iEat @ Carrot Lentil Soup

Lentils are widely use in Indian cuisine. It contains high amount of protein. I love lentils because it is cheap and easy to cook. 

We decided to go vegan last weekend and so I made carrot lentil soup as dinner!

The soup is easy to make. It tastes pretty good :D

Ingredients :

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 7 cloves of garlic, minced

- 2 tablespoons of minced ginger

- 1 large onion, diced

- 2 large carrots, cut into smaller chuck

- 3/4 cup dried red lentils, wash and soak for 30 minutes 

- 3/4 cup coconut milk

- 5 cups of water

- 2 tablespoons of coriander, finely chopped

- 2 teaspoons of curry powder

- 1 teaspoon of salt

Direction 

1. Heat the oil in a pot with medium heat

2. Stir in garlic, ginger and onion. Stir until onion translucent and fragrant.

3. Throw in carrots and cook until softened. 

4. Add in curry powder and salt and stir for about 1 minutes.

5. Pour in lentils and water and bring it to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots and lentils are softened. About 10 minutes.

6. Add in the coriander and coconut milk. Stir well. 

7. Transfer the soup to the blender. Blend it until smooth or to the texture of your liking. 

The carrot lentil soup is ready! It make a complete dinner with few slices of bread. 

Happy cooking :)

iPlay @ Penang, Batu Feringghi

Penang (as known as Pulau Pinang) is an island of Peninsular Malaysia. It's has a lot beautiful beachers. It also rich with multicultural history. Penang is Malaysia's food paradise as well. But for this time, I only going blog about sunrise.  

As usual, I celebrated Chinese New Year with my family in Penang. I managed to sneak out to catch sunrise at Batu Ferringhi before the celebration started.

It took approximately 30 mins car ride from Georgetown to here. The sunrise time at Bat Ferringhi is around 730am. Early bird catches the sunrise and I'm one of them!

  

Beautiful sunrise in orange. 

The gentle ocean waves. 

The beach where i catch these photo.

The last photo is taken from Gurney drive. The sun was already rise up so high.

I like the sun reflection on the sea. 

iPlay @ Shangrila, Yunnan - Part 2

We have visited Fei Lai Si monastery. It was walking distance from our hostel. It is a beautiful temple that nestled high above the Mekong valley at an altitude of 3300 meters on the road to Lhasa. This is the place for Tibetans to pay homage to the sacred mountain.  Feilai Temple has a viewing platform for tourist to enjoy the view of Mount Kawagebo. October and May is the best season to see golden sun rise hitting on snow capped peaks of Mount Kawagebo. We are not lucky enough to see it as we went to there on Jun.

Fei Lai Si monastery

White blanket of the snow covered the mountains

We left this beautiful town and headed to Pudacuo (or Potatso) National Park. The national park is qualifies as a natural wonderland. It contains endemic species of fish found nowhere else in the world, rare and beautiful.  The entrance fee is 258RMB per person including the shuttle bus fare in the park. Pudacuo has two huge lakes which is Bitahai and Shuduhu lakes. The park shuttle bus will take you from visitor centre to Shudu Lake and follow by Bita Hai Lake. Visitor can either take a boat ride (RMB 50) around the lake or walk down the roughly 2km path to the exit of the park.  

We estimated to spend around 4 to 5 hours at this place. So my friends and I decided to walk along the park instead of taking a boat ride as we can stop by anytime. We have stopped by a few time to capture the photo and enjoyed the quiet and leisurely of this park. But unfortunately, rain and hail started to fall before we exit the park! “Run!!!” We ran as fast as we could to the exit. That was how we end our visit at Pudacuo national park. It was a fun though *Crying*

I still can manage to take few nice photos while rushing under the heavy rain and hail.

Bitahai Lake

The Beard trees, Shuduhu lake

Rainy view at Shuduhu lake is still beautiful

At the evening, we reached ancient town of Dukezong in Deqin. Dukezong means moonlight city in Tibetan. It is a Tibetan town in Shangrila, Yunan Province. The town is over thirteen hundred years old.  Although it is a very old town, but that don’t impress me much. The town has been destroyed by the huge fire in Jan 2014. Most of the building is still reconstructing. Thankfully, the Guishan Dafo Templein Dukezong is well maintenance after the fire last year.

Religious architecture of Guishan Dafo Temple

The 60-ton prayer wheel is one of famous tourist destination in Shangri-la. Tourists and local residents twirl the giant prayer wheel to submit prayers. Remember, do it only clockwise, as religious tradition dictates.  

The prayer wheel. 

Guishan Dafo temple and the eye catching prayer wheel. 

This is where we spent our last night at Shangri-la.

iPlay @ Shangrila, Yunnan - Part 1

Shangrila, formerly known as Zhongdian. It has renamed to Shangrila City in 2001 in order to attract more tourists

The author of novel Lost Horizon describes Shangrila as a mystical, harmonious valley. The statement is so true to me because the city is consists of continuous snowy mountains, endless grasslands and azure lakes.

We went to Shangrila with a travel agent from Li Jiang – Aladin(www.ly234.com). The travel packages that offered by this travel agency were on the high side but hey this agency was strongly recommended with reliable reputation. Please be aware, there were a lot of local tour came with cheaper price, but the hidden cost almost endless. You can customize the itinerary or go with the standard itinerary that provided by the travel agency. We have designed the itenerary our own and sent it to them.

It took around 4 hours to reach the Shangri-La from Li Jiang. Our initial plan is to visit largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan which is Song Zan Lin monastery. But the tour guide from Aladdin advised us to visit to Dong Zhu Lin Si which also another Tibetan Buddhist temple. Because Song Zan Lin has been commercializing due to tourism and overcrowded too. The entrance fee for Dong Zhu Lin Si was much cheaper than Song Zan Lin!

Dong Zhu Lin Si as beautiful as Song Zan Lin. It was a serene and holy place. It has many beautiful intricate paintings inside and houses several precious status. There were monks chanting in the main hall.

The main hall of Dong Zhu Lin Si

Guardian lion statue

Inside the Monastery

After visiting the temple, we went to Feilaishi. It tooks about 30 mins from Deqin, a town in Shangri-la. Our tour guide shared the living cultural and historical of Shangri-la with us along the road. I found that the mythology of Kawagabo peak- highest mountain in Chinese province of Yunnan was very intersting. Kawa gebo means “God of Snow Mountain” in Tibetan. Many mountaineering team tried to conquer, but they all failed. No one ever made to the peak of the mountain. 

The first bend of the Jin Sha river

Prayers flag at here reminded me of the Nepal trip

Aladin travel agent arranged a cozy guesthouse for us. The view from the room's window was stunning! The guesthouse just sits opposite of Kawagebo peak. We took a good rest and get ready to Ming Yong glacier the next day. 

I loved sitting by the window to enjoy splendid view of the mountain

You can either walk up or hire the ponies to Ming Yong Glacier. It took about 4 hours to get nearer to Ming Yong Glacier. Trekking at high altitude was exhausted but we choosed to walk as I wonder will it be uncomfortable to ride on a pony for 4 hours?? We started our journey to Ming Yong Glacier early in the morning before the weather become hot.

Heading to Ming Yong glacier

We have prepared some snacks, energy bars and drinks too. You can get the compressed biscuit from mart too.

Passed by Tai Tze temple

Kawagebo peak with Ming Yong glacier

For those with good stamina can continue further up to the Lianhua temple. We were almost K.O so uable to make it to the temple. 

On a side note, I felt sad to know that Mingyong Glacier has been receding due to global warming.

After a tiring and fun filled day, we headed back to the guesthouse to enjoy the local food and free time with travel mates. 

Kawagebo accompanied by bright little stars

iEat @ Baked Salmon Fillets

This is a quick and healthy recipe for dinner. The dinner can be ready in 30 minutes time :D

Direction
1. In a small bowl, prepare the mixture by mixing minced garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, dijon mustard and lemon juice.

2. Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius.
3. Brush the baking pan with a bit of olive oil and lay the salmon fillets on to of it.
4. Spread the mixture over the salmon fillets.
5. Bake the salmon for 12-15 minutes. The baking time depends on the thickness of the salmon fillets.

Now, enjoy the salmon with roasted/steamed vegetables.

iPlay @ Macau

I'm going to blog about Macau today. Macau is an ideal location if you are looking for a short break. We spent 3 days 2 nights in Macau.

Macau is a peninsula of mainland China; It is just across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. Most of the traveller will go to Macau as well when they visiting Hong Kong. The ferry services are provided between Hong Kong and Macau that take approximately 1 hour.

Some of you might be confuse on Taipa while doing research. Taipa is actually a new town of Macau and connected to Macau by bridge. We can just cross over it by bus or cab. Attraction which located at Taipa such as Kun Iam Temple and Venetian Macau Resort Hotel.

One of my favorite thing in this city is the free shuttle buses! These shuttle buses are actually provided by casino around the island. So, get a map when you touch down to Macau and get familiar with some of the Casino name near by your accommodation in order to get a free ride. Beside, most of the  attraction such as Ruins of St. Paul's, Macau Museum, Mount Fortress and etc were just walking distance from Macau city center. Therefore, we only spent a little on transportation throughout the trip.

Wave-patterned mosaic of coloured stones at Senado Square.

Senado Square is located at city center of Macau peninsula. This place was crowded and happening. It has post office, shopping center, restaurant and souvenirs shop around the square. We spent half day here before we heading to Ruins of St. Paul's.

Don't forget to stop by Koi Kei - one of the famous bakery in Macau. The almond biscuits from this bakery taste so good and fresh. If you feel like missing those cookies after leaving the outlet, don't worry! You may find countless of outlets in Macau.

Ruins of St. Paul's – Macau's most famous landmark.

Reflection on mirror. Look like a picture hanging on the wall.

Macau is one of the most densely populated region in the world. Picture says everything.

Macau has become known worldwide as the Monte Carlo of the Orient. I can see casinos everywhere at the moment we stepped in Macau. It is not a surprise to know that gambling tourism is Macau's biggest source of revenue.

Casino - somewhere near hotel that I'm staying

Macau shows no signs of resting, with lighting from casino.

Luxurious building - Grand Lisboa.

Margaret Portuguese egg tart was my second favorite in Macau other than free shuttle buses!! Margaret's Café e Nata located at a hidden ally and it's not easy to find it. It's just somewhere behind the Grand Lisboa. Please spend some time to find it by asking local resident or Google Map. You will find this is totally worth at your first bite on the tart. Trust me!

We have our breakfast here.

Opps. I’m drooling.

Narrow lanes that crowded with shops.

Almost end of the trip, we are resting by the seaside to enjoy the view. Uuuh...my legs were so tired!

Macau-Taipa bridge. 

iEat @ Apple Pancakes

It is Saturday. It is time for Saturday brunch! I decided to make fluffy pancake for today's brunch. I have some apples sitting at the counter top so I made apple topping for my pancakes. 



Yum~yum~ 

Here is the recipe:

Pancakes

- 3/4 cup soy milk

- 11/2 tablespoons vinegar

- 1 cup flour

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1 egg

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Apples topping

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 2 greens apple, diced

- 2 tablespoons brown sugar

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 2 tablespoon maple syrup

Direction

1. Pour the milk and vinegar into a large bowl. Let the milk rest and curd for 5 minutes

2. Whisk egg and oil into the milk.

3. Fold in flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt into the wet ingredient and stir until it combined. (do not over-mix, it should still have some lumps)

4. Heat the skillet. Lightly grease it with a small portion of cooking oil. Pour 2 tablespoons batter onto the skillet. Cook over low to medium heat until bubbles form, then turn over to the other side and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, add butter, apples, brown sugar and cinnamon to a sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until apples are tenders. Stir in maple syrup.

Arrange the pancakes on a plate and put the apples on top to serve. You will love this pancake!

Happy cooking