Welcoming A New Kid in Town

A close friend of mine invited me to be the godfather to his son's baptism last Sunday. It was done under the Catholic rites so a priest was the one that administers the baptismal. I became the instant photographer that day as my friend's assigned official photographer was late. To make that more specific, I was the substitute photographer, but it was such a pleasure for me to be a part of that very special day for him and his family. 

Easter Candle

 I couldn't recall how many times I was invited to be the godfather to my friend's sons or daughters. I guess that made me officially a good choice for a "godfather material" friend. 

The only problem with it though is that, I couldn't remember all of their faces, once when they were still babies and right so when some of them were already grown-up. But I think on the hindsight, I could be at the right advantage here for having an appropriate excuse for missing their birthdays, holiday visits and those other gift giving events *smirk* --- just kidding of course =D.

The thing is, if you have attended once or before a Catholic baptismal rite, there are in fact hidden meanings to the things that are being used during the rites. Here are some few trivia.

Assembly. this refers to the whole church members, family, friends and godparents who were present in the church to welcome the baby to the Christian community.

Baptismal promises. parents and godparents gather around the child to proclaim their promises to the child and their belief in the baptismal rites usually inscribed along the Apostle's creed.

Water. the priest pours water over the baby's head as a sign of cleansing the sins. It also symbolizes life, of physical life and of spiritual life into which the baptized person enters into.

Baptismal candle. the candles were lit from the Easter candle which symbolized Christ as the light of the world. The eyes of the baptized child have opened to the light of creation and by the flame of faith which will guide her through the rest of the child's life.

White garment. symbolized the child's new life in Christ. The color white speaks of life's purity, a new life and innocence. 

Finally, the Role of godparents. godparents represent as the second parent to the child. When the parents of the child died prematurely, or becoming irresponsible, the godparents could step-in for the welfare of the child. To nurture the child's faith towards a better Christian living. 

So becoming a godparent to the child doesn't end after the photo sessions are over or when all the coffees and cookies are gone. There are big shoes to fill in the life of the child besides just giving Christmas and birthday gifts every year. Being a godparent, really means becoming a good role model for the child, supporting his or her developments both in faith and his moral upbringing.

There you go. Til next time :)

Bells Ringing like Water Droplets

As the night slowly takes the light of the day, the humidity at the Jubilee Bridge doesn't feel the end is closing in yet. It seems to be celebrating the glory of the sun as it is about to set at a far distance. Heat rises up from the ground and meets the air above it; circulating a warm and very humid gush of air. 

Thirst was becoming a big factor and with every drop of water from the water-bottle feels like a million dollar liquid gold, quenching away your thirst, like nothing on earth could. Yet amidst all these pressing factors surrounding the environment at the Jubilee Bridge that afternoon, I noticed this one uncle, slowly pushing his cart full of cold and breath taking liquid golds of different tastes and flavors. Soaked with ice in a big red rectangular tin cart. He seems to know where to stop and when to come in for the rescue or shall I say, to make a kill for the profits of the day.

Like bees smelling the sweet drop of honey from a flower, the irresistible view from the center of the bridge where an uncle and his cart were, is just like manna from heaven. A pond in the desert or a dew on the leaf. People swarmed his cart in all directions, to grab on something cool and refreshing, enough to fade the thirst and the humidity. Starting from the sunset to the blue hours of the sky, passers-by and the likes couldn't help but get caught at the sight of the uncle's red tin cart. As if it wasn't getting enough attraction, the uncle unleashed his most precious eye-catching "yellow umbrella". A final trick on the sleeve and an act that seals the deal.

I needed to get hold of my senses and prevent myself from falling into the spell,  just to keep my focus on the camera. Regardless of my thirst and uneasy feeling of the heat, I must capture this scene now or forever stay guilty for not doing so. Uncle and his cart are the hero of the day, just like any heroes, they don't die but just fade away. So before he fades away and be remembered as the legend of the Jubilee Bridge, here he is serving the people. I captured his acts before I slip into the darkness..

Til next time :)

Learning to Tame the Flame

I had my first cookbook probably like 5 or 7 years ago. I still keep it well and in good condition, this must be one of my gift when it comes to taking care of books. If there's a guardian of the books then probably I'll fit in that description.

The cookbook was hardbound and it contains about 1600 wok and stir fry recipes. I haven't tried most of it, simply because some of the ingredients are quite hard to find. But those that I've tried further drove my interests in cooking deeper into the realms of the hot and burning world of woks.

So, I've gone from one cookbook to another and jumping from one site to another exploring for more recipes to try on. I even evolved and became a fan of the food channels on the cable network. I used to not like it, but there must be truth in the saying food makes wonders.

This week though, like some ray of inspirations, I decided to take my cooking interest a notch up. I have signed up for a Vietnamese cooking class. I intentionally wanted to join the Thai cooking class, but the schedules were full. So anyway, it was fun and exciting. I've learned to prepare three menus, 1.  Fresh rice paper rolls with mango and mint 2. Spicy tofu with lemon grass plus basil and 3. Vietnamese crepe.

I've gained additional tips during the class, such as for the fresh rice paper rolls, you only need to dip the rice paper rolls in the warm water as quickly as possible otherwise, it will become soggy and too sticky to roll. 

If the fiber starts to appear more while you're chopping the lemon grass, you may want to peal off the outer layer and start with the fresh inner layer. Mushroom stems tend to be hard and it's not nice for cooking. They're usually chopped-off for other usage such as for soup base. 

I've learned to do proper julienne (cutting to result in longer, thinner strips), it usually starts off with cutting the sides of the vegetable such as a carrot to form angles or corners like a box. Start slicing the sides into thin layers and proceed to cut into thin strips.

I've done the right way to chop using the chef knife, holding the top of the knife with your fingers while trying to guide the middle of the knife's sharp edge to do the chopping. This is usually easier to do than using the knife's sharp edge near the point of the knife. 

I basically came to class to correct my own mistakes, learn the proper methods and perform the simple techniques, but what I got was more than what I paid for, I've met wonderful people, teamed-up and enjoyed learning together with them. That to me was priceless.

The photos above are the menus we've cooked in a roughly 2 hour cooking session. The first was the spicy tofu, the fresh rice paper rolls and the Vietnamese crepe. I am more than happy to share the recipe here, but due to copyright notice attached to the recipes, I'm not able to do so. Apologize for that guys.  

Til next time.

:)