Chinese BBQ Pork Country Rib

Last night I tried this recipe.

It turned out pretty well.

I tried baking one batch using oven...and Ip grilled the other batch outside using his giant grill.

I, personally, prefer the grilled ribs since it's more crunchy, and tasty..

Here is the recipe:

CHINESE BBQ PORK COUNTRY RIBS

2 cups hoisin sauce

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup tomatoe ketchup

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

3 pounds pork country ribs

Marinade: In a bowl stir together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, salt, sugar, water, garlic clove, and ginger; mix well and set aside.

Marinade pork up to 1 hour.

1. Oven bake - set the temp to 450 F then bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 F and continue baking for another 1 hour.

or

2. Grill- outside grill is the best!

lazy weekend

Did nothing particular last weekend. The theme was a lazy ass weekend..lol.
We went to North Grand Mall on Saturday. Shopped a bit at Express and GAP ..got a good bargain..1 shirt from GAP is $3, and from Express, about $5 each. tee..hee...hee..We then went to Olde Main in downtown Ames for dinner. By the way my bro's fiancee is visiting so we met up there along with the rest of 10 Indo crews, LOL..poor Julie..
The food was alright.. I dont really like it ...but the price is very expensive..bah!
I got a Baseball Tenderloin...it was alright, but they served Baked Potato instead of Fries with the steak. and I hate baked potato! So, I did not finish my dinner..

Anyhow, finally I got to see the ring!! so pretty! then we talked about how I would ask for my future hubby a pink diamond since it is rare and i love Pink! Julie was right when she said that we should get the nicest ring for the engagement ring because we probably would never get a nice ring again after we are married. LOL..soo my future hubby.. if you read this..please buy me a pink diamond! save money from now! LOL

Sunday- did not do anything at all. However, the message from Pastor was very good. It was about Daniel and Nebukadnezar....
To make the story short..the story was about faith..how Daniel put his trust in God that he believes God will translate King's dream even before God asked Daniel to. King Nebukadnezar is kKing who is full of rage and pride. Any small mistakes in King's eyes will rise King's anger and the punishment shall be a death sentence. If Daniel could not translate the dream, he would surely be sent for death sentence.
The story goes with Sadrakh, Mesakh and Abednego..3 people that loved God so much that they refused King's order to bow down and worship his new statue. They were willing to be burn in blasting fire rather than bowing down to a dead idol. However, when they entered the fire chamber, the King saw that there were 4 of them, instead of 3, walking around. When King asked them to come out, there they were.. no burn scars whatsoever found in their bodies.

The bottom line is..when we do the right thing, God will defend us no matter what..even when things may not seem so good..but believe that God is in control..and there is a light in the end of the dark tunnel.

Anyhow..back to my Sunday...went to super walmie for grocery...went back and I dyed my hair..LOL..I probably need to redo it again since I can still see my gray hair! (only 1 though :P).
My dad is probably complaining again when he reads this..since he complained how my hair color looked like Orang Utan's hair color last time.. hahaha...

du-du: I am very proud of u for even making an effort to quit smoking.. :))) you have my support..

Happy Monday! ~~

Stress Reliever...

ohh finally.. Friday!!
It's been a busy, interesting, a learning process week for me.
Basically, now I work everyday from 8 am to 10 pm straight..In the morning I have a real job, and in the evening I work for my "second job". This week, I deal with the suppliers and sometimes it could be frustrating due to the language barrier and time differences.
Pffffttttttt...
but but but.. I can't wait to see the products..

Anyhow, I read an article from Glamour magazie about great stress reducers and I'd like to share with you this simple, effective method :))

What is the best stress reducer? (according to Mony and the magazine) :P
1. A Stroll in a Park/star gazing/sightseeing
Take your time in enjoying the green natures around you. It will help calm your nerves and soothe your tensions.

2. Laughter
Laugh a lot!
"If you can't laugh at yourself, laugh at somebody else "~ Kathy Griffin

3. Snuggling, cuddling, holding hands.
The research has showed that when we snuggle, hold hands, kiss, hug, cuddle, all that lovey dovey activites, a hormone called Oxytocin is released to make us feel good, calm the nerves, increase immune system and cardiovascular health. What a great deal!
mmmmm..no wonder a snuggle feels so darn good!

Oh by the way.. one of my managers told me that we officially got the big project in Scottsdale..so he asked if I can fly out there in the next 2 weeks..Well! Little that I know, that is the same week that I am flying out to Florida.. Darn it!
I felt so bad when I had to tell him that I have to miss the first trip.. Bah!!
Oh well..
He also said that we have to travel at least once a month and sometimes every 2 weeks.. wow..
This is going to be interesting.. ^^
It might be good to travel there during winter season.. tee..hee ..hee

Happy Friday, everyone..

Birthday...

It's almost my birthday..
I am not so excited yet..coz it means I am getting older..bahh..
But, I looked back at years behind me..what happened in the past that made me the person I am today?
I thanked God for the opportunity I have been given, that I could finish my school, continued my Masters degree and work until now. If it's not because of His help, I don't know if I can survive 'till this day.
Many trials I have faced..sometimes I got what I wanted, sometimes I did not get what I wanted. But, I believe that even though I did not get what I want, God gave me what I need.

Here is what I learned during my years in this earth:
1. Words can be your worst enemy. Always be careful on what you say because you will never know what is coming back at you. My mom always say to me that as a Christian, we believe that we are given power through our tongue. God listens to what we say, that's why we better be careful.

Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech (1 Pet. 3:10).

2. Words can kill- better don't say anything rather than say something bad. When we are angry at something, we always feel the need to share our feelings to our friends. However, we have to realize that if we can't hold our friends accountable or trust them, be sure that whatever you shared, will be shared to another person by your friend, Thus, creating more drama and bitterness. So, lesson learned: bitch (pardon my French) about something to someone you really trust! LOL. I learned it the hard way....

Without wood a fire goes out, without gossip a quarrel dies down (Proverbs. 26:20).

3. Patience- this is the thing that I am struggling with the most. I hate it if I am not in control. I hate to have to let someone else control the situation and be patience about it. This happens at work, personal life and spiritual life. Hopefully, I am getting better with a bright new year ahead of me. LOL.

Be joyful in hope, patient in trouble, and persistent in prayer (Romans 12:12)

4. Never take things (even little things) for granted. Cherish the moment we have. Appreciate what we have coz just like everything else in the world, nothing is eternal and it could be taken from you unexpectedly.

5. Let go of the past, and Hope for the future.

6. Accept disappointments, but never lose Hope.

7. God always answer our prayers right in time- never too late, and never too early! Even though things may seem dark and there is no way around..trust me, if you ask for Him, He will be there..maybe not according to your timing, but trust me, help is on its way.

Now, for my wishes...boy, don't I have a lot of wishes....but I can't tell you what they are, coz they won't come true if I spill it. hehehe..
I know what I want for my birthday.. :))

The Hottest Day of the Year

It's 96F outside. From the radio, 107.1 FM, it was stated that today could be the hottest day of the year. It feels like 105'F ! Very hot and dry..
But here, in the office, I am still freezing..I need a sweater!

Anyhow, I would like to express my disappointments. First, Little Taipei has increased their price to $6.50 per dish! What a rip-off!
Little Taipei is our fav chinese restaurant. When I first came here, they had $4.50 per dish! Now, the price increased from $5 to $6.50 per dish!! :(((
Not only that, Cocost increased to $6 from $5.
My Apartment rent increases to $50 more of the original rent.
Boy oh boy..
Movie tickets increases to $7.
Despite all those price increase, the gas price slowly decreases. Last time I checked, Des Moines has $3.57 per gallon. Did you know that Des Moines is ranked 4th as the cheapest city to buy gas nationwide? (yes, nationwide!). Two years ago, Des Moines used to be #1.

Last Saturday, About 9 of us went boatpaddling instead of tubing. We were 15 mins late and could not make it in time to go tubing. Bah!
I was soo bummed when I got the call. But, we quickly decided to go to Big Creek Marina to kill time and maybe play there for a while.
We boatpaddled for 2 hours and let me tell you, it was quite a work out for our legs. They have sailboats, fishingboats, pontoons, canoeing, boatpaddling all in the water.
Whenever motorboats came around our way, we'd have big waves and we have to paddle against it. Luckily, I have a good paddler....Most of the time he paddled the boat by himself, hahaha..since I liked to chill out and enjoyed the weather, and just floated around. "Ngojeekkkk terussss..."
It was very funnnnnnnnnn.. wish we could do it all day.. huhuhu.
The weather was very good..lots of winds and sunshineee... :))
Pics will be posted later.

We then went to Famous Dave in DSM for dinner. I don't really dig BBQ ribs, but oh well..it was not too bad. As long as everyone is having fun, right? :)
By night time, we were exhausted and called it a night at 11pm. Time to sleep and rest our legs.. hehehe

busy..busy

ahh..it's Friday again.. I can smell the freedom.. tee hee hee..
It's been a stressful, hectic, busy week for me. But, what is better than channeling my energy and focus to a more useful, fun and money-making activity?
After many many yet still not enough research, I am finally planning to open a new business with my partner in crime. It's all still in development plan, but, I am kinda excited about this and hopefully things will go well. I can't tell you what kind of business this is, since I don't want to spoil the surprise and I dont want to be embarassed if (knock on wood) for some reason, we can't go further than the plan. :)) so pray for us, guys :))

Tomorrow, we are planning to go canoeing or river tubing in Seven Oaks Recreation, Boone, IA. I have never done river tubing before but some people said that tubing can get pretty boring so I am not sure if we will go canoeing instead. Either way, I am still excited!

Last night, I watched Batman 'The Dark Knight"..hmmm...I am not so sure if I like the movie. I hate the fact that Harvey Dent, the DA of Gotham city and someone who has faith in Batman all along, finally fall into Joker's trap and turn around and become a villain because he lost his gf whom he loved so much. It's just devastating to see someone who is so good and kind-hearted turned into someone who is ill-hearted and full of revenge and hatred. Blahhh.. Then, I found out that Harvey Dent became one of Batman's enemies, called "Two Face"and Ip said that Two Face was in old Batman movies. ooOoo.. I think I might rent the old Batman movies tonight. I am curious to see who played Two Face before and what does he look like.

Highlight of the week: sit in the car, eating Mc.D, while looking at the stars in the sky and talked about childhood memories.. mmmmm...let's do it again.

Happy Friday, peeps!