 1st time round. This time, Dan helped me to buy a really budget setup which cost only $30 for rod and reel!

Reached our 1st spot and was pretty excited as I dropped the line into the water. Surprisingly, it took just a short while and I got my 1st bite. Quite kan cheong and din really noe wat to do. Followed the captain's instructions of pulling up and reeling in and eventually I got the fish up. It was a stingray again! Hahaha! I had caught a stingray on my 1st trip and the captain said tat it was too small so we released it back into the water. This one was definitely bigger so we decided to keep it. Haha maybe it was the same one and it came back to find me after growing up?

Din really have time to settle down after the excitement of my 1st catch and I felt movement on my fishing rod again. Haha I tink I still have a bit of beginner's luck although it was my 2nd trip. This time it was a more normal type of fish (ehhhh still cant really identify the different types of fishes... so dun really noe the name of the fish). And so just 1 hour into this trip, I already caught 2 fishes. Definitely worth taking leave for this! Haha.

Eventually the others all got their 1st catches of the day and it was turning out to be a very good day for everyone. But my beginner's luck seemed to wear off after I caught my 5th fish and then there were no more. The weather also turned bad and started to rain quite heavily. The captain commented tat the decrease in water temperature meant tat it would be less likely for the fishes to take the bait. Apparently, it makes them lose appetite... So we decided to call it a day.

The biggest catch of the day for the entire boat has got to be the 金目鲈 (Barramundi) (the one at the bottom of the photo) tat Vincent caught right before we decided to call it a day.

Really enjoyed this trip and already looking forward to the next one! But will be going for the lasik pre-op evaluation next Saturday and if I am able to do the epi-lasik op before the next trip tat they already planned on the 30th, then I would need to give the next trip a miss, and also sit out for at least 1 more month after tat.

Fishing Trip - 15/02/2015

Went for my 1st ever fishing trip on Sunday and although I didn't catch any fish..., it was still quite fun, relaxing in the sun, enjoying the breeze. Good way to spend the day. Din really take a lot of photos as the captain was worried about us posting photos online and giving away his favourite fishing spots...

Dan picked me up at 6.30am and off we went to Marina Country Club in Punggol from where we would set off for our trip. Wearing my newly-bought-from-Qoo10 compression top and pants which were actually quite effective in preventing any sun burns, even though I looked a bit weird in it. Even more so with the t-shirt and berms tat I wore over them...

Reached the destination at around 7.30am after picking up another of our fishing kaki, Vincent. Then they started preparing the stuff as I just stood around, totally clueless of wat to do... Then the other of our kaki, Jimmy, started to teach me a bit of the basics, like how to tie the hook and sinker, wat to do when I get a bite - rod up, reel in... ehhhh something like tat ba. still not really sure wats the correct procedure. After the preparations were done, we loaded the boat and off we went out to sea.

 

The familiar smell of the sea reminded me of the kayaking expeditions which I went for, mostly during my poly days. Not many but mostly fun and really enjoyable. Very relaxing to feel the wind in my hair as I enjoyed the nasi lemak and teh that Vincent bought for us. Also enjoying a bit of a sun tan - only on my face, neck and feet though, cos the rest of my body were all covered up already.

After a short ride, we reached our 1st spot. Dropped our lines and we started to wait for the 1st bite. Not really a long wait as very soon, the captain pulled up our 1st catch of the day. This was followed shortly by Vincent as he too got his 1st catch. Good start and we thought that this was going to be a good day, but turns out to be a false dawn...

We caught a couple more fishes and then waited for quite a while and still no bite so the captain decided to switch location. Caught another at this new location and then waited for a long while again. Still no bite so we changed location again. Went on like this for a few more times and still nothing so we decided to break for lunch.

 

The captain brought us to this floating restaurant for lunch and I would say that perhaps this was actually the highlight of the day. Haha not exactly a good thing as this was partly cos the fishing part of the trip wasn't really good. But it was also cos the food here was really quite good, and quite reasonably priced as well.

We ordered salted egg sotong, oyster omelette and vege with scallops (ehhhh dun really noe wat type of vege tat is). My favourite was the oyster omelette. The egg was really nicely done, a bit watery, a bit "half-cooked", but in a good way. The oysters were all quite big and fresh. Seeing all the pictures really makes me feel hungry now...

After lunch, the captain brought us to another of his "secret spot" and here I finally got my 1st bite. Saw the fishing rod bending and observed it a little while longer. Then I saw it bend again and heard a shout from behind me to pick up the fishing rod and so I did. A bit kalang kabut already as I pulled the rod up and reeled in. Turns out that it wasn't a fish but instead it was a squid. Ehhhh then I tink I reeled in too fast and maybe the hook wasn't hooked on tight enuf and the squid escaped... But this sotong really a bit blur and actually bit our bait again. This time it was Jimmy's fishing rod which was beside mine... He reeled the sotong in and we got it inside our net but somehow it got itself unhooked and still managed to slip thru the net back into the water... Lucky escape for this blur sotong. We waited for it to bite again but haizzz, it wasn't tat blur after all.

We managed to catch just 1 more and so we switched location again after another long wait. At this new location, my fishing rod got another bite and it was again not the usual ones that they get... This time round, it was a stingray. But the captain said that it was really too small already, not much meat also so we threw it back into the water. And that was the last bite that I got as we kept changing locations but still no catch for anyone. Finally we decided to call it a day and headed back.

Total catch for the entire boat was only 6 and none for them was mine... According to the captain, the conditions that day were really bad for catching any fish. Haha dunno izzit I make them suay or wat. Next time need to pray to 海龙王 before going already. But still I enjoyed myself quite a lot and hopefully I can catch at least 1 for the next trip.

Before and After Reno

Balcony

Livingroom

Livingroom

Kitchen

Livingroom

Karen's room

Christien's Room

Reno almost complete!

Wow really busy this past 2 weeks with all the unpacking, washing, cleaning and shopping for new stuff after the reno. Now tat most of it is done and the reno is like 95% completed already, i can finally post some photos showing the result of it. Will also post some photos showing side-by-side comparisons of before and after reno.

Bangkok day 6 - Farewell...

Managed to wake up in time on my final day despite sleeping at 3am the previous nite. Washed up and packed the remaining stuff. Felt a bit 依依不舍 as i looked at my hotel room for the final time.

Went down to the lobby to check out. Chatted with 1 of the guys at the front desk as i waited for the cab which i asked the front desk to help me book on the previous nite. The cab arrived after a while and i realised tat when i counted the bahts needed for my final day, i had not counted in the tips for the bellboy who helped me with my luggage... Peeked in my wallet and figured tat i could still tip him a little and have enuf for the cab fare and breakfast.

Took some random photos along the way to airport as i took in the sights of bkk for the final time.

Reached the airport earlier than i had planned to so i took my time to check in my luggages before proceeding for the security scans and passport control.

The security scans and passport control took ard 45 min which i forgot to take into consideration cos i tot it would be quite fast like in sg. So i was a bit kan cheong liao. Dunno got time to eat breakfast anot... But nvm lah. Worse come to worse i'd just have to endure a while until they serve the meals on board the plane.

After everything was finally completed, i went to the directory and searched for mac as i wanted to try their burger with pork which was not available in sg. Turns out tat theres only 1 which is only accessible by domestic passengers... Decided to have bk instead cos there is one near my boarding gate.

Walked for abt 10 min then i reached bk... and the queue was quite long... and i realised i could only afford the whopper and double fish value meals with my remaining bahts... Actually i could also pay using sgd but decided against it and chose the whopper. So this is it, my final meal in bkk... Tastes the same as in sg but the fries were definitely better. I always felt tat bk has the worse fries among the fast foods in sg. Not sure whether tat had changed though. Been a while since i last ate bk in sg.

Heard the announcement tat my flight can start boarding liao so i just finished whatever i could and proceeded to the boarding gate. Wah so fast final call already? But ok lah. Still got 30 min till departure and i'm just a few steps from the gate.

And just like tat i boarded the plane back to sg which signalled the end of my bkk trip. Good tat I tried some thai food which i had not tried b4 and also bought most of the stuff which i had planned to buy. Before the trip, i had felt tat 6 days 5 nights was perhaps too long for bkk. Now i still feel tat it is, and i dun tink tat i will plan another bkk-only trip for 6 days 5 nights cos this time round it was mostly becos of the reno. But it was still ok lah, for my kind of pace and with lots of spare time to nua and tu. Haha and perhaps i spent too much time on the trip updating this liao. A bit waste money to spend so much time in bkk to update blog. Then again, my memory's so poor, i dun tink i'll be able to write with so much details if i had only started after i reached sg. All in all it was really an enjoyable trip and i really din wanna come back! But all good things come to an end and hopefully i can have another enjoyable overseas trip sometime soon!

Bangkok day 5

Ok here i am now in my 2nd uncle's house. Unpacked the stuff from my bkk trip and settled down already. So finally got time to update abt my final 2 days in bkk.

On friday, i woke up earlier than usual cos it was the last day for shopping. Wont have time on saturday cos my flight would be at 12.45pm. Decided to have breakfast either in platinum mall or just anywhere along the way. Saw the pasar malam (ok lah it actually looks more like a food fair) tat i saw on wednesday but it wasn't opened yet so cant eat there for breakfast.

Chose one of the street food stalls outside CentralWorld and ordered their chicken noodles. It has a piece of radish, a drumstick, chicken feet and a cube which i believe is chicken blood ba. Cos its chicken noodles mah. Cannot be chicken noodles inside got pigs blood rite? But i also nv eat chicken blood b4... Anyways, the soup tastes a bit like the soup for kway chap but just tat its sweeter. The meat for the drumstick was tender. Overall it tasted really quite nice. Bought some watermelon as i continued my way to platinum mall.

Haha actually fell asleep halfway thru updating this. Continuing now from the previous nite. Just finished brunch at boon lay place food centre and wanted to take a photo of the wanton mee tat i ate but eventually i din lah. Haha maybe too 习惯 already. Been taking photos of everything i ate for the past 6 days. But it was really quite nice and heng heng i was the last customer before they closed for the day. Maybe opening later at nite ba. Din noe of anything really nice here except for the power nasi lemak.

Still having this tourist-y kind of feeling as i explored this new neighbourhood tat i'll be staying in for the next 1 week or so. Cant really say tat its new to me cos my house is so near and also i spent quite a bit of my sec sch life here playing playstation and soccer at 1 of my sec sch's fren's house. After brunch, i walked ard boon lay shopping centre as i din really have much to do today. Maybe just go back to my regular hair salon in gek poh for haircut and drop by my house to see how's the reno going.

Ok sidetracked a bit liao. Shall continue to update on my bkk trip. So after breakfast at the roadside stall, i continued on to platinum mall to do my last min shopping.

Basically i knew wat exactly i wanted to buy liao. Just have to find the shop tat sells them with the right quality and at the right prices. Picked up the leather loafers tat i saw in zone 3 but din buy on wednesday. Din buy them at mbk cos i preferred those being sold here. And also the shop which i bought the brogues din have wholesale prices.

Went on to look for a backpack, partly cos i felt tat i would not have enuf luggage space for the stuff i bought. Ehhh dun even noe whether i'll be using it in sg anot... Went back to the shop from which i bought my wallet as i remembered seeing one which i quite like. Took a 2nd look at it and kiv-ed tat as i went down to lvl 3 which was the main lvl selling bags according to the directory. Lvl 4 and 5 were for leather goods. Saw another which i liked which was double the price of the one at lvl 4. Decided to get this one as the quality seemed better. Another reason was tat the salesperson at lvl 4 got attitude problem today. Kept on mumbling something in thai after she told me the prices of the bags. So now i have something to keep all my loot for tat day liao. Haha din have to carry ard so many bags of stuff in my hand. Went on to lvl 4 in zones 1 and 2 to shop for the rest of my stuff.

Here in zones 1 and 2, it was really quite fast-paced as compared to zone 3. So it was like although i still have quite a bit of time to shop for my remaining 3 or 4 items (it wasnt even noon yet), i was like being influenced into being kan cheong. Walked a bit faster and was looking ard frantically for the items tat i wanna buy. Managed to get the skinny/slim-fit pants tat i wanted at this shop which actually allowed exchanges for size, which i tink is quite a rarity here in platinum mall, and generally in bkk actually (excluding those big shopping malls of cos). This i feel is one of the few disadvantages of shopping here as all the shops here do not have fitting rooms. Went to the toilet to try out the pants. Happy with the size and on with the shopping.

Randomly picked up a t-shirt cos tats like necessity for every bkk trip. If u havent bought a t-shirt, u havent been to bkk! Decided to skip on the casual shirt tat i initially planned to buy cos i din see any tat i liked. So only 1 item left now, which was the casual blazer (ehhh dun really noe wat to call it cos it has a sweater-like collar and cuffs but blazer-like button and pockets) tat i saw on wednesday. 

Found it at 1 of the shops on lvl 4 but their smallest size was m. Remembered tat i saw it at lvl 2 on wednesday so i decided to go to tat shop to see if they have size s for me to try if it fits better. I had noted down the lane tat the shop was in so i found it pretty quickly. However, the smallest size is also m and same price also (realised after i bought it tat they are actually branches of the same shop as it was indicated on the plastic bag). Decided to buy it here at lvl 2 as the lady (ehhh or was it a man) tat served me at lvl 4 got attitude problem again. Haha if u got attitude problem then u cant get my business. If ur attitude is fantastic, u might even influenced me into buying something on impulse. Ehhh something like wat happened to the slippers on wednesday. Wore them to massage on thursday and friday and its like increasingly likely tat i wont ever wear them again...

Anyways i was done with my shopping for clothes and shoes. Although i wasnt really hungry yet, i went to the food court to eat something and contemplate on wat to do for the rest of the day. Ordered seafood pad thai and or lua (or hot tod as indicated on the menu. haha sounds like hot bod but dun tink u'll have a hot bod if u eat too much of this). Pad thai was normal but really liked the or lua although it was super oily. The tau gey makes it less 腻 to eat though. So my conclusion for food after these 6 days is - order anything with egg and u'll nv go wrong. Ehhh or maybe not ba. Remembered seeing a skewer of 3 eggs with the shells still on in 1 of the street food stalls. Dun really wanna tink abt wat it really is...

After finishing lunch, i nua-ed in the food court as i tot abt wat to buy for my colleagues. Browsed thru the countless sg blogs abt bkk trips and also those travel web sites and finally i decided on buying pocky as i read tat they have some flavours here which are not available in sg. So off i went to big c supermarket which was also along the way back to chit lom bts. Bought more of the chocobanana flavour as it seemed to be more special.

Finally done with all my shopping already. Decided to go back hotel to put all my stuff and start packing. At least i would still have time to tink of something if i was unable to pack everything in. Bought this drink called oliang on my way back. I had assumed tat it was some sort of liang teh and bought it as i was feeling a little heatiness which i probably got from my lunch. Turns out tat it was actually kopi-o peng... Y like tat?? I want teh o u give me liang teh. Now i really want liang teh liao u give me kopi-o peng... Actually it was more like kopi-o peng, kaaaaa dai cos i tried to finish it but gave up after finishing half as it was reeeaaaally sweet. Saw the stall owner add 3 large spoonfuls of sugar... 

Started packing and just abt managed to squeeze all my stuff into the luggage i brought, the backpack i bought and my small hand-carry sling bag, leaving some space for those stuff tat i would be packing on the next morning. So i nua-ed for a little while more before i went to collect my suit and shirt at crown.

Haizzz dunno y even after all the alterations after 2 fittings, somehow the blazer still doesnt look rite to me... hmmm maybe i need to buff up more ba. I collected the suit and shirt as there wont be enuf time for anymore alterations already. Then i brought them back to my hotel room before going to terminal 21 for dinner.

Decided to eat at terminal 21 as i still had the food court card with me and also wanted to try the mango sticky rice there as it looked good everytime i see it but always no stomach space for it. Maybe also cos i prefer salty food instead so wasnt really interested in trying it. First i ordered the main course for my dinner which was hainanese and deep fried chicken rice. The deep fried chicken was really disappointing as it wasnt really crispy. The hainanese white chicken was slightly better as the meat was tender. The chilli was good as well.

Then finally i tried the mango sticky rice, and it was really, really good! And this is coming from me, a person who dun really like sweet stuff/desserts. The rice is a little salty and neutralises a bit of the mango's sweetness so u wont eat the mango until got the 腻 feeling. The sesame and the other crispy yellow stuff just increases the 口感。Really a nice way to end off my final dinner in bkk.

So only 1 thing left to do now - my final massage session of cos. Went to another massage parlour in the soi tat my hotel was in and tried the 1 hour thai full body massage. Really loosened all my stiff muscles but dunno y my shoulders were hurting the morning after the massage. Still hurting a bit now... Also took a photo of the atas club near my hotel. Looks really happening at nite. Contemplated on whether to go in to 大开眼界 but decided against it due to lack of funds and actually not really interested also. Not really a clubbing person. Also read tat its a bit racist. Only interested in ang moh customers. So i better not try. Scarly get turned away at the door by the bouncer then paiseh liao. So this ends off day 5 of my trip and will be updating later on the final day, which was basically the trip to the airport.