After visiting the Blue Mountains in Australia, a couple of friends whom I met up with recently asked me if they sell Blue Mountain coffee there... The ignorant me was like... erm, got meh? It was only after attending a Barista Workshop this morning that I realised there's also another Blue Mountains range in Jamaica, and that the famous Blue Mountain coffee actually comes from there. So suaku... heh. I also realised today that coffee beans are extracted from bright red coffee berries... and goes thru pretty extensive processing, roasting etc before they are ready to be used for making coffee beverages... There's so much history and 学问 behind coffee it's amazing. Actually I think it's the same for many other types of foods/ drinks; just that we busy creatures are often too pre-occupied with our seemingly impt work to set aside time to learn about these cool facts...

Tonight I go to bed with a semi-blocked nose... :(

Everything's kinda broken today. Me, my laptop. Came home around midday to sleep away a bad sore throat. Then when the work monster in me wanted to log on to Outlook, smart card refused to be detected for some weird reason. Oh well, perhaps it's destined that I shouldn't work this weekend.

I also received two saddening emails from friends this week; and both were about the pain experienced in losing someone close. Dunno, though I've never quite experienced something like that myself, they led me to fear the days when these things will happen and how I would deal with them...

Ricotta strawberry cheesecake

I attempted to replicate Mowelicious' ricotta strawberry cheesecake yesterday, and it turned out... not too bad for a first try lah. Here's the final product, looking relatively appetizing, but the texture of cheese portion and cake base still need improvement.

I'm actually not familiar with diff types of cheeses, so I wasn't quite sure what ricotta would taste like. But 'cos Mowelicious made it seem so yummy, thought it couldn't be that bad right. Turns out that ricotta hardly tastes like cheese.. more like cream with mild flavor of cheese... texture-wise, it's soft and also a little grainy/ powdery. Apparently Italians love it and use it for their lasagnas and stuff, but I'm really not quite used to it. Nevertheless, it's lighter than cream cheese and after refrigerating the cake overnight, it seemed relatively firmer and yummier... according to online sources, it's less fatty than cream cheese, so I'd prob consider trying some ricotta recipe again :)

Texture of cheese portion was a little more fluid than it's supposed to be 'cos I was bad at melting gelatine and think ended up putting in a lot less than I was supposed to. Then cake base was erm bit hard cos the clever me forgot to add baking powder bleah....

Fresh cut lime and strawberries for my cheesecake! These days it seems pretty rare to come across an entire box of regularly sized nice strawberries in the supermarts... Perhaps strawberries are all genetically modified now - just cannot avoid getting those contorted-looking giant ones in your box. Some come with scary outgrowths or like a tiny twin... I want my nice triangular shaped ones! (was still somewhat lucky lah and I managed to get decent proportion of nice small ones in the end)

The cake looked somewhat dubious when I first removed it from the baking pan... A white sea of dubious bumps... heh

But the strawberries magically made it look pretty yummy!

Today i had one of those moments. You know, the feeling that everyone seems to be happy and fine with what they are doing and you're the only one who thinks that everything is so not ok... perhaps I should just console myself that at least life is not so crazy at work anymore. Old already, get upset unnecessarily will 伤身 one haha. Energy should be preserved for my frivolous pursuits. Like reading a book. Curling up in bed to read trashy mag. Baking lotsa yummy cookies. Freezing cute moments in time. These will distract myself from thinking lousy thoughts abt myself...

Aargh. It's time to start exercising/looking for a gym again... Have been lazy the past few months and it apparently shows... Have been too indiscriminate with desserts/ undisciplined in diet recently bleah. And sis just said my arms dun look as toned as they used to! Just weighed myself and I put on 2kg! :(

Today there was a ST two-page spread featuring Wild Rocket chef-owner Willin Low. He was asked about his definition of a successful life. And the answer? Doing what you want, when you want, and in the course of it, making the ppl around you happy. I like what he said a lot, because I think I would define success in a similar way. Kinda sense that he has fulfilled his own definition of success; as for me, think success is still somewhat elusive for now...

Green tea treats!

I baked green tea sable cookies today - or rather, I made the dough yesterday morning and baked the cookies today :P Though I've received feedback that they need some improvements in terms of appearance, they luckily turned out tasting quite decent. I love most things green tea, and have tried quite a lot of green-tea stuff, so I think my tastebuds are relatively reliable lah heh.

The baking process was slightly eventful cos I happily assumed that my kitchen had all the basic ingredients I needed - you know, things like eggs, sugar... So halfway through making the dough, I was quite panicky to find out that I only had one miserable egg left in my fridge when the recipe needed two! Thankfully, after some initial reluctance, nice Dad (cos Mum felt embarrassed to do it) helped me borrow two eggs from my neighbour such that the dough-making proceeded pretty smoothly in the end. Also realised this morning that my house no longer stocks white sugar... thus substituted the fine sugar coating with coarser brown sugar. I suppose the light brown crystals could still somewhat pass off as their white counterparts :) Anyways, these are meant only for self-consumption.

This, is what the cookies are supposed to look like, and what inspired me to make them.

This, is what they looked like... before baking. I was quite concerned whether I put in too much green tea powder (which explains the extreme green-ness). Due to the texture and vivid color, the cookie dough felt like a huge piece of green plasticine heh.

This is how they turned out, a little raw-looking and pretty green.

Cos I had to go out for lunch, froze the rest of my cookie dough for baking another time... I shall try to improve the look of the next batch!

The Great Outdoors

We were blessed with lovely blue skies and cool weather more than half the time, though it was technically winter. Two things uncannily reminded me of Berkeley/California - being in the midst of so many Asians in angmoh country and the blue skies coupled with lovely/comfy weather. While doing the coastal walk at Bondi beach, we saw so many ppl doing afternoon jogs... at like 130pm in afternoon! That would be so nightmarish in hot humid Sg.

An inspiring bend at Manly beach.

The lovely waters at Bondi

We saw several types of cute flowers on the various walks/ trails we took... sleepy red and white flowers..

As well as butterfly-like orange ones!

Every cloud has a silver lining

We also went on a very beautiful walk when at the Blue Mountains.. The descent was pretty treacherous, but luckily for us, the walk was a circuit and the steps we had to climb towards the end weren't too bad lah.

Warm evening glow at the famous Three Sisters at the Blue Mountain (Do you see 3 somewhat distinct rocks towards the end of the cliff?) We were really lucky cos the light on the rocks lasted for like... 30 seconds.

Sept 12th 2010 marks the inauguration of my oven... and the first thing I baked with this oven was... pumpkin cake from Trader Joe's (the bread/ muffin mix was a gift from someone, but has been tucked away in my cupboard, neglected)! Haha it's a little cheaty, but u know, it's good to start small and get to know one's oven better before embarking on more ambitious projects. The more serious type of baking aside, I've also always appreciated the convenience of instant cake mixes; and I remb they cost as little as US$1 when on offer. Just pop the cake mix in the oven and you get some decent warm cake for breakfast/ a snack in about half an hour.

My chio oven :P I need to get some polarising filter to get rid of all these reflections...

Pumpkin cake in the making...

Not too bad for a "first-time" baker lah hor :P Thanks to the good recipe and oven, both loaves turned out nicely cooked/ crusty and tasted sufficiently yummy... I think I really like the thrill of watching something wonderful/delicious appear out of a gooey mess :P

This post is dedicated to food.

We spent quite a bit of money on food this time round. And the stingy me with less deep pockets felt a slight pinch. But aiyah, in the end I kinda relented - I wld at most just eat at Amoy everyday after I'm back in Sg and balance it off lor. After all, it's not everyday you get the luxury of time to enjoy all the yummy food waiting to be bought/ eaten.. :)

Meals were a combination of take-outs/ semi-picnics; home-cooked dinner/self-prepared brekkies and semi-bank-breaking nice sit-down meals. Food was generally good, except for a one-off misfortune of having some gross tasting roast chicken at a highway cafe for lunch, on our way to the Blue Mountains. We also made a few supermarket trips during the lil road trip, and my best find was this ultra-fresh tasting banana chips that cost a mere A$2.30 per pkt! (it was on sale, and reminded me of my mostly-look-out-for-offer-grocery-items college days).

Most of my food pics are of breakfast - the most ex meals were photo-less cos I guess it's kinda paiseh to go nice restaurant and keep snapping away at the entrees/mains like we're very suaku like that haha.

Eggs Florentine with smoked salmon

Cereal with milk and... banana chips! Simple but good.

Prying open a fresh fig after breakfast.

Passionfruit still-life?

Our cosy-looking breakfast area at Potts Point hotel in Sydney. Loved the cushion prints and tasteful deco. The TV screen reads "Hottest Underwear Trends" (some local morning show) :P
Inviting fruit platter@fruit and juice stall

Warm chai latte for a rainy sat morning...

A meat pie called "Tiger", topped with generous portions of mashed peas and brown gravy. It's a 'delicacy' from an established kiosk named "Harry's" - selling meat pies, hot dogs etc from a little cart on wheels (but now a permanent kiosk). Heh its looks were more "stunning" than its taste - the hot dog version tasted way better :)

Polenta with blue cheese sauce and oyster mushrooms. Polenta is apparently some cornmeal product originating from Italy - it looked and tasted a bit like tofu.

Nice counter at this restaurant called "The Book Kitchen" at Surry Hills, Sydney. They sell cookbooks and regularly whip up different dishes using recipes from their cookbooks. Concept reminds me a bit of 25 degrees in Sg.

I.... finally bought an oven yesterday! A 26-l, DeLonghi electric stainless steel oven to be exact. Haha ok, why wld anyone be interested in my oven model hor.

It was an unplanned purchase and quite a bit cheaper than expected. Not sure why I keep thinking that electric ovens wld cost somewhere in the range of $1000; perhaps it's cos my auntie has a $1000 one. After scrutinising the many models on sale at Courts, realised that one can easily get a medium sized one for $200 - $300 in Sg. Maybe Courts sells the lower-end, consumer sorta ovens. But I think a $300 oven is good enough for me, as long as it bakes well... :) Yay, I can start baking again so am feeling kinda excited. Hopefully I really get down to doing it.

I bought my oven on gut feel... The sales-auntie kept promoting the adjacent Kenwood oven but somehow it just didn't quite click with me. I think cos the Kenwood one looked and felt more like a toy oven (white in color; plasticky-looking knobs etc) whereas the Delonghi one felt more heavy-duty with its full steel exterior and reliable-looking black knobs heh. It was scary 'cos when I finally decided on the Delonghi one, she told my mum - I know she likes the other one, I can tell one... So scary, I was already trying to be diplomatic/ make the sales-auntie feel better by casting a few more looks at the Kenwood one... but all my extra effort obviously didn't work cos she cld immediately tell. Dunno if she's so worldly she can tell or what... In any case it made me feel very vulnerable... :(

Hai - weekday afternoon shopping for household appliances with parents was so rare but nice.

Before this trip, I never thought very highly of Australia as a holiday destination... Sure, trips to Perth/ Melbourne as a teenager/ young adult were enjoyable, but somehow its appeal has waned over the years, when European/ American or even just Asian holidays seemed more exciting/ happening :P But now I think I was a little narrow-minded... cos Sydney was really a great place to visit and possibly live in - it's blessed with lovely beaches, beautiful mountains, great weather... Outdoor/nature stuff aside, there's also a tonne of things to do in the city - good shopping, yummy food... Only grouse though is that things are not cheap :P

Sydney Opera House from the Harbour Bridge. Embarked on the climb after a long day of walking, but it was worth it. Great views of the opera house... It was certainly not worth it to pay over A$200 to climb the Harbour Bridge though...

The SOH actually looked pretty old/ slightly run down - so it might not actually seem that impressive from close-up. But we went on an excellent tour of the SOH, which gave us a much better understanding and appreciation of the toil/ politics that went behind the scenes. It took some 16 years to complete at a cost of $102 mil, with diff architects responsible for the outer sail/ shells and design of concert halls..

View from Bronte beach - after a 2 hr coastal walk in the afternoon. The blue ocean/ ocean waves were gorgeous.

Dramatic skies at Blue Mountains... abt a mere 1.5 - 2 hrs drive West of Sydney

One of my fav paintings by an Australian painter at the Art Gallery of New South Wales - a suburban home in pop-artish colors

AVOCA - Avocado smoothie with ice cream, fresh cream, honey and pistachios... heavenly.
Home-made veal fettucine with sun-dried tomatoes. The outstanding creation of two holidaying chefs. Looks pretty yummy hor :P

Stylish lobby at BLUE Sydney - a splurge for the last night, but totally worth it

Just a very short post before bedtime.

I received two consecutive surprises late this week... On Thurs, someone nice got me my No.1 desired cam and I'm really excited abt trying it out next week. Then on Fri, I received a package from my most conscientious fren! Am showcasing part of the Fri gift below -- aren't these paper clips cute? I can't bear to use them on work documents though.

This morning, mum packed me a lunchbox of honeydew to bring along for the day... so sweet. I'm a blessed girl! :)

The Fri present taken with the Thurs present... :)

Sometimes we get so carried away by work or get so affected by work stress that we forget about what really matters. On hindsight, it was great that I had to go for a compulsory retreat on Sun/Mon and just had some time off to myself, with friends... to enjoy nature and simple pleasures around us.

Today a young colleague (yeah i v old already) who just quit Hsg Div (after 6 months) shared that he was gg to take a 2 to 3-mth backpacking trip in South-east Asia... To some extent I admired his courage to just heck-care & explore the world b4 it's too late :P Maybe I should also do that some day. Prob not a 2-3 mth trip though, I suppose it wld be too tiring for my old soul.. heh.

It's now a one-week countdown to my 10-day break in Sydney! Really look forward to doing one of those coastal walks... hopefully I'd also use the break to do some reflection...

Happy National Day!

The original plan was to secure a place at the boardwalk area near MBS, but plan A was abandoned after news of early crowds... so instead we cheapo-ly staked out at a newly completed HDB block... our KW RC 31, in hopes of glimpsing the fireworks from afar. After intially futile efforts to find a spot where fireworks wld be visible, we finally found a common corridor space to stake out at! Though most of the fireworks were too low to be visible, but we still manage to capture the 'crowns' of some... not too bad lah, we had constant breeze and peace & quiet to ourselves...

Prelude to the fireworks: MBS decided to emit some really powerful rays into the night sky...

Splendid fireworks from afar (accompanied by an UFO on the left)

Managed to catch a spectacular purple one!

Zee Avi!

Today I supported another 'local' singer. Ok lah not so local 'cos she's a Malaysian who got talent-spotted by a US record label, but she's really cool! I really like her voice. Am currently addicted to Bitterheart, though it's like a 'wife feeling bitter how come hubby never come home' kinda song heh. The tune is just very addictive.

Singapore has been colonised by iPhones... and so many new phone models out there are starting to look like the iPhone or its clone... Help. Is there no good & simple alternative? I suppose the iPhone is cool, but I shall continue to resist. Feel like if i buy it I will unknowingly and inevitably lose some part of my unique self to the "be cool and hip monster" out there. All I really need is a chio-looking yet functional phone for sms/ calls. Would really appreciate having those pretty Japanese clam phones to choose from. Or should I get the Nokia E72...

I finally visited MBS (Marina Bay Sands) this afternoon, but the experience was sadly quite unpleasant and disappointing. For a five-star hotel, the whole feel of the hotel lobby etc unfortunately felt very marketplace-like to me. Perhaps the crowd cum check-in chaos was due to MBS' national day package - reception counters were overwhelmed, the whole place was really crowded, with snaking lines of unhappy customers and even crosser customers at the counters. What a nightmare it must have been for the poor service staff. The long lines also revealed the ugly side of some S'poreans - apparently one lady blatantly jumped queue to get to the front. And while Lady No.1 was being served by MBS staff, Lady No. 2 behind her (when it became her turn to be served at the adjacent counter) couldn't restrain herself from giving the queue-jumper a piece of her mind. Drama... As many of the hotel guests looked/ sounded like locals, was also wondering to myself why so many S'poreans so rich...

Premises-wise, I have to concede though it is pretty nicely designed etc. I esp liked the trees in huge pots lining the main walkway connecting the 3 towers. The glass panels high up also let in abundant natural light. Also free-rode on someone's guest pass to go up to the 57th sty Skypark - have to admit the view was pretty spectacular and pool quite out of this world... but given the high density of people up there, it was just too off lah.

I also managed to chance upon a pretty decent bakery/dessert place Sweetspot and bought a really yummy big crunchy cookie for only $2.50. Many shops remained unopen though - while those open for business had to deal with construction dust (quite visible at some shopfronts). Eeks, I wouldn't really want to go back there till at least half a year later. Perhaps then it will then live up to all the hype.

Was prompted by v good reviews of Inception to catch it. But err... I think it was a bit too cheem for me. While I got the general drift and how they went into different levels of subconsciousness, I wasn't able to appreciate/ decipher how the finer details interlock with one another... and so I went away feeling a little cheated haha. I dun like movies that make me confused... maybe i'm just not smart enough :( Also felt a bit shi1 bai4 that at least 3 actors/actresses in the movie appeared in movies I caught previously but I just wasn't able to match the faces to their previous roles - except for Ellen Page who appeared in Juno. Marion Cortillard's transformation from Edith Pilaf in La vie en rose to Mal in Inception was quite dumbfounding... she looked SO different I didn't realise it was her till the closing credits. I suppose makeup can do wonders...

Arthur was the guy in 500 days of Summer..!

*Holiday in sight in 1 mth's time!* :)

Yesterday someone nice brought me to a new cafe tucked away in an old sch compound at the Mountbatten area. It was a great find - prices were reasonable, food was delicious and the place was pretty uncrowded/laid back... And I took more food shots! The only thing though was that you end up smelling like food at the end of the meal, cos there's no separate kitchen :P

Little details matter

Cafe counter- these days, the white bathroom tile finish seems very popular. I've seen it in several new F&B joints.. I wonder why. Perhaps to give a very clean sort of feeling.

Starter platter, with fish cake, 5-spice roll & calamari. Teeny bit sinful but satisfying.

I'm actually not a fan of squid ink pasta, but they did up this dish really nicely here. Very tasty with spicy undertones... yummier than ones I've had at some Italian restaurants.

Guess what this is for? The flower motif is so cute.

It's a cutlery/napkins holder!

Home/lifestyle items on sale at the cafe.

Yesterday evening I also heard (for the first time in my life) a cat caterwaul. I didn't know it was a cat noise till someone pointed it out to me... It was quite scary actually and sounded like a baby/woman howling miserably... Now I can understand why cats can wake ppl up in the middle of the night (no offence, courtney :P) When I wikied cat caterwauls online, also came across a para that said cat usually dun typically meow to each other but express variations of this tone to humans "to demand food or attention, register complaints and convey bewilderment" The last bit cracked me up... Cats must think we are a weird lot...? Maybe they meow back in bewilderment when ignorant adults like myself attempt to "meow" to them (occasionally only lah when I spot stray cats on the streets), thinking that's how we can communicate with them.

This morning I took MRT to work, after a whole week of comfy car rides from nice dad. Lately (maybe a few mths already lah), I cannot resist the temptation of being ferried to work in the morning. Sigh, Dad pays exorbitant ERP rates to ferry me to work, but he doesn't even complain... I should really get up early and do my part for the earth to squeeze with the office crowd - but laziness easily overpowers greenness.

Unfortunately, the only MRT ride of the work week was not pleasant. These days, seats are extremely hard to come by, though I get to board at the terminal station. Worse still, someone decided to treat the whole carriage to dizzying India/Arabic-sounding music for a good 15 min or so this morning. Was quite irritated with whoever was so inconsiderate.

It was a blah work day. Got pissed with colleague for tai-chi-ing a piece of work to me, but failed to fend it off despite dropping several hints that i had nothing to do with it. Sometimes cannot help wonder how much time is spent on work that doesn't really matter much to anyone. Dunno why I am getting so cynical.

I'm such a cross person today!