Goodbye 2014!

Well, it's been a few days since I posted anything here or on YouTube. I've been busy creating workshops for next year for my teachers. I have a picture below.

I made around 9 activities and Frank helped with another one and helped paint one of them. These workshops are designed to be mobile classroom activities either the teacher can use or the students can use in groups. Actually, a lot of the activities students can make and bring to class. Hopefully, this will be beneficial to them, so that's what's been taking me a while to post anything new.

We've had some bad flooding here in Malaysia. It's been so bad that school has been postponed for another week. We originally were supposed to begin on Monday next week, but now it's not until the 12th. I'm kind of disappointed, but I guess now I have time to edit some videos and the like.

2014 was a good year I have to say. It started with us working really hard for a goal--I'm talking about our CELTA course in January in Chiang Mai. We passed and that lead us to find this wonderful opportunity in Malaysia. Getting the opportunity to travel and be on long holidays is super awesome. I think the biggest surprise for me was getting engaged... I swear I didn't see that one coming! Leaving China was also pretty big. I do miss some of my peps in China though, however absence makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that. So, when we're all together again it'll be a big party!

Malaysia on the other hand did not have the best year. Three plane crashes (yes the third is affiliated with Malaysia), floods, droughts, and so forth. You'd think it would leave a country whining and complaining like a certain country I'm familiar with, but it didn't. Malaysians are very resilient people who find a reason for both the chaos and harmony. This is a most interesting country that I hope to talk about more in the future.

As for me, 2015 looks like this: work, travel, work some more, travel some more, if contract doesn't renew=find next destination job opportunity, travel, work, search, rinse and repeat. I hope to take us on a trip to Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, & Vietnam). More ambitious would be Burma, Nepal, and India.

So, for now 2014, thanks! I've been waiting for a good year and I hope others can find peace and happiness in the coming years. I'm going to leave you all with a few pics of the year in review:

Guangzhou- view from our apartment

Damn near Thai border

Langkawi

famous Perlis Mangos

Caving in Perlis

Home with the cousins 

Home with Mike shopping for the essentials 

our home in Perlis

at work, working hard

another beautiful sunset

Universal Singapore 

rain-forest in Perlis

chocolate overload in Singapore 

CELTA Chiang Mai

With Rei in Tokyo

With Frank in Takayama

Frank in Kyoto

Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Holiday Cookies (no matter the holiday) are a great way to get into the holiday spirit. Cinnamon is a flavor component to many western holiday treats which is why it's found in many holiday dishes. Here is a link to my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tsCDpBS538

Frank really likes cinnamon and his favorite cookie is cinnamon oatmeal. I wanted him to have this treat during the holiday, however as I was making this cookie his favorite box of cereal arrived from America (thanks mom). Cinnamon Toast Crunch is his favorite sugar-cinnamon filled breakfast treat! However, I make my cookies slightly more healthy than that box of cereal. Actually, the cookies can be made even more healthy than how I made them. Sugar can be subbed with honey, wheat flour with almond flour, etc. By adding nuts and dried fruit you get some more protein and vitamins. However, I stayed true to my man and made him what he liked. Happy Holidays! :)

St. Nicholas enjoying some cookies.

Please visit the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tsCDpBS538

Ingredients:

Let them cool, chill out, freeze man!

1 cup oats
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of sugar (honey, coconut sugar, etc)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
optional: 1/2 cup walnuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips, et.

1. Preheat oven for 175C.
2. Combine dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
3. Beat: butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla extract in another bowl until smooth.
4. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Make 12 balls (palm sized) and place in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes. (Optional).
6. Place 6 balls on parchment (baking paper) or greased oven pan and cook for 15-17 minutes checking every 8 minutes on cooking cookies.
7. Cool on cooling rack and serve. Nom nom nom.

Custard Cups! My first YouTube Video! (That I know of)

Let's explain the title.... yes this is my first YouTube video that I know of, it's very possible we're all in videos and are completely unaware of it! Anyways! Yes this is the first one I made and edited: http://youtu.be/GktAElLdS44. To be honest at first I was kind of shy about talking to a camera in the kitchen all by myself. Then I quickly got over it and talked WAAAAY too much. So, I've learned a few things about making and editing videos. First, don't talk too much (or get to the point quicker) and second, attempt to make the next video under 6 minutes! It takes forever to format the video (not editing actually) and uploading it to YouTube. In any event I hope to make them better in the future.

I wanted to make videos for my friends in Malaysia because a lot of them seem to really appreciate my cooking and are interested and how it's all done. I thought not only would it teach some neat (western) cooking styles but it's good English listening practice and they can share it with their friends. It also opens a forum for everyone to have a discussion about the one thing that brings us all together: FOOD! Yes, food! Food I can only buy and make in Malaysia. So, everyone in Malaysia can make anything I make! And it's going to be healthy (at least 90% of the time--but the occasional holiday cookie recipe may go up!!).

As for the custard cups themselves, I've made these before in America. However, the ingredients had to be modified. These were usually made with instant coffee and a sugar free soy milk. Instant coffee in Malaysia sometimes has sugar in it and a pretty strong taste. As for the soy milk, well, besides water and some teas, everything has a lot of sugar in it. So I modified this recipe and it turned out well. I added a few new things and feel that there's more things to come with this particular recipe in the future. I've listed the ingredients and instructions below. I'm happy to answer any questions or receive any suggestions from anyone (especially on editing videos!).

Custard Cups

Please watch the video at: http://youtu.be/GktAElLdS44
Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
Optional Ingredients:
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp chia seeds (ground or not)

1. Preheat your oven to 175C. Prepare hot water (enough to fill whatever basin you are placing your ramekins in).
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing apparatus and mix well.
3. Place four ramekins (or ceramic cups) into a 1/2-1 inch deep basin and pour mixture into ramekins.
4. Pour hot water into basin or at least midway up the ramekins.
5. Cook for 45-50 mins. Turn off heat and let set in oven for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for another hour. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until chilled.
7. Serve with syrup, whipped topping, or as is.

Let's Begin!

The last time I "blogged" was probably in 2009 when I was living in Hunan Province. I blogged for two years straight on the amazing time I had as an English teacher in a rural area of Hunan. I was on a fellowship with my graduate school called the C. J. Huang Fellowship and Exchange Program. When I went there (Ou Yang Yu Experimental Middle School) one of their graduates went to my school in America. It's a great program that's been running for years. I wasn't alone either. Two Stanford University grads from Volunteer in Asia were also there with me. I could talk forever about my time there... but I've already wrote some much about it. One day I'll rewrite it, maybe into a book? Comic strip? Pop-up book?

My Hunan Family

In 2009 I moved to Taiwan because I received a full scholarship to study Chinese at Taiwan Normal University. I was also joined by my dearest love Frank whom I kindly convinced him to drop his life in America and join me in my crazy international adventures. Well, 6 years later I guess I didn't steer him wrong! In Taiwan I struggled studying Chinese because I also had to work a part-time job. My job was cool though! It was an online video game that taught young learners English. And though they struggled to find the market and the right way to advertise I felt this game could have been (and maybe still will be) very successful. After a year of study I taught English in an online platform to adults. That was a lot of fun! However, I kept thinking about Hunan... and how much I missed China.

Frank pointing to Bei Danshui, our home.

By the summer of 2011 I completed my Masters degree in International Studies. I basically spent my time in Taiwan finishing up my degree online (lots of emails to professors and online courses!). My thesis was on the Next Leader of Tibet. I could also go deeply into that, but I wont. Back to my yearnings of wanting to go back to China: I wanted Frank to experience the same lovely experience I had in Hunan. So, I found us the next suitable job and off we went in August 2011. This particular job placed us in Tianjin (near Beijing). We liked the city, not the temperature, and the job itself well wasn't great, though rewarding at times, management of the entire company was lacking. China is different in the big cities and I noticed that immediately, maybe Hunan was a special place? We took a chance and transferred south hoping for a better outcome. I always loved Guangzhou when I used to travel there from Hunan, and of course the temperature is much warmer.  We stayed in GZ a little over a year, but after we received our CELTA certification we decided it was time to see other parts of the world.

The view from our apartment in Guangzhou

I became a bit of a China expert after being there for 6 years. I knew the language (I mean I knew how to survive!), culture, history, food, political system, economic system, and on and on. I knew everything! So, it was time to explore a new place. Enter Malaysia!

Malaysia's beauty

We live in an area of Malaysia that's exceptionally beautiful and remote. The fresh air and kind people really made us feel "healed" I guess you can say. After years of pollution and the Chinese society jostling you about, a good cleansing began. The job that we have is fantastic and we get the opportunity to travel a lot.  Our most recent travels were to Japan!

King Kaku Temple (Golden Pavilion), Kyoto, Japan 2014

I know I will write more about what I see and feel here in Malaysia. One of the biggest topics I pay a lot of attention to is nutrition. I've been on a journey to lose weight and maintain a good healthy way of life. So, sometimes I noticed things that I feel need to be addressed or I have questions about. Thus, I will write about here!!! Hopefully I won't get too busy!