Kerabu Bee Hoon

Tonight going to cook a simple ala-carte meal, as JS has got music lesson and I need to fetch hubby from work after JS’s music class, hopefully he can have a this as light supper when he got home which would be really late.

A nyonya dish I’ve learned from the recipe book. ( All ingredients measurements I use estimation only)

Ingredients

- Shallots, peeled and finely sliced
- Bunga Kantan, finely sliced
- Taugeh, blanced and rinsed with cold water
- Prawns, steamed, shelled and deveined
- Bee hoon, scalded in hot water and drained
- Roasted grated coconut, pounded until fine

Sambal Paste
- Sambal belacan ( Belacan + Chillies, grounded and fried)
- Dried shrimps , soaked in water, scalded and finely pounded
- Light soya sauce
- Kalamansi juice
- Sugar
- Salt

Garnish
- chilli cut to thin strip
- Pounded roasted peanuts

Method
1) Mix sambal paste with shallots, bunga kantan, taugeh and prawns
2) Toss in beehoon and add the coconut
3) Garnish with peanut and chilli.

Woola…our dinner is ready!

My Buddhist Altar At Home

Since it’s Wesak Eve today, going to blog about something more spiritual. Above is the simple altar at home that we offer our prayers.

I first came across Buddhism at the age of 10. I must admit I’m no longer a pious Buddhist. I was once, during my school days, after I left home for college I have not been reading up a lot of Dhamma books or attending Dhamma talks and have not frequent the temple as much as I used to, have not really done any chanting, but I try to practice Buddhism in everyday life.

Many people who do not know Buddhism will think Chinese with an altar at home are praying to “cha tou” (woodblock) without knowing the meaning, just blindly pray and maybe secretly wish for god to grand you “4 ekor”. Unlike many Chinese – they mainly pray for good healthy, for striking lottery , and for whatever reasons. But for a real Buddhist, the things on the altar, even the Buddha image has it own significance. We pray, as a homage to the Buddha, our great teacher, (just like a student paying respect to the teacher) The existence of the Buddha statue at home, reminds us about the Buddha’s teaching and thus as a Buddhist we shall be mindful to practice the Dhamma in whatever we do.

These are the things I remember vaguely about a Buddhist altar:
1) Candle, lights – To show us the right path, to guide us through the dark. To walk the noble eightfold way.
2) Water – Self reflection. Look into your own action and be more mindful with what you do and say and that it’s according to the Dhamma.
3) Flowers – Beside being giving a frangrant surrounding, a nice clean place to practice Dhamma, it also reminds us that nothing in this world is everlasting. (世事无长)
4) Incense – Beside giving a nice frangrant surrounding, as Buddhist we always burn 3 incense. The meaning of it is to burn away the 3 great evils of mankind. Namely GREED, HATRED and FOOLINESS. As a Buddhist, we shall try to cultivate our mind and try to eliminate these 3 evils in oneself. The Buddha said, with greed it will leads to hatred and with hatred we will tend to do foolish things.
5) Fruits – I cannot remember it significance ( What a bad Buddist I am)

At our altar, there are also 2 talisman (Fu 符) that my MIL gave it to my kids. I don’t really believe in that but still as a sign of respect and instead of throwing it or chucking it away, I thought it’s just best to put it at the altar.

Sleep Behaviour

Getting ready to bed. Pyjamas the kids wearing is full of history. Being worn by SIL#1, SIL#2, Hubby, now the kids. The one WH’s wearing JS has outgrown it already. (Haha..I wonder if it can last for another generation!!)

Happy faces after a good night rest…else will be greeted by grumpy crying faces.

JS’s “bantal busuk”. Can’t remember since when she started needing this, can’t even leave house without it. She needs this particular casing (wash until the material become so thin already), somehow she knows it’s Tweety. She calls it Tweety, Tweety Bird, Tweety Pillow. (We have never watched any Tweety /Looney Tune cartoon before only recently bought her a Tweety VCD), no other casing will do (my grandma made her a few nice cartoon one, but she doesn’t want it) , if given her the pillow without this casing she doesn’t want it, or just give her this particular casing also is not good enough. It has to be this particular casing + this particular bolster. Thought she like Tweety alot. Got her Tweety shirt, Tweety bag, Tweety tumbler…but she doesn’t really favour that… only fond of this very own casing… strange.

Have been more strict with her drinking habit since my attempt to wean her from the bottle failed. Make sure JS drank the milk fast before she fell asleep with the milk bottle in her mouth, threaten to throw the bottle away. So now when she finished drinking her milk, she will toss and turn around the bed finding it difficult to fall asleep without me lying right beside her.

We are not someone that sleeps early and I don’t put the kids to bed early. Usually hubby and me finish dinner at 8.30, after showers it’s almost 9. This is the time that daddy got to spent time with the kids. They would play for a while with daddy follow by story telling, massage and milk by me and trying to get them to lie down and sleep. Sometimes hubby will join in and kids will spent a little more time with daddy again. Sometimes hubby will be in front of the PC in the guest room while kids and me are in the room. JS usually will asked why daddy haven’t come to the room, and she will find excuses to go to the guest room to look for daddy. Telling me that she wants to say good night, she wants to hug daddy. Most of the days, they are only ready to be in bed by 11 or worst 11.30. WH needs to be nursed , and it takes a while for him to fall asleep, as for JS though sleepy, she will wait for me, keep asking if baby has fall asleep or not, and ask me to go sleep with her “mummy, come sleep with me afterward huh“, I will say ” you go lie down quietly, close your eyes, no more talking, no more moving”, sometimes this will drag till 12am, she would only fall asleep when she sense my presence next to her. I’m truly concern that JS might not get enough sleep. Even in the middle of the night, after I rolled back to my own bed, JS would wake up… look for her tweety, asking me to sleep with her again. See…she got interrupted sleep every night. Morning 6.30 when I woke up to prepare breakfast for hubby, she would also wake up, cry, come to kitchen look for me. Try to get her back to sleep and have to wake her up latest by 8.15am in order to make it to school on time. At age of 3 1/2, she’s beginning not to sleep through again. I sense alot of insecurity and anxiety in her. (Including nails bitting) She’s so dependent and attached to me.

My kids are like object detector, movement sensor. They seems to be able to sense that I’m not beside that when they are asleep. I’m wondering how long would JS be like that. Really hope that she can be more independent.

It’s Teacher’s Day Today

Just realize it’s also Teacher’s Day today. Forgotten to get something for JS’s teachers.
Teaching is a noble job. (of course there are bad rotten apples)

Too All Teachers , including my parents

HAPPY TEACHER’s DAY & THANK YOU!

Angry JS

Another bigger fun fair is in town (2 fun fairs in town at a time). This one nearer to our home and just beside JS’s school. They have been setting it up for a few days already. Yesterday evening when we went to fetch hubby from work, JS saw that it was finally in operation. She got very excited about it and wanted to go. But told her no…will bring her on the weekend. All the way to hubby’s office until we reached home she has been in a bad mood since she never get to go. Aiya…she just don’t understand and can’t wait and likes to have her way….*susah*

Sharing

Baked a marble cake yesterday. JS loves it and wanted to bring to school.
This morning cut a few small slices and put in a container for her. Left in on the table for her to pack in the bag while I get myself ready to go out. Then JS came holding the container crying, saying that the cakes were too little for her to share.

JS: “Mummy, so little cake”
ME: “Enough lah, you cannot finish also”
JS: “I want to share with my 6 years old friends, there are alot of 6 years old friends”
ME: “What about the 4 and 5 years old”
JS: “Don’t want to share with them” *alamak…like that also can!*

So on top of the container she’s having, I cut another quarter of cake for her to bring to school. Told her that she needs to get the aunty (kindy general worker) to cut and distribute it during recess and she needs to also tell the teacher she got this treat for her friends. She assured me that she knows how to tell. I’m not too sure about that because I know sometimes when she reaches school she would change her mind and refuses to share (this happen before with the muffins I let her bring to school) or she would not tell the teacher or the aunty that she got food in her bag. Let’s just see after school if the cake is still there in her bag.

Though she’s still choosy on which friend to share with, but at least she still have a thought about them . A good start for her to learn sharing. I have also notice beside Vase (the 4 yr old classmates), JS talks alot more about the older kids 6 yrs old particularly than those in her class. She prefers to mingle with the older kids. Maybe the older kids can converse better in English.

*the quarter of cake is gone. Don’t know who she’s shared it with. She doesn’t know how to tell and she doesn’t seems to be quite happy about it and she said she want more cakes, and her friends are “ants” that have eaten her cake.*

Wesak Day

Wesak dawn has paced in softly.

Tip-toed thro’ the moonlit night.

Breathed the flowers and incense smoking,

Laughed thro’ bars of purple light.

Bids you now to waken gently.

Lift your troubled eyes of sleep.

Tend’ring thoughts of homage holy.

cross Samsara’s Ocean deep.

To the One who taught the Dhamma.

Of the Noble Eightfold Way.

To the Buddha, dearest sister.

Lift your tender mind today!

-Buddhist Hymns

It’s Wesak Eve today. my aspiration and resolution for this Wesak

1) I shall strive to grow in my compassion and wisdom .

2) Live virtuously and mindfully.

3) Practice Dhamma diligently so that I will be a more spiritually cultivated person when I leave the world.

4) Do more charity work

5) Go to the temple more often to learn the Dhamma, to grow the wisdom in it and not just blindly follow.

To all the Buddhist

HAPPY WESAK

May The Blessings Of The Triple Gem Be Upon You.