Very simple & easy Chawanmushi recipe by ServicefromHeart

Chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し), also known as Savory Egg Custard or steamed egg, is a favorite of mine for its rich source of proteins and smooth texture. 

Literally, Chawan means tea bowl, Mushi means steamed in Japanese.

The first time I tried this meal was when I was living in La Jolla, California, studying and working hard. I wanted something that is fast and easy to prepare, and got this inspiration from Japanese meals. 

Serving : 1

Preparation : < 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

♥ 1 egg

♥ water (2x egg size) 

♥ 1/2 tsp sesame oil

♥ 1tsp light soy sauce or 1tbsp anchovies (or 1/4 tsp salt) 

♥ pinch (1/4 tsp) of sugar

♥ pinch of pepper

Extra ingredients (optional):

♥ ginkgo nut

♥ lily roots

♥ mushrooms e.g shitake, enoki 

♥ meat e.g. chicken, crabsticks (shredded)

♥ Kamaboko fish cake slices

♥ sake / mirin

♥ green onion, chopped

♥ white sesame seed, roasted

Directions:

1. In a bowl / cup, mix egg with water, soy sauce, oil, pepper. 

2. For smooth texture, strain the egg mixture through a sieve (optional). Add extra ingredients (optional)

3. Steam at medium heat for 10-15 minutes. If clear broth comes out when poked, it's ready.

Tips:

♥ To minimize bubbles, do not beat the eggs but gently stir the eggs with a pair of chopsticks. 

♥ Eggs vary in sizes. To know the best amount of water to mix with the egg is by using the size of the egg shell. For each egg, add 2 times of water of its egg shell. 

♥ If you do not use a cup with lid for steaming, use bowl covered with aluminium foil. 

♥ Check after 8 minutes. If you steam too long, there will be little holes on the custard.

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipe. 

Sweet pepper kinpira easy recipe by ServicefromHeart

Kinpira (金平 or きんぴら) simply means sauté and simmer. It is a Japanese method of stir-frying shredded or julienned vegetables quickly in a fragrant and spicy oil. 

I really love how crunchy sweet pepper can be prepared fast and with ease so we can spend more time enjoying their tastes and textures. 

Servings: 2

Preparation & cook time : 5 minutes

Ingredients:

♥ 1 tsp sesame oil

♥ 2 sweet peppers of different colors (red, yellow, orange, green), de-seeded, sliced thinly

♥ 2 tbsp white sesame seed, toasted

♥ 1 tbsp soy sauce / shoyu

♥ 1 tsp white wine / sake / mirin  (optional) 

♥ 1 tsp / pinch of sugar / cinnamon

♥ pinch of chili flakes / seven-spice powder or shichimi (optional, if you prefer spicy)

Directions:

1. Heat sesame oil in a frying pan over high heat.

2. Add the sweet peppers.

3. Sautee for 3-4 minutes until they turn brighter in color.

4. Add soy sauce, sugar, white wine & chili. 

5. Stir until soy sauce has evaporated. 

Tips:

♥ Kinpira tastes good hot or cold. 

♥ Crispy sweet pepper kinpira can be eaten with warm rice or cold salad. 

♥ You can keep kinpira up to a week in the fridge. 

♥ To prepare this meal without alcohol, use 1tbsp of sesame oil (instead of 1tsp oil) to substitute for white wine / sake / mirin. 

♥ Roasted sesame seeds have lost their fragrance, so lightly pan-roast them again before using to increase their flavor. 

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipe. 

Simple noodle recipe using reunion dinner steamboat leftover soup by ServicefromHeart

After you have done with reunion dinner consisting of steamboat, do not throw away the left-over soup. Keep it in the fridge. 

You can use it the next morning to cook for #5minutemeal rich-in-flavor noodle for breakfast or brunch on the first day of Lunar New Year. This fast-and-easy-to-prepare filling meal is a good start for a day of visiting relatives. 

Servings: 1

Preparation & cook time : 5 minutes

Ingredients:

♥ leftover steamboat broth

♥ noodle e.g. meesua

♥ an egg

♥ green vegetables e.g. caixin, xiaobaicai

Directions:

1. Bring water to boil.

2. Meanwhile, wash and cut vegetables to bite-sizes

3. Pour cooked noodle to a bowl. 

4. Use the same cooking pot to heat the leftover steamboat broth.

5. Add vegetables and then egg. 

6. Pour on the noodle. 

Tips:

If you want tofu-like texture of egg, add the egg slightly earlier before turning off the heat, so the egg will not be over-cooked. 

3 mini stories to help us to be more patient

Patience is a virtue, the saying goes. It is very easy to say so but it can be challenging to practice patience mindfully in every single day of our lives. Sometimes, we have lost our patience and experienced frustration. Forgive ourselves and others. Time can heal and let time heals. Do not worry about the past. Focus on now, our present. Try our best to be more patient, especially for things that matter.

Stories can help us to improve our characters, relationships and life quality. We love stories. They are like simple shortcuts on keyboards to rapidly regain our higher level of consciousness, in moments of stress, challenges and crises. Stories are inspiring, they connect our minds and souls, and make our lives meaningful. Herein, please find 3 mini stories that can help us to be more patient. 

♥ In the early years of bamboo's life, bamboo tree seed appears disappointingly stagnant -- not growing no matter how much hard work and caring have been performed on it. Then after four years of patiently seeing no result, suddenly the bamboo tree shoots up to ~25 meters! Patience allows bamboo tree to build strong foundation in its early years of life, so that it can grow tall and strong in the outside world. Nature simply demonstrates the power of gentle patience through the story of bamboo.

♥ In my high school, the cover of one of the three school magazines always featured two farmers bending their backs planting paddy. The title of the magazine is 拾穗 "The Gleaners". While I was hoping that the editors would change the cover images with something different, the consistent cover had become a permanent beautiful reminder for me on the importance and beauty of patience. If farmers do not patiently plant paddies and collect grains, bending their backs over and over again under the hot sun, we will have no rice - our main staple food on our table. Thank you very much farmers! 

♥ A kind course mate of mine, Persuade Chiwinda from Harare, Zimbabwe shared her memoir of her beloved mother. Her writing has touched my heart and brought all the sweet memories of all my mothers. Besides my loving biological mother, I am blessed with a patient mother-in-law, encouraging Godmothers, and motherly teachers and mentors. Persuade's mother and all my mothers have greatly inspired me to: 

♡ Be there when our children reach their first milestones. 

♡ Encourage our children to smile and laugh more often. 

♡ Listen to all fears and worries of our children with gentle patience, endless empathy and caring love. 

Thank you very much mothers! I love you always from my deepest bottom of my heart ♡♡♡!

A meaningful happy life has its moments of darkness and sadness. 

Never make our most important decisions when we are in our low time or worst moods.

Wait with gentle patience and equanimity.

The storm will pass and the spring wil come! 

Helping people is the origin of happiness

 
Three things happen to highlight to me on how helping people can simply bring happiness. 

♥ This morning, our housemate Amirah kindly offered to throw a bag of rubbish that I placed near door. I was about to combine it with the leaves of strawberries after finish eating them. She is an inspiration for me to be kind and helpful to people.  

♥ The main message of a book entitled "The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future" written by Chris Guillebeau is about how startups create value by helping people. 

♥ While commuting, I recall a quote from my days in late 1990s: 助人为快乐之本, which literally means "Helping people is the origin of happiness". 

More:

www.forbes.com/sites/michaelellsberg/2012/06/04/chris-guillebeau/

www.entrepreneur.com/blog/223149

A happy Tuesday morning of simple breakfast

♥ a mug of coffee with fresh milk

♥ a slice of wheat bread with 1/2 sliced cheese & 2 strawberries 

♥ 2-3 tsp of chocolate cake 

♥ a view of garden

♥ quick sunshine-accompanied browsing of a recipe book by www.justbento.com

Thank you! I am very grateful! 

Almost Famous Amos crunchy chocolate cookies recipe by LukSunshine

Lunar New Year 2014 is approaching. Today, I am craving for chocolate cookies! This recipe was shared by my sister. Delicious food and sweet treats can always happily remind us on our loved ones who have made them or something similar for us.

Preparation time: 30 minutes + 2 hours for mixture
Cooking time: 30 minutes

For mixture to incubate for at least 2 hours:
♥ 1 large egg
♥ vanilla extract
♥ 1/2 teaspoon coffee oil / coffee extract
Ingredients:
♥ 226 gr (1 cup) unsalted butter
♥ 200 gr (1 cup) light brown sugar
♥ ½ cup (65 gr) ground almond
♥ ½ cup (45 gr) quick oats
♥ 275 gr (2¾ cup) all purpose flour
♥ 1 teaspoon baking powder
♥ 2 tablespoon (10 gr) cocoa powder
♥ Pinch of salt
♥ ½ cup of nuts of your choice
♥ ¾ cup chocolate chips/ chocolate chunks

Directions:

Draw My Life Map : Indonesia - Malaysia - Singapore - world

This mini video of Draw My Life Map (URL:http://youtu.be/C5dUrELzzeI) is inspired by an exercise for a course of storytelling by Novoed. 

I used mouse (using digitized pen will be better) to draw in SpeedyPainter (speedypainter.altervista.org), which is freely available. For editing, I used Movie Maker.

Transcript:
Hello friends
I am going to share with you my little life map.
Sit back and relax.

I spent my early months of life in a little farm in Sumatera, Indonesia - a beautiful emerald of equator. Before I turned 1 year old, Daddy and Mommy moved to Jakarta for a better life.The capital was entirely different from the rural area of Sumatera where we came from.

At age three, I had a lovely baby brother.
His short stay with us reminds me forever on the precious yet vulnerable life.
I dearly miss him!
Several years later, I had a sister and another much younger brother, whom I love very much!

My childhood was simple and happy, with schools, friends, books and TVs.
I enjoyed riding a bicycle, watching MacGyver and SeaQuest episodes on local TV channel, relying heavily on the subtitles. Not many people spoke English in Jakarta at that time.
My favorite books include the translated versions of The Famous Five novels by British author Enid Blyton.
After completing my homework, I eagerly looked forward to join the adventures and picnics of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and her dog Timmy. Timmy would do anything for her, such a great loyalty!
I dreamed that when I was reaching their ages, I would go for such adventures with my dear friends like The Famous Five did.
Many years later, a part of the dream was realized in my young adulthood, when I occasionally helped my housemate to walk his playful golden retriever that loves to chase tennis balls, ducks and ducklings, swimming at the River Cam.

Back to my childhood.
A riot happened in Jakarta. That event severely affected many people.
They lost everything, including their loved ones.
The event also changed the course of my simple and peaceful life with my family.
Daddy and Mommy were determined to work harder so that they could afford to send me to a safer place.

It was the first time I applied for a passport and flied with a single-way ticket to a neighboring country: Malaysia.
At the beginning, living far far away from Daddy, Mommy, my sister and brother, I often felt sad and worried about my family.
It was tough, r-e-a-l-l-y tough!

Fortunately in Malaysia, I was blessed with kind friends and encouraging teachers. Thanks to them, I looked forward going to school, to learn, to chat everyday. I am forever grateful to them. For the first time of my life, I learned Chinese Mandarin at school. I found the Chinese letters beautiful, every stroke can carry feelings, emotions and aspirations.
Somehow, some of these beautiful letters and words transpire over five-thousand-years of wisdom.
I fell in love with many idioms and quotes, especially those related to happiness, nature and people.
Let me share one of my favorite:
笑口常开 / Xiao4Kou3Chang2Kai1.
It means "Smile & Laugh Often".
I wish you, my dear friends, 笑口常开!

During our high school days, we wanted so much to go to a university, so that we could train in our chosen disciplines, pursue our dream careers, earn a decent living to take care of our ageing parents and future children.
My friends and I worked hard in our study. 
Learning by heart is rewarding, generous people have allowed me to come to Singapore with a scholarship for my undergraduate study. It means a lot for me. 
Thank you from my deepest heart.

So I come to Singapore - the Little Red Dot of Southeast Asia.
On Yunnan Campus, I made many friends, learned from my professors and peers, further developed deeper passions for life and learning, worked part-time, volunteered in several activities, including a mentorship program organized by the Welfare Service Club. We also performed song signings for Christmas!  

Since then, my passions have brought me to many places worldwide, learning from and sharing with people who have become dear friends. 
Places shape people, and people shape places too.

Fast forward to now, I am very grateful with my life, my experiences (bad and good), and most importantly, the people who have walked with me, have loved me and whom I love.
Although everyday I face new challenges, I choose to see them as opportunities to learn, to be creative, and to grow in our lives.
There are many people whose lives are far from the acceptable and their ideals.
What can we do for them?
How is about choosing to be happy and grateful?
Being grateful creates simple happiness.
When we are happy, our minds relax and we can conceive meaningful ideas and solutions.
When we are happy, we can spread our joy.
"Happiness is contagious".
I tell myself to make at least three people smile everyday.
It's not that difficult, I am sure you can do much better than me.
Being alive is a miracle.
Being happy is a choice.

Kimchi pancake with yoghurt mixture recipe by servicefromheart

 



Servings: 2
Preparation & cook Time : 10 minutes
 
Ingredients for pancake mixture:
♥ 1/2 cup cake flour (or all purpose flour)
♥ 1/4 cup sweet potato flour
♥ 3/4  cup of yoghurt & slight amount of water
♥ 1 tbsp anchovies
♥ 2 tbsp chopped kimchi to ensure its tangy fragrant is spread evenly
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Pour pancake mixture to the frying pan, lower the heat to between-medium-and-low.
3. After a side turns golden brown, flip to cook the other side.
4. Garnish with your favorite vegetables / fruits.

Tips:
♥ If you like crispy pancake, ensure you spread the mixture thinly on frying pan.
♥ Serve the hot pancake with cold salad, the yin-yang sensation of hot and cold brings delicious treats to our taste buds.

Encourage, share stories

In a talk of GPU by NVIDIA, I made a new friend with Nguyen, a student sitting next to me. He is a forth year undergraduate at the School of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University. His final year project is on developing a framework for CUDA (aka Compute Unified Device Architecture) programming. I wished him all the Best for his final months in NTU. 

Since his arrival in Singapore, his parents has never visited him. He hopes that they will be able to attend his graduation. We chatted for a while, from study to future. Giving others hopes and encouragements can make their days. A Chinese saying goes, "良言胜金玉."

Meeting him also reminds me on Terry, a senior and a friend of mine. Hope you are doing awesome in the Bay area! 

"Saturday" by Rebecca Black & Dave Days

An inspiration from baby's favorite toy

For many occasions, when baby Ren is drinking his mother's milk, he loves to play around with a pink spectacle box. He touches the texture of the box (grainy outside, smooth inside), opens and closes the box, turns it around. He seems never bored repeating the activities, and sometimes he will smile back as if he has found something interesting. 

What is so interesting about the spectacle box?

Baby Ren has not reached the stage when he can explain things, so we can only guess what is going on in his tiny yet growing head.  

By using his hands (as Austin Kleon has advocates), he focuses on his toy of a daily object. He is learning a little bit about the world through a spectacle box - a mundane object for me. Many times, we become familiarized with things (sometimes referred as habituation) that we have not succeeded to notice their beauty. If we can view things with fresh perspectives like babies do, perhaps we will experience more 'AHA' moments of ideas, inspirations and happiness.

Somedays you just have to create your own sunshine

Image credit: Phung Vuong of The Bean Store, 399 Vo Van Tan, Quan 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Thanks to this beautiful picture, I remember these occasions ... 

♥ While visiting a senior in Dana Farber Cancer Institute, her roommate put a very beautiful large scenery picture with glorious sunshine. He said since their room has no window, he just wanted to create a little sunshine. Nature and sunshine indeed boost happiness!

♥ The weather of England is famous for its frequent gloomy feelings. When the sun suddenly appeared at noon break after a prolonged gloomy and wet weather, we would enthusiastically pack our lunch to eat outside. My favorite outdoor venues include Cambridge Botanical Garden. 

A mini story about touch

I am grateful for a learning opportunity to attend a talk entitled "Mechanosensory transduction and its modification in C. elegans" given by Professor Martin Chalfie of Columbia University and a Nobel Laureate (Chemistry 2008) . 

A funny and friendly speaker who uses analogies to better explain ideas, he shared about his works using mutants of proteins that are involved in mechanotransduction. 

Caenorhabditis elegans is a ~ 1 mm long worm that has been widely used in scientific experiments as a model organism. 

When you touch its head, it moves backward and turns.

When you touch its tail, it moves forward. 

C. elegans eat bacteria, and fungi eat C. elegans.

Below are some (non-technical) inspirations from his talks, of course he did not mention these ideas, but it is always fascinating to think randomly and in stochastic manners.

♥ Touch your loved ones: babies, grandparents, lovers, friends. 

How good do you feel? Can you feel even better? 

Imagine your protein molecules in your mechanosensory (neuron) cells working in concert to bring the signals in your body and mind. 

Thanks to the transparency of C. elegans, studying cellular differentiation and developmental processes in the intact organism, is possible. 

♥ How is about keeping our items in transparent boxes and containers to facilitate faster search? 

♥ How is about having more windows to our living / study / work space, to let the energy of sunlight empower us? 

♥ A grandmother who inspires to declutter and her new gift ♥

"Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of practice." ~ Author unknown

We are very grateful for this new set of clothes for baby Ren - a gift from his grandmother 婆婆 for the Lunar New Year of 2014.

In Singapore, Lunar New Year, mostly celebrated by Chinese, is one of significant traditional holidays, with two days of public holidays. The celebration includes the first 15 days of the year, when family members and friends visit others.

Before the first day of Lunar New Year, it is a good idea to follow a tradition of spring cleaning the house. The traditonal belief is spring cleaning sweeps away unpleasant things and makes ways for good incoming luck. This is similar to the concept of decluttering. When we clean our physical space, we also consciously or subconsciously clean our mental space, to welcome new ideas and hopes. Decluttering can provide us with a beautiful world of new freedom and fresh breath.

When you do spring cleaning or decluttering, don't worry about your decision. A helpful tips (at least for me) is to ask myself a simple question:
"Will I (we) use / enjoy this item in a year time?"
If not, you can either donate (give away), recycle, or discard it.

For sentimental items, for example gifts from someone who loves you or whom you love, you can take a photograph of them. That's why I have taken this photo before baby Ren wears it for the first time. In the near future, he will outgrow this new set of clothes and it will be time to give away to others.

Bring a Medela breast pump for servicing in Singapore

Last week, My Medela breast pump suddenly stopped during twice of its usages. So, I decided to bring it for servicing.

What are the things to bring for servicing?

★ motor & (optional) padded bag to protect it.

★ adaptor.

★ warranty or receipt alone is ok.

I recommend you bring all parts required for pumping so you can test it right after servicing. There is a tiny nursing room at the servicing site.

Where to bring Medela pumps for servicing? 

J & E Baby and Mothercare Products Pte Ltd

No. 81 Toh Guan Road East

# 03-01 Secom Centre

Singapore 608606

Tel 6562 6298

Fax 6562 3108

Email medela@equipmedical.com.sg

Operating hours: 

Monday - Friday 9am-12 noon. 2-5pm.

Saturday 9am-12 noon. 

If you are coming through Jurong East MRT, take bus 183 and get down at the 8th bus stop (ID 28691), near the Wang-Fu Ind Pte Ltd. Then walk, along the bus direction for about 2 minutes (no shelter). 

Bus 183 is a double decker. Go up, sit back & enjoy the ride. Like the low-flying birds, you get a bird view of the journey. Whenever I travel, I love double-decker buses because they can transform the relatively mundane commuting to a magical experience. 

The friendly Phillipine accented receptionist staff walked down the aisle to show me where the washroom is. Thank you! While you wait for servicing, you can shop / window shop at the site. There are some baby products on display there. 

Finally, I am grateful that with the invention and commercialization of breast pumps, baby has enjoyed mother's milk for ~ a year. Thank you Medela! 

No added-on sugar home made milkshake

On summer or hot days, you and your loved ones will love a glass of cold milkshake or smoothie.

 

Ingredients: 

♥ Fresh, pasteurized cow milk

♥ Papaya

♥ Honeydew

♥ ice cubes (optional) 

Directions:

1. Blend all the ingredients. until you have the smooth texture

2. The sweetness and flavor of fruits varies, so it is best to experiment with amount. Add generous amount of fruits until you do not have to add additional sugar. 

3. Best if served immediately. Enjoy!

We are grateful for this Santa mug of papaya honeydew milkshake, a simple happiness! 

Make a fussy-eater drinks his soup through a combination

Late last night, I started to cook a big bowl of 6-flavored soup using slow cooker, so that we can have bowls of hot soup the first thing we wake up in the morning.

Previously, baby Ren was not keen in drinking soup, so how is about making his daily cereals with soup instead of hot water? 

He likes it! I am very happy and grateful. 

Drink my soup while feeding him.

Response to his opening-mouth babbling "Ak..." to request for more food. 

Listen to gentle classical music, it does magic in calming baby.

Admire the baby BIG satisfied smiles melts your heart. 

I am very thankful for this beautiful Sunday Morning.

New pair of cushioned sandals that are hopefully sole-friendly

Many thanks to Zhen for recommending cushioned sandals, it feels like having little pillows to support our every step of walk, especially for people who love and must walk a lot like me. 

While trying to understand more about the benefits and comfort that cushions bring (e.g. preventing and relieving the pains for corns, callous and bunions), I learn about cushioned gel made of transparent silicone. It comes with sticky pad. Ideally, it should be washable and reusable (eco-friendly!). Perhaps, next time I will try cushioned gel for my shoes / sandals / flip flops that are uncushioned. 

I bought it at toa payoh for $10. I am grateful! 

A happy dinner @ Star Vista

My girlfriend Min shared with me her pleasant new year 2014 trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia. 

She spent 7 days visiting temples including the magnificent Angkor Wat. The food is similar to Thai & Vietnamese cuisine.

Wishing her all best for the plan to visit Hawaii!

She also recommended me watching 《爸爸去哪儿》, which are available in YouTube.

For dinner, I had tomato-based ramen, with sesame-sauced salad.

Recycle your gift wrapping papers

Receiving gifts is joyful.

That's why children (and even grown-ups) love Santa!

Buying or creating gifts for others, 

and wrapping them make us happier, 

at least according to social science research.

When you receive gifts,

slow down... 

gently unwrap your gifts,

so that you can re-use and recycle your gift wrapping papers.

♥ Be sustainable.

♥ Save papers.

♥ Save our planet.

A Friday lunch

Today lunch was with Hazel and Prabha from Selangor, Malaysia. We sat over-looking greenery and enjoyed the wind. Their boss baked them treats (like the dark chocolate muffin that I had after the main meal) weekly. Sweet and inspiring! 

I sincerely hope that I will have more time and energy to create more treats (such as cookies, cakes, inspirational gifts) for you! ♡♡♡

An afternoon tea chat

During an afternoon tea chat with Garima and Mohan, I had a re-heated walnut brownie that made me happy! 

Garima remembers the birthday of almost everyone she knows, so I asked her how she does that.

Her answer is simple. 

"A good memory."

Having a good memory can help us to make others happy. 

The Drop Box of Unwanted Babies

When I heard about a documentary trailer entitled "The Drop Box", I thought it is about the Dropbox - a web-based file hosting service. 

"The Drop Box" turns to be a tremendous inspiration. 

A 3-minute-length documentary that tells a lifelong story of hope & love. 

It highlights the challenges of every mother.  

It emphasizes the rights of every baby to live and be loved. 

To quote Pastor Lee - nicknamed as a "lover of the unlovable", 

"Among faith, hope, love, 

the best is Love."

Pastor Lee Jong Rak of Jusarang Orphanage built the drop box to save unwanted babies from dying after being abandoned.

The baby box is lined with blankets and heated to keep baby warm. 

When a baby is placed in the box, an alarm alerts Pastor Lee or the orphanage voluntary members on the arrival of the baby, who will quickly build the baby inside.

This innovative process is critical for the survival of babies, especially during harsh winter. 

Having experiencing few days of a tough winter in Seoul, I greatly appreciate Pastor Lee's creativity.

Many babies left in the Drop Box were born with disabilities, a reason why they were unwanted and abandoned by their mothers living in a society that highly values physical perfection and reputation / face (面子).

The documentary was produced by Brian Ivie of Arbella Studios, that is based in Los Angeles, California. In a beautiful memorable summer, I have encountered many talented and kind people in California, I sincerely hope that one day I can visit there again.

The documentary won the 2013 Best of Festival at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and the 2013 Sanctity of Life award at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

To support the vision and legacy of Pastor Lee and his flock, you can kindly donate to Kindred Image (www.KindredImage.org), a non-profit organization for this cause. 

Thank you very much! 

Dayre, a diary mobile app

Dayre is a free mobile app that helps you to ...
♥ blog on your mobile device (both iOS & Android) 
♥ journal with words, photos, videos, stickers (emoticons), locations / check-ins

First launched on November 8th, 2013, the name Dayre sounds like Diary. 
All updates shared on the same day appear as parts of one post (for that particular Day of the year, e.g. Day 14), which is helpful for getting organized.

Throughout your day, you can share in little pieces. Dayre will then connect the dots into a daily, weekly and even monthly post format. 

My mobile phone AVG AntiVirus notifies that Dayre is considered as intrusive app, but I still install it. 

My first post to Dayre was a birthday cake treat from sweet and always smiling Bianca. Happy Birthday Dear!  

The first Dayre blog that I followed was thisenchantedpixie, I greatly love the beautiful work by this mother of three lovely daughters.

Dayre is similar to ... 
★ Tumblr in categorized posts,
★ Instagram in filtered photos,
★ Twitter in sharing characters but Dayre allows 500 chars (which is ~3.5 more than the former's 140 chars),
★ Line in enabling emoticon stickers

Dayre features that you can try ...
★ choose a category for your blog. My blog fits multiple categories (Food (Recipes), Photography(Blogs), Travel, Parenting, Individual Lifestyle, Geek), but if I can propose a new one, I would choose happiness. Since this option is not available, I choose Individual Lifestyle. 
★ share Your "My Day To" your facebook.
★ Apply on your photos any of these filters: Seared, Somnia, Matte, Colonial, Mono, Uno, Stark, Balmoral, Tender, Envy, Clarity. 
★Hashtag the words you want to tag and they will appear as clickable links that enable other Dayre users to discover your content and follow you.  

Some ideas of using Dayre that you may love:
♥ take (at least) a photo everyday
♥ write a poem everyday
♥ express daily gratitude 
♥ share a daily quote
♥ tell stories
♥ share a favorite recipe
♥ share an experiment in your kitchen / lab
♥ keep a travel log
♥ record your baby and children (they grow very fast!) 
♥ commit daily to any or few of these ideas

Features that I hope that Dayre will develop:
★ Post by email. Currently, Dayre only allows users to share updates from mobile phones. 
★  Tags added to Dayre posts are also clickable through an internet browser. Currently, the tags are only clickable within the app itself. 
★  Faster upload of photos and videos. Currently, Dayre does it slower than Instagram. 

Thank you for reading my little notes and app review ♥♥♥

My gratitude also goes to Timothy Tiah and Cheo Ming Shen, the founders of both Dayre and Nuffang, entrepreneurs who allow ordinary people like me to create and jot down our stories. 

Please follow my Dayre : http://dayre.me/servicefromheart

Easy Homemade Thick Indonesian Pancake / Martabak Manis Recipe by LukSunshine

This recipe video of easy homemade thick Indonesian Pancake was created by my sister who runs her Youtube Channel LukSunshine.



Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (for 1 big martabak with diameter 28 cm~ 11 inch):
250 gr (8.8 oz) all purpose flour
10 gr (2 tbsp) granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 package of active instant yeast (2 teaspoon ~ 7 gr)
350 ml (1½ cup of warm milk ~ around 37 degree C or 98 degree F)
2 medium size eggs
pinch of salt

Filling:
1 cup of toasted peanut, ground till fine (can be substituted with peanut butter spread)
1/2 cup of chocolate rice or chocolate chips or shaved chocolate or nutella spread
3 tbsp sweet condensed milk
2 tbsp butter/margarine (use butter to increase the milky aroma and it will taste more delicious)
Optional: 1/4 cup toasted white sesame seeds
1 cup grated cheddar cheese + 3 tbsp sweet condensed milk (for salty martabak)

Hydrate (5-10 minutes) the active instant yeast with warm milk & a sprinkle of sugar.
The fermentation takes place for about 20 minutes (short time) to allow the yeast to produce carbon dioxide (gas) that will create the structure and the texture of martabak.

Music: Manuk Dadali (Garuda Pancasila) and Bali Lounge 2 (Samba Sunda)

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Our Resolutions for New Year 2014: 4Ls

♥ Live meaningfully.
♥ Love more : forgive ourselves and others. 
♥ Laugh more : make at least 3 people smile daily (including yourself). 
♥ Learn more and share with others. 

Cheese egg simple, fast & happy recipe

Servings: 2 

Prep & Cook Time: ~5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 sliced cheese

chopped parsley 

chopped shallot

Directions:

1. Heat frying pan with olive oil.

2. Add chopped shallot. Sautee until fragrant. 

3. Mix egg with chopped parsley.

4. Pour the egg mixture onto the pan evenly to cover surface.

5. After the bottom side of egg is cooked / turns slightly golden brown, 

invert the egg & use low heat. 

6. Add sliced cheese evenly onto the surface.

7. Heat until the other bottom surface of egg is also cooked. 

I really love the smooth, soft & melty cheese on tongue!

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipe. 

Crying Sand 哭沙 by 林志炫

Hope you like this song :)