Hero's Hill

Hero's Hill (英雄山) is where one can get antique vases, pots, stamps, coins, plants, pets, scorpions, fishes, all things weird, and of course climb a hill.

In the photos above are some of my colleagues. The guy with the white hair is Keith, a Canadian. He only works part time with my school. Before he had his haircut, the students used to call him Einstein. In the other photo are Gem (in white) and Marvin. They are cousins from Philippines. Gem works with me while Marvin is new in Jinan and will be working in some tourism school. I guess I will be spending lots of time with the boys from now on.

Beeeeep

First, my aircon stopped blowing cold air. Nevermind I thought. Since winter is coming, I wouldn't have much use for an air conditioner, would I? It only functions like a fan now. No big deal.

Then, one day, I realised my cheese was gross and soft. Way too soft. Ok, so the refrigerator has spoilt. It is now repaired and churning so much cool air I wish it would just give some to the aircon.

On Wednesday, the washing machine just decided to go on strike. Halfway thru the washing, it just started one long continuous shrill beep. On the display of the washing machine read an alphabet 'E', for error I presume. Apparently, the machine could only do the wash, but not the rinse or the tumble dry anymore. Argh!!! I had to get all my half-done laundry out and wash and wring them manually. I definitely worked out a sweat! By the way, up till this moment, my towel is still not dry!

Wholesome Breakfast

Was reluctant to get out of bed this morning as it was a perfect day to sleep in. It was drizzling outside and I was nice and warm in my cosy bed. But I managed to drag myself out of bed and made myself a wholesome breakfast of scrambled eggs with cheese and mushroom. Top it up with some banana and a hot cup of coffee and I'm ready to face the day!

I had a mishap with the microwave oven the other day. I was trying to cook rice and my pot melted. Just like that, without any warning. So I don't have any rice-cooking-microwave pot now. Will have to start experimenting with cooking rice in a glass bowl now. Apparently, it works just as well. Just got to cover it up with some cling wrap and poke some holes in it. Wait for my verdict.

Experiment #2

Another success! On the menu today is mom's 'gou gai' (say grilled chicken in cantonese). I can almost hear mom nagging at me in the background "Everyday gou gai gou gai!" Haha! My favourite! Four drumstick marinated the night before in soya sauce and ground pepper. Not a very healthy meal today as I didn't prepare any vegetables. But again, it was super yummy! Think I'm getting good at this!

Experiment #1

Had my first trial with the microwave last night. Cooked myself some plain rice and some cabbage and shrimps marinated with soy sauce, vinegar and pepper. Easy enough. Taste wasn't super fantastic. In fact, it was rather blend. But it was a very satisfying meal for me. After all, I did it!

If I keep up with this kind of diet (minus the huge portion of rice) I think I can shed a few kilos and maybe start my own "Microwave Your Way to Health Cookbook"!