Ellen Page

... has got to be one of my new favorite young stars!

From Juno to Smart People ... man!

I love her talent, I love her wit. She's hot and up and coming and she's like this ... mega star, People.

Mark my words!

Coming soon ...

... a new future.

I've decided to start the application for my PR in USA 2 - 3 years from today, which should get me into a nice position financially. I will, depending on how fast the PR is approved, move over to the States as I not only want to be closer with my Mom, but to have a more ... fulfilling life.

I don't know, I'm so happy with my home that I just got, and yet, I feel that a huge part of my life is not ... being fulfilled. I think it's because I miss my Mom terribly and I'm so happy when I do speak to her daily on the phone and I hate that she's the only Skelchy over there (aside from her brother and they don't speak anymore).

I also felt great happiness when I stayed there in that small little town of Tuttle, Oklahoma. It was quaint, peaceful and I was fulfilled in a small town way. Maybe I'm not a city boy after all. For those of you who enjoy the fast paced life of city living - this would be where you would come for a 2 days 1 night holiday before you go mad with boredom. Ha ha ... but I take joy in the rustling of the maple leaves, the crisp spring breeze and the miserable amount of snow we get in winter ...

Life is so unhurried, jobs are easy to come by and pay for a good life - I won't be making the millions, but then again, for those who do know me, I was never one to seek out fame and fortune at any rate. I'm content with my simple life and my simple dreams.

I am scared crazy about the move but I know that for the first time in my life - I'm making a decision for ME.

And I couldn't be more stoked about it. ;)

Recipe - Mashed Potato Pie (Skelchy version)

... for the ones who keep asking for it ... ;)







Ingredients:

Meat Portion:

1. Minced meat - pork is best, followed by beef then only by chicken (preference la).
2. 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of 5 spice powder.
3. 2 - 3 tablespoons of Lea & Perrin's sauce (I don't exactly measure my ingredients, as you can tell).
4. 4 - 5 tablespoons of thick soy sauce (molasses).
   
5. 1 dash of light soy sauce or to taste (go sparingly as the Lea & Perrins is quite flavorful).
6. Salt & Pepper to taste after meat is cooked.
7. Corn flour (I use the old favorite Brown & Polson's) 2 teaspoons in a little water to thicken up the gravy.

Potato Portion:

1. 20 russet potatoes (or any darker variety of potato) that's about your fist size or slightly smaller than a regular grapefruit.
2. About 3/4 - 1 full bar of SCS Salted Butter (or any good quality of salted butter).
3. About 1/4 - 1/2 cup of Dutch Lady full cream milk. (I used to use HL, but the vanilla flavor of HL really, REALLY kills the taste of this dish)
   
4. Salt, Pepper & Sugar to taste.
5. Dried Oregano for a ZING to the potatoes if you like ...
   

Directions:

Meat portion

1. Put all meat into a mixing bowl, followed by 5-spice powder, Lea & Perrin's, soy sauces and mix thoroughly. Add extra thick soy sauce (molasses) if mixture isn't completely DARK brown / black.
2. Cover with Saran Wrap and leave to marinate in fridge for at least 2 - 3 hours.
3. After 3 - 4 hours, heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or any vegetable - based oil) on medium heat and fry meat when oil is piping hot.
4. After meat is cooked about 3/4 way, add 1/4 - 1/2 cup water and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add in salt, pepper & sugar to taste.
5. Thicken up sauce with corn flour.
6. Set aside for layering process.

Potato portion:

1. Skin potatoes (I cut them in 1/2 to hasten the process) and pop them into a pot of salted boiling water.
2. Let boil till potatoes are just tender enough for mashing and dunk them in cold water for 2 seconds to stop them from over cooking.
3. Put slab of butter and mash potatoes. Add in milk bit by bit and continue mashing. If mash is too dry, add more milk.
   
4. Add in pepper and salt to taste and I also add in the oregano here ...

Begin with a nice wide dish and begin the first later with a generous helping of mashed potatoe, followed by meat and repeat until finish. I usually put most of the gravy on the top most meat layer as that allows the sauce to continue seeping into the mashed potato layers to flavor up the potatoes. Just a little tip ...

Eat this with a generous serving of salads ok? :)

...

I've made my choice ...

... more or less and it wasn't what even I expected.

But I'm sure that when everything is in place, it'll make more sense to me because right now, my head is in a fog. I feel that it is the right thing to do and I'm happy to do it.

I'm just feeling a little alone in it.

Memories ...

... I found a long lost friend today.

In church and Sunday School we were like the best of friends. JD (he has this amazingly LONG string of names, which I shall keep off the record due to his requirement for privacy) and I used to wait for each other in Sunday Primary School at the gates of Catholic High School, which was next to SFX in PJ.

We were in the same class throughout and till we reached confirmation.

He left for the Land Down Under about 12 years ago. And he did it very, very quickly. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye I guess to my old, old friend.

The reason for the search?

I was facilitating a learning session with my team in the office today and the topic was "Connections" and how it relates between any 2 human beings. How you can spend your whole life with the same bunch of people and not really know who they are, but spend a couple of hours with someone and feel like a kindred spirit ... and I brought up JD and how I do regret not being able to say goodbye etc (sounding a little morbid here) and how the friendship just sort of ... died in a way.

So I began searching for JD and I Googled first his whole name, which didn't work out so well, and then I tried just his first and last names and scored a hit with 2 YouTube vidoes, which had like maybe 1 - 2 seconds of his face in the videos; which I was thrilled, but did not know HOW to make use of that lead. So much for being Sherlock Holmes eh ... searching more lead to a bulletin in KristusAman (a lovely Catholic church in Taman Tun) about a wedding between CL and JD ... and I didn't think it could be him - because he was based in Australia ... searching a little further, there was a blog entry of a friend, albeit an old, old friend, Fiona, and I was flabbergasted to see that it was indeed the wedding of CL and JD and they both looked amazing.

So I left a note on Fiona's page - haven't checked it yet, but I facebooked Fiona and got CL, which lead to me adding CL to my friends list and she messaged me straightaway ... amazing ... and yes, I've finally gotten his email and cell phone, but no replies on either one ... which led me to think ...

How does one re-establish an old friendship?

A little side note here: Fiona runs a multi-faceted studio i.e. dance, drama, music, party planning, self - defense etc in Sri Hartamas called Talent Hub, so if you are looking or are interested - check it out! Looks amazing.

I guess that I am ...

... old fashioned. Do you really need to use SKIN to promote a car wash?

You know, I bet that their parents are so proud of their daughters ...

And their future daughters will be just as 'free' and 'liberated' as they are now ...