Hari Buruh

Went to Laksa King again for dinner. It's only 1 stop away from a train station not too far from our place.

Tried their Assam Laksa. It was mehh, not impressive if you've tasted authentic Penang assam laksa (in Penang itself obviously). Flavour was alright but just not as good. I think they're better at their regular Laksa(s). Teh tarik was as always, fantastic. Wk had the Tomato Spare Ribs on Fried Rice and zomg it's SO good. It's such a simple dish with simple ingredients but the taste is super satisfying. Every spoon tastes like wok on flaming heat... if you know what I mean. The fried rice tasted exactly like from 'tai chao' and it goes so damn well with the tomato sauce. Highly recommend this. The next time I go to Laksa King I'll be sure to order myself a bowl of this goodness. And I'd love to try their Ais Kacang, saw a couple of orders and it looked so good!

Pappa Rich is opened in the city today, it took over Oldtown Kopitiam Mamak which didn't last very long. We're planning to drop by. Yesterday we were googling it just to see if they're opened yet and we saw their page on Urbanspoon and I even saw a review and ratings but the thing is it's written there Pappa Rich will only be opened on the 12th which is the day after (today), so how come there's a review and ratings when it's not even opened yet? And to add to the fishiness, the review is a positive one and apparently 5 voted and 100% like it.

Anyway, today Maggie went there and she said it's not impressive. I went back to Urbanspoon and check and guess what? 11 have voted, and only 45% like it! Which means nobody likes it! It's so obvious the previous voters are fake voters. There's a new review, it's not a very positive one, and 1 person actually agreed to that review lol.

Anyhow, we're going to drop by just because we're typical people like that, we like to join the crowd =P

Oh btw, it's Labour Day here in Victoria today so we're chillin' at home, taking our sweet time doing nothing. Btw I just remembered Labour Day is called Hari Buruh in Malaysia! Hahahah saying it now sounds a bit funny.

Story of peanut butter and I

Last weekend was spent being as couch-ridden as a couch potato. I was very unfortunately down with the flu. I like to rest on my couch more than my bed just because my couch is near the balcony where we like to keep the sliding door wide open so we get lots of light and air. It just feels a lot better than breathing in all the 'sick air'. So that's why it's couch-ridden instead of you know, bedridden.

Anyway when I was younger I was taught that 'flu' is runny nose. Lol of course it's not. Flu stands for influenza, which is caused by a type of virus that comes in specific season - according to information on the net, it's late fall to spring. Common symptoms include severe headache (hate hate hate), exhaustion, muscle aches and fever - exactly what I had. The virus spreads really easily and it is really common. The doctor told me there has been many cases already this time around and it's easy to get it when your immune system is weakened - happens usually when you're stressed because it depletes Vitamin C which helps in boosting your immune system. Smoking does it too.

I went to school yesterday eventhough I wasn't feeling completely alright but because I had to get some things settled in school I dragged myself out anyway. I requested for early leave because I decided to see a doctor later that afternoon, which was how I found out I had this viral infection but the thing is it was already my 4th day with it, I wasn't feeling as crappy anymore. I just went to the doctor for a peace of mind and I wanted to get the doctor's prescription for some drug anyway. 

The doctor said it is highly contagious and advised me to stay home and rest for a few days until I am completely recovered before I go out and see the world. So he gave me 3 days sick leave WOHOOO! And when I was at school earlier one of the teachers told me "Hmm let's hope it's not contagious" which I actually took offence at at first because hey, I'm sick here instead of showing concern you're telling me about being contagious? Ugh. But oops. Looks like I am contagious hahah.

And the funny thing is for the past few days of being sick I was guessing that it's a mild food poisoning eventhough there's no vomiting and diarrhea... Ok truth is I've been eating expired peanut butter. I know, people are going to tell me "WTF why do you eat expired food?!" I tell you why!

There's a jar of crunchy peanut butter which is expired, and a jar of smooth peanut butter which is not expired. I hate smooth peanut butter, only bought it for baking purposes but I loooove my peanut butter! So I decided to eat the expired one. Also because I have this mindset that if it says "Best Before", means it's ok to eat after the expiry date. If it's "Use Before" like milk or cream, means it's NOT ok to eat after the expiry date.

So for the past few days I was mentally beating myself thinking that it's the PB. After visiting the doctor's yesterday, looks like it's not the PB's fault :)

Anywaaaaay. I've already thrown that expired PB out already before anybody come telling me I shouldn't eat expired food.

Yesterday while we were doing some Asian grocery shopping, I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some Teluk Intan Heong Peng!

Let's hope it's good! I super hate heong peng(s?) that are soft.

When we saw the biscuits Wk immediately asked me hesitantly how I usually eat them. I looked at him and said "On it's own lah what else" and he told me he used to eat it with guess what?

CONDENSED MILK! 

Ew?? Heong peng is sweet on its own I don't understand how could people eat it with condensed milk lor! But anyway he insisted to get a can of condensed milk so that he can eat with it or he won't buy the heong peng wtfffff.

 

These are apparently the famous Apple Strudel from Perth!

The first apple strudel I've tried was from Frutti, it's a cafe in Panmour area, near Delta tuition centre. Students always hang out around there before/after or even during (ponteng) class. Speaking from experience hahahaa.  They claimed their apple strudel was from Australia but back then I didn't know what an apple strudel was and I didn't give a shit so I just tried. It was disgusting. The pastry was soggy, the custard was too much and bleghh, didn't taste any apples. That was probably the first and last I've ever had apple strudels.

On Monday Kai Mun gave us this long block of apple strudel which he brought back all the way from Perth when he traveled there. It is apparently really really famous and good, from this pastry shop called Corica. Tried it the moment he brought back and at that time I was actually still pretty sick to be eating dessert but from the looks of it, I couldn't resist. I had to have a slice. It was so good! I can imagine it being 10 times nicer if we could eat it fresh.

There's a good balance of custard and pastry. The custard is really good, it's what a good custard should taste or smell like. The level of sweetness is just nice. Pastry was not crunchy anymore since it's not fresh but it's still nice and light, not soggy! My favourite part? The fine sugar crusted layer of pastry at the top. Overall everything was just a pleasure to eat. You take a mouthful but everything's light and fragrant, not cloyingly sweet or dense.

Jumping Jacks

School today was boring as hell, only had 1 client.

Just a brief on how my course works...

In my school, we have both theory and practical parts to do. After finishing theory and learning to do all the treatments, we basically go to the school's 'salon' and get clients. These are not fake clients, they are actual money-paying clients. These client basically pay a cheaper price for their treatments if compared to actual salons with qualified therapists outside. Our job is to work on these clients and when we feel confident enough, we let the teacher know we want to get assessed. There's a whole list of things you need to be assessed on so once you've checked everything, and finished all your theory part, finished all the assignments, passed all exams, you graduate. So in other words is if there's no clients, or you don't attend school enough to get clients, you won't pass or graduate in time.

Today, is an example of 'there's no clients' day. Which sucks. Imagine, 9 - 4.30 and all I get is a one hour body massage.

Got home and I suddenly felt the determination to exercise! So I quickly changed into my sweatpants immediately after I got home just in case I got lazy. Lately I've been feeling really... 'sloppy' inside. All I do is eat shit sleep school cook. So unhealthy! I need to start moving that fat ass. So I tried this workout here which looks deceivingly easy.

 

It says a 15 minute full body workout and I thought oh great, I'll take it as a warm up session before I go out for a light jog. WRONG. It's so difficult! 1 minute of jumping jacks is easy, NOT until you continuously do all the other steps. At the end of it, I was so exhausted. Mainly is because my stamina is non-existent due to not exercising for a while now. I didn't have a timer so I wasn't sure if I actually did do 1 minute of each but I'm pretty darn sure I didn't.

If my muscles are not crying tomorrow, I shall try again.

It's been a year

since I first came to Melbourne.

Has it been a good year? I don't know but I will definitely celebrate the things I've learnt, the changes I've gone through, the changes I've made to myself as a person. It was definitely good to be able to reunite with my other half after 4 years of long distance relationship. We were planning and we were hopeful with everything in the future eventhough we weren't sure if it would work. Well, half worked, half didn't. 

There were two things I wanted when I decided to come here - PR and a job. After almost a year, I'm really glad my PR application was approved. With PR, I can stay here indefinitely with Wk while he works and build his career, while I can work without limitations too as well as figuring out what I want as a career. We no longer have to stay apart. Sadly, I still have not gotten a job due to being a full time student now. I came here as a tourist thinking I could convert my visa when we apply for PR. Plans had to be changed when we found out I couldn't apply while I'm holding a tourist visa, I needed to at least be on a student visa. It led me to enrol in a course which I've never wanted to talk about because of many petty reasons. I figured since it's been a year here and after going through so many circumstances, I'm finally feeling comfortable to mention it.

I'm currently a full time student doing a Diploma of Beauty Therapy. The course goes on for a year. You may wonder, what does a beauty therapist do? Nothing related with music that's for sure. A beauty therapist performs all services related to beauty which include waxing, manicure, pedicure, body massage, facial, makeup, spa and aromatherapy. 

Music is a part of my life, I didn't want to waste time and money on a music course or a school that is not decent. Even if I am qualified to enter a good university to do a Masters degree, I couldn't afford to pay the fees as an international student. I'm too old to be taking money from my parents and I have 3 other siblings who need the money more than me. 

What I needed was something affordable, short in duration and I have interest in. I initially only took it as a stepping stone to my PR application as ultimately, I don't want to abandon music. I wanted to do makeup  but was told it's not offered to international students at that time. Instead, I was convinced to do beauty therapy and switch to makeup when it's available, which they presumed wouldn't be long. When I had the chance to switch finally, I decided to stick with beauty therapy. Simply because I was half way into the course  already (6 months) and it would be a waste to not finish it when I'm that close. Besides, I think it has a better career prospect than makeup, it makes me more marketable/employable, and I somehow became interested in it. I still have interest in makeup but I guess the timing was just not right.

I should be finishing before August this year and I have no idea what's in store for me but I have made plans for what to do after this. Now what's left is to hope everything works out fine.

Nothing comes easy, I get it. I just have to keep trying my best.

Some random food pictures, as always.

Beatrix

It's a breakfast place at North Melbourne. It seems to have garnered quite some good reviews and ratings but honestly, I find it so-so. Can't remember what's that roll called, it was a weekend special. Most people praised their sweets. The red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting was again, so-so.

Homemade Katsudon

The first time I made Katsudon my pork was as tough as old boots because I didn't know how long I should deep fry them for. This time, it was good but I wished it could be a little bit more tender.

Laksa King

Had lunch here after an interview because it was only 2 train stops away. Great place during those laksa-craving days. Their teh tarik is seriously fawesome! Nothing I've tried in Malaysia was as good.

Beautiful night sky view with 2 stars. Can you spot the crescent moon?

Vday '12

If you're on my FB you probably have already known this news. For those who're not.. or those who're on my FB but not nosy/lifeless people who check their FB news feed every 3 minutes... or those who are nosy as hell and want to know the exact story wtf, here's it!

Yesterday morning when Wk and I were waiting for the train to get to work/school, Colin, our lawyer who worked with us on our application for PR called. From the moment he picked up the phone and said "Hi Colin", I almost could not breath.

When I first came to Melbourne thinking application would be smooth sailing, I was wrong. Things changed, the Australian immigration tightened the rules and it was not as simple as we expected and we faced lots of trouble trying to get things done as soon as we could. Nevertheless, after putting in major effort, we managed to lodge our application around August/September. After that, we've never heard from Colin anymore. It's time to wait. No news from immigration to us, no news from Colin, no news from nowhere until yesterday.

Lots of people told us waiting is normal, "No news is good news" because ultimately, you'd rather wait than be informed that your application has been rejected. That only means you'll have to pack up and get the hell out of Australia.

So anyway back to the call from Colin. Wk spoke to him and I was sitting beside him... my mind was completely blank. I didn't know what to think. At the beginning the call sounded serious... there was no indication whatsoever and I was damn freaking nervous. In my mind I was thinking "Oh shitohshitohshit......" Lately things happened and I have not been thinking very positively... including this time.

And then, I heard something like "Oh I see, that's great! So everything's settled now?" With a smile on Wk's face. That was the sign of approval to me and immediately, I calmed down. But still, it could mean anything. Yes or no. 

When Wk hung up, he broke the good news to me. 

Our application for the visa has been granted.

I literally went "WTF". 

And I can't remember how I reacted afterwards wtf. But all I remember is my stomach was feeling funny when I was walking to school. It's as though my tummy was filled with so much of happiness that it wanted to explode lol.

I called my mom and told her and she congratulated me. I called her at 7.30am Malaysian time in her office because I knew she'd be there. She's crazy, she gets to work at 6.30am because she said she hates traffic congestion. And she likes to get everything done before the business runs. She's awesome like that.

Called my dad at a later time because I was busy the whole day... but apparently my mom already told him lol. With my mom, news travel like a lightning hahaha. I called home and spoke to my grandma and she knew too lol. 

Ok technically, nothing much changes. Doesn't mean I get cheaper price for things, or pay cheaper fees if I study. It's just that with this status, a lot of things can be processed easily because I am allowed to stay indefinitely. And also because we've been planning this for years, I'm not even exaggerating. Years. It felt so... indescribably amazing when it actually happened.

So yesterday to celebrate, we decided to eat out and watch a movie :) 

We didn't have plans prior to this good news, yeah it's Vday but come on. We've had nine freaking years of Vdays already lol and we're not the kind who care for Vday anyway. We initially only planned to stay home but obviously, we HAD to get out and celebrate when something so great happened.

Wk got a place at Movida Next Door at the last minute (right after working) but because he couldn't get me on the phone when I was on the way to the city (with grandma on the phone my goodness she couldn't stop talking hahaha), it was canceled. Everywhere else was fully booked because obviously, it's Vday. Lucky us, we managed to get a table at White Tomato, a decent Korean place. It was one of the most relaxing meal ever to be honest. We have so many plans for the future but it didn't make sense to invest when our status was not even assured. Now, it's as though a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.

Cinema wasn't as packed. I guess people here prefer to have dinner on Vday. We watched This Means War.

I must say at 35, Reese Witherspoon still looks as fresh as she was in Legally Blonde. Chris Pine... meh, typical. Tom Hardy + British accent is SO FUCKING HOT. Excuse the profanity but I cannot help it. It's a great comedy but I didn't like how it ended - who she picked. It's like saying nice guys will always stay behind, only jackasses can get the girl. What a big steaming pile of BS. Seriously who would like a guy, who pretended to like dogs just because you like dogs, and adopted one just to impress you? Hello? It's a life, not a toy. I'm Team Tuck! Who's with me??

How was everyone's Vday?

Nam Yue Spare Ribs, 南乳排骨

One of the many dishes from my grandma I missed the most is Nam Yue Spare Ribs. It's a pork dish, deep/pan fried with a savoury, sweet taste. I tried making them last week. Although it didn't taste like the ones my grandma used to make (at all...) it was nevertheless very delicious! I used this recipe and I do highly recommend it.

I don't have wooden chopsticks so I usually use 2 satay skewers as my wooden chopsticks when I need to deep fry things. Super useful ok! No need to wash and hang it to dry. Just simply throw them away! I mean... how often do you deep fry food anyway right? But you gotta have the skillz though wtf. If you hold your regular chopsticks the wrong way, forget about this. You can use kitchen tongs but I'll explain below why a wooden stick is better.

Make sure your oil is hot, but not hot to the point that it's smoking otherwise your pork will burn or get charred before it even gets cooked.

One way to test is to put your wooden chopstick (or skewer in my case) in the oil. If you see bubbles floating up immediately from the stick, that's about right temperature. You can't do this if you're using a kitchen tong can you? Constantly check your meat. If it's browning very quickly, you probably need to reduce the fire.

Oh and another thing. Never use any type of olive oil to deep fry please - just because it's olive oil doesn't mean it's always 'healthier' to cook with. Olive oil has a relatively low smoking point, and it's not healthy to cook from oil which is smoking - some said it's carcinogenic. Virgin and extra virgin has even lower smoking point which is why it's not recommended to use them to even stir fry. Use vegetable or peanut oil when it comes to deep frying.

Next important thing to do - check your timing.

Obviously this one here is undercooked. NEVER EAT UNDERCOOKED PORK. 

I didn't know how long I should fry my pork as it wasn't mentioned in the recipe. "deep fry till golden brown" really doesn't mean anything. So I googled and found multiple answers. There's 3-4 minutes, there's 8-10 minutes. That is a huge difference when it comes to cooking meat like pork so I started off with 4 minutes. And this was what I got when I cut my pork in half - pink centre. 

So for the next piece, I tried 8 minutes. Still turned out to be a little bit pink. Then I tried 10 minutes and it was perfect. Pork was not overcooked, it was juicy and tender. Overcooked pork will be very tough and hard to chew which means bleeghh. 

Anyhow, my pork was quite a huge piece. If it's smaller, it probably didn't need 10 minutes. I can't give an exact cooking time, best way is to try it piece by piece. Unless you're not particular about the texture of your meat. I am. So I cooked my pork exactly 10 minutes and it was crunchy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside.

Yum!

I didn't have coriander leaves so I skipped that. I think it would have added a different flavour if I had it! Maybe next time. Baking soda basically helps in tenderising the meat. Don't overdose on baking soda and 5 spice powder as it will leave a bitter taste. And I didn't add that much water, just enough to give the marinade some volume so that all the meat is submerged in it. It's easier to mix the marinade (except water) in a bowl first, then pour all over the meat and give it a good stir.

I use a small pot to deep fry because that way, I wouldn't need to use that much of oil. But it also means I can only deep fry one piece at a time. It's slow but in a way, it's good because when you throw in too many pieces of meat into hot oil, the temperature of oil will drop rapidly and the meat will start sticking together and absorbing the oil.

I know this dish takes quite some effort to prepare but if you love spare ribs and Nam Yue, you'll love this! You can also substitute the meat with chicken.

Dinner on me :)

Was looking at my meal planner when I was surprised by this:

:)

Went out for a haircut today. Really liked it! I asked for side-swept fringe and a trim. Hair feels so much lighter and looks healthier! Although while my hairstylist was combing through my hair, he casually mentioned that I need some serious treatment because my hair's so tangled -.- After a wash, he was struggling with combing my hair he had to ask another stylist for help hahaha! And I had to sit there and endure 10 minutes of hair-yanking. Aiya no money do treatment la not that it'll last. Once my stupid bleached ends are gone it'll be healthy no need waste money on whatever treatment. Have to wait about... 2 years la I think hahaha!

Wk took a picture of me while we were waiting for our train and told me I'll look better without my specs. So I took it off and he said I look 10 years younger without the specs. But I'm blind without my specs @.@ Actually kind of cheating one la. The angle in the second picture made me look so much better than the angle in the first. If he took a picture of me from the front without my specs, I'll still look like a grandma wtf.

Remember I said I will never complain about the cold? I take that back. We had to walk home under the rain today because we forgot our umbrella. Omfg so cold. Wk laughed and asked me "Would you walk under the rain in the sun or in the cold?" I said "In the sun" wtf.