Foodventure: Gingerboy Melbourne

Gingerboy is a restaurant serving modern Asian cuisine. Lenny first introduced me to it but I've never got around to trying it until Maggie decided to make a booking for yesterday, and the dinner was 4 hours before her flight home to Malaysia! Crazy, crazy girl lol.

We started off with their snacks and street food selection.

Son In Law Eggs, Chili Jam and Asian Herbs

I've never known what a Son In Law Eggs was until I saw it on Masterchef. I attempted to make this once, and it turned out to be pretty easy! The egg was pretty much the same... come on. Its just eggs. No fancy schmancy thing can go on in an egg can it? The chili jam was different. It was really mild in terms of taste compared to mine which was really tangy. It was mild but the flavour was really good nevertheless.

Tempura Oysters with Shredded Iceberg and Prik Nam Pla

This one was faultless in my opinion. I love oysters anyway, particularly the raw one. Even though this was fried, the oysters were still really succulent and tasted semi-raw. Prik Nam Pla is basically a condiment made of fish sauce and chili.

And here are the mains.

Green Chicken Curry with Okra and Fried Egg

Not the authentic type of green curry with lots of heat (in fact, I didn't sense any heat at all...) but the curry sauce itself was very flavourful. I could easily eat that with the okra and without chicken. And this is coming from a person who dislikes okra.

Crispy Singapore Noodle, Spiced Vegetables, Soy and Sesame

When we were having the curry all of a sudden a waiter put this on our table in a hurry and we heard him say its "on the house" or something along that line. Thinking it's complementary, of course we dug in.

I didn't quite like it actually. The fried noodle tasted very much, if not exactly like raw 'yee mein'. The spiced vegetables (capsicum, beans, eggplant) were so soft and mushy. The sauce was alright but that was it.

Top: Red Braised Pork, Pickled Papaya, Pineapple and Coriander Relish.
Bottom: Caramelised Ox Cheeks, Peanut Sauce, Hot & Sour Coconut Salad

Pork was a little chewy, don't know if it's meant to be like that though. The pickled papaya salad and the coriander relish was packed with so many flavours (sweet, spicy, sour), it literally gave me a punch in my mouth when I took a spoonful of it.

Ox cheeks... I don't know. I've never had ox cheeks before. The texture tasted like ordinary stewed beef, so soft it comes apart in strings. Peanut sauce was not hot nor sour to me, and I didn't even realise there was coconut. There was a whole bunch of raw beansprouts though. The whole dish was alright, wasn't mind-blowing to me.

We also did order a Steamed Silken Tofu with Asian Mushrooms and XO Sauce and for unknown reasons, it didn't make it to the table. Instead, we got the Singapore Noodle which we thought was complementary until it came out in the bill.

Of course we sorted it out with the people and managed to get the right bill. It was overall a pretty good experience, definitely worth the try.

And since I knew I was gonna go have some fancy dinner, I decided to doll up.

My smokey eyes, chiseled features and pale lips make me look so stoned haha.

For the past 2 weeks

Long time no blog! Here's a pictorial update of what I've been up to besides school:

Tried innovating and recreating a golden sweet potato dessert I absolutely loved from a Beijinger restaurant in Shah Alam. Used purple sweet potatoes instead because I think the colour's uber intriguing for a dessert. By the way do you know how outrageously overpriced purple sweet potatoes are here in Melbourne? Totally outrageous. And do you know purple sweet potatoes are white when unpeeled, yellow sweet potatoes are dark purple when unpeeled? I didn't, haha. Anyway, my dessert didn't meet my expectation. It wasn't as smooth and creamy but I will keep working on it to find out how.

Ever since I was introduced to 流沙包 lao sha bao by Maggie (the foodie, haha it rhymes!) I was hooked. Not to be mistaken with 奶黄包 nai wong bao, also called sweet custard buns, that one uses different type of custard and doesn't 'drip'.  Lao sha bao basically is a bun with melted salted egg yolk custard - SUPER GOOD! But it has to be melted completely to the point that it drips when you tear the bun in half, hence the name. I managed to find frozen packs of this in an Asian grocer and it's pretty close to the good stuff we get from the dim sum place we frequent!

Found another place which serves yummy Malaysian food - Grand Tofu! We had Fried Kuey Teow and Yong Tau Foo with curry soup which tastes exactly like laksa soup base, in a good way! And it's so near our place, only 1 train stop away!

Tried hair chalking after seeing it on Youtube. It works! Basically you take chalk pastels and rub it in your hair and tadaa! Instant washable coloured hair! But you gotta spray it with damn a lot of hairspray to hold it in place otherwise it gets everywhere, even on your fingers when you brush your hair! And it's really really drying to the hair as well. Will only recommend doing it for a special night out, and only do it to pieces of hair or the tips. It's too drying, not to mention super mafan and messy to do the whole head. 

Had barbecue on Sunday night with Maggie and Kai Mun. That pit seriously needs to be made more use of. It's literally sitting in the balcony collecting dust.

Made jap chae (first time!) as a side for barbecue. It's actually really easy to make! But uses a hell lot of sesame oil and soy sauce it's not even funny.

And finally the grand finale...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! 

Now I won't have to hog Wk's phone to take Instagram pictures or do whatever. Hopefully with a new gadget like this I'll be more diligent in blogging? Haha. Hopefully...

I can haz Instagram!

Last week was probably one of the most satisfying weeks I've had in school. Passed my final questions for manicure, got a final for body massage then passed the final questions for it, got a final for facial, and then passed the final questions for facial. Finally got a chance to work on my waxing - which I am so bad at cos I haven't done it in a while, I'm so losing touch. I need more, seriously. Will be doing makeup in the coming week, can't wait for it! I've washed all my makeup brushes, all ready for it! Hee =D

Right now, that makes me officially a semi-qualified manicure, pedicure, body massage and facial therapist! Semi-qualified because I haven't gotten my diploma yet but I'm considered competent in all that already :)

Was about to iron my black pants before I wear it to school when I discovered that it hasn't been completely dried in the dryer. So no pants for me :( Yes, I only have one pair of black pants. I have black tights, skinny jeans but those aren't allowed so I had to skip school today. I could have dried it, go to school late and clock in as half day but what's the point if I'm late and I'm not going to get the clients I need. Good time anyway cos I need to get my business plan assignment started.

Yesterday I went to this beauty expo and it was an eye-opening experience. I've never been to an event like this before. It's a trades-only event so it's not for the public, only for people in the industry. Lots of booths with different products and brands, it was a good exposure.

I just installed Instagram! Erm.. on Wk's iphone hahaha. 

Some lashes and brushes I bought at the expo.

Went to Laksa King yesterday (AGAINNnnn haha).

Instagram is like a picture sharing app. It's really easy to use. Take a picture, filter it to however you like, and share. It works like twitter, but in the form of pictures.

Ok time to be productive. Ciao.

Try and fail, but don't fail to try.

Yesterday the salon was so quiet it wasn't even funny. My client didn't show up, the whole day was just spent mucking around. One thing achieved is I've passed my manicure and pedicure final questions (like an oral test). So now I am officially a semi-qualified manicurist and pedicurist!

Today I tried to get a final for a body massage - not oral test, we need to first pass the practical part (performing the treatment) before we get to the oral test. When I was done, the teacher was away for lunch. When I came back, I was filling out stuff in my book and the teacher came in and asked if I've had lunch, to which I replied yes, and she asked if I could do a pedicure, to which of course I had to say yes? I mean if you're working in a real salon how can you say no, right? That's like saying "no" to a job wtf. Anyway, I quickly went and set up and when I was about to get started, the teacher told me "Just wanted to get the pedicure out of the way. Once you're done with it, I'll give you feedback on your body massage."

Usually the teacher would let me know if I've passed or not right away. Well, usually if I've passed, they'll let me know straight. If I didn't, usually they'll give me 'feedback' to why I didn't. So I was feeling quite deflated when I was doing the pedicure thinking I've failed but well, life goes on. I can always try again, I know.

After the treatment I sat down with the teacher to get my 'feedback'. The first thing she asked me was, "So Ee Von, how did you think you went with the treatment?". And I honestly replied saying I thought it went quite well, everything was good. And she gave me her feedback and I gave her my opinion and yadda yadda yadda. In the end, she told me "Yup, I thought you did well too. So go home and study, we'll do your (final) questions tomorrow."

In short, I passed.

Words cannot express my relief. Seriously. Suddenly I find myself relating well to a saying that goes in The Hunger Games. Can't remember the exact words but it goes something like having a little hope is good, having too much hope is bad. Something along that line. 

Hope drives you forward. Too much hope can mean so much disappointment. But above it all, try and fail, but don't fail to try. 

I now sincerely regret not going to school enough at the very beginning, I could have progressed even more at this stage. I could have crossed out a few things I had to do, and made time for other things now. But what's done is done, as long as right now I am at the right pace catching up. Every day I'm at school, I learn something new. Even if there's no clients, I miss nothing. But every day I'm not at school, I'm at risk of missing something - a chance to gain competencies, a chance to gain finals, a chance to learn something new. 

Hopefully I'll be done by this June before the besties come over to Melbourne for a short getaway. Just a tiny hope, to which I shall work hard on.

The Cold Weekend

It's been getting quite cold lately but I'm definitely not complaining, I'd rather it cold than stuffy and warm because I don't remember having such good sleep in the past 2 days for quite some time ever since the weather went warmer early this year.  It's frustrating when all I do at night is waking up in the middle of a sleep, having difficulties to fall back into sleep, tossing and turning because every posture just felt uncomfortable. AAaaaand, the mother of all problems... ants. Since it's not a problem anymore, I won't get into that. Let's just hope I won't have to go into that.

I've never had Sichuan food until last year here in Melbourne and I must say... gosh how much I've missed out! Sichuan food is awesome. This is leftover pork ribs smothered with chili flakes and Sichuan pepper that we didn't finish when we had it in a restaurant. It's not spicy at all... well depending on your spice/heat tolerance. Sichuan pepper gives a numbing sensation when you bite it, it's not spicy or heaty like chili. Which I really like because I find the sensation really interesting! Haha.

For dinner on Saturday we decided to try Chilipadi Mamak Kopitiam. It was ok, nothing to shout about. There're definitely better tasting Malaysian food out there. Went home and it was already quite late but I decided to bake... because I can.

It's Red Velvet (Mini) Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe from here. Mini because I don't have regular cupcake/muffin tins at the moment. I had a little bit of a disaster moment while making it. I added a little more buttermilk than I should have out of carelessness so to make it up to the extra liquid, I added a little more dry ingredients without measuring (blind estimation), I wasn't bothered to throw out the batter and start again. The cake turned out fine! Except that I didn't think the cake would rise since it didn't ask for any raising agent (baking powder, self-raising flour) and I didn't think baking soda/bicarbonate soda is a raising agent, I filled the first batch of cupcakes quite full. Result: muffin top aka the cake 'overflowed'. But apart from presentation, the cake tasted good. Soft, fluffy and moist.

2nd disaster moment is the frosting. I think I shouldn't have used soft icing and should have used pure icing instead. My frosting look 'grainy' for unknown reasons... when it should be a smooth, beautiful opaque cream colour. I'm guessing it's the starches in the soft icing that's causing this ugly outcome. Bleghhh. Also, I would have loved my cream cheese frosting to be more cream cheese and heavy, this one is a tad bit too light and buttery. But I do like the lovely roses I piped out! Can anyone tell it's a white rose... ? Wk couldn't :((

 HAHAHA

Love how my cheekbones make my face look so slim here! <3

Just because I haven't done this in a while :P

Went and watched Hunger Games earlier. Wasn't interested in it at the beginning because the trailer didn't look interesting but apparently it's gotten really good ratings in Rotten Tomatoes so we decided to give it a shot. Not bad... worth the time and money spent.

And that concludes the weekend. Back to school tomorrow and let's hope I'll be able to do much better this week.

Big expectations, bigger disappointments.

Once again, I was determined to go to school and get a few finals slashed out of my to-do list. Did great jobs on both my eyebrow wax and facial, but didn't get passed because of silly mistakes. So silly. I was so close to getting them. So near yet so far. It's not easy to get clients who are easy to deal with and who are assessable. A client may come in with an eyebrow wax but if her eyebrows have good shape, I can't be assessed.

I did a great job with the eyebrows, but I didn't pass because I didn't tidy up my work station after that. Well the only reason I did not, is because the client was having a massage right after that. I didn't know I am actually allowed to leave my client on the bed, to tidy my station. With the facials, I was extracting milia. Honestly, it was my first time doing it but I've seen it done and it's really easy. I asked the teacher for help because it didn't come out as easily as I've seen it performed. And because I got assistance, I didn't get the finals. If I knew I wouldn't pass because I've asked for assistance, I would NOT have asked for it. I seriously wouldn't.

I'm not blaming anyone. It's nobody's mistake but myself, I just have to learn from it and not repeat it the next time I attempt a final. I guess I was pushing myself too hard by having too much expectations. Expecting to get my finals, expecting to get more waxing clients to attempt competencies (didn't get ANY at all today), expecting to be doing well. The bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment. Cliched but true and it will hit you like a mother.

But you know what? I'm not going to stop expecting because it's what drives me forward. I will continue to expect the shit out of myself (not literally...) and I'm going to get it.

Punctured confidence

Things were looking kinda great this morning when I passed my manicure and pedicure finals, and I managed to get an underarm and half leg wax client in the afternoon. Then it was all disappointment when her underarm hair wasn't 'full' enough to be assessable. And for the half leg wax, dammit why can't I move quicker for the 19862312th time??? Including today it's been the 4th time I failed to get a competency in half leg waxing already. Not because I don't know how to do it, but I just can't get it done in that freaking impossible 20 minutes. Yeah sure 20 minutes no problem, but it sure will be a shitty result.

Far king hell I need to get my arse moving faster like a Wonder Woman.

Came home feeling exhausted and deflated. Decided to get high with some cider and forget the day. Oh yeah, I can get high with only 4% alcohol. Watched an episode of 2 Broke Girls online (new favourite sitcom) while sipping my awesome cider, face went red as tomato, head felt like it's rocking like a boat in the sea, watched My Kitchen Rules like a couch potato. 

Ok gtg prepare for tomorrow. Ciao.