Hasselback Potatoes

Hasselback Potatoes:

8 medium-sized potatoes

60g butter, melted (used half olive oil and half butter)

1 tablespoon breadcrumbs

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon paprika (optional)

1/2 cup bacon bits

1. Peel potatoes and cut into halves. Make thin slits on potatoes only 3/4 way.

2. Place potatoes flat side down in a microwave dish with about 30ml water.(Water prevents the potatoes from drying up) Cover and microwave on high for 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Remove and place on a greased and foil-lined baking tray.

4. Bake in preheated oven 200 deg C for 30 minutes, brushing with butter occasionally.

5. Sprinkle breadcrumb mix and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Breadcrumb mix

All baked and ready! (should have used more cheddar and some mozzarella)

The Christmas Menu - Baked Ribs

Baked Prime Pork Ribs

Baked Salmon

Hasselback Potatoes

Honey-baked Ham*(bought)

Spaghetti with Meatball Sauce*(sister)

Caesar's Salad*(elder daughter)

Tiramisu*(elder daughter)

Phew! It's finally over and done with!

I used to do the full menu myself, all single-handedly but for the past couple of years, I had been getting my sister and daughter to contribute something. So many Christmases meant so many years of baking and roasting! And I've aged and am no longer the 'superwoman' I once was! Gotta admit defeat! SIGH!

My Baked Ribs Recipe:

(I used 3 slabs of ribs which was slightly over 3 kg.)

I kg prime ribs or baby backs (score the meaty parts before marinating)

Marinade for 1 kg ribs:

3 cups of tomato sauce

1 cup BBQ sauce

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

3 tablespoons Steak sauce

3 tablespoons lemon juice(depends on preferred tanginess)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1. Mix all the seasonings together.

2. Marinate the ribs overnight. You may cut into 2 or 3-rib pieces or use the whole slab.(I cut to fit into the pot)

3. Place ribs with marinade in a pot and enough water to cover ribs and bring to a boil.

4. Simmer for about one hour or more and test if meat is chewable but not too soft or it will fall off the bones. This keeps the meat moist and not dry after baking.

5. Remove ribs and continue to boil the marinade(at this stage, it is watery) till it thickens.

6. Arrange ribs in a foil-covered tray(for easy cleaning) and spoon thicken marinade over the ribs. Keep some for basting later. Cover tray with foil.

7. Bake in preheated oven 200 deg C for about 45 minutes, remove foil, baste with marinade and use grill function to grill for a slightly burnt effect. (Unfortunately my oven's grill function had to fail me on such an occasion and so I merely baked it on a higher level, closer to the top element. It wasn't that effective but nevertheless it tasted good.)

From the pot to the baking tray!

From the oven to the table! Finger-licking good!

p/s I will post the rest of the dishes later.

Season's Greetings

This is it!

The Day is finally here!

Countdown to Christmas!

Amidst all that last minute shopping

Bustling about in the kitchen

To lay a sumptuous feast on the table

And gearing up for a party

I would like to pause and ponder

The true meaning of Christmas.........

Thank you God for Christmas

Thank you for Lord Jesus

There would never be Christmas

If You had not come down to us.

AMEN!!

That said, I would like to wish all fellow bloggers, visitors and people all over the world,

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!

God Bless!

Almond Chews

No... the almond doesn't bite nor chew. It requires chewing, yes... that's right, chew !

Just as the name suggests, these cake-like slices do indeed require chewing. Anything that is nutty, has got to be chewed or masticated!

These are indeed indulgent slices. Sweet and chewy!

I couldn't stop at one, I had four!!

Those with a sweet tooth will not resist this.

The Recipe:

160g unsalted butter

310g caster sugar (used 240g)

45g soft brown sugar (used 60g)

2 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla essence

250g self-raising flour, sifted

150g white chocolate chips

150g almond flakes (used 170g)

icing sugar, for dusting

1. Prepare a 30 x 20 cm shallow tin, greased and lined, leaving the paper hanging over the sides. This makes it easier to lift the slice out.

2. Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool.

3. Beat eggs till thick and creamy. Add vanilla essence, flour and cooled butter mixture and mix well. Stir in white chocolate chips and half of the almond flakes.

4. Spread evenly in the tin and sprinkle remaining almond flakes on top. The mixture is gooey and thick.

5. Bake in preheated oven, 170 deg C for 30 minutes or until golden brown. The centre will be soft and chewy.

6. Leave to cool in the tin and lift out and cut into squares or rectangles. Dust with icing sugar.

Christmas Dinner Menu

The annual battle in my head!

Shall I......maybe......or perhaps......

Roast Beef....

Baked Ribs......

Baked Salmon....

Beef Bourguigon.....

Beef Stew in Red Wine.....

Honey Baked Ham.....

Grilled Chicken........ or ...........??????

What a hassle! But I love it!

Planning a Christmas dinner for 12 persons!

Making sure that the dishes suit everyone

Not too spicy, not too salty, not to sweet.........

1. Meat

2. Fish

3. Potatoes

4. Two salads

5. Pasta

6. Appetizers

7. Dessert

Coming soon on Christmas Day!

What's For Lunch?

What's on the menu for lunch? The usual, would be the retort!

Stir- fried Broccoli, Carrot and Roselle

Stir-fried Leek and Beancake (Taukwa)

Braised Belly Pork in Soya sauce

A bowl of rice, please? I'm famished!

Peanut Blossoms

Sounds interesting? Well it certainly did to me when I saw it in the book which I bought in June. In fact I did my bedtime reading and bookmarked quite a number of recipes in this book. I was taking a long time to try out the recipes until I read about this very same cookie on Shirley's blog.

Well, I decided to give it a shot!

48 Hershey's Kisses brand Milk Chocolate

3/4 cup Reese Creamy or Crunchy Peanut Butter (I used Skippy)

1/2 cup shortening (used butter)

1/3 granulated sugar (didn't have any, so used fine sugar)

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk (used UHT)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (used plain flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

extra granulated sugar to roll unbaked cookies (didn't used it)

1. Heat oven to 190 deg C. Remove wrappers from chocolates. Set aside.

2. Beat peanut butter and shortening with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.

3. Add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat well.

4. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt, gradually beat into peanut mixture.

5. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in additional granulated sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet.

6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into the centre of each cookie. Cookie will crack around edges. Remove to wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 48 cookies.

The Book - I was attracted to the pictures.

I an not sure about Shirley, but I definitely won't want to bake this again unless I tweak the recipe. It's not crunchy enough for me. Perhaps it could be the butter which I substituted. It's a pity cos they are cute-looking!

Spicy Dried Shrimps

Spicy dried shrimps or 'Hae Bee Hiam' as it is known in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect, is a versatile dish that can be eaten with rice or used as a spread or filling in sandwiches.

At our recent bloggers' meet, I made some sandwiches with it.

My recipe is easy to follow though one must be prepared to stand by the stove for at least half an hour, depending on the preparation or the amount to be cooked. I would usually cook a substantial amount and store it in the freezer to be used at whim.

The Recipe:

A

300g dried shrimps (Be sure to buy the better quality that doesn't have a very strong smell)

B

12 shallots

3 cloves garlic

4 fresh red chillies

5 dried chillies, pre-soaked

4 chilli padi (optional)

1 pce 4-cm lemon grass, thinly sliced

8 kaffir lime leaves

oil

sugar to taste

How It Is Done:

1. Be sure to pick out all foreign objects like tiny stones, crab claw bits etc from the pile of dried shrimps. Rinse the shrimps twice then soak in enough water for half and hour or more. Drain and grind to the fineness or coarseness preferred. (Try not to add water when grinding as this will make the ground shrimps too wet and it will take a longer time to cook.) Set aside.

2. Grind all the ingredients in B.

3. Heat some oil (I used about 100ml) and put in the shrimp, ground ingredients and kaffir lime leaves and mix it well. Stir mixture over medium heat until it starts to dry out. Add sugar to taste. Salt is not required as the dried shrimp is quite salty itself.

You can either continue to cook till it dries out to 'floss' condition (which is quite dry) or if you prefer the moist kind, just cook for about 30 to 45 minutes.

I would recommend using a non-stick wok or pan.

This is quite moist because I wanted it to be easily spread on bread.

The kaffir lime leaves lent a very nice flavour to the shrimp.

These were the sandwich rolls made for the bloggers' meet.

I used soft bread slices, with edges removed. Next I spread a layer of shrimp and added some thinly sliced cucumber strips and rolled it tightly like a spring roll. I then used a piece of plastic to wrap the roll to keep the shape. To serve, remove the wrap and cut it into two. Enjoy!

Potluck @ Bloggers' Meet

Once upon a time.......

We cooked, we baked

We met

We chatted

We ate, we drank

We played a game

We laughed

All on a Saturday

The 27th November

At 1.30 p.m.

At Jane's.

The Group "We":

Christine - Yummy Koh

Doris - Tested & Tasted

Edith - Precious Moments

Eelin - The Batter Baker

Jane - Passionate About Baking

Josephine - Sugar & Everything Nice

Sheryl - Sweet and Happy Ending

Zhuo Yuan - Baking Library

Myself - A Busy Gran's Kitchen

We left happily ever after with our tummies full!

White Chocolate Chips and Hazelnut Cookies

I've been busy for nearly a week, clearing stuffs and spring-cleaning. Some of my things are as old as the hills, errr... more than 45 years old. Goodness! What was I thinking! Maybe I was hoping that they could be preserved as antique or maybe I would slim down to my former S size. Hmmm fat hope!

Some of the usable stuff would probably go to charity, others I would try to sell off on Ebay like my kenwood major metal mixing bowls, K beater and whisk, murooku press set etc.

I baked these cookies just before I began spring-cleaning. They came in handy during my 'coffee breaks'. :) They were my energy boosters!

The cookies are super crunchy and the hazelnuts gave them a lovely flavour.

Look at the size of the cookies!

The Recipe:

130g butter, softened

70g caster sugar

70g fine sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

150g Self-raising flour

150g plain flour

200g mini white chocolate chips

120g hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar till light before beating in egg and vanilla extract.

2. Add in sifted flour and nuts and white choc chips. Mix well.

3. Roll into balls and flatten. The dough should not be dry.

4. Bake on lightly greased tray at preheated oven 160 deg C for 12 minutes. Cool and store in airtight container or eat them all up. (I got about 37 pieces of diameter 6 cm.)

They are quite addictive.

Crr........crunch!

Raisin and Butterscotch Bread

Yesterday afternoon was dreary - it was raining heavily for hours. We braved the rain and went out for lunch at 3, a rather late lunch. When I returned from lunch around 4 plus, I had the urge to bake bread. I don't know why, but rainy days seem to make me want to bake. Maybe I like the warmth of the kitchen on rainy days.

In the past, I baked bread without using the 'tangzhong'. I read so many reviews about using it and how it really helps to improve the bread in terms of texture. The recent raisin bread was done with tangzhong and I found that it did wonders. The bread remained soft and moist even on the third day.

I ventured again with another of my bread recipes (all my previous bread recipes do not use tangzhong) and just went with my gut feeling as to the amount of tangzhong to add.

Not wanting to waste the tangzhong, I made a smaller portion which just about suffice for my bread recipe.

The recipe for about 120g tangzhong :

30g bread flour

150ml water

Mix flour and water till smooth. Sieve the mixture to remove tiny lumps.

Over medium heat, cook the mixture, stirring all the time till it thickens and reaches a temperature of about 65 deg C. Remove and cover with cling-wrap touching the mixture and let it cool. It can be placed in the fridge.

The recipe for the bread:

A

300g bread flour

60g caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

2 tablespoons milk powder

1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

B

160 ml water or milk

1 egg yolk

100g tangzhong (take it out from fridge and let it be at room temperature before use)

40g butter

100g raisins

100g butterscotch chips

1. Place all dry ingredients in A and whisk it to mix.

2. Mix egg yolk, tangzhong and milk till smooth. Add in slowly into mixer working with the dough hook at medium slow speed.

3. When all the dry ingredients are incorporated with the liquid, add in the butter and mix till it forms a ball. Check to see if dough is too wet, then add a tablespoon flour.

4. Knead dough for 20 minutes. It should not be very sticky.

5. Remove dough and make it into a big ball. Place it in a big bowl and cover with a damp cloth or cling-wrap. Prove it for 50 minutes or till it doubles in size. Proving time depends on weather conditions. My dough took 1 hour because it was rainy.

6. After proving, remove dough and deflate it by pressing or punching it.

7. Roll out dough on a lightly-floured surface to a rectangle. Sprinkle raisins and butterscotch chips. Roll up dough like a swiss roll and place in a loaf tin, the sealed side downwards. I used 2 loaf tins 22cm x 12 cm x 8cm. Brush with egg if preferred.

8. Bake in preheated oven 200 deg C for 12 to 15 minutes. Once done, brush some butter on the top. Remove and cool on wire rack.

If stored in an air-tight container, the bread will remain soft and moist up to 3 days.

The two loaves didn't turn out to be twins as expected because I was doing a hurried job. Didn't want to miss my TV programme and guess what I was watching?......Shrek 3! I must be in my second childhood. Anyway I enjoy all the Shrek series, a twist to the usual fairy tales!

The Better Twin

Not very well distributed, the centre is plain!

TTT Cake

Yesterday, while I was baking and decorating this cake for my youngest grandson, it brought to my mind how time had fleetingly flown by. It was just a year ago, after baking a Mr Men cake for my grandson, I was admitted into hospital. The baking had nothing to do with the cause.

A few days before my grandson's birthday in 2009, I experienced the worst headache of my life. It came so swiftly and the pain was so excruciating that tears streamed down my face uncontrollably. It happened at night and I went to a clinic nearby. The doctor referred me to CGH. There the young medical officer made me do some tests to ascertain whether it was stroke. Later he termed my problem as in his exact words, "Auntie, you have tension headache!" Ok, you're the doctor, you know better. With that, he gave me a jab, some panadol and sent me home.

Within the next ten days, I experienced three more attacks, consulted another doctor whose prognosis was the same. The third doctor, I saw, felt that I ought to have a scan done. The result was alarming. My brain was bleeding. A blood vessel had popped. The medical term was subarachnoid haemorrhage.

For the first time in my life, I rode in an ambulance from CGH to SGH. CGH referred me to a neurology specialist in SGH. I was placed in an ICA ward, confined to the bed. I went through more scans. All that while, I was as normal as before except for the headaches.

During those few days, I was in despair. I turned to God and prayed fervently for healing. I'd never prayed so hard and so much in my entire life. God is merciful and full of grace. I felt at peace then.

The results of all the scans showed that the bleeding had stopped. Alleluia! God be praised!

It was yesterday, my youngest grandson turned two. His current favourite toys are trains which he calls them 'choo-choo'.

Naturally I baked him a train cake. Time and weather weren't on my side when I began to bake and decorate after lunch. By the time the cake cooled, I had about three and a half hours to complete the cake before the arrival of my daughter's family for a simple birthday celebration dinner.

I used marshmallow fondant which I had prepared some time ago and refrigerated. (I don't like using store-bought fondant as it has a 'plasticy' kind of smell.)

The cake base was vanilla butter cake and the cylindrical shape was a chocolate swiss roll.

At 2.30 p.m, I began my task of cutting and kneading the fondant to cover the various shape. The tough part was trying to cover the parts with fondant. After crumb-coating the cake , I should have cool the cake to set the cream. Due to time constraint, I attempted wrapping it immediately. The creamed cake parts were difficult to handle, the cream got to my hands, the rolled fondant got messed-up! Ugrh!! The weather was hot and the buttercream began to turn runny!

Finally by 6 p.m, the cake was completed. The finishing wasn't as refined as I wanted it. But I consoled myself that it did look like a toy train.

Steamed Tofu with Braised Mushroom Meat Sauce

This is a super easy dish that can be whipped up in minutes. That is if you have mushroom meat sauce at hand which I do. I made quite a huge batch and had it frozen in air-tight containers. I only took out the amount needed, thawed and heated it up.

This mushroom meat sauce recipe can be found on Shirley's blog.

http://kokken69.blogspot.com/2010/08/braised-mushroom-meat-sauce.html

I tweaked the recipe to my taste and fancy. I omitted the five-spice powder (my family dislike the flavour), added more mushrooms, more fried shallots and included carrots to make it a one-dish meal.

Next I steamed a block of silken tofu (from a packet) for a few minutes and poured the heated meat sauce over it.

As it was a last minute decision to eat at home, I had neither spring onions nor cilantro to garnish.

The next time, I'll add in cubed potatoes and cherry tomatoes.

Ahhh..... the flexibility of cooking!!

Raisin Buns

I have not baked bread for a long time ever since my breadmaker decided to go away for good! I've had two breadmakers and both had enough of me working on them like a slave. So they ran away to some dump!

After reading so many posts on bread and buns, my fingers began to itch.

How could I possibly not bake bread for my food blog!

Today, I depended on my trusted major, Kenwood to do the job. He whined and groaned throughout the process. Oh dear! Am I such a mean taskmaster...errr..... mistress?

Thankfully all was well and I know that there will be breakfast tomorrow!

12 minutes and they were done!

I was seduced by the aroma of the bread baking in the oven. I just couldn't wait to pounce on one when they were done!

Spicy Tamarind Fish (2)

I cooked half of a diamond..... err diamond trevally or ikan chermin in Malay.

This was one of the fish my hub caught. (Forgot to take a pic)

It was quite big, almost 2 kg. I chopped the fish into two.

So today I used the tail part to cook assam pedas.

The head... hmmm.... maybe curry!

The Recipe:(In the previous recipe, I used buah keluak paste)

600g fish

A

250g peeled onions (1/2 shallots and 1/2 big onions)

3 cloves garlic

1 thumb-sized, thumb-length turmeric/kunyit

3 stalks lemon grass/serai (2 stalks to be ground and 1 stalk, bruised)

5 fresh red chillies and 5 dried chillies (add more if extreme spiciness is preferred)

3-cm galangal/lengkuas

1 teaspoon belachan/shrimp paste

B

1 small pineapple, sliced

6 lady's fingers

a small bunch of laksa leaves

tamarind/ assam water (if more tangy, use more tamarind to soak in water and how thick or diluted gravy preferred)

100ml thick coconut milk (optional)

Oil

Salt and sugar to taste

1. Grind ingredients in A.

2. Heat enough oil in a pot and fry A till fragrant.

3. Add in tamarind water, pineapple, some laksa leaves and fish. Bring to a boil.

4. Then add lady's fingers, salt and sugar to taste. (If using coconut milk, to add now) Boil for a while to cook the lady's fingers and it's done!

5. Serve with rice.

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I baked some cookies for tea.

Very crunchy and full of choc chips!

The Recipe:

125g butter, softened

90g caster sugar

90g light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

150g Self-raising flour

150g plain flour

250g semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini ones)

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

2. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat well.

3. Mix in chocolate chips and then flour.

4. Roll cookie dough into balls and place on lightly greased tray. Flatten and bake in preheated oven 160 deg C for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool and store in air-tight container.

And now you can have a cuppa tea!

I doubled the recipe and it yielded 67 cookies.

Pasta & King Oyster Mushroom in Whipped Cream

Tonight's dinner was quick and simple.

My hub had curry keema with baguette. (I always cooked extra and freeze for lazy/busy days.)

My daughter and I had pasta.

The Pasta:

200g Fusilli, boiled with a little salt till al dente, drained and set aside

2 king oyster mushroom, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

oil (Used canola, ran out of olive oil, didn't want to use butter)

salt to taste

a little water

whipped cream

dried oregano, basil from bottle

parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a pan and saute garlic for a while. Then add mushroom and stir fry till slightly soft.

Add in pasta and salt. Pour in about 75ml whipped cream and a little water. Stir to mix. Bring to a boil and it's done.

To serve, sprinkle oregano, basil and cheese.

The King Oyster Mushrooms

Fusilli, Basil and Cherry Tomato

With Oregano

Steamed Fish

I love steamed fish and I only cook them this way if they are fresh.

These were two of the haul brought home by my hub from his fishing trip.

I picked on these two because I like my fish to be of a certain size, no bigger than 14 inches or 36 cm.

First I prepare the sauce which would be poured over the fish after steaming.

Then I use the microwave to 'steam' the fish plain. After which I discard whatever juices that come from the fish. This tip was given to me by my brother-in-law. According to him, it is to lessen the fishy flavour which I discovered it to be true. Since then I've always applied this method when steaming fish.

Pour the heated sauce over the fish and then garnish.

The Sauce: (can be made in bulk and store in air-tight container in freezer)

5-cm ginger

6 or more cloves garlic

8 small onions/shallots

1 tablespoon soya bean paste/taucheo

5 or more fresh red chillies (depends on preference for spiciness)

lemon juice from 2 lemons

1/2 cup thick tamarind/assam water

sugar & salt to taste

oil

corn flour mixed with a little water (to thicken gravy slightly)

Chopped ginger, garlic, onions and chillies finely but not to paste-like.

Heat enough oil, and saute chopped ingredients and soya bean paste till fragrant.

Add tamarind water and lemon juice.

Add salt and sugar to taste.

Add cornflour and stir and let boil for a while. Remove and pour over cooked fish.

Making this sauce is up to personal taste. I like to be able to taste the ginger and garlic, the gravy to be sweet and salty yet tangy.

If you find the sauce too thick, simply add a little water to dilute.

The Grr...grouper!

Snappy Red Snapper!

The three of us practically clean up the fish to the bones! Very fresh indeed! Superb sauce! :P

Peace Connect - Luncheon

I don't have much to write about this occasion as most of it has been posted in details with pictures by Edith, Jane, Doris and Jess.

To find out more, do visit their blogs:

Edith@ Precious Moments

Jane@ Passionate About Baking

Jess@ Bakericious

Doris@ Tested and Tasted

@

I must say that I am very touched by Edith for organising the activity and the rest of the fellow bloggers and non-bloggers for unconditionally responding so willingly to help out. It was indeed a very meaningful time spent with the senior citizens. Even though it was for that couple of hours, I felt we did make them feel very special.

I am also glad to have been able to meet fellow bloggers. It is a pleasure getting to know them but unfortunately as everyone was busy on that day, we had very little opportunity to 'connect' properly. Hopefully we will be able to meet up soon!

Happy 21st Birthday!

My younger daughter just turned 21 a few days ago. This was her request for her cake! She didn't want anything too 'ku niang' or girlie! She's a soccer fan - not of local soccer but English soccer. Her favourite team is Liverpool! Alas! The team hasn't been performing and is currently 2nd from the bottom.

Initially I wanted to carve out Liverpool's logo but on second thoughts, it would probably take too much of my time and also stress me out!

Then my girl suggested that I make a football field and my hub chipped in with his recommendation of putting in some toy players. (He did not want me to get all 'kan cheong' or panicky trying to make the fondant figurines for good reasons). Well he went around some toy shops including Toys r Us but was unsuccessful in getting a set of players. So now what? No players?

Luckily for me, I dropped by at PH to buy some baking ingredients and chanced upon some sports cake toppers. I searched and found a set but there was no soccer ball!

The cake is my usual basic chiffon cake which I would flavour it accordingly. I decided on a strawberry flavour using freshly pureed strawberries and a little strawberry emulco.

There were four layers of cake and three types of frosting which were strawberry-flavoured swiss meringue cream, fresh strawberry jam (cooked the day before) and creamed cheese frosting.

The cake was a 38-cm square. The outer layer was covered with fondant which took me quite a long time to make and knead. To minimize the 'boyish' cake look, I added some fondant flowers to make it look more cheerful and also a fondant ball to complete the set! Thankfully my girl had no objections!

I realised that I did not take a shot of a sliced cake as I was too busy that night.

My Fishing Trip

These pictures were taken in April last year when I went on a five-day fishing trip to Pulau Dayang. It took us about 10 hours from Singapore to reach the island off Mersing. The boat trip alone took us 6 hours! It wasn't a very comfortable ride because it was a boat meant for fishing. It didn't have all the comfort of a ferry nor a cruise boat. There weren't even proper seats at all. Each time when a wave backlash hit the boat, we had to cling to something or we could find ourselves in serious deep waters of the South China Sea!

The Fishing Boat

Fish Assorted

More Fish

Groupers Galore!

An Unfortunate Visitor! - A juvenile black tip reef shark

The shark (about 1 metre long) was caught in the night. The boatman had already gaffed the shark and we could not save it and release it! :(

These groupers were about 30 cm long!

The pictures only showed 2 days' worth of catch. We fished for about three and a half days and you can imagine the amount of fish we caught. We could not load all the fish into our cooler boxes to take home. The rest were left behind for the boatman to sell to the market at Mersing.

My hub's recent fishing trip brought home a much bigger haul in terms of numbers and size. The fishes were bigger and varied.