Facebook can do wonders!

Some time ago, Missy felt a little worthless and helpless. It wasn't anything mild considering that her friend, Mr Depression, left for gloomier pastures only 2 years before, and she had only stopped all medication a little before that. Although it's nothing suicidal yet but it's definitely putting a strain on her self-esteem as well as her relationship with anyone who came within the 2mile radius.

And that is when I came to know about Laura Benjamin, a fellow writer no doubt, and also a coach in various aspects. Truth is, I searched for ways to overcome communication disasters failures. Not that I think I'm crap when it comes to conveying thoughts, but when everything goes the wrong way and you're down in the dump, you just want to do something, anything, and set things right again.

I loved Laura as a woman. I see her like the guardian nanna who teaches you life's lessons from the comfort of her kitchen while stirring a pot of winter soup. One of the many little details I got from her is (and, yay!) confidence. With confidence, I befriended Ms. Faith and Dr. Miracle.

Which comes to this post today.

I was attracted back to her blog yesterday with a simple title, "How Blogging Connected Birth Mom and Adopted Child 36 Years Later". And why wouldn't I? You and I both know Missy is a sucker for everything sweet and miraculous and amazing and.. yeah, you got that.

So, it all started with joining Facebook. (Oh, and welcome to Facebook, Laura! Give me a poke if you see me there) A little touch here, and a couple of looks there.. soon, Laura decided for a trip down memory lane and created a group for her high school, and eventually its very own little blog, www.cardinalmooneyhighschoolblog.com

It might sound err-no-way-you-too?!-coincident, but a day before I read Laura's blog, I just joined my own high school's Facebook group, SETA! Now that I think back, I did feel a rush of excitement when I was browsing through the picture gallery and looking at the list of groupies, especially old classmates. Good ol' memories, indeed.

Back to our subject, a young man named Matt left a comment to look for his birth parents, who, as you would have guessed, both attended Rochester NY Cardinal Mooney High School. Follow what happened next in Laura's post here.

The miracle of miracles in short, he DID find his birth mother and they FINALLY met after 36 years, when he was sent for adoption all those years ago.

Now, honey, if you don't call this amazing, or grandly newsworthy, I don't know what is. Till I give birth to my own twins in 4 years' time, this will remain one of the most joyous moments in life for me. And it doesn't even have anything to do with me! Amazing..

On a side note, I'm thinking to take up yoga & meditation. All in pursuit of MY search. Wonder how I'll fare..

mysoju

Thanks to one of my babes far, far away, I've come to know this one site that I vow to love forever..

I present to you..

mysoju.com..

Right now, it's my perfect, quick Korean fix. Though with THAT list to go through, I don't think it'll be anything quick.

They have Japanese, Taiwanese and HK movies and dramas too! Oh, happy days!!

I Eat, I Pray, and I sure Love..

Speaking of geniuses and/or heroines and/or women worth dreaming about, Elizabeth Gilbert definitely makes it to my list.

I'm currently 1/3 of my way through her journey in this splendid book, Eat, Pray, Love, and already I find myself living her world, thinking her thoughts and feeling deep within her.

This book is basically about The Search. Yes, The Search with capitals T and S. Why? Because, it's an untouchable, invisible force of searching. Each page brings with it new understanding of deeper understanding, as you will see once you flip the pages for yourself.

I'm inspired.

Though I can't possibly (not now, anyway) pack my bags and leave the country in pursuit of my search, I can, however, feel the motivation to live life fuller. I eat like it's the Italian's last chance to cook. I pray like that's the reason it rains and shines in India. And I love.. I love like the unconditional sway of banyan trees along the coasts of Indonesia.

Witty aside, this is one deeply inspirational and motivating read. God bless Liz!

And thank you, The Great Force of Being, for bestowing upon me the chance to realize how thoroughly blessed I am, with what I have and who I have. Things are never meant to be. If you are given, then please, open up the heart to let in gratitude.

Here's one I'm grateful for: Baby Hubz, and the life we share.

Here's three more of whom I officially give my heart to: my Twin, my Bi, my Wife.

And of course, there's ALWAYS the Family.

I heart you all.

Dumpling Darlings

It's been quite some time. Missy has left this blog cold, and the kitchen unattended. And she feels terrible.

I got startled awake today by this ominous sense of guilt. Though it's nothing as exaggerated, but sure enough, my Internet connection is still a major disappointment. And like some kind of gentle sign, I realized that all but Google pages are down and inaccessible. (The Force has its way of telling you what to do, sometimes.)

Today was indescribably cold.. with drizzle dancing down the panes, and your hair standing along the length of your arm. I pulled out Baby Hubz's oversized sweater, and wrapped it snug around my body. And I, for some reason, thought of this Plump Pea Dumplings all the way from Heidi's cozy kitchen.

The imaginary lightbulb blinked drowsily for a few minutes, and finally lighted, in all its splendour. Following that was a whirlwind of boiling, processing and delicate wrapping.

I hope you like some absolutely flavourful pea parcels, bursting with the taste of Asian-Western (Aestern). I know I do.

Baby Pea & Ricotta Parcels

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

I made my batches 3 ways*: little wontons, plumper dumplings, and massive ravioli.

*Yes, I just got lazy.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups frozen baby peas
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Tasty cheese (feel free to substitute for your cheese of choice)
• 2 tablespoons/ a swirl of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons/ a swirl of sesame oil
• a dash of vinegar
• a pinch of salt (adjust according to taste)

You will also need:

• 1 package of wonton wrappers

How to

1. Cook baby peas in boiling water, for about a minute or until they are bright green and floating to the surface of water. Once cooked, drain and run under cold water to stop cooking.
2. Blend peas, ricotta, olive oil, sesame oil, vinegar, and salt in a food processor. You can blend the mixture to your desired texture, but do stop short at turning them into a smooth paste. Trust me, you'll love to have a little of a bite to it.
3. Turn the pea mixture into a medium bowl and stir in grated cheese. Taste and adjust if needed.
4. Put a scant teaspoon of mixture onto the centre of wrapper, fold and seal, taking note to release any air inside the parcels.

Now, here's the best and worst part of it all. You know you're almost there, you can smell it right under your nose and sneak a taste when it dropped out of the case, but you JUST have to finish wrapping before you can cook and savour them little darlings.

But this is also where you can have your afternoon fun. I started out very patient, filling the wontons diligently and folding them perfectly. And they looked really cute when assembled on the plate. THEN, the Missy got tired and figured why not make it plumper, like dumplings bursting out of its cases. I rippled the sides and they looked even cuter than their under-developed brothers. A few minutes later, I don't care how they look anymore, and just want to speed up the process. I dropped a large spoonful of mixture onto one wrapper, wet the sides, and place another wrapper onto it. And there I have it. Baby Pea and Ricotta Ravioli. I am a genius.

In fact, I was so pleased with my lazy inventions, I promptly brought another pot of water to the boil, and slide in my ravioli for 2-3 minutes.

Lunch today was Baby Pea & Ricotta Ravioli served warm with Spinach, Tomato & Basil sauce.

And I thought that ominous sense of guilt will bring punishment.., who would've thought?!

31 hours, and then some..

Delirious to report that waking up on Friday morning, Missy hence would stay awake for 31 or so hours before she finally lays her tiny head on the pillow. And fall instantly asleep, but that would have been a redundant statement.

Don't prode why, for work, and work commitment alone will push Missy beyond her reasonable reasonings.

Anyway, I woke up today feeling certain that rest is well-deserved, and it is technically STILL weekend. But no, it is Sunday and work beckons in 6 hours. I shook my pathetic head and stamped my foot firm on the carpeted ground, NO, I refuse to wallow in self-pity.

And that explains why Missy is here, typing feverishly with incoherent thoughts and thinking of lunch when she barely JUST finished her big bowl of oats with chopped dates, a sprinkle of wheatgerm and ground linseed, topped with sliced banana and raspberries. And may I make a slight detour to say it was absolutely DELISH!

Speaking of good tastes, I have a few things to update: the feet, the head and those in between.

The Feet

We went to Brunswick just few weeks ago to check out a small, buzzing cafe which has now become our much-loved chilling space. Minimo in itself deserves a mention in a blog post devoted to it, so please be patient with me.

So, anyway, we absolutely had a blast, satisfying our needs to sit down for a long, long undisturbed time, eating good (albeit a tad overpriced) food and keep yakking about me, her and hims :)

We've already made two trips down in a period of two weeks. On the first trip, we walked along blocks upon blocks of quirky shops, in the sole purpose to find the well-reviewed herb pizza. We found it, and decided it is now the well-delusioned herb pizza. To be fair, I think the base was alright, but the herbs at best can be described as a walking India+Lebanon made with hands that you don't want to know have touched what.

But yes, you're right, what has this got to do with the Feet?

During our quest for abovementioned pizza, we chanced upon a factory outlet selling cheap lingerie, underwear, socks and the likes. We totally had to browse at the kid's section. Even then, we did not manage to find a lot of good deals.

I did, however, score this:

So fluffy, so cute, so-keeping-my-feet-warm..

Also comes with little rubber base so the accident-prone Missy will not stumble on her own foot. Yay!

The Head

Now, this is much more straight to the point.

It was Friday the 13th. We had a haircut.

Black Friday was tonight, and tonight was the night.

Poniku new collection. I love this open collar Batman dress. Just the perfect dress for Black Friday, coupled with my newly acquired..

leggings.

Baby Hubz went crazy, but really.. there's nothing much I can do to stop that, you know..

I completed the look with black danglies.

And I loved the reflection looking back at me.



So I presented the finished look to Missy, and she nodded her approval.

I could have gone further with smokey eyes and the package, but decided I would rather not.

Black Friday finished at 3.30am for me, and before I know it, I transformed back into the clean make-up, skirt and suited lady in the office. Until 4pm, that is, because after that I was just a plain wreck.

The Sweet in-Betweens

Anniversary will be no anniversary with no cake. And though this does not count as a cake, at least it gave us something to hold our hands together and cut into.

Incredible flourless chocholate almond cake, with whole blueberry and almond. Believe it or not, the blueberry bite was THE BEST.

And of course, extra batter..



Equally yummy, and I mean Hubz-says-it's-amazing yummy. And Missy chuckles to herself knowing this yumminess is minus flour, minus butter fat and less sugar!

If he ever wants to debate on health vs good taste, who says the both won't co-exist?





A brief glance to the lower right corner of my screen shows me the time, and I involuntarily whined..

I hope I'll be back soon.

Last year that day..

9th June, I'm pretty sure I've instilled this date in your mind for good, whether you want/ like it or not.

But yes, 9th June.

I still can't believe it has been one whole year. I wanted to say it's one long year that has come full circle, but I really can't, can I? First off, it has been a massive 365 days, but it has sneaked by so quietly, we were taken by surprise..

And secondly, what's one year compared to the rest of our lives, my darlings?

So, we decided to have a little celebration of our own. Something that is not too extravagant considering the event end of this year, but still memorable for the two of us. The two of us. The two of us. Why do I get such a rush of pleasure when these little words swirl around my tongue? The two of us..

I bought us some wine and Baby Hubz' favourite Raffaello.

*See that green note stuck on my keypad? He stuck them all over the place with sweet little messages. How does he know I LOVE having things to read?!* I love that boy..



Off to Donovans, we went..

It was very cosy inside Donovans. Very. Cosy. And classy.



Dim atmosphere. Checked.

Flickering candlelights. Checked.

Gentle music. Checked.

Upholstered armchairs. Checked.

Library, with stacks of books and wine. CHECKED.



We were like two little birds, fluttering around in excitement and exquisite pleasure. The staff who attended to us was very lovable, though it might be the strain of training or the prospect of generous tips more than genuinely want-to-be-friends friendly, you know..

We had wine, which I can safely say was a rare treat these days (if you don't think about the wine casks I stashed away somewhere in the bedroom).

*Pardon the lack of foodie photos. Dim lights are meant to be soaked by romance, not flashes, you see.

For starters, we had a plate of Four Tastes to share. We highly recommend this.

Baby Hubz was blown away by the bbq quail. In his own words, "Four Tastes had me at.. the quail." And I was equally satisfied with the parmesan stuffed and crumbed mushroom, and scallop baked in a tomato vinaigrette. The grilled capsicum and olive, though, was just alright.

Then we had both warm and cold oysters. Warm oysters was baked with spinach and spicy parmesan (YUMS), and cold Pacific oysters was served with citrus oil.

Mains, I had a seafood linguine done the extravagant way, complete with a grilled scampi on top; while Baby Hubz had his Queensland leader prawns, butterflied and grilled with chilli and oregano (Oh-My-God).

Not that he was starving, but I knew he wasn't full with his prawns and 1/2 plate of my food :) But to be fair, we did aim to go for desserts, so while waiting for my mains to digest, we had a chat.

We looked down Memory Lane with fond memories.

We both agreed that the past year has been very good.

Sure, there were lots of headaches..

And double the naggy tongue..

But, as long as we hold our hands near our heart, and kiss it gently with adoration, we realized it is a calm, peaceful and most importantly, a God-sent marriage.

And a marriage this beautiful ought to be celebrated. Always with the perfect company, followed by good food, some wine, and finished with a Sticky Mandarin Pudding with vanilla honeycomb ice-cream.

Even the chefs decided to send us some complimentary melt-between-your-fingers-like-totally!-and-seriously dark chocolate truffles dusted with cocoa.



Now that we're almost at the end of our journey, here's more for the list:



Attentive services. Checked.

FREE sweets. Checked.

Restrooms, complete with oil lampshades, rodeo bull & steer ropes, and hays. CHECKED!

It's hard to believe, but yes, this is the restroom.



Loving every moment* as your baby lou por, Happy Anniversary, baby.





*Ok, I lied. Loving about 87.62% of the time.. ;) More love on the way!