Tomatoes

Cleaned up the balcony. KT got me a cherry tomato plant from the Pyrmont Growers' Market. Tomatoes have started to ripen - tasted one, my very first home-grown tomato!

Tomatoes

Eason - Duo Sydney Concert 2010 (Sydney Entertainment Centre, Saturday 02/10/2010)

Went to Eason Chan's Duo Sydney 2010 concert 02/10/2010. I really enjoyed it.The duo concept was about singing songs by other singers which were significant to Eason.


One of the songs, "Tuo Fei Lun" (Tourbillon), made me reminisce my second year in Sydney - I was 22 then, and David Tao's song "22" was my anthem. I was a blossom waiting to bloom, unfurling its petals slowly but surely, impatient to be greeted by the sun.


I am 29 years old this year, I look back to when I was 22 years old, and I think of how far I have come, what I have achieved, and what I have yet to achieve. 


Eason Chan's song describes my 29 years of life and living. I now realise the importance of time. 

Time waits for no man, nor woman. 


陀飞轮

过去十八岁 没戴表 不过有时间
够我 没有后顾　野性贪玩

霎眼廿七岁 时日无多 方不敢偷惰
宏愿纵未了 奋斗总不太晚
然后突然今秋
望望身边 应该有 已尽有
我的美酒 跑车 相机 金表 也讲究
直到世间 个个也妒忌 仍不怎么富有
用我尚有 换我没有
其实已 用尽所拥有

曾付出 几多心跳
来换取 一堆堆 的发票
人值得 命中减少几秒 多买一只表
秒速　捉得紧了
而皮肤竟偷偷松了
为何用到尽了 至知哪样紧要

劳力是 无止境
活着多好 不需要 靠物证
也不以高薪 高职 高级品 搏尊敬
就算搏到 伯爵那地位 和萧邦的隽永
卖了任性 日拼夜拼
忘掉了为甚么高兴

曾付出 几多心跳
来换取 一堆堆 的发票
人值得 命中减少几秒 多买一只表
秒速　捉得紧了
而皮肤竟偷偷松了
为何用到尽了 至知哪样紧要

记住那　关于光阴的教训
回头走　天已暗
你献出了十寸　时和分
可有换到十寸金
还剩低 几多心跳
人面跟水晶表面对照
连自己　亦都分析不了　得到多与少
也许　真的疯了
那个倒影 多么可笑
灵魂若变卖了 上链也没心跳
银或金 都不紧要
谁造机芯 一样了
计划了 照做了 得到了 时间却太少
还剩低 几多心跳
还在数 赶不及了
昂贵是这刻 我觉悟了
在时计里 看破一生 淼淼

Ironically, I was meant to post this up much sooner. :) 

 

Eason - Duo Sydney Concert 2010 (Sydney Entertainment Centre, Saturday 02/10/2010)

New Looks + Current Favourites

Photo from DolceGabbana website

Brocade.

Chiffon.

Crochet.

Lace.

Silk.

I am in love with Dolce&Gabbana's Summer 2011 collection.

New Looks + Current Favourites

I just made one of the most difficult decisions so far. It didn't make me feel any better after making it, but what's done is done. 

Look forward and have no regrets.  

Indian Feast

X came up with this "vegetarian once a week" idea not too long ago, claiming that it could help to reduce carbon emission. Third week running, already we have had a few hiccups with what and when to cook.

I referred to some of the recipes featured on Food Safari, and decided we would go vegetarian the Indian way. Toor dal tadka, palak paneer, and gujarati potatoes sounded like a true vegetarian feast to me.

I have most of the spices required, which was convenient. I couldn't get asoefatida, dessicated coconut, fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi), and paneer, but decided to forge on anyway.

The recipes did not state the number of serves; therefore, I did a bit of guess-work to serve dinner for five.

The toor dal tadka turned out nicely, although I did adjust the recipe to make it saltier and hotter. I wonder how it would have turned out had I have asoefatida powder on hand (according to the SBS glossary, asoefatida / asoefatid is dried resin from a foot plant of the fennel family, with a flavour similar to garlic and onion, and used as a digestive aid to reduce flatulence brought on by a diet high in fibre and legumes).

The palak paneer, as expected, fell short, due to the lack of the key ingredient, the paneer (I ended up substituting it with cream cheese). However, the pseudo-palak paneer fulfilled the vegetarian theme, so everyone was happy. KT also commented that he didn't like the onions in the palak paneer, I probably could have diced it a bit finer, or used less of it.

The gujarati potatoes were so easy to make - I couldn't get pontiac potatoes, I made do with brushed potatoes, which turned out well. I also sprinkled more sesame seeds to the potatoes after coating them with the seasoned oil; I love sesame seeds, and also to make up for the dessicated coconut.

The above were served with rice; everyone went back for seconds (in KT's case, even thirds). That night, though, both X and I had bad stomach cramps, diarrhoea, and flatulence. Probably because I didn't have the asoefatida in the dal, eh? :|

Indian Feast

Taro / Yam Paste

I used the base recipe obtained from Corner Cafe then made a few changes. I wanted a smooth paste for a ping pei mooncake filling.

Ingredients:
1 medium-sized taro, about 750g
125g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
Pinch of sea salt

Method:


1. Peel skin off taro and cut into fairly even small cubes.

2. Place taro cubes into a metal plate, making sure the cubes are evenly
distributed on the plate. Sprinkle some water over the cubes. Avoid stacking
cubes on top of each other. If necessary, steam taro in batches, over high heat
for about 30 minutes, or until soft.

3. While still hot, mash taro with a potato masher until there are no lumps. Pass
mash through a fine sieve to get a smooth mash.

4. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add taro mash, sea salt, and half the
sugar. Add a little water (about 50mL) if mash is dry. When sugar dissolves, add
the remaining sugar, or to taste. Stir continuously until paste thickens. Adjust
taste. It should taste buttery and fragrant from the combination of taro and
butter, and sweet. Remove from heat.

5. Allow paste to cool at room temperature before storing in an airtight container
in the refrigerator.

Taro / Yam Paste

Mooncakes, mooncakes, mooncakes!!!

Mid-autumn festival is around the corner!!!

Time to improve on my mooncake-making. :)

I bought a taro to make taro paste.

Going to make ping pei and ordinary mooncakes.

Watch this space. :)

Mooncakes, mooncakes, mooncakes!!!

I don't

As I was telling J, I don't usually "get it off my chest".

If I really "got it off my chest", I'd land myself in situations which I would kick myself for later.

I still harbour the idealism that deep down inside, people know the difference between right and wrong, what's hurtful to say, and what's not...

Then again, I'm operating on the assumption that people share my beliefs, and know my thoughts and actions...

Sometimes even the people I've known for a very long time don't know what I'm thinking...

Must I be clear about my thoughts, about the things that make me feel bad, or sad? Does it really make situations better just by letting people know how I feel?

I know at this point in time, I don't have the guts to spill my guts... I can only do so through what little anonymity I have through the world wide web.

I don't

My Life

I just turned down a job offer... the first time I have done that. I wonder if that was a good decision. After weighing the pros and cons, and mulling over it for a few days, it was a rational decision.

Life is not always about being rational...

I look at my life with a nagging feeling that something's amiss...

I want to do something exciting...

I want to be free to do things without repercussions of my actions...

I want...

My Life

Scotch Eggs

X saw Adam Liaw's recipe for Scotch Eggs at Coles'. She took the recipe home, C got excited about it, and we made them yesterday for dinner. The sambal was my mother's recipe, and we made the sambal much much spicier. We even used century eggs in two of the Scotch Eggs, which C thought was much better.




Verdict? We were not too sure what the hype of Adam Liaw's Scotch Egg was about. It was certainly inventive, perhaps Scotch Eggs were not our thing.

Scotch Eggs