Sarawak Laksa

We had a potluck gathering yesterday at our house. Most people are from our small group in West Houston Chinese Church http://www.whcchome.org
Since we brought back a few packs of Sarawak Laksa rempah, we decided to give it a try. I think the first batch of Laksa soup come out okay while the second batch was slightly below average. There were several Penangites among the guests. Penang laksa is very well known. So I asked Uncle Ong from Penang to pose in the photo to show that the laksa passed Penangites taste bud.
Thanks to all the guests, we also enjoyed many other food during this gathering. My favorites included a casserole dish from a Sabah couple, and a black sugar dessert that took 5 hours baking time from a Taiwan couple.

Meredith with doggie

We went to a friend house for dinner the day after we had the accident. They were making some mean bbq. It was delicious. They made Brazilian style Picanha skirt steak. Anyway, Meredith was having a good time too with their dog. She wanted to touch their dog. She would stick her finger out when the dog look the other way and then quickly retract it as the dog turn around.
She finally worked up enough courage to touch the dog.
Here's some short video clips.


Saturday, January 27, 2007

Hello Kitty Backpack

These photos were taken probably a few weeks ago when we just came back from Malaysia. Someone gave Meredith a Hello Kitty backpack. I make her put it on just to annoy her. She doesn't like to have anything put her back. After these photos were taken, she somehow managed to free herself from the backpack.

Car accident

We were involved in a car crash last Saturday night, January 21. Everyone is safe now but it was quite a harrowing experience at the time. The damage to the car was moderately serious. We were driving about 30mph (40km/h) when it happened. Boon Hong hit her head on the windshield and cracked one small area of the windshield. Thank God she is okay. She did not show any signs of concussions and the doctor doesn't think she requires any further attention.
Meredith was strapped in her car seat in the back so she was okay. I was sitting in the rear seat and I bumped into the front seat when that happened. Other than that, I am okay too.

It was raining at the time. Thankfully a friend was not too far ahead of us in a different car ( we just finished eating dinner at Restoran Kuala Lumpur). So he turned around and Meredith stayed in his car while we complete the police paperwork and arrange for the tow truck to take our car away. The car was stored in a collision storage facility for two nights. On Monday, the car was towed to a dealership near I-10 & Gessner for repair. Insurance will pay for almost all the repair. The repair advisor contacted me yesterday and his latest estimate is about $7,500 for all the parts and labor. There's no structural or engine damage but when our car struck the truck, the bumper crushed, the radiator and fan was shoved back and this struck throttle body on infront of the engine. The engine hood also buckled upward and pulled in the left front fender as it happened. I also learned something about the airbag. Although one of the airbag sensor was hit, airbags did not deploy. Apparently, the rate of deceleration or the strike zone has to be just right for airbags to be deployed. The repair will take approximately two weeks so now we are both carpooling together to work.

In conclusion, accidents are easily preventable and we should be very careful when driving. We also Thank God that everyone is okay.

More photos

I actually left my digital camera in Boon Hong parents house in Johor. We went to Kuching directly from KL, so there's almost no photos from Kuching. But here's some more photos from this trip.

Meredith & cousins

Meredith met her cousins for the first time during this trip. Since I am the only child in my family, she wouldn't have any cousin from my side of the family. At last count, she already has four cousins from Boon Hong's side of the family. Meredith enjoyed playing with Yu Shien and Yu Yang. She showed her eagerness in participating in their activities by crawling around them and snatching away their toy cars. Being a few years older, they don't neccessary want to play with her. Nonetheless, I think they all enjoyed each other company.

KL Trip

We went to KL the second day after we arrived in Malaysia. We were in a rush to get Boon Hong's visa renewed at the embassy. Boon Hong's big sister took days off from work just to drive us to KL. Her mum and both her sister's kids went as well. We stayed at her second sister's condo. It was a really nice condo with even better view looking outside. You can see Federal mosque, Petronas Twin Tower and KL Tower juxtaposed together in the same window frame.

Although the trip primary purpose was to renew her visa, this trip turned up to be a nice reunion for Boon Hong, her sisters and mum. These three girls went marathon shopping together for two days. I am really glad that they got to spend time together because Boon Hong had not seen them since a year and a half ago.

Malaysia Trip December 2006

We just came back from Malaysia after going back for a 3 weeks trip. Honestly, I don't feel like returning to Houston after the end of 3 weeks. There are so much warmth from our families and friends. Meredith also went to Kuching for four days. My parents miss her a lot and she really brightens up their live for 4 days.

Boon Hong parents too got to know Meredith. They started to like her a lot by the end of the seven days. While we were in Hong Kong, Meredith fell head first from a rather high sofa and struck the hard wood floor. It was quite a scare for us and we worried that she might have a concussion internally. Boon Hong parents also called and asked how Meredith was doing.

Anyway, we took a lot of pictures. Here's my favorite photo from the trip. It was taken on Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong.

Meredith first wedding

Our friends June and Jason got married this past weekend. This was the first wedding Meredith attended and Boon Hong searched far and wide to locate a dress for Meredith. Unfortunately, Meredith didn't play a role in the wedding even after dressing up.

Meredith washing her bottle

We normally boil Meredith's bottles with filtered water every few days. This is because Houston water supply contains a lot of dissolved solids. Once heated up, the solid such as calcium carbonate will precipitate out and form a layer of white scale in cooking pot and also baby's bottles. We try to once filtered water and the result is slightly better. One day, I placed the big pot used to boil the bottles on kitchen floor while waiting for the filtered water to fill it up. Meredith saw this and decided to help me. She touched the water to ensure that it is the right temperature. She also tossed the bottles around in the pots to ensure everything is submerged in water. I can see her being a really good helper in future.

Baby and french bread

We bought a french bread from Target last week. We were supposed to serve the french bread along with some bbq for a gathering. Anyway, Meredith decided to take a bite out of the french bread. See the missing crust on the first photo. She started playing the french bread after taking a few small bites. About 20 minutes later, Meredith was supposed to have her milk. I gave her the french bread instead of her usual milk and she started crying.

Baby and squash

Our neighbor planted some long squash in their backyard. Some of the squash has overgrown into our back yard. I took one and gave it to Meredith. At first, she looked amused and even surprised by the squash. It took her a while to warm up to the squash and gather enough courage to touch the squash.

Houston Satay Festival

Selling satay can be good business in Houston, Texas. This past saturday was the annual the Malaysian, Singaporean hawker fair day. We helped our friends in their satay stall. We sold 450 satays in two hours! People were still standing in line wanting to buy satay and we had to turn them away.

There's an untapped market for satay in Houston. I think it's a viable business selling satay in Houston.

More DC trip photos

We stayed in an old, historical hotel in DC called the Willard Hotel. This hotel is amazingly close to the White House. In fact, we walked about 1 block or 3 minutes to the White House. Quite a few past US presidents had stayed in this hotel before during its glory days in the early 1900s. Abraham Lincoln had stayed here for a few weeks and conducted state affairs here. Legend has it that the term "lobbyist" was invented here as people seeked favors from President Ulysees Grant when he chilled out in the lobby bar.

All told, we stayed here because it's free from frequent flier points. It's still quite nice but you can tell it's an older hotel and not worth the price. We met a Malaysian working at the reception desk. She is a hotel management student doing her on the job training. Isn't it amazing to run into Malaysian all the time?

Panda Hair Band in Smithsonian Museum

We haven't posted any photos from our trip to DC during the labor day weekend. So this is the first of a series of photos.
Bame flew for the first time on the DC trip. It was a two and a half hour plane ride. Baby Meredith was incredibly coorperative during the plane ride. She didn't have a problem when the plane was taking off or landing.

We visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Science the first day. Some of Bame best photos were taken in the gift shop. Bame enjoyed modeling the hair band below.