No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

The ruins of Dunnottar Castle at Stonehaven is perched on a gigantic rocky outcrop with sheer cliffs of 160 ft high.  It is one of the most beautiful medieval fortress in Britain and the site of some of the most fascinating and dramatical historial events in British history.   Sometimes the castle may be closed due to high winds in the castle. We also visited Trump International Golf Links located at Balmedie in Aberdeen which was opened in 2012.

St. Andrews (Old course) in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland overlooking the North Sea is a world renowned golf course for avid golfers and is the largest public golf course in Europe. The ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral,  Scotland's largest and most magnificient medieval church.  It is a prominent landmark highly visible from the sea. We stopped by for lunch in this cafe and for the first time, I tasted savoury waffles.  More often than not, waffles are served with honey, maple syrup or jam but I must admit that savoury ones are truly very delicious. Home made soup served with a warm savoury waffle and salted butter ~ 4.95 pounds Smoked streaky bacon with lashings of maple syrup ~  5.95 pounds Pan-fried steak & caramelised onions, topped with rocket and watercress, dressed with a whole grain mustard sauce, served with fries  ~  9.95 pounds Home made chilli con carne, served with tortillas, cheddar, guacamole,...

Guinness Storehouse is Ireland's No. 1 visitor attraction and a 'must see' should one ever visit Dublin.  More than a million people a year visit the home of Guinness.   Also known as 'Black Stuff', 'Black Custard' and 'Irish Champagne', Guinness was born in the 18th century when water from the River Liffey, Ireland's river which flows through the centre of Dublin was too polluted to drink.  Guinness stout is made from water, barley, roast malt extract, hops and brewer's yeast. Guinness Brewery i s located at St. James's Gate and housed in an old fermentation plant and the story of the black stuff began 250 years ago. We bought tickets for the 7-storey self-guided tour of the Guinness Storehouse to learn all about the world renowned Guinness Stout.  The tour ended with a complimentary pint of Guinness or a soft drink at the Gravity Bar.  When you arrive at the Gravity Bar, whichever way you turn, you will enjoy a breathta...

A one-stop online shopping platform ~ iprice I’m considering getting a cooker hood or cooker chimney for my kitchen and have been surfing the internet for a suitable one with regards to brand, size and of course to fit my budget.  I stumbled upon this website,   iprice    a one-stop shopping platform in South East Asia.  I was surprised that they offer a wide range of products, from household goods, apparel, health, accessories, you just name it and they have it.  And they boast of housing more than 1,000 brands under their umbrella, that’s interesting! Moreover, they also provide product information of the different brands that they have on offer, which is indeed an added advantage to online customers.   Banana Republic, Longchamp, Sony, Adidas, Converse, just to name a few, are some of the top brands available in iprice. What makes iprice different from Amazon or Alibaba is that iprice does not sell directly to customers online....

May the Year of the Ram brings you plenty of good health, abundance of wealth,   much joy and cheer Happy Chinese New Year

We spent the weekend up in Cameron Highlands, the leading producer of fresh flowers in Malaysia.  I was lucky enough to snap some pictures of the beautiful flowers in the garden of the bungalow we stayed in, albeit intermittent rain and grey skies. Hibiscus of different colours and different number of petals Dahlia Birds of Paradise So excited to catch this bee entering the flower bud for honey Anthurium Very minute fungus growing on a rotting tree stump Lavender Calla Lily

Vintage Wedding Dresses Many of you must have heard of and seen Vintage or antique cars.   They are a collector’s items and many vintage car lovers consider this as an investment with the hope that the value will increase over time.  Then what about Vintage dresses and more so Vintage Wedding Dresses?  We ladies were having tea one day and a daughter of one of the ladies among us is going to get married in 2015.   The mother lamented that it’s very stressful to shop for designer wedding dresses and her daughter is frantically searching for her dream dress.  Rather then getting a dress off the rack, why not go for a    Vintage Wedding Dress,  I suggested.  It’s actually a personal preference really  whether you want to get a modern wedding dress or something that belongs to the times of your grandma for your Big day. The word ‘Vintage’ is used to describe clothings between 20 to 100 years old.   The...

Wedding Dresses 2015 UK I was on the phone with my daughter the other day and she told me that come 2015 she’ll have quite a fair bit of travelling to do.  Oh, I asked her whether it’s work related or otherwise and she revealed that there are two weddings to attend back home in Malaysia.  That sounds great to me as I’ll get to see more of her next year. Weddings… how sweet to see two lovebirds tying the knot in matrimony.   Then I reminisced that decades ago we have had to get our bridal dresses or gowns tailored or rented and according to Chinese customs, brides had to wear the ‘Qun Kua’ a traditional two piece attire, with a black embroidered top and a red embroidered skirt for the customary tea ceremony.   But nowadays the  whole attire is in red.   These ‘Qun Kua’ were rented as well. Now in this era of modern technology, have you ever heard of purchasing wedding dresses on-line?  This sounds interesting, doesn’t it?...