In other words, my best works in my opinion are my rants and third-party abuses.

And right now I think I’m in one of those moods – think, being the keyword, as I’m not sure if I should be pissed or upset yet and I won’t know till Friday probably. =/

Aaaaaaaaaaa the suspense is probably the worst part of it all. *faints

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Anyway, helloooo!

Sorry I haven’t been updating. m(_  _)m  Things have been quite slow lately… more so than usual, which I didn’t used to think was possible but it is. For most days, I just switch onto hikikomori mode and am happy to just lounge around in my pyjamas, watching daytime tv with fellow hikikomori housemates.

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Hikikomori (ひきこもり or 引き籠もり ,Hikikomori^?, lit. “pulling away, being confined”, i.e., “acute social withdrawal”) is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive individuals who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement because of various personal and social factors in their lives.

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Ok so maybe not quite hikikomori. But we’ve just been super lazy, can?

And to prove that I’m not suffering from acute social withdrawal or seeking extreme degrees of isolation, here are some photographic evidences to show that I am, still very much, in contact with the world (more or less).

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The Work Vacation

I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the team that was sent on an all-expense-paid-for travel job to the Kimberly region of WA.

Genuinely happy stocktakers + client Dom

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I was supposed to do a detailed write up about my trip as soon as I got back but I actually got caught up with more work and social obligations cheey that by the time I got to it, I became too lazy for it. -.-

So now I’m gonna try to sum up as much as I can remember. And yes, plenty occurred within that one week in a strange and foreign land, mostly brought about by bad weather, bad-ass insects and no technology. But throw in a bit of work stress, lack of sleep and long traveling hours, and hilarity ensues (at least to me, anyway).

• We flew from Perth to Broome – on Qantas, no less** – and then took an unsettlingly small plane to Kunnunura.
• ** Click here to read about Qantas’ latest drama. It’s so hilarious it should be sued. For plagarism.
• This is Kunnunura airport

I don't know about you, but I actually think this system beats the conveyor belt shit we have to put up with. Sucks to you, high-tech modern international airports!

• We also visited another state.

The "two-place-at-one-time" scene from A Walk To Remember came to mind, but the red dirt and absence of a distinct border line just destroyed it la. =.=

The closest to Autobahn in this country.

Because we can, haha eat that Perth cops!

One of the many boab trees we encountered.

Lake Argyle - Australia's 2nd largest man-made lake.

Have another lake shot, because it's so pretty and bloo.

During the wet season, these unassuming creeks flood the roads and cause major traffic chaos

• And then there was dinner.

Tender kangaroo fillet in a mandarin-orange glaze, served with caramelized onions and brocollini.

Warm chocolate pudding with fresh berry sauce and a scoop of choc icecreamy.

• It was the only good food we had to last us till Broome.
• Then the work poured in.
• Monday: Coles Express Kunnunura – 8am to 4pm.
• 3.5 hour drive to Halls Creek after work.
• Checked into crappy, bug-ridden hotel, and proceeded to pass out from tiredness. But not before exterminating all visible creatures. And sleeping in fear.
• Tuesday: Coles Express Halls Creek – 8am to 6pm.
• 3 hour drive to Fitzroy Crossing after work.
• Checked into yet another crappy, bug-ridden hotel, exterminated all visible creatures and passed out. Too tired to feel fear.
• Wednesday: Coles Express Fitzroy Crossing – 8am to 8pm. Memorized all product lines available in Coles Express stores country-wide.
• Passed out in car during drive back to our hotel.
• Happy that we didn’t have to travel anymore for the day. Not so happy that we are stuck in Fitzroy Crossing for another night.
• Dinner was memorable because:

1. I wasn’t allowed into the hotel’s restaurant for improper footwear. Apparently, brand new Havaianas paled in comparison to dirty, half-torn sneakers in terms of appropriate footwear in Hotel Middle-of-Nowhere. In fact, the bouncer also offered to loan me a faded pair of red Crocs they had lying around, which I almost said Yes to because I didn’t want to make the bush-hike back to our room again for all the bugs that attacked us along the way T______T . Even if it meant wearing Crocs. T____T . But thankfully there was a dead leech stuck on the sole, so I had to walk back to our room to change into dirty work shoes – thus saving me from the worst fashion decision in my life.
2. Minutes later, Mo mistook the same bouncer for a waiter and asked him to bring us water HAHHAHAHAHAHAH I DUNNO WHY IT WAS DAMN HILARIOUS AT THAT TIME!
3. We had to ring up to pre-order our food cos kitchen was closing before we finished work. And in spirit of things, everyone got their dinners except for Mo HAHAHHAHAHA. In the end she had to ask for an empty plate so everyone can give her a bit of their food. Damn poor thing, some more she’s our boss.

• Next morning, we are finally headed to Broome! (/^ ^)/ Which, clearly, was the highlight of my trip because it was an actual tourist destination with proper accommodation and town centres (and phone reception)… and and the camels on the beach during sunset!

Woohoo!

• But first, the other sight-seeing along the way:

Spot the dispenser on the aptly-named Condom Tree.

One of the many quirky PSA road signs that they're famous for.

Monstrous boab called for photo opportunity.

Upclose.

Boab fruit, which is often used in Aboriginal arts and craft.

Ok, so this isn't exactly sight-seeing material. But it was part of the experience, this pit stop we made. =.= Or a weak-bladder stop, as Julian and Denise liked to call it.

Jakun betul. /shy

And here's where you wash your hands.

• On a related note, during one of our touristing hikes in Kunnunura (the photos weren’t exciting so I didn’t post any up), I went into what was probably the worst public toilet I’ve ever seen. And that’s coming from someone who’s a) been to rural parts of China and; b) lived in Malaysia forever. Out of the two cubicles, one had a lizard the size of a bicycle and the other was swarmed by what I’m hoping to be fruit flies. I was bursting to pee, so between monster reptile and unidentifiable flying bugs, I picked the latter. And the whole time I was going, I had to constantly wave my hands around and shake my legs so that nothing attempts to bite/land on me. T.T  For the rest of the day,  I remained paranoid that a fruit fly had made its way inside me and laid its eggs and I was gonna give birth to insects. T_T
• Anyway, back to sight-seeing.
• Oh wait, we finally arrived at Broome. (/^ ^)/

Look, got lobby!

And bugs-free room! (/T_T)/ And posh too. In fact, it's bloody Hilton after what we've been through all week.

Sing to me ol coconut trees.

Our beachwear finally put to use.

Camels, here we come!

• Unfortunately, we were a bit too late to catch the camels before they set off on their ‘walks’ (one can pay for a camel ride on Cable Beach it is a tourist activity). Because we got off at the wrong end of the beach. =.=
• We tried chasing after them, but they were already a few kms ahead of us and have you tried outwalking a camel? Yeah, you do that.
• Eventually we gave up, and decided to wait for them by this truck that had pictures of camels on it which we assumed to be the company that runs the camel business.
• In the meantime, we took photos of whatever we can and tried not to look in the direction of one random old naked couple.

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Haha geddit.

Easily one of my favourite shots from the entire trip. ^^

The camels took forever to come back, so I took about 10,000 sunset piccies while waiting. -.-

Oooh here they come!

Heading home after a not-very-hard-day's work.

My very own, quintessential Broome snapshot.

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And that concludes the one-week episode in Kimberly. *pats self on back

Now it’s 3.57 am so imma need to sleep.

Will post more consistently now that the biggest chunk has been completed.

"Greetings, stranger with a camera."

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Edwina and Nuno’s retriever puppy who sniffed and licked and pawed his way into our hearts.

He is a __ month old, champagne-coloured Retriever puppy (I overheard them saying he’s a Golden Retriever but he looks like a Lab retriever to me – so I’ll just refer to him as The Retriever puppy), whom they adopted from a breeder somewhere in Mandurah.

Loitering in the kitchen with sad puppy eyes, in attempt of luring some gullible human into feeding him

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While he’s a lot bigger now, Riley was, at some point, a true-blue, toilet paper frolicking Kleenex Puppy.

It's not a retriever puppy until it falls asleep on soft cottony Kleenex.

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And although I was a few months too late for his early stages;, Riley is still a wickedly adorable little thing  that runs around clumsily, and flaps his ears in the process like all retriever puppies are supposed to. T.T

Dopey as anything.

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He was a bit timid for a male puppy his size/breed, but which also means that he plays really gentle and doesn’t even tries nipping at your hand when he’s playing.

Which was quite a refreshing change from that-manic-depressive-dog and that other ADHD one in Victoria.

Yeah, you know who you are.

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But, Yang has made it very clear that when we eventually get our own pup, it’s gotta be an ‘energetic and playful’ one.

Which I’m quite sure also means ‘crazy and uncontrollable’ at one point or another. =.=

Quite unlike this one.

Or this one.

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And I wasn’t necessarily referring to the puppy in the photo.

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Anyway, Riley wasn’t the entire reason we drove half hour South to Edwina and Nuno’s new place.

We were having a pizza night slash pot-luck dinner; and at the same time, for me to visit their new house since I missed out on the first couple of gatherings. =.=

Edwina and Val cooking up a storm, while Nuno doesn't even try to look busy.

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The area was still developing, and the couple was still working on bits and pieces of the house. But it was a really nice place as it was; well-furnished, homey, and inspiring for young couples every where who are saving up for a place of their own. /shy

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And here are the mandatory food piccies:

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My upcoming weeks, will be insaner.

Not cool, not cool.

So imma just do a quick write up about the few cooking/baking episodes I managed to squeeze in between work and visa paperwork hell.

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Cuppacake Attempt #2: Sweet & Salty Honey Peanut Cupcakes

The Pass:

Compared to my previous attempt, the cake finally took on a more cupcake-like shape – thanks to my $18.00 investment in a muffin pan.

*pats self on back*

Also successful was the combination of sweet honey and salted chopped peanuts, which nicely balanced off each other’s taste and flavour without overpowering one another. ^^

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The Phail:

Besides the muffin tin, I also spent (albeit a lot less) on a piping bag and the accompanying plastic nozzles.

Unfortunately, this was one of those times when Cheap does not necessarily = Good Bargain.

The nozzles I had were crooked and extremely small; and coupled with poor icing consistency (the other thing that also Phailed), my frosting job did not turn out quite the way I’d imagined/hoped it to have. T.T

May look half decent if you squint your eyes.

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Cuppacake Attempt #3: Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cupcake

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To be honest, this is by far my suckiest batch of cupcakes.

I think there’s some sort of lesson in this episode somewhere – possibly something to the lines of “Don’t Be So Bloody Ambitious In Your Third Attempt”. =.=

I was way over my head with this one; which by the way, if done correctly i.e. by someone with a lot more experience, has the potential to momentarily put anyone’s sweet cravings to rest.

It is after all, Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter.

That’s like, a banana-infused Reese Peanut Butter Cup – with frosting!

The original recipe called for a caramel glaze; but I’d just bought a new piping set and wanted to use it right away.

And I figured, three rich ingredients were more than good enough for a single cupcake, and if I were to drizzle it with caramel then I’m just gonna inflict everyone at home with diabetes and that’s not good, I think.

So I attempted the next best thing:

It's not extra calories if it's the same ingredient.

Yet despite my new piping set, my frosting once again failed to look anything remotely like what I’d envisioned it to be. And to make it worse, it looks a lot shittier compared to my previous 2 attempts. T___T

I kept adding more sugar to try to thicken it up, and when that failed I even threw in a bit of cream cheese BUT NOTHING WORKED! If anything it kept getting creamier and paler till it no longer resemble the thick, velvety choc ganache frosting that it was supposed to be.

Choc frosting, according to the rest of the world.

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And then I tried disguising salvaging my botched job by sprinkling some chopped peanuts on top; but as you can see, that did not work out too well either.

/faints

To my consolation though, it didn’t taste as bad as it looked.

And although they took a while longer than the previous two batches to finish off, the cupcakes did eventually disappear into the deep, dark oblivion of many a-stomach pits. Plus, the peanut butter + chocolate combination never ceases to make people happy.

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Taking a break from baking to indulge in stove-top cooking

I successfully made roasted pumpkin soup!

No pictures to document the process nor the end-product; but it received 3 favourable reviews from 3 separate discerning pumpkin-soup-drinkers, and I’m proud as anything.

My first ever try, and I didn’t stuff it up despite the stress of having to feed 2 new mouths that I’ve never fed before.

One of whom is Quin, long-lost friend from high school, partner of Awesome Chef Boyfriend Mark.

Awesome Chef Boyfriend Mark is an Aussie ang moh whose Malaysian cooking, apparently, can put Malaysians to shame. *_*

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It was quite strange to hear him talk about roti jala and kuih lapis like they were as common to him as pancakes or pies.

And then there was his endless fascination with the concept of  chicken chop (“Tapioca flour battered-chicken! With gravy!“); which, prior to him mentioning it, had never occured to me as being an exclusively-Malaysian thing.

To me, all the chicken chops and lamb chops have always been Western-food staples. Who would have guessed. =.=

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So yeah, while the Southern Pork Roast failed to impress, at least I had the soup to somewhat save the day.

Oh the stress of cooking for others.  m(_  _)m

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Then there was my Aglio e Olio pasta for Mussels Pig-Out night.

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While Uma, Sy and Val sweated and bled over mussel-debearding, I was assigned the simple task of tossing some spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, breadcrumbs, crushed chilli and parsley. ^^

Ever since the horrible episode with the cupcakes, I decided to adopt the “Keep it simple” motive with all my meal-preparation activities.

More so for this pasta since it was supposed to be an accompaniment to Uma’s Chilli Mussels and Val’s Butter & Leek Mussels – both of which have distinctive flavours of their own that shouldn’t be overpowered by the side dishes.

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Because I was ready to pounce on the food and didn't care about macro function / ISO / exposure anymore.

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Having regained a bit more confidence in the cooking department, I’ve decided to venture back into the baking project – keeping in mind to start simple and fully grasp my basics first.

So. In spirit of All Things Simple, here is:

Cuppacakes Attempt #4: Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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The ground zero of cupcake-making. Just plain butter, flour, sugar, milk and vanilla beans for the base; and cream cheese, sugar and butter for the icing. How could it possibly go wrong?

Well you put me in the equation.

This time around, I was so focused on getting the consistency of the frosting right (which I finally did – look how pretty they are!), that I let slip the process of making the actual cake. =.=

But still, look at it.

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As a result, I ended up with really heavy and moist cakes, instead of light and fluffy ones as I had intended. =/

I don’t know exactly what went wrong, but I have a pretty rough idea that it had something to do with me being too excited about finally getting my frosting the right texture, and must have fished out the cakes from the oven a tad too early. =.=

Seriously, who needs Mr Miyagi’s “wax on, wax off” training to cultivate patience and discipline.

Just send your kid to Patisserie School.

It’s easily one of the cutest public campaigns I’ve ever seen.  >.<

So I had to stop and take photos of them.

Which, in similar effect of ‘random pedestrian stop to look up in the sky’, prompted passerbys to take notice of the posters on the wall too.

Maybe Transperth should hire me as their stealth marketer.

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On an entirely different note, here are pics of my first attempt, Mmy:

Texture of cream cheese frosting a bit phail, cos I didn’t have enough icing sugar in storage, and I couldn’t be bothered using an electric hand mixer cos I didn’t wanna wash up. =.=

And, I think due to my ingredients ratio and/or the cheapo cake papercups I used which gave no support, my cupcakes turned out a bit flat and wide. T.T

But then again no one complained (I am after all surrounded by people who were happy just to lick off the mixing bowls), and they were being snapped off my hands even before I was done assembling the frosting and the banana disk. =.=

Oh you vultures. Thanks for being so undiscerningly supportive. ^^

Chicken Schnitzel with Creamy Dill sauce

Rosemary & Garlic Potatoes

Chocolate Pudding

Altogether I think the meal for two cost us around 5 bucks each! Of course, not including all the painstaking manual labour that goes into the cooking and washing process. =.= Especially the washing process.

But for this, it's all worth it.

And because Dan’s parents are arriving tomorrow, he’s been going on quite a bit of a cleaning rampage (we woke up one morning and it was like… magic!). So I guess the least we can do is try to maintain the spotless-ness of the entire house.

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Recipe 1: The Chicken (adapted from Elise’s Pork Schnitzel recipe)

Crispy, succulent chicken... smothered in a warm and creamy herb sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 large piece of chicken breast
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 3/4 cup bread crumb ***
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill (or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream

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*** How to make fresh bread crumbs

You can just substitute it with off-the-shelf bread crumbs; but the last time I had a supply of those in my pantry, a family of spiders decided to make it their home. Which was quite strange, since it was stored in an air-tight container, and was hardly ever used. =.= It freaked me out – and that was the end of my love affair with cheap, packaged bread crumbs.

So when I found out that making bread crumbs is actually a lot simpler than I had expected it to be (which was to be honest quite simple to begin with but I never gotten around doing it – I just never lived down my fear of stored bread crumbs), I whipped out my blender and got right to work.

All you need is a few pieces of half-stale bread with their crusts removed; tear them into 1-inch squares, and throw them into the blender/food processer!

4 slices of bread = 1 cup of bread crumbs

No need for first toasting the bread or crumbling them with your hands. I supposed my idea of making bread crumbs stemmed from the pre-food processer era.

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Step by step instruction (copy pasted from Elise’s recipe, with slight modifications to ingredients and, uh, utensils)

1. Use a meat hammer to pound the chicken breast as thinly as possible.  The original recipe called for the pork cutlets to be about 1/4-1/8 inch in thickness, but I don’t know if you can achieve that with chicken breast. Especially if you were substituting the hammer with a potato masher. =.=
2. Set out 3 shallow bowls.
   • One with a mixture of the flour, salt, and pepper.
   • The second with the egg and milk whisked together.
   • The third with a mixture of the bread crumbs and cayenne pepper.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.
4. Dredge the cutlets first in the seasoned flour, then dip the cutlets in the egg mixture, and then into the mixture of bread crumbs and cayenne pepper.
5. Sauté the cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the chicken cooks through fully. Remove the chicken from the skillet and cover with foil and place in oven to keep warm (in other words, around 100 C).
6. Add the chicken stock into the skillet to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits.
7. In a small bowl mix the dill and salt into the sour cream. Stir the sour cream mixture into the chicken stock. Heat and stir until mixture thickens (do not let boil).
8. Serve the cutlets with the sauce. Serves 2.

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And the result:

Success! (/^ ^)/

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Recipe 2: Rosemary and Garlic Potatoes

Because garlic means everything to me.

Unlike the other two recipes, this wasn’t an experimental process since I’ve made it many many times in the past, and have fed it to many many people ever since.

But I’ve checked: recipe hasn’t made it to this site yet; so Imma put it up anyway.

And for the record, it’s a simple-as-hell, borderline-cheat version of any rosemary and garlic spuds recipes out there – so it’s a good last minute thing to whip up.

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Ingredients (for 2 servings of side):

• 1 large potato, scrubbed and diced to about 1-inch cubes with skin on
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, finely-chopped
• 1 tsp of dried rosemary
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & freshly-grounded black pepper to taste

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Method:

1. Cook the potatoes in a pot of salted water until just right (i.e soft enough for a fork to go through, but not overly mushy because we don’t want to end up with mashed potatoes).
2. On a small skillet (fuu, jargon), heat the olive oil on medium high heat.
3. Fry the garlic  + 1 tsp of rosemary till the garlic starts turning light brown.
4. Remove the skillet from the heat, as to avoid burning the garlic.
5. Drain the potatoes, and stir in the garlic/rosemary oil infusion.
6. Season with salt and pepper, plus more rosemary if you want.

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Result:

Success again! (/^ ^)/

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Recipe 3: Chocolate Pudding (from scratch)

Of course we need desserts.

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Once more, recipe was taken from here. And this website is quickly becoming my new cooking reference, because all the (simpler) recipes I’ve tried out from here have turned out a lot better than I’d expected.

Which can’t be said for Taste.com.au, my other recipe website which has heaaaps of different food and cuisine. But somehow I just phail like 7 out of 10 times when I pick recipes off this page. T.T

Granted, there were times I didn’t have some of the ingredients and tried to substitute them with what I had in my pantry; or even left them out completely if I convinced myself that it/they weren’t that necessary.

DON’T JUDGE ME. IT’S CALLED EXPERIMENTING FOR A REASON CAN?

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch/corn flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup of dark chocolate bits (I used Nestle Dark Chocolate Melts)
• Four 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups (I used 4 whiskey glasses)

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Method:

1. Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Gradually whisk in the milk.
3. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, and boil, whisking, until pudding is thick, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat. (At the point it suddenly turned thick I was so incredibly fascinated)
4. Immediately beat the egg lightly in a medium, heat-proof mixing bowl.
5. Very gradually add the hot chocolate mixture to the egg, whisking constantly.
6. Whisk in the chocolate chips until they are melted and the mixture is smooth.
7. Pour the pudding into the ramekins or cups.
8. If you want, cover the surface of each of the pudding cups with some cut out wax paper (aka baking paper) to prevent a skin from forming on the top of the pudding.
9. Refrigerate, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours.

Optional: I tried adding a sprinkling of cayenne pepper into one of the cups, and the results were terrific. For anyone who has tried the combination of chilli+dark chocolate before, you’ll know how well those two go together. Other options include: serving with whipped cream.

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Results:

Could do with a few more hours in the fridge. But look at how pretty it already is! /cries

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Happee Valentine’s Day, again.

Admittedly it’s because I found a fun image-editing software, and wanted to recreate the pictures I saw in Jamie Oliver’s new book.

But picking a subject was the tricky bit, since the whole initial idea was to work on food piccies.

Yet, in spirit of Valentine’s, I figured hey might as well throw in another semi-emo, ‘I think it’s quite sweet’ entry.

(Also because we’re too poor to celebrate VDay this year.)

(And after having overcome my so-called curse last year, I really don’t mind too much this time around.)

(Bearing in mind of course that we can do a belated celeb, right?)

(But thank you for the lovely present; it was really thoughtful of you even though I accidentally found out what it was two months ago. )

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Labbu labbu always, or at least for the next 99 years.

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And a warm, cozy, sloppy-kissed Valentine’s Day to all of you! ♥♥

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14 years we’ve subjected ourselves and everyone else around us to tasteless jokes in BM and hokkien.

Of being childhood best friends, long distance best friends, and even hiatus-for-6-months best friends.

14 years of silly crushes, heartbreaks and bastard ex-boyfriends.

14 years of waiting and hey we finally found our good men! 

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14 years of living 5 minutes away from each other.

To 10 minutes (because they closed up the main roads and we have to do the stupid U-turn), and then at opposite ends of the world.

14 years of gladly chaffeuring you around because a) I had my own car then, and b) I was scared of your driving back then – and, based on some of the more recent stories, I probably still should be. (- -”)

14 years of thanking heaven and God (Buddha, that is) that we grew out of our Days of the Uglies.

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14 years of Audrey Ooi Moments that usually entails some sort of shameful incident in public.

14 years of having you put me in near-death-situations when you navigate me through KL traffic.

14 years of knowing that the other person is always just a phone call slash text message away.

Even just to listen and not necessarily having anything to say.

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14 years of unconditional love and mutual understanding.

14 years of explaining jokes to you after everyone’s finished laughing.

14 years of looking out for each other and standing up for one another.

14 years of watching each other grow up to be who we are, and where we are in this world.

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14 years of celebrating each other’s birthdays.

Not necessarily together, especially since you went away

Although you’ve came back, I’m still stuck in this God-forsaken city,

Here’s to sending my love and wishing you well, my dear Oderee.

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Love,

Hsin-Ee Tan

And I’ve decided that I don’t want to watch the movie after all.

Even though it stars two of my fav Hollywood faces plus a to-die-for yellow Lab.

No, I’m not watching the movie.

You know why?

YOU KNOW WHY?

BECAUSE IT HAS A SAD ENDING AND MANY SOB-WORTHY PARTS IN BETWEEN AND I CRIED SO MUCH I ALMOST COULDN’T READ THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS BUT I DID ANYWAY AND SPENT THE REST OF THE NIGHT WITH A HEADACHE COS I KEPT TRYING TO SNIFFLE THROUGH MY BLOCKED NOSE.

Can and will die.

And now I’m thinking twice of whether to (eventually) get a puppy or not. Because I will get so emotionally attached to that thing and when it dies and goes to dog heaven I will be shattered. T.T

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I got to babysit Amanda’s pooch last week, and now as I laze around the house bored to tears I wish I had her around, if only to curl up asleep by my feet.

The boyfriend hasn’t been much of a companion these days; ever since he bought himself an XBox 360 with his Christmas money. =.= And every time he buys a new game, he launches into GamerGeek mode and will just sit for hours in front of the TV, jabbing away furiously at the controller.

And we only have one controller.

To his credit, he always did offer to buy me games. But being someone who’s never really been big on any sort of computer/video/console gaming, it was quite hard for me to find something I really like and want him to spend money on (even if it’s only 20 bucks).

I’d rather him treat me to bubble tea or even buy me some good chocolate but he doesn’t wants to pay for those why ar it’s even cheaper somemore. Obviously our priorities in life are different Yang oh what do we do now.

But yeah, for someone who’s idea of awesome virtual fun-time includes beating the high-score in Windows default games (I am still the undisputed champion in Minesweeper as far as I know, if only cos no one else gets the game) and Neopets’ Word Poker – trying to find a good Xbox game for me is near impossible la.

Shooter game is too hard.

Role-playing game is too complicated.

And racing game is simply impossible.

And there’s only so much Viva Pinata you can play before the pinatas start crowding around your garden and you run out of space and nothing else happens except for your plants dying. (- -”) And then the theme song gets stuck in your head and you go mad.

A$13 for a pre-owned copy, at your nearest EB games outlet.

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Eh I digressed so much, was supposed to be writing about the dog.

Anyway people, meet Livvy-Pillar Tan – property of Belle and Amanda Tan; born in Melbourne, raised in Perth.

Hello, Valerie just bathed me and I smell of artificial apples.

I’ve never been a fan of smaller dogs, if only because previous experiences with them plus the stereotypes going around in the pet circles led me to believe that all mini-dogs are annoying, yappy little bastards that serve little purpose in terms of loyalty or protection of mankind. You know, like what dogs are meant to be for.

But Livvy had been a joy to have around the house, even though she behaved like a little brat at times and I want to lock her outside until she’s learnt to behave.

Or when she starts getting all emo and mopey, and refuses to come when you call out to her or even when you offer her treats (which, you know, isn’t supposed to happen by my books).

Two of my favourite puppies, napping.

By the end of the week, we concluded that the dog suffers from manic-depressive disorder, plus a bit of multiple-personality thrown in for how she can suddenly like someone and then starts shaking when the same person tries to pat her the next second. =.=

Then we also suspected that for the little time she spent outdoors in our backyard, she somehow managed to get bullied by the neighbourhood cat of which she became fearful of afterwards. (- -”)

Yes, them.

Yet on the other hand, when she met this 5 month old Doberman at the park, she seemed to lupa diri and started teasing the five-times-bigger-than-her puppy – whom I’m sure just wanted to play but you’ll get worried too when a giant barking thing starts chasing after a suddenly-fearless Chihuahua-Shitzu cross or whatever breed Livvy was.

More so when the owners, a German couple, said to him:

“Play nice now, it’s not a fly!”

And then they laughed. O_O

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Nevertheless, Livvy still had her canine senses where and when it was called for.

Like the night Yang woke up to go to the toilet cos he was feeling sick, and Livvy woke up from her slumber and stayed up waiting for him.

Or that when she was up to one of her mood swings or feeling terrified, all she really needed (or wanted – we haven’t quite decided whether we got scammed or not) was a good cuddle and scratches behind her ear.

Like when she does all these tricks just to get a biccie treat.

Then there was the one morning I left for work around 6am, and as I made my way quietly passed her room (she was sleeping with Val that night), she let out a bark. Of which I had to yell under my breath at her “HOI LIVVY, IT’S ONLY ME” and then she went silent – assumingly back to sleep.

In other words, I’m trying to say she can be a half decent watchdog, even if it meant not recognizing my scent and barking at me. =.= But still, good work Livvy, Imma proud of you. *cuddles*

Who's a good puppy? Whooo's a good puppy?

Miss you long time Livvy! Even though you probably don’t even remember me, judging by how fast you sped off when Belle came to pick you up. T____T

I want one to call my own!

Preferably one that looks like this.

More so when it seems that all the circumstances are working against you.

Like being an immigrant in foreign land.

Like being stuck in the process of visa application.

Like the world economy flapping at borderline-slum level.

While I have been aware of the employment situation for a long time now, the reality of becoming an unfortunate statistic among the rest of the jobless graduates all around the world is only starting to really, really sink in – and man it sucks so big time la.

There’s always the option of heading home. I don’t know how the job market is back in KL right now, but at least I’ll be competing on better grounds with the rest of the graduate pool – i.e. I’m a citizen, instead of an international student with a pending temporary graduate visa. =.= I’ll have the security of always having a roof above my head and food (awesome food, at that) in my stomach, without having to spend a single cent for rent or grocery. And of course, the presence and support of family and friends.

But I simply can’t turn back now, for reasons I can’t divulge here. Pretty well it has a lot to do with principles, pride, and providing a better life for everyone.

And knowing myself, going home also means slipping back into my comfort zone; and when I’m comfortable, I don’t feel the need to push myself. And if I don’t push myself, I won’t end up getting anywhere – and really, I don’t wanna wake up 20 years down the road, and regret not trying harder.

So really, the only option I have now is to persevere and thick-skin myself through as many job application rejections as necessary, until someone’s willing to give me a chance to prove myself worthy of employment in their company. T.T

Either that or get hitched and be Mrs Australian.

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But unemployment misery aside, here’s a bit of Aussie Day happys to brighten up this entry.

Grilled Meats = Love

Rachel Liew I've claimed ownership of your hat and never ever returning it. And Val looks like a confused alien hahaha.

Summer Cina and Winter Melayu.

After partying long and hard the night before.

Yue liang dai biao wo de xing WTFWTF

Garlic and rosemary spuds

Look Ma, we eating our greens!

Amelia and Mo

The (sole) Ang Moh fulfilling his Aussie duties.

Why, we even had bubblies!

Adjourning to the pool for a bit of after-meal kiddie splash.

"EAT THIS, DEFENSELESS DRY PEOPLE"

"Teehee look at those silly pool people"

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And a mob war thus emerged.

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Later that evening, at Val’s insistence enthusiasm, we drove to South Perth to watch the Aussie Day fireworks.

And by driving there, I also mean parking the car about 5km away from our intended destination, and having to power-walk for half hour to get there. =.=

30 minute leg action - for this!

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In any case, the fireworks display was quite pretty la. And it went on forever too; which, I supposed, made the long walks worth it. ^^

Although really, in these economic times, should they be spending so much money on colourful explosives. =.=

Give the money to us instead!

But ahh, I’d like to think that we are also celebrating Chinese New Year at the same time.

Gong Hei Fatt Choi, Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Happy Chinese New Year, everybody!

May the God of Prosperity smile upon you for the upcoming year.

And also God of Wealth, God of Health, God of Good Luck (I’m sure they exist, right right?)

I have not been abandoning this blog I promise, I just haven’t been able to properly go online. Considering that we had what was borderline dial-up speed connection, shared among 4 people. So that’s something like, 15 minutes to partially load a Facebook page, without the images.

Anyway, I’m just gonna do a quick update about the rest of the trip because the accumulated stories are a bit too much to write in one sitting. And I have to do all my unpacking, cleaning, laundry, grocery-shopping, cooking oh god holidays are over. T____T

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So quickly summarizing everything and cramming every bit of photos that I can.

1) Uncle Kerry x Cyril wedding ceremony on Boxing Day @ Skye’s place.

Locations, locations, locations: Skye's place at Lake Macquarie

When I grow up, I want a dock on my front yard too.

So that I can, you know, fish.

So does she.

Sparks, the pitifully (mis)shaven dog.

Joshie & Me. And beer.

Scamming everyone to believe he's an adorable little thing when he hardly ever is.

The couple arrives!

Nikki helping Cyril put on her... er, veil? Hair piece.

Happily ever after.

My favourite Watson uncle.

I just thought this looked hilarious.

For my favourite zi mui. ^^

She throws, and she scores!

Beached and contented.

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2) Counting down to NYE with the Watsons at Crescent Head.

• I spent a terrifying few nights sleeping in the lower bunk of an old and creaky bed underneath Big Mike, who was on a coughing spell. So every time he goes on a coughing fit, the whole bed squeaked and shook violently I swore all 200 pounds was gonna come crashing on me in my sleep. T.T
• Yang fell off his bed.
• And then his bed fell on him HAHHAHAHAHAH.
• I spent so much time in the sun I’m now at least three shades darker.
• So.Much.Food.
• We went dancing with the Watson ladies (including my future mother-in-law ._.), of whom some of them got picked up by younger men.
• Counting down to the new year first, at a country club slash retirement holiday home; then at a pub with a makeshift dancefloor and plenty of sleaze.
• I won my very first game of Bingo! And for that, I received a 10 dollar voucher to spend to my heart’s content.
• We went on a Paddlepop fix, and were one stick away from winning a trip to Florida.

Us working it with the aunties. ^^ And yes I was wearing pants.

A stick away from an all-expense paid trip to US of A.

Bunk Bed of Horror.

Eat this, grumpy senior citizens.

Nobby's Point, I think? One of the beaches at Cres Head.

She's learnt the art of curling up into a ball pretty well.

NYE without the glitz, glam and noise I've known and loved for the past five years. But was it worth it? Definitely. xx

And Erin loves Aaron.

Uncle Sean was gone pretty early.

Kellianne & Nikki.

We the kindred spirit wtf.

I survived the Watsons! *pats self on back*

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3) The remaining of our time at NSW was spent at Grandma Mac’s @ Sydney.

• My first ever time visiting Sydney!
• Did the Harbour, Opera House and Botanical Gardens

Ahh it's been so long since we last had the chance to go pak thor.

Doing the Harbour (and a seemingly generic couple-on-holiday shot =.= )

All the posers with their SLRs snapping away like crazy tsk.

The majestic Opera House, one of the most recognizable icons of Australia I reckon. And I've finally breathed the same air as all the 10 bazillion tourists who's been there!

You pose.

I pose.

The most romantic park bench in the world.

Not the most romantic couple in the world (but we try).

Market place that sold most things at cutthroat tourist prices. +_+

But they also have cool stalls like this one.

Where I bought myself a glass slipper. <3

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4) Meeting the Melbourne peeps.

• What intended to be an overnight stay at Brent’s with Yang and Nikki so that we can meet up with our respective friends and somehow get everyone to go out dinnering/pubbing/clubbing …. well, evolved into just me taking the train into the city by myself for a quick day trip.
• One friend got married.
• One friend became quite an angry chap (wtf. those were his words not mine)
• Choon Wae has emo hair.
• Again, Choon Wae has emo hair Jill Shaun are you reading this?
• I had my guilty pleasures fix of chilli, rum crunch ice-cream and Max Brenner. Irina is a goddess of a supervisor.
• No piccies from Melb though. Don’t know why just didn’t feel like taking any photos that day.

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And my verdict after having visited both cities?

Melbourne still rox my sox any day la.