Welcome to a few fun snipits of our life. Feel free to look around. We enjoy sharing our expiences with you.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Julia's Christmas Pagent
Written By: Dan
We got a treat tonight. We went out to Babes in Toyland (Julia's school) for her Christmas pagant. It was a very entertaining show. About half an hour, a few songs, and a visit with Santa. I'm not sure if it was official, but I think Julia was the star of the show (maybe co-star with Santa).
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Cambodian Lok Lak
We made last night with jasmine rice.
A delicious recipe for chicken, beef or shrimp found all over Cambodia, a favorite while I was traveling there. The original recipe was taken by someone else from the "Smokin'Pot" restaurant and a recipe i found online. It's been modified to get the flavour of my own Lok Lak experience in Siem Reap. Thanks to The cooks at Sophia Alia for introducing me to this dish.
ingredients
These ingredients serve 1, so multiply up as you wish.- 150g chicken breast, beef, even shrimp – sliced (shrimp would not be sliced)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
- 1/3 teaspoon chilli sauce (optional, preferably vietnamese or chinese chili sauce)
- 1 teaspoon oil + extra for cooking
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1/2 an onion, chopped
- A few lettuce leaves
- Rice
For the pepper sauce:
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed back pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1/4 of a lime
preparation
- Mix sugar, salt, pepper, oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup and garlic in a mixing bowl, add meat and coat thouroughly. Marinate 30 to 60 minutes.- Mix salt, sugar, pepper and garlic in small bowls (pepper sauce for each person)
- Add oil to a wok, get smokin hot. Add meat and mixture (optional onions). stir fry 5 to 10 minutes, until done. Keep the meat and sauce moving so as not to burn the oil.
- Mix in chili sauce if desired.
- Prepare serving plates with rice and a bed of lettuce
- Just before serving, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime into the pepper sauce and stir lightly.
- Serve chicken over lettuce with pepper sauce on side. The chicken is eaten wrapped in a lettuce leaf and dipped into the pepper sauce.
For a little more punch, add chili sauce to marinade rather than while cooking and marinate an extra 30 minutes.
- Just before serving, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime into the pepper sauce and stir lightly.
- Serve chicken over lettuce with pepper sauce on side. The chicken is eaten wrapped in a lettuce leaf and dipped into the pepper sauce.
For a little more punch, add chili sauce to marinade rather than while cooking and marinate an extra 30 minutes.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Written by: Dan
We left Thailand late, out of Phuket. Our flight took off at about 1am, and landed in Malaysia sometime after 2. By the time we got to bed it was near 5. We only had a few hours sleep before our meetings in the morning. After the meetings the weather reflected our mood - so we stayed in to catch up on rest.
The following day was our first time to get out and see Kuala Lumpur. It didn't take long to realize this is not like other countries in Asia. For starters, it is a Muslim country. The women dress is traditional Islamic clothing. Also the writing looks more like sand script than Mandarin. All together, it has a more middle eastern feel than Asian. However, any Malay will tell you that is not the case. The slogan on commercials, buses, and billboards through Asia reads "Malaysia: Truly Asia." I've spend over a month in Asia now, I'm not sure this is the case.
Malaysia also seems to lack the cultural draw other areas of Asia had. The Major tourist attractions include the Bantu caves (too far outside of town for us to visit), and The Petronas Twin Towers. The towers are the largest twin towers in the world, and from '98 to '04 they were the tallest buildings in the world. The Towers also highlight the other thing to do in Kuala Lumpur: shop. The area around the Towers (KLCC) is covered with mall after mall after mall. Mostly high end shopping. You may be able to walk all day without leaving a mall.
View from my hotel room of the Kuala Lumpur Skyline. That is the Petronas Twin Towers in the distance.
Kuala Lumpur, like many other Asian cities, is a must for doing business. They have a booming economy. Oil, Finance, and Trade fuel the growth of this city. As far as a destination for travel, I wouldn't recommend it. The food isn't great. The sites are not a huge draw. The country is only 50 some years old, so they don't have much of a history to speak of. Also, while there is plenty of shopping; the stores are the same as in the US, and don't carry much of a discount over home either. My opinion may be skewed by a short stay, lack of sleep, and bad weather. But I doubt I'm very far off base. I wouldn't be surprised if I come back one day. But I would bet it is on business.
We left Thailand late, out of Phuket. Our flight took off at about 1am, and landed in Malaysia sometime after 2. By the time we got to bed it was near 5. We only had a few hours sleep before our meetings in the morning. After the meetings the weather reflected our mood - so we stayed in to catch up on rest.
The following day was our first time to get out and see Kuala Lumpur. It didn't take long to realize this is not like other countries in Asia. For starters, it is a Muslim country. The women dress is traditional Islamic clothing. Also the writing looks more like sand script than Mandarin. All together, it has a more middle eastern feel than Asian. However, any Malay will tell you that is not the case. The slogan on commercials, buses, and billboards through Asia reads "Malaysia: Truly Asia." I've spend over a month in Asia now, I'm not sure this is the case.
Malaysia also seems to lack the cultural draw other areas of Asia had. The Major tourist attractions include the Bantu caves (too far outside of town for us to visit), and The Petronas Twin Towers. The towers are the largest twin towers in the world, and from '98 to '04 they were the tallest buildings in the world. The Towers also highlight the other thing to do in Kuala Lumpur: shop. The area around the Towers (KLCC) is covered with mall after mall after mall. Mostly high end shopping. You may be able to walk all day without leaving a mall.
View from my hotel room of the Kuala Lumpur Skyline. That is the Petronas Twin Towers in the distance.
Kuala Lumpur, like many other Asian cities, is a must for doing business. They have a booming economy. Oil, Finance, and Trade fuel the growth of this city. As far as a destination for travel, I wouldn't recommend it. The food isn't great. The sites are not a huge draw. The country is only 50 some years old, so they don't have much of a history to speak of. Also, while there is plenty of shopping; the stores are the same as in the US, and don't carry much of a discount over home either. My opinion may be skewed by a short stay, lack of sleep, and bad weather. But I doubt I'm very far off base. I wouldn't be surprised if I come back one day. But I would bet it is on business.
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