Monday, November 12, 2007

nygirlofmydreams.com


He found her!..
Okie.....need to go back to my books...
I needed something else to do besides reading.....
Will be blogging actively after I finish exams.....
I still haven't bought the Lifetime of Secrets book....
Can't believe Borders doesn't have it....
I think Readings has it...


Saturday, October 13, 2007

Got a Secret?


(all images from http://www.postsecret.blogspot.com/)

I saw an article on the last page of a magazine today...and it was about this website called postsecret.blogspot.com and I think I know what I'll buy the next time I pass by a bookstore....the book A lifetime of secrets compiled Frank Warren written by everyday people....

PostSecret is an ongoing community art project in which people mail their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard. Here are few featured on the website. Frank puts up a new postcard every Sunday......
Wanna fess up? ..... Mail yout postcard to:
PostSecret
13345 Copper Ridge Road,
Germantown, Maryland,
USA, 20874-3454
or simply hit up the website for more details.

I might mail one....... just for the fun of it....

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The Moon and my Strawberry Mooncakes


(photo by Peter Matthews @ http://www.theage.com.au/)

Forgot to mention about last week's lunar eclipse...I've seen this before when I was in M'sia many years ago...dun really remember much about it though. But I do remember when it was the sun being eclipsed by the moon!!!!! What issit called again? That was when the day suddenly turned DARK...and we were told not to look directly upon the sun even though it was dark as the rays would be very harmful...And then sleazy sales people started selling "SAFE" sunnies to vulnerable people who want to stare at the sun....thank goodness I wasn't that dumb. I do remember that day.....a very long time ago.

That night in Melbourne when the lunar eclipse happened, I remembered about it around 4 pm but then dinner came....i was too absorbed in eating mum's dinner that I forgot about it until after it happened....I managed to catch the end bit of it...so the moon was covered maybe 20%? Tried taking a picture of it but failed miserably as it was too cold on my balcony....and maybe poor technique (my camera is not crap!!!!) :)
So...to celebrate missing out on the event...we took out our Moon cakes and ATE IT! Yayyyy!!!! This is so random.......hehhee....

This mooncake is imported from HK. Joe's mum use to bring them over when she's here close to the mooncake/mid-autumn festival. But this year, I saw it on sale in Chinatown. You can't see it on the shelves, it would be stored in a fridge as it needs to be kept cold...unlike the usual baked brown ones. This is mochi-style moon cakes and the filling inside is sooooo soooo worth the extra kilos you might pile on...hahaha its not that bad la...

This is the BIGGEST size available....with 8 mooncakes (7 med/1 large)..... my favourite is the sago/pomelo/mango followed by the Strawberry (the sticker says strawberry princess in chinese)..

Thursday, August 30, 2007

People with TOO much


On my recent trip to sweaty HK....we came across the new Louis Vuitton Concept Store that was yet to open......and it had this MASSIVE bag over it (fake of course!)...then somewhere on the Right side of this soon-to-be megastore, was the current LV store which was already pretty impressively big (compared to our small itsy melbourne/collins store)...and it had this long queue of tourists waiting for their turn to get into the shop and spend their cash! I thought this was a one day thing....but everyday when we pass by it.....its the SAME! It wasn't even on sale...and these guys start queing from the moment the shop opens its door for business.... I'm not that insane yet to line up and let them take my money....

The queue outside the shop

In the mood to Blog...or not?

My last blog entry was on the 15th July! Thats like 1.5 months ago. The past winter months have been too cold...too cold to do anything...hmmm actually lets recap what Van has been up to (July-Aug):

1) Came back from Malaysia and HK hols + with mum

2) Got keys to new house (yipeeeeee!!)

3) Went white goods hunting

4) Spoilt ourselves rotten with a luxurious bed

5) Joe's Birthday....followed by Stef's birthday party (the sunday where Joe and I were prim and proper...not that we're messy and indecent^^)

6) Florist hunting (9 am appointment in Geelong..... -____-

7) ATE a LOT with Joe's boss and Hamilton Hospital work mates (one with the nickname Bin Laden...he's Viet by the way so no terrorist attempts there)

8) Watched Phantom of the Opera!!!!!! except it was pretty crappy seats...... so i think we'll probably watch it again either in Melbourne again.....or in London..... during our honeymoon? haha.... Haven't planned anything yet so not too sure where we're going.

9) Attended marriage preparation classes......hehhee... its pretty good! I highly recommend couples to attend before getting married.
10) Watched the Lunar Eclipse.....actually i missed the entire thing...and only saw the last bits. Oh well...I've seen so many of this kind of stuff....we had the total Sun Ecslipe thing in Malaysia when i was in high school...then meteorite shower or something.... no biggy la....
11) Decided I should BLOG again....and I WATCHED THE SIMPSONS!!!!

Spider Pig Spider Pig...

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Holidaaaaayyeee....Celebraaaaate (like that guy in the Wedding Singer)
10th anniversary of the return of HK to China.... (Tourist panda)

wooo hooo.... exams over (weeks ago) and its travel time for me! This break is jam-packed for me as I'm stopping at various places to do sooo many things. First stop was in KL for lovely siew mei's wedding!!!!! I went back home....for a few days then went to HK for about 8 days...then will be going to KL and back to Melbourne in two days! Such a hectic schedule....and my legs are so tired from walking miles and miles.. and my tummy is getting bigger from eating all those yummy stuff......(no i am not pregnant!)

My tired feet, innocent prawn with funny arms, and shark fin soup...(sorry shark)






Monday, June 25, 2007

Finally Exams are Over...


Photo from www.theage.com.au

Oh my goodness...how long has it been since I last blogged? Its been Forever and I found out that my sister's friend actually told my sister to ask me to Blog something as soon as she found out that I finished exams. Sorry bout not updating it.

I haven't taken any interesting pictures lately...cos you probably don't want to know what I've been eating too....eating really ugly, unhealthy food and gulping lots of coffee with chocolates, lollies, chips, dips, all those ultra fattening things. But to my amazemet, I haven't piled on the kilos! Woo Hooo!!!!! But lets pray hard that I don't have anything clogged up my arteries....

I'll be flying away for holidays this week and will be sure to take my camera with me and snap up photos. In the mean time, checkout this photo taken by a famous photographer who gathers everyone who is willing to pose nude for his Mass Nude pictures of people on the streets around the world. I hope I don't get into trouble for loading this picture here.... Feast your eyes....a new form of Art. Art is weird.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Feelin a bit "Conservative"



Conservative dentistry!!!! My first restoration....still not on a real patient yet. Probably will be Very Afraid when the time comes to see one. I think I did a pretty good job on this tooth. What did I do on this tooth...lets see...

-prepare the cavity (high speed handpiece, diamond bur)
-remove carious bits (slow speed handpiece, round bur)
-"condition" it (Ketac cavity Conditioner)
-Line it with Glass Ionomer Cement (Fuji IX)
-Acid etch whole tooth
-Line with Singlebond (2 layers)
-Restore with Composite resin incrementally (light cure it)
-Pit and fissure sealant...(light cure again)

YEAHHHH... tooth is restored! Doesn't sound that hard huh?? Hmm...maybe not. Its almost exam time so all I can think of is uni stuff.... Will load more interesting things soon.
3 whole Oranges were sacrificed...





Dessert time!!! This is a different version of the last sticky date pudding I made. Presenting..... 'date and almond cakes with orange syrup'.....

Recipe (Serves 4)
1/2 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
3/4 cup almond meal* (ground almonds)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup roughly chopped pitted dates
75g butter, melted
2 Tbs milk
1 egg

orange syrup
1/2 cup caster sugar (thats a lot of sugar....reduce it to
1/2 cup orange juice ( i used freshly squeezed juice)
2 Tbs finely grated orange rind (this was hard to achieve....maybe its just me)

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius. Place flour, almond meal, baking powder, sugar and dates in a bowl and combine. Add butter, milk and egg and mix and combine. Then spoon mixture into greased 1 cup capacity muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

While cakes are cooking, make the orange syrup. Place the sugar, orange juice (i squeezed them from fresh orange) and orange rind in a saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Simmer 5-7 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Spoon warm syrup over the warm cakes and serve with thick (double) cream....

Monday, May 14, 2007

Can dogs Pray? Pray for an ice-cream Bar?



Once upon a time in Faraway Land...there lived a dog called Muffin. He sleeps 23 hours a day, only interested in food that is not found in his bowl, thinks he is the King and barks at dogs which are much much bigger than him... he is my apartment's guardian angel. I love how he jumps about frantically everyday when I come home after a long day.....welcoming me home. Suddenly a lonely quiet nite at home alone doesn't seem that quiet anymore with Muffin snuggled around your ankle while you watch Sunday nite's Grey's Anatomy...his warm belly keeping my icy toes warm....can't imagine my life without a dog...

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Is this the way to 'Eating Healthier'?
(Will my bum look smaller after eating this?)


Some munchies during my study period...compliments of my naturopath friend who works at Vitamin Me. She reckons the choc chip bar is the 'Next Big Thing' and is better than Uncle Toby's bars. Apprently its lower in sugar...etc etc... You know I am no expert in health food and I usually just eat whatever my eyes can see....But I'll have to say for something that is suppose to be 'healthy', it taste kinda nice! Its rather chewy! I like it. I think it retails for AUD 2.50 per bar.

The bottled water was also from that shop. Its bottled Water For Women! I like the marketing on that! Its even got Water for Travel etc etc. The water is special cos its gently infused with 8 flower essences and it tastes just like Water! HmmmMMm..
Its been a while...


I've been busy preparing for my anatomy flag race exam the past week and its finally over today. It was a hard exam........ok...lets not dwell in the past now. Should always look forward and smile...everything will be better.

Even though I haven't been blogging...I have still continued to snap pictures of yummy places to go and a few things that I've been up to lately.

I've decided to load the pictures in the order I found them in my camera. So first one up is Joe's lunchbox! I cooked some Korean Spicy Pork Belly...Everything has to be sliced up/julienned?? in Korean cooking. So I had to do the carrots, onion, capsicum.....Eat it with steamed rice, and some seasoned seaweed... yum yum.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Becco Fantastico (7.5/10)

Becco
11-25 Crossley St, Melbourne
(03) 96633000
2 chef hats in The Age good food guide
This dinner was worth waiting for. We called to book sometime during the week and the best they could offer was 9.30pm with a possible wait. We got there at 10 pm, no waiting...and got seated rite away.The place wasn't packed....but very noisy as most of the diners were very happy people (probably intoxicated by that hour).
Entree was the "BESTEST" dish I've had so far (out of the few places I've been to recently). Its crispy prawn wrapped in some stringy pasta bits (i think) served on a bed of tangy salad (avocado, cucumber...etc etc). I gotta say, this dish made me eat avocado! I usually do not touch that green thing as they taste kinda nasty..... but this dish on its own is worth 8/10 on its own. I love it and recommend all future Becco-ers to try it. A must try!

This is the "Van's-Must-Try Dish"

Snapper and Creme Brulee

For mains, Joe had the snapper while I had the spaghettini with pippis. The picture came out really really blur so i decided to skip it. They were yummy but not something worth crying for. Dessert was a leatherwood honey creme brulee serced with blueberries and raspberries. I gulped down this dessert pretty quickly and got a piece of the sugar stuck in my throat. I should've crunched the sugar bits more before eating it but i was too hungry..... Sorry throat.
A must try for lovely Italian food.....





Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Feeling Soupy



Miss my mum's cooking. Can't believe mum chose Korea over her kids! She decided to go sight-seeing with her friend instead of coming over to feed her starving children. Mum!!!! How could you do this to us? Hehhee... oh well. Mum needs a holiday too and I'll be seeing her at the end of June. As long as she remembers to buy us lots of pressies then we're even.

Ok, back to food....I went through my pantry and found some dried beancurd (think mum bought them awhile ago), then I remembered I did set aside some "soup-bones" last week....SOUP TIME SOUP TIME!!! Its going to be dried beancurd, red date and bone soup tonight. I haven't had those chinese boiled soup for ages! Usually its just ABC soup for me. For those who do not know what ABC soup is, it is basically everyhing you can find in your fridge mixed together. Sounds disgusting but the combination requires some skill too.

Usual ABC ingredients: (Vegetarian)
Carrots
Tomatoes
Big brown onion
Potatoes
(will boil the above ingredients for 30-45 mins, then remove from heat and stir in spoonfuls of miso paste, and add a dash of dashi granules)

Dried Beancurd soup:
Dried beancurd (soak it in water until soft, then add it in the soup after it has been boiling for and hour or so)
Red dates (deseeded)
Soup bones (can be chicken or pork)
(the bones and dates are boiled together for as long as you want....to release the flavour within....yummm....then add the softened dried beancurd into the soup and let it boil again for 10 mins or so....do not let it boil too long....because the beancurd will shatter).

I will upload the picture of the soup a bit later....cos I was too hungry tonight so i didn't take any pictures.
Pears are in season.....so PEAR it up!!!!! Some like it squishy soft, some like it firm. I like them in between....so just let them ripen at room temperature instead of shoving it in the fridge. Believe me....cos I said so.....

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Coffee or Sea?


Photo: Jason South @ www.theage.com.au 24/04/07

The weather this week is about 4 degrees celcius above average and I'm not complaining at all. Usually I'm the Queen of Complaining....this and that....always "sighing". But not this week because all is good..

a) Weather is good
b) ANZAC day on Wednesday = a public holiday in the middle of the week
c) I finally get something out of Tuesday dissection classes (except the bit where I had to witness my friends sawing someone's head into half...right in the middle. Chrystella, if you're reading this, hope we didn't inhale too much bone particles and no nightmares)

The above picture with the man floating in the sea was taken from www.theage.com.au website. I just thought that guy looks sooooo relaxed and our Melbourne beaches are looking pretty cystal clear during this horrible drought we're facing. I wish it was me...but I'll probably be wearing sunnies and sitting on a float with a BIG umbrella over my head. No no to sun damaged skin.
For the Love of Vegies



Just a quick note cos I think this picture is cute. It kinda reminds me about the whole Organic craze. Even shampoos nowadays are advertised being organic? So we now wash our hair with organic brocolli? Moisturise with pear nectar? Brush our teeth with peas? Ewwww...
I apologize because this blog entry probably does not make any sense to anyone...

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The Botanical @ Domain Rd, South Yarra

This is not our first visit to this restaurant. In fact, it is probably our 5th or 6th visit! This is Joe's favourite place for fresh oysters....unfortunately I do not share the same view as him because I do not like oysters....especially raw oysters. Oysters smell fishy.

Entree:
Twelve hand selected A grade oysters from Australia's premium growing regions


Main course:
Woodroasred Calabrina style snapper with a shellfish stew, trofie pasta, seaweed, tomatoes, fennel and chilli (for 2 persons, or for one if requested)


Dessert:
Chocolate & sherry crème brulee with warm cinnamon churros

You should've seen Joe's facial expression when he devoured each and every one of the oysters...while sipping on his chardonnay. I stared on...unable to believe how oysters can make a grown up man smile to himself with his eyes closed while eating it. Poor oyster!!! There was a BAD oyster among the platter that night....so maybe we should've complained!!!!
Main was more like the Spanish paella. I didn't quite like it. The taste was just 'normal' nothing special.....maybe I was expecting more. Also, the prawn that I had was a bit 'powdery'...another sign that things are not looking very fresh in the kitchen. The shellfish was sweet though.....

I would have to say that the dessert was the best out of everything we tried that night. The creme brulee was hiding underneath all the froth in the espresso cup and it made the warm cinnamon churros taste even better when dipped into it. Total satisfaction guarenteed.

Verdict: 6/10
If it wasn't for the dessert, I would be one grumpy diner. Joe was happy no matter what cos he had his oysters. I never liked this restaurant that much.......cos the food is NOT THAT GREAT. Steak is better here....so maybe steak for the boys next time. Not me.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

DVD Review: Fearless llll stars


After dinner last Friday night, we ventured into JB city store to grab a movie for the night. We came back with two movies...Jet Li's Fearless and Monster House.

Van: Which one do you want to watch tonight?
Joe : Anything you want is fine
Van: Ok, pick right or left hand (with the DVDs hidden behind me back)
Joe : Your right side
Van: Ok...its Monster House...I'll set it up now.
5 seconds later......
Joe : But I want to watch Fearless.
Van: What??? You said whichever was fine.

I think this is a typical scenario most girls will encounter when the guys have a choice of watching either a kung-fu/action packed/no nonsense film or a cutesy catoonish/romantic comedy movie.
Movie plot:
This is a story of Huo YuanJia, a fighter who represents Chinese martial arts to a nation. A man who fought his way out of darkness and into history. I don't want to give away by typing out the entire story line....I almost did then decided its best for you to watch it. I'm not a kung fu fan but this movie is definately worthwhile watching. Some of the fighting scenes were a bit outrageous because you can SO tell that it was computer work but its all good! We are living in a tech crazy world so its acceptable. Kung fu sometimes need to be modernised too huh?

It has been reviewed that this is one of Jet Li's best martial arts movie ever.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Chicken with chickpea+couscous+tomato+onion



I've been trying to be healthier lately. But so far....it ain't working. I only went to one BodySteps class and one Reformer pilates class. Then...I let myself go and ate all that BAD but yummy stuff in Adelaide. Therefore, I shall force myself to attend more exercise classes (three times a week?) and eat home more often (i.e cook more).

This recipe is my modified version of what is in the May issue of Super Food Ideas.

Ingredients
Cooking oil Spray (I just started using sprays....they're so much better)
6 x Chicken thigh fillets (trim the fat)
400g Edgell chick peas drained, rinsed (found in cans or you can cook your own)
Cous Cous (Ainsley H) Spice sensation 200g (Or any other cous cous)
2 tomatoes (cut into chunks)
1 large onion (sliced roughly)
Lee Kum Kee Chicken Marinade
Chinese cooking wine

Method:
1 Marinade the trimmed chicken fillets with the bottled marinade and cooking wine. The amount used depends on how much chicken you have...etc etc... I just estimate with my eyes. Leave for 30 minutes or even longer to let the flavour soak in.
2 Heat a large, non-stick wok over medium-high heat. Lightly spray the wok with canola oil and fan fry the chicken pieces. Let each side cook until it is golden brown before turning over to seal in the flavour. Make sure the chicken is cooked thorough!
3 Add in the tomatoes and onion into the wok, and let them soften.
4 In the meantime, prepare the cous cous (add 180 mL boiling water to contents and let stand and fluff with fork after 2 minutes)
5 Add a few table spoons of cous cous into the wok with the chicken/tomato/onion
6 Spoon some chick peas into the wok too.... and dinner is served.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Been away.....to a land faraway...called Adelaide
(Actually Adelaide is only 50 minutes away by plane)

On Good Friday, I went away on a short yet sweet trip to Adelaide to visit my soon-to-be cousins in law. It was such a crazy weekend....we basically stuffed ourselves with food and not to mention the amount of wine consumed by the boys. I think they drank half of McLaren Vale's supply.


On the first nite we arrived, we had BBQ at home.....at Malaysian/homey styled Osyter omelette. I'm no osyter fan but that particular dish went pretty quickly. Zoom Zoom.


One of the yummy lunches took place at d'Arenberg 's Verandah restaurant. I think I had the yummiest dish of the lot....it was Snapper/beetroot/some white beans...It was the special dish of the day. Very very very saliva worthy.


Hundorf is a very cute town. Its a German tourist town with everything German and the wannabe Germans (e.g a try hard Chinese restaurant was there too). Even the shop signs were adorable. Pretzel!!! but that shop did not have freshly baked soft pretzels like Aunty Annie's Pretzels back home. If you have the chance, try and buy freshly made BIG pretzels. Not the ones you buy from the vending machine....eenie meenie weenie...

We had lunch/dinner at the German Arms Hotel. The entrance of the hotel had this rather disturbing old man doll with his tongue stuck out (as if he wanted to lick his moustache). This place has HUGE beer glasses....and Joe's beer was 500mL...and checkout the Hahnburger. It is MASSIVE...this picture is not doing the burger justice. Joe was so tired eating the burger. Never believe the menu....cos it was under the Lite Lunch section...and it definately wasn't light at all.