Torrent jackpot

>200kB/s for a torrent download of the lastest Ubuntu OS...

Finally configured my net connection to circumvent The Great Firewall. Muahahahaha!



uTorrent rocks...'nuff said.

Blogging

Just saw the number of blog posts this year.

This is the 40th for 2010 and I'm already posted more than the whole of 2009.

So much for consistency...

Coming out of a time warp

You know you've had too much CNY food and drinks when you turn up at your friend's house for an afternoon CNY gathering...

...except that you're a day too early.



My lunch appointment is suppose to be this afternoon but I hauled myself, Wifey and the kids across town yesterday, only to have an embarassing laugh out of it. Not to mention the 60 RMB cab fare.

Somehow "星期四" sounded like "初四", especially after endless cold cuts, sweet meats and red wine.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Hope everyone will be happy this year.

新年快乐！万事如意！身体健康！

The estate lighted up at the stroke of midnight. My neighbours decided to have a go at seeing who had the grandest firework...





It's good to be in the country that invented gunpowder...

Pimp my XP

With a two-week break for Lunar New Year and not much to do, I decided to see how far I can push my 5-year-old Lazarus before I replace it with a tablet this summer. Read somewhere on the web that you can mod your copy of Windows XP to the tablet edition without too much trouble.

So I decided to try and.....


Ha! If only Lazarus had touchscreen or Wacom compatibility!

Now I can run my nLite-d copy of Windows XP with tablet functionality instead of the resource-hogging Windows 7 on the new tablet. Which means I can get something with the power-saving but slower SU series of Core 2 Duo CPU instead of the T or P series and still run a fast OS.

Which means a savings of a few hundred bucks. The Fujitsu T5010, running a T series CPU, costs just over $3k while the T2020, running an SU series CPU, costs about $2.3k.

Sounds like a good deal...

Ikan bilis with peanuts!

Deep fry ikan bilis until crispy, place on paper towel to remove excess oil.

Fry peanuts (without skin) over medium heat in a *dry* wok until golden brown.

Toss both ingredients in a bowl before serving.

Sambal egg!

Material:
Hard-boiled eggs
Tomato paste
Coconut milk, 2 table spoons... See More
Lemon juice
Sugar, 3 tea sponns
Shallots
Chilli powder
Ginger, 1 slice
Garlic

1. Pound shallots, ginger slice, garlic and chilli powder.
2. Fry the above over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Add tomato paste and mix well.
4. Add eggs and fry.
5. Add coconut milk, mix well.
6. Add lemon juice and sugar.
7. Mix well and simmer until liquid is thickened.
8. Serve while hot.

Hay-bee hiam prawns!

Material:
French beans, cut inch-length
Medium prawns, shelled
Dried small prawns (hay bee), minced
Chilli paste & chilli oil (vary amount according to how *power* you want your tongue to feel!)... See More
Garlic, minced
Corn starch powder mixed in water.

Method:
1. Stir-fry medium prawns over high heat for 30 seconds and set aside.
2. Stir-fry French beans over high heat until shiny and set aside.
3. Stir-fry hay bee with chilli oil over medium heat until fragrant, add garlic and continue frying for a further 30 seconds.
4. Add chilli paste and fry until the paste melts.
5. Add beans and fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add medium prawns.
7. Add corn starch solution. Mix evenly.
8. Serve while hot.

Sambal belacan!

Tried making Peranakan sambal belacan. Now I can have a taste of home, ha ha!



For recipe, please refer to Mrs. Lee's Cookbook. Adjust according to taste.

Belacan really stinks! You have been warned...

Update:
After some experimenting, and major waste of ingredients, here's what works...(recording for posterity)

1/8 teaspoon belacan. Anything more simply ruins it and stinks up the whole house.
5 large, fresh red chilli
4 fresh chilli padi
1 teaspoon sugar

1. Toast the belacan in a frying pan without any oil. Use a spoon to turn the paste into a coarse powder. Ensure that the belacan is really dry.

2. Place the dried belacan powder in a mortar.

3. Cut chilli into small pieces. Place them in the mortar.

4. Pound until well-mixed.

5. Add sugar and continue pounding to mix in.

Holidays

Lunch at Johnny Moo's. Nice day out with the family along Hong Mei Road, an expat area of Shanghai, much like Holland V in Singapore. JM serves the best all-day breakfast...





Having a two-week break for the Lunar New Year. Went to Xian Xia Road yesterday for dim sum breakfast at an authentic HK restaurant, complete with smoking patrons. The smooth Cantonese porridge and family time made up for all the 2nd hand smoke.

I like lazy days with my family...

The arrival of spring

15 to 20 degrees Celsius.

Walking around with t-shirt and a jacket.

It's a nice feeling that winter's over...

Ogre asleep

My big problem is being highly irritable when awoken in the middle of the night.

Faith came down with a cold and was whining last night. Couldn't get back to sleep because of her weeping.

I've got to be develop patience.

__________________________
Evil ogre manifestations for 2010: 02

Back on the laptop

My Fujitsu is back online after replacing a burnt out chip. Cleaned out the fan, too. Now it's as quiet as new. I shall henceforth name it Lazarus.

The guy who fixed it is very knowledgeable and provided very good service. Anyone needing his laptop fixed or even looked at for advice, here's his shop contact:

圳芯电脑技术有限公司
漕溪北路41号
太平洋数码一期345号
021-54900137
方先生

Birds of a feather...

...NOT!

So pissed. Can't register myself on a forum in the US because the sysop has decided to block all logins from China IP addresses.

Idiotic...