Marsha Maung: Write. Cook. Read. Watch. Try. Innovate.

As planned, we ate out in a nearby kopitiam but today was a little different. As we were eating, a monk walked in the kopitiam. As far as I could see, he wasn't soliciting but mainly looking around. We continued eating.  I would be horrified if he started asking for money...but he didn't. He mainly walked around maybe trying to find the right people.  He held a basket of stuff to pass around. Some might assume he was selling and pushing stuff...I had a feeling he wasn't really. Maybe he was looking for food? Maybe some people, like monks, don't really have any intentions.  For some reason, he walked up to us, the three of us, and asked if he could place these blessing/friendship bracelets on us. Of course, I said yes. Buddhist friendship bracelets, often known as Thai " Sai Sin " or Tibetan knotted bracelets, are  string accessories blessed by monks or artisans to symbolize protection, good luck, and interconnectedness . H and-tied, they are worn o...

A simple Mamak noodle dish available in most 24/7 mamak stalls The above is something I get when the day has been absolutely busy and I have no time to make (or plan for) dinner. I've made it before and it's not complicated; I should be able to do this at home some day.  Meals? I did not cook again today but I brined the chicken breasts for tomorrow. Just a little lost when it comes to recipes and what to cook. A little uninspired. But I made do with some relatively cheap stuff like Ramly Burgers Malaysian Street Food and today, simple pork ball Kweuy Teow soup for both of them.  Not the best cook but an inspir-able one, that I am. Yes, that's not a real word but that's OK. ➣ Lunch , Jad and I went to Kenny’s Food Cart and I had my porridge which I often carry over for dinner. We always save money on dinner because Jad and I would actually STARVE during lunch. One porridge lunch means I will survive on one-meal. Don't worry, I am OK. ➣ Dinner , We packed up pork n...

The boys are already geared up for the time of lives this year, setting new resolutions and goals but one thing we did not see coming was...Apple products in this household. We are Windows people through and through. What the hell am I seeing here? How are we supposed to use this? LOL I can give people tutorials about how to handle things in a digital marketing and branding perspective but DAMN, we have no idea how this works and how to set it up. Apparently, the SG company that hired Son2 thought that this was all he needed. Apple....in a Windows world.  We are so clueless even now but he's going to be on-boarded today and we will figure out how the home-settling is gonna be like.  We have 2 work settings here, 1 for me and another for whoever needs it. Son1 is mostly on-site so, he doesn't need the workspace. So, I had to set up the extra workspace for Son2 for Hybrid so, this is my new setting. (typing in the dark is so fzzzzng hard which is what I am doing now). I ...

 things we needed to get done:- Josh needs to get to work on time; he woke all of us up and we got there on time; and he was OK at the end Jad and I needed to route ourselves to the new workplace, although it is not necessary, but we did it. anyway I Watch Skies a Lot This was when we stopped at the KJ station, parked, and tried to plan the timing. I did not notice anything because I was focused on the parking and the system but then, my son asked me look up. He tentatively asked me, "What do you do see"? Didn't see anything but he said, "Look to the right" and capture that. And I did. Gorgeous.  That was a little beautiful, don't you think so? No clouds to a rain-drenched rainbow over the background of a usual PowerGrid. Rainbows are fabled indications of favorable bridges to the future. As in the 'Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow', I think it's nice to see that so early in the morning with the many other early commuters at the ...

Getting older made me go through the photo album and this is one of those pictures that cannot ever be replicated ever, ever, EVER, again.  Jad was 4/5 and Josh was 6/7. According to Jad, he remembers nothing, absolutely nothing but at least I remembered everything about being an adult, a parent, absorbing all the joy of being in Disneyland for the first and possibly last time ever.  I was the only one who was in complete awe of seeing Ariel and Cinderella 'in person'. The parade and the end fireworks were things should remember what Disneyland is about. There's no replacing those things.  I think I will share more pics of the past from here on, together with the food that I make. xxx

Before saying anything else, I've got to worry about the quality of my pictures. It does the food absolutely no justice.  These are not the usual Ramly burger patties which are drier, honestly speaking, but they're mouth-watering all-the-same. We got the frozen patties from Lotus's (no, this is not a sponsored post. I wish); they're affordable and the meat are raw. As in they're still flexible and technically can be mushed around into ground meat for minced stir-fried dishes or shaped into meatballs or anything you want to use them for, including soups.  We found some burger buns (it's harder to find than you think - where we are at, anyway) from a nearby fruits store. We did not have lettuce (which would have been more perfect) so I decided that sliced tomatoes is just fine.  After flipping the patties both sides, we slathered on the marjerin on the bottom of the halved buns and just quickly toast the buns butter-side-down Other ingredients were che...

,  There's an old adage of chicken breasts being dry and boring. I am here to stand in their defense. They're not dry, not boring, not tasteless. It's about how well you understand how to work with it. The way most of us use chicken breasts is to cut it into strips and stir-fry it. But you'll be surprised with how versatile this part of chicken can be if you paid it enough attention.  PREP Brine the chicken by butterflying the thick parts. Put the chicken into a deep bowl, toss in 2 TBsp of salt, cover with water, use your hands to mesh things up in the bowl until the salt is dissolved, cover. and refrigerate for 20 mins to overnight. When you're ready for it, wash off the chicken breasts and set aside. Use the same pan where there are still juices from the pan-fried chicken. We don't waste good juices from the meat.  In this case, there was no need to marinade it but if you want to... MARINADE garlic powder onion powder paprika powder cayenne salt pepper...

Japanese Curry with Carrots and Potatoes The star of the dish is the mild Japanese curry (apple and honey base) and we just need to get some vegetables into the meal. We got stashes of carrots and potatoes after lunch and we said " Yeah, THAT's what we will have for dinner. Done Deal !" I didn't make the curry paste myself because it's store-bought. Nothing wrong with that, honestly. Healthy, delicious food is the priority.  Simple Pan-Fried Salmon How I made it is simple : Just washed the fish, wiped it down with a paper towel because water and oil are no friends. So, if you hate splatter as much as I do, then drying it makes a world of difference. I, then, seasoned the salmon with just salt and pepper. Heat the pan with a little bit of oil and pan-fry the skin side down for about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fish onto both sides, each for about 1 minute. We focus on keeping meals affordable, we don't have seafood, pork, and other uni...

Steamed Egg Plant with Chicken & Pork Mince These pics are GodAwful . There's no excuses. The only justification is that it tasted good.  Steamed Egg Plants  :  Wash egg plants Wipe down the egg plants Heat 2 or 3 bowls of water Steam the egg plant for about 11 mins. Please check and reheat if needed Remove and cool down (no need ice water - just let it cool down) Meat Top-Up Minced garlic Prep minced chicken (breasts) and pork - Mix them well and don't worry about them. They good.  Prep sauce - Soy sauce, Oyster sauce, Fish sauce, Seasoning, Salt, Pepper, MSG if you want, Sugar, Dark soy sauce, Sesame seed oil, Veg oil Heat up wok or pan or pot = saute garlic = UNTIL FRAGRANT   = fry and toss = Add the prepped sauce = Cook down = Set aside## On The Side I had free green onions (or what some people call leeks) from the morning market. We get that free stuff when we buy above a certain item. And I got them and kept them.  The steam Eggplants ...