I think I'm feeling...

Yayyy the long weekend has arrived! Going to Macau tomorrow to sightsee, watch the house of dancing water with J's family and of course eat some yummy portugese food. Mm...haven't had a portugeese egg tart in forever! :D I'm also feeling pretty happy with myself this week, I was able to go running after work on Mon, Wed and Fri..and it feels great to work up a sweat again! Have been thinking of signing up to Fitness First or Pure so I can get some consistent work-outs. We'll see how that goes. Would be nice to exercise during lunch for 30-45 minutes, shower and then grab a sandwich on the way back. :P

I'm kinda looking forward to and also stressing about our upcoming Asia Training Seminar - 5 more days until Bintan and 7 more days until Singapore. Stressing because I feel like I'm the event coordinator liaising with the participants so if anything goes wrong, I feel like I'm held accountable? *eeks. Hope the event and general logistics goes well. Any must see's or hawker centers to visit in Singapore? Will aim to keep it really relaxing and walk around soaking up the sights and smells.

A photo recap from last 2 weeks. Tried Betty's Kitchen @ IFC with J's parents on his lil break-away celebration. :D The salad was so delicate and pretty! Almost didn't want to dig in.

Duck Confit. After watching Jamie Oliver cook it on TLC it kinda blew my mind as to how long the whole cooking process takes. First you got to rub and cover it in salt/herbs for over a day then the fat gets rendered and placed into an oven so the meat slowly cooks for a few hours. After removing it from the heat, the meat is stored and submerged in it's own fat! *Gurgle gurgle.. You can preserve it for a couple of months and then when you're ready to eat...grill it up until the skin turns crispy again. I'll let the french chef's cook this bc I don't think I have the patience to be Julia Child.


Chicken and braised ribs with sugar snaps.


Just chilling on a beautiful Saturday at AC. Didnt take any photos from Andrea's boat party but it was a pretty chill night and the pot luck was pretty yum. The malteeser mini cupcakes, gaucamole with black corn chips AND brie with mermaid bread was...amazzzing. And of course I'll never grow old of the hummus from Great. :]


Back to Back.



Walking along the Peak morning trail and do you see what I see? Find Waldo :)


Brunch with dad at Oolaa. Half of a brekky burrito & one egg. No need to say anymore..except that breakfast rules ;)


*yawwwns so tired..Time for bed n' good night. xxx

P

¿Que quieres comer?

One good day has offset 2 difficult/bad ones. What a difference today made :]

Last Sunday we went to GREAT and bought some ingredients to make dinner bc cooking together is really quite fun. We were originally going to make mushroom risotto but decided that a plate full of rice and nothing much seemed a tad dull. In the end we went for Spanish and did a quick google of how to make paella!! (Doesn't that word itself sound sexy already?) hehe So now I'm going to take this opportunity to show y'all how to make some yummies in your tummies. :D

Our paella was definitely more veggie oriented rather than seafood. We also kind of cheated and bought this paella mix but next time we'll make it totally from scratch with some dry white wine and shellfish stalk. Our spin of the recipe is as follows:

300-400g of Risotto rice
2 king prawns
4 scallops
2 sweet onions
1 red pepper and 1 green pepper
25 g chorizo
Alternatives: smaller prawns, cod fish, mussels, squid rings
Olive oil, salt and pepper + all that jazz ;)

First put 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil onto your round flat pan. Brown your shrimp and once it's half cooked, remove it from the heat and cook half of your veggies.


Pour in your rice and then pour 4 cups of warm water into the pan. Stir it abit to make sure the rice is covered and turn it on medium heat and stop stirring. Our recipe advised us to turn it to high but we realized that the heat wasn't evenly spread out so the middle kinda burned.


Let it continue to simmer and after 15-20 minutes, place the rest of your vegetables and seafood on top so it doesn't get too soggy or over cooked. In the meantime feel free to play some spanish music in the background so you wish and dance around like buzz lightyear in shrek 3 ;)


Ta daaaa!! :D We were worried that the rice wasn't going to be cooked through especially since the center of the pan was abit burnt but..the sides tasted great. No worries for us because we wouldn't even be able to finish it all. (I think this whole pan would serve about 3-4 people??)



Looking not too bad don't you think? :)

Until next time,
Lil miss chef. xxx

My beacon of delight :')

Last class and although we only had 2 hours I managed to finish everything! yay~



Look at all the cool stuff we made.



<3

Can't believe this time last year we went on our first official date by biking to the Tsinghua Park, then Japanese food in the local student joint and chilling out on the rooftop of Bridges cafe. How fast time flies and I still have to pinch myself sometimes :) Thank you for cheering me up on my emo days and stopping me from eating all the gummy bears in one going. haha Had fun playing house and sharing those lil cups of haagen daz whilst watching Fringe (which btw can get soo gory and suspenseful but I totally understand how it gets addictive heehee). It's these relaxing and genuine moments that I absolutely love but they also go by the fastest. I suffer from slight J withdrawals from time to time though I try not to show it. I'm already really lucky to be able to see and hang out with J so often each week. And with whatsap, I feel like we're just moments away. I don't know what it'd be like if I lived somewhere in NT..commute would be such a pain in the butt. hehe I know I'm rambling on my lil blog but I guess that'll happen when one is missing the ps-wiggle. :P

I feel like making tiramisu. Nicely portioned glasses of creamy and cool dessert sounds perfect on a hot summer's day. Will try and make that this weekend! xx

Look at what I made!

We've recently started taking some leather making classes on the weekends at Fungus Workshop! Its pretty fun although my thumb is kinda hurting from stiching but the 4 of us clearly enjoy arts and crafts. hehe Once we learned these basics, I expect that not long after we get our own tools, that we'll start making our own designs and small leathered goods. K & J have already located some tools and bought a few DIY books. I think we might also be interested in ordering some leather craft tools online since J enjoys tinkering and collecting tools as well. :) Before class we've been going to La Marmite for brunch and it's a quiet place on staunton street with a nice clean white interior. The first time we went we had la boulangerie with croissant, pain au chocolat and pain aux raisins with butter, jam and honey. *oink

Although I enjoy desserts ALOT, I have to admit breakfast brings me an equal amount of joy. When you guys travel do you look forward to seeing what the hotel has for breakfast? I do :P How often do I get an excuse to have pancakes/waffles/continental breakfast on regular day? Which reminds me I haven't even been eating my favorite quaker oats cereal in a long while. Anyways, things have changed and I've made a pact with J whereby I won't have any sugary/junk food for a while. In order to stick to the plan this time I ordered the ranchero eggs with panchetta, grilled tomatoes, fries and a small side salad.


..while J ordered the royal benedict. Am interested in knowing how much butter is used to make that yummy hollandaise sauce.


After some foodies off we go to class. When we first sat down together, it felt like our wood work/DT class with Mr. Brendon all over again. I miss that guy, I wonder if he still teaches at SC?



Explaining the background info on leather.



We're like the naughty kids at the back of the class. heh
:D



Our tools, pretty cool huh?


Stitching..





J's final product was pretty awesome!!


Very happy with my little bao bao. I would love to make a bigger one and they remind of of the mulberry bags which I love :)

Dare to live

Long time no write, it's been over a month since my last entry and alot has happened since then. There's been 2 major earthquakes in Asia, an equally devastating tsunami, a nuclear crisis, radiation concerns, risk from contaminated food and ongoing upheaval all combined into one. Within a matter of minutes, what may seem stable and fundamentally rooted can disappear right before your eyes. My heart goes out to all the people living in Japan or elsewhere in the world who have been affected by these kinds of natural tragedies. It's so surreal the way mother nature can bring us to our knees and shocking reminder of how fragile mankind is in comparison to the world. Pray for those who have lost loved ones, who still haven't found their family members or are just struggling to make sense of it all. I know this isn't the first time thousands of lives have been lost and it definitely won't be the last.. Could this really be the beginning of the end? I was really bummed out last night after talking and thinking about the possibility of 2012.. Theres still so many things that have yet to be done. =(

Hypothetically something truly crazy was to happen near the end of 2012 what things would you do differently? This life is yours to live and you, your heart is the greatest weapon. At first I was thinking that I would splurge on everything, eat whatever I want and buy whatever I might be holding back on but thinking twice I don't think it'll help at all. Yeah I might feel happier temporarily but isn't that too easy to accomplish? Just walk into a store and buy happiness? I'd rather go see the world, cities-towns-rural areas. I mean travelling isn't cheap but I really love 'experiencing' and trying new things. Seeing things that will take your breath away. (out pops a cheesey musical tune) hehe All I'll need is a simple place to stay, a comfortable pair of shoes for walking, warm clothing when it gets cold and a sturdy backpack to store all my necessities and would be nice of course if I could have a companion by my side to share these moments with. haha do I sound like i'm really going to take off soon? :P But man, if everyone quits their jobs can you imagine the chaos this world would become?

No joke but after I came back from my nice run today, the below song was blasting from my dad's stereo. Time to get back into my running grove and get a nice tan for summer. yay =)

Dare to live searching for the ones you love
(Perché, perché, perché, perché non vivi questa sera?)
Dare to live no one but we all
(Perché, perché, perché, perché non vivi ora?)
Dare to live until the very last
(Perché, perché, perché la vita non è vita)
Your life is all you have to give (Perché)
non l'hai vissuta
Vivere!

Dare to live until the very last
(Perché, perché, perché Ia vita non è vita)
Your life is all you have to give (Perché)
non l'hai vissuta mai

- Andrea Bocelli & Laura Pausini

A special french occasion

My daily cup of coffee paired with the delish robuchon pastry specially brought by Janice as part of SAFE's farewell breakfast for Amaury. :)

Housewarming and farewell dinner at Helen's = food intoxication. hehe There were some real fancy and expensive stuff being served including lots of wine+cheese. I liked her open kitchen and the way she prepared all the food with absolute ease.. Not too much prep work so she was able to chat and enjoy the evening as much as we all did.



Dang this was so simple to make. Eggs, cream and a crack of salt, throw it into the oven for 15 minutes and it's done! Oh and yeah a healthy scoop of truffle per person. O_o

I'm somewhat opposed to ordering or eating foie gras in restaurants but it was in front of me and after trying it I have to admit I liked the way it melts in your mouth.


Saucisson & palette cleanser.


Lots and lots of hard & soft cheese to go with our bread. mmmMMm.. ;)


Tarte tatin with fresh whipped cream. Even though we all saw how much butter and sugar went into this dessert, it was perfectly devine. For such a rich and satisfying Tuesday gathering mixed with wine and champagne, you can imagine how hard it was waking up for work the next day. Nevertheless, good luck to Amaury & Tian in Tokyo! :)