Peach Flowers From Chinese New Year 2009

Phalaenopsis Orchid Decoration

Photo was taken by  Nokia cell phone, I like this simple Phalaenopsis Orchid arrangement. I use Photoshop Clone Stamp Tool to delete the green leaves behind the vase. This is my first Sepia Scenes in this blog. Visit weekly Sepia Scenes hosted by Mary who is a great photo Meme queen.

Cottage Living

One of the magazines I like is Cottage Living. I love it because of all the home makeovers. The structural design examples are classic and beautiful. They put an emphasis on gardens and beautiful yards. They also have design samples from a bunch of different magazines fun to flip through right HERE. Its not real cutting-edge stuff but most of it is pretty and classic.

My dream house

Tea or coffee ?

  I start my daily life with a cup of coffee, with fresh milk without sugar, I am absolutely addicted to coffee mainly, my day is not running well without the morning coffee. Although I am told tea is much healthier than coffee, but somehow I just like coffee.
  People who are so addicted to coffee, they don't drink tea, especially Chinese Tea. I am one of the exception. I drink tea every day after lunch and dinner. Chinese Oolong tea is one of my favourites. I was told a lot of good things about tea, such as Tea gives our immune system a boost! Tea has been said to assist with weight lost. Tea can help to prevent cancer and heart disease...I drink tea is not because of any of the reasons above, I just like it.
People always say that tea and coffee present two kinds of different culture, western and eastern culture. Especially  tea has been so closely associated with Chinese people's daily lives that tea culture has become an important part of Chinese culture over the years.Of course then coffee closely associated with westerners' everyday lives.
Tea and coffee, I like both equally. They both have different qualities about them. I drink tea to relax. I drink coffee to get going. Just like western culture and eastern culture, I like both, they all have their pretty side.

So, tea or coffee, I took a test:

You Are Coffee

                                                                       
You are highly ambitious and goal oriented. You feel like there isn't enough time in your day to get it all done.
You are outgoing and creative. You love talking with people, thinking up crazy plans, and then acting immediately on them.

When it comes to caffeine, you'd like a refill. You can almost always use an energy boost.
Life is too short. You're going to get as much out of it as you can. You live for today.

Are You Coffee or Tea?

And what kind of tea am I exactly....?

You Are Black Tea

You have a bold personality. You're not afraid of simply being yourself. You have the courage to speak the truth. You are fearless in your actions. You come off as a bit intimidating and unapproachable. Only confident people are attracted to you. You don't try to scare off anyone. You're just an intense person!

What Kind of Tea Are You?

So how about you, tea or coffee?

 

Handmade Home Decor Items #01

Last year I made this 3-D paper fish using  Chinese Lunar New Year "ang-pows" (or hongbao), it was hang in my kitchen...  This year I want to make this red envelopes lantern ...

How To Marinate Meat

Marinating meat can be lots of fun if you like to experiment. One of the secrets behind marinating is to use vinegar.You can make a mixture of this vinegar, along with all of your favourite spices, and then pour it over your meat, take note that it must be covering all of your meat. Lemon and lime are anther great way to marinate your meat to make it tender. The fragrant of lemon give the meat a special taste.
I tried using wine too. First time I used Dom wine to marinade beef, I cook the beef with Chinese herbs. But my daughter doesn't like the taste of herb. From that time I just use normal white wine to marinade meat. So make sure that the wine you use is something that you like to drink. Most likely, if you don't like the taste of the wine enough to drink it, then you aren't going to like the taste of it in a marinade. Like all those herbs wine are unaccepted by children.
Of course the faster way to marinate meat will be the tenderiser powder.
Do you have other faster way to marinate meat?
Thanks for reading. Enjoying cooking, enjoy life.

Kill Cockroach Fast And Safety

You’ve probably seen cockroaches before, but were likely too concerned with screaming, running away, or shouting to ask help from mum. I was doing that when I saw cockroach when I was young. But now being a mum, I have no way to run when my daughter sees a cockroach and shout...
Cockroaches prefers warm environment and feeds on human food. The best way to get rid of cockroach still is keep your house clean and no food left over on the floor, in the sink etc. But still, the cockroaches will come to disturb us once a while. So how to kill cockroach fast?
Insect sprays, one of the most common ways to kill cockroaches, usually contain those chemicals has long been considered as harmful to the environment and to people’s health. I never use insect sprays, I hate the smell of insect sprays, It makes me feel giddy.
I normal keep a spray bottle filled with dish washing detergent in the kitchen. Whenever I saw a cockroach, I will spray the dish washing detergent to them, the cockroach will die soon.
For your info, Pandan leaf (which is an endemic plant found in Southeast Asia) is used as a cockroach repellent. It is very effective in keeping cockroach away.
Do you have any other fast and safety way to kill cockroach?

Kill Ants Without Pesticides

Have you troubled by those small ants around the house?  I do. Of course, you can use pesticides to kill ants. But nowadays when many people talk about getting a better environment for our life, as a mom I am not only concerned about the overall environment but the environment in my home. I don't want to expose my child to a bunch of chemicals, so I get a new way to kill ants without pesticides.
I use vinegar to make a solution with water to spray around.
Fill a spray bottle with water and white vinegar, about 4:1, When you see ants, just spray them and they'll be dead on contact. You can spray these water mixed with vinegar on the wall in the kitchen, those area which ants like to go. This is the faster and cleaner way to get rid of ants.
Of course the best way to keep them out still  is to keep your home clean. Wipe counter tops often and don't leave crumbs. Wipe counter with the vinegar solution is a  good way to prevent them visiting your kitchen.
Here is a joke, happened when my daughter's 4 years old time. She is very softhearted, she can't bear to kill those small ants, then she keep a small container with some sugar outside the house, so all the ants will be happy to stay out of our house. Ha Ha.

Doctorate house with indoor plants

A lively green plant can brighten up any space. Unique plants can act as living signature pieces, conversation starters and change the entire feel of a room. However, not every green plant even as indoor plant is suitable for your room.   Selecting low-maintenance plants that are compatible with the humidity, temperature and light conditions in your room is very important. Here are some of my selections, which have been healthy growing in Singapore HDB housing estate.   Chinese evergreen and Snake plant (also called mother-in-law tongue), all are a kind of versatile low light, low growing, durable plant. It grows well in a corner of the room. Water once a week will do.  

      There are a number of houseplants that are generally hard to kill. If you don’t have a green thumb, hardier houseplants such as the Spider Plant, Dracaena, Zamioculcas-Lucky Plants, all are easy growing type, can display and match your room decoration. If you have a terrace, you can also create a small indoor garden by grouping these easy growing green plants. A lively indoor garden is a place to relax your souls and minds after one tiring working days.