A revisit of my archives

A few nights ago I had difficulty sleeping. It was 2.40am and I had just coaxed baby to sleep. Bored from the typical insta and Fb newsfeeds, I randomly clicked on my blog archives to check out what happened in my life in October 2011.

If I hadn’t been lying on my side whilst reading my phone, I think my jaw would have dropped when reading back on this ‘fortune’ dream I had:

Spook or coincidence?

Both events came out to be true. WOW. I’m very awed.

Now, I’d be even more stoked if any of my vivid dreams flash back as deja vus in reality. #dejavu

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Anyway, I wouldn’t have been ready to sleep after that exciting find. Hence I went on to revisit more blog posts in 2011… and came to realise that my lifestyle has so transformed? Back then I was involved in various activities – conquer of Mt. Kinabalu, outings with club and other friends; while being gainfully employed at work. I would like to think I led quite an enriching lifestyle – massively engaged at work and spending sufficient time spent with family, friends and myself (explained by the 10-14 blog posts per month in Sep-Nov 2011). I also noticed that my writing style during that period was reflective – penning down after-thoughts, course takeaways and life lessons. Comparatively nowadays, I am contributing less blog posts (but maybe more in fb, idk). My life now revolves around family and baby. Any 2-hr venture to a mall is a notable event by itself. But not that I’m complaining – growing up with a baby and witnessing her every firsts is a joyful process! Anyway, I think I should blog more often. Life passes by too quickly. Heck, it’s already end November! Reading back on my life happenings allows me to be grateful of the activities I’ve taken part in, the friends I socialized with, the life lessons and realizations made, and how my life has transformed...

Sad fact: I'm getting older.

炸酱面 Zha jiang mian

Cooking keeps me sane, I replied to wifey, who asked whether I found it mundane to be stuck at home with (terrifying) baby.

True enough, I found myself to be more experimental with recipes AB (After Baby). Perhaps because dining outside is no longer viable, having wider variety of food for dinner matters.

So I was regretfully stuffing myself with the most distasteful “tom yum soup” during lunch today when a sudden craving for zha jiang mian developed. I googled for ‘zha jiang mian recipe’ and found there are various menus… some with edamame, some with white cabbage - I guess the difference is the place of origin of China? Like there are different styles of hotpot in China as well. Also perhaps zha jiang mian is like fried rice you know, you just dump anything left in the fridge. Thus my mind browsed through my sparsely equipped fridge at home…

Noodles yes, onions/ginger yes, minced pork yes, spicy bean paste yes, mushrooms YES!!

All that was needed were some carrots and Japanese cucumbers/zucchini – readily available from the NTUC at the basement of my work place! And so, zha jiang mian it was for dinner!

炸酱面 - Colourful and yummy one-dish meal

Pretty simple dish, only 1 wok and one cooking style required. The most tedious step, however, was the julienning of carrots and zucchini. I learnt a new word too – julienne. It is the method of cutting into thin slices. To save time, I did this whilst cooking the noodles in boiling water.

Ingredients (serves 2 hungry adults with a newborn):

- ¼ big onion and 2 pcs garlic (finely chopped)

- Sliced ginger

- 200g minced pork

- 1 cube tofu (diced)

- 3 pcs dried mushrooms (soaked 20 mins in hot water)

- Noodles (I used Barilla spaghetti, but feel free to use any noodles of your liking)

- 1 med carrot

- 1 med zucchini

- 6 teaspoon minced bean paste (any brand la)

- ½ bowl water

- 2 teaspoon corn starch

- Sesame oil
- Garnishing (spring onion and coriander), pepper, red chilli

Method:

1) Cook noodles in boiling water. In the meantime, julienne carrots and zucchini.

2) Remove noodles when done. Put carrots into the boiling water for 1 min (ignore this step if you like your carrots crunchy).

3) Fry onion and garlic in hot oil until fragrant. Add ginger, minced pork and mushrooms and stir fry.

4) When minced pork turns slightly grey, add spicy minced bean paste, tofu, sesame oil and water

5) Continue stirring until mixture boils. Add corn starch, coriander and pepper. If you like spicy, add chilli padi. Stir well.

6) Ready to serve! Garnish with spring onion or red chilli. 

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I took about 60 mins for the entire preparation. Wifey was awed by the dish layout. We enjoyed the dish cos of the party of different flavours and textures. Plus baby didn't bother us during that 30-40 mins. Mmmm!!!

Guess X'mas is round the corner! :)

Nice?

How's it like being a dad?

So many have asked (or rather it's the best question to start a conversation), how is it like being a first-time dad? Or, how are you coping with fatherhood?

My usual responses hover around the words 'sleep' and 'shag'. Truthfully, losing sleep is just the tip of the iceberg. I think it's difficult to comprehend for singles or couples without children; while they can empathize, I think one can only appreciate the beauty/stresses of parenthood when one has been directly involved.

Or subsumed by it.

Perhaps Jx put it aptly with his witty reply when he was wished good night - there's so such thing as a 'good night' since dd/mm/2014 (the birth date of his baby).

On being a new dad for 2 months, I shall attempt to summarise the apparent differences before baby and after baby. Let me know if you agree with them... Haha.