SiewPeng prepared this lovely lunch for me yesterday.  It not only had a good look, but it also tasted delicious.

It consisted of mushrooms, carrots, cone-shaped broccolies (Romanesco broccoli) and lady fingers.  I am sure that it is nutritious.  There was also another plate of fried potatoes which is not in the picture above.

Many religions teach their believers to be thankful by praying and thank God before eating.  Besides thanks to my Gods, I also want to thank SiewPeng for this lunch.

Thank you, SiewPeng.

Can you see the difference between these two pears?

I seldom see the pear with uneven shape (on the left).  The fruit seller told me it is from Chile.  She also told me the name but I have forgotten.  She said that she was reluctant to take it from her supplier, but after she tested it and it was sweet, only then she got some from her supplier.  The price is a bit more expensive.

Two weeks later, I bought another pear which is commonly seen (on the right), I found that it has exactly the same label as the uneven shaped pear.

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Is it called PiPa in Chinese?

From the information I have read on the Internet, there are 30 species of pears, and more than 3000 types.  But most of them are not in the market.

In Kuching, Malaysia, we call it “PiPa” (In Chinese) which is the wrong name which actually refers to another fruit called loquat.  But this name is still commonly used here.  When a wrong name has been used for centuries, it has become a correct name… …  because it is just a name.  But it will be strange and cause misunderstanding if people from other places used the same name to refer to other fruit.  The “PiPa” (same pronounciation but different writing also refer to a type of musical instrument which has the shape of a loquat).

SiewPeng and other friends from West Malaysia, and even from China told me that it is called “Li ”  which is the exact translation of pear in Chinese.

I am going to do a survey on Facebook on how widely the “wrong” name is used.  ”Pipa” is the correct name for this fruit in Kuching, but it is also a wrong name for the rest of the world.

No need to argue and I just want to know where the name came from, and which area of people are using this name - “PiPa”.   I guess the name was invented by fruit sellers in Kuching.

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Another question, do you like to take it soft (when it is over ripen) or crispy(when it is not too ripe)?

Wheatgrass drink is my favourite.  The juice is totally green.  It has a nice smell and the taste is just like a type of special grass added with sugar.

It is actually the baby plant / cotyledons (leaves from the seed) of the common wheat (Triticum aestivum).  It is nutritious because it contains chlorophyll, amino acids, minerals, vitamins (especially B12 which usually not significant on other vegetables), and enzymes.

I took the picture above while we were walking pass a juice bar in a shopping mall in KL, but did not have the time to try it — next time, I will try it.

While having lunch in Kuching, I usually order a cup of wheat grass, but most of the restaurants have added too much sugar to it.  I always have to tell them not to put sugar, but some of them said the sugar cannot be separated.  So, to be healthier, please take sugarless wheatgrass.

Wishing you a healthy 2011.  :D

We went to one of the shopping malls in Bukit Bintang, KL and I was attracted by the word - “yogurt pearls“.

It is one of the ingredients that can be chosen to be added to the ice syrup.  We ordered 2 bowls with different ingredients and shared together.  Look at the picture above, the semi-transparent yogurt balls are in round shape and have same sizes as the pearls use in pearl milk tea.

But … … these yogurt pearls are different.  … … Yes, it is special to us because this was the first time we tried it.

We were surprised when we put the yogurt balls in our mouth !!!  :D  When we bit the yogurt pearl, it broke and the juice splashed in random direction in our mouth.  Each of the pearl is just like the orange pulp / versicle.

We can use different way to bite it.  We can use our tongue to press it against our palate (roof of the mouth).  We can also bite it with front teeth, but it might be accidentally splashed out of the mouths.

Although it is just a typical ice drink, but each time the yogurt pearl break, it gives a surprise.

Have you tried it before?

Recently we went to a vegetarian restaurant to pack our lunch, we were given paper spoon.  We seldom go there because it is not close to our area.  The spoon given was made of paper, but the food container was still using the plastic type in white.

Although it is also another type of disposable spoon but it is biodegradable (which is better for our environment), whereas the plastic type disposable spoon might sleep in the rubbish dump for hundreds of years before it disappears.

I did not use it because I wanted to keep this spoon for this photo session.  SiewPeng used it for her lunch and found that it turned soft when it came to contact with liquid.

The manufacturer might still need to find a way to produce better spoon which is user-friendly and environmental-friendly.