Priorities

This morning I got a call from an unknown number. After answering, I found out it was a man who has sent me an email days ago inquiring about violin lessons. I knew it was very irresponsible of me to not reply him through email. And now he's calling me, anyone can tell how serious he was about the lessons he was asking for his son. I apologized and said no.

And now I feel this weird, indescribable sadness in me.

6 months ago, I would have said yes to ANY inquiry in a heartbeat. I was so desperate for a job, and to be able to teach the violin would be a plus. Music has been a huge part of me before doing beauty and I've always hoped to keep it that way, and someday still do things related to music. 

Today, I realize I can't hold on to all these things anymore. I only have one heart, there's only that many things I can be passionate and focused about. If I were to do them all, I'd be half-assed in any of them which isn't something good. 

It didn't take me long to say no to that inquiry, but it cuts me deep inside knowing I'm pushing music away. But if I were to try and do it all, I'll be nowhere in the future. That being said, music will still be a part of me that I'm proud of. For now, I need to concentrate on what I have in hand. There's no use living life in the past when we are all in the present. 

I'm happy to teach, but if I'm unable to commit myself 100% and risk ruining the learning progress of a child, I'd rather say no in the first place. I'm sure he will find a better teacher who can give him so much more than I can.

It's amazing and scary at the same time the change one can go through in such a short amount of time. 2 years ago, I was a hopeful music teacher hoping to be able to live in Melbourne with my other half and teach music. Today, I'm doing anything BUT music.

Oh well, what's life if it's not constantly evolving?

Oh hai

Hi everyone! Has anyone missed me? *crows cawing*

I'm getting more and more terrible at this :( Even my period comes more regularly than me blogging wtf.

Nothing much really. Mainly work, bit of shopping, cooking and Candy Crushing (lots of it). Can't believe how quickly time flies. I just had my work review a week ago, marking the 6th month into my first official job in Australia. Which reminded me how I still haven't mentioned anything about it here in the blog. Next post!

About some time ago I went to Salon Melbourne, which is a Hair and Beauty Industry Expo held annually. I remember going there for the first time last year as a beauty student. I couldn't afford anything substantial at that time but this year I went in with a target in mind and a well-prepared wallet 8) 

 

So I got a complete waxing kit (pots, waxes, lotions, strips, applicators) simply because I've always wanted to start doing waxing services at home. Unfortunately at this time I can't as my spare room has been rented out so for now the best I can do is use it on myself. 

Honestly if you ask me 2 years ago whether I would get waxing services I'd tell you "Hell no, lao niang don't need it ok!". I'm not bragging here but apart from my armpits (can shave), eyebrows (can tweeze) and misai (can tweeze too but super painful knn), I really have no lawn anywhere else that needs mowing. I thank my mom's good genes for this. Even my brother has no hair on his legs, which I think to men isn't something to be proud of hahah.

When I went to beauty school it was the very first time I've ever gotten a waxing service, and of course performing the service. Apart from being the one doing the waxing you'll have to be used as a model for other students to practice. I'll go "Pffft I'd love to help but I've got nothing for you to wax" especially when I've just gotten my underarm, eyebrows or upper lips waxed.

Anyway, after trying out waxing, I've decided it's really a lot better than shaving. The only reason I haven't done it is I can't be bothered to visit a salon regularly to get it done. Shaving is just so much easier. Now that I have it at home and I know how it's done, it's a different story. 

I tried doing it myself the other day and omggg, I think if I have spent more time on it I could have gone cross-eyed. It's not painful mind you, when done right the pain is actually very tolerable. It's because I only have one hand to manage things, plus I have to look at my reflection in the mirror which made it so difficult. At the end of it I was telling myself "Nah, I'm sticking to shaving." Then I saw the results... waxing is still better. Usually by half/one day after shaving, I can already see stubble. And oh gosh the itch, fucking hate the itch in the pits especially when you're out in the public. With waxing, there's no stubble AT ALL even after 5 days. The hair grows at a much slower rate, and finer too. Best of all, no itch. 

So guess I'll be sticking to waxing then until I can be bothered to go for IPL.  

Do you know what's better than having a day off work? Having another day off the next day. And what's better? Having your shopping parcel delivered to you while you're still in your PJs. And what's even better? Everything fitting perfectly. 

Parcels always make a girl happy :)

It's been getting colder lately and what better way to warm up than to have a warm dessert? :)

Made chocolate fondant, which is also known as chocolate lava cake, or chocolate pudding. I don't know who the hell invented this and couldn't decide on the name, it's so annoying. So anyway basically it's a rich chocolate cake with a molten/half-cooked center so when your spoon cuts through it, the liquid center should ooze out of the cake like a lava flowing out of a volcano. 

I recently saw a picture Maggie posted on Instagram of her chocolate fondant and I decided to try it too. Instead of only chocolate cake batter, I added some peanut butter in the center of the cake.

IT IS ZOMFG DELICIOUS DOT COM OK. Served with ice cream, the combination of rich chocolate cake, molten peanut butter and cold ice cream was just mind blowing. And I've always had trouble trying to get the center to still be runny, they always turn out a little cooked so they never ooze out. With the peanut butter there, no problemo. Perfectly lava-like. Used this recipe, but used this method to incorporate the peanut butter.

On Saturday I was called in for a late start at work so we decided to quickly grab brunch before starting. Decided to try out this place in North Melbourne called Fandango. 

My cappuccino was a little different from the usual ones I always have at breakfast/brunch places. Instead of one with latte art and dusted with cocoa, this has no art but a sprinkle of what looked like chunky cocoa. The cocoa was sweetened, so it was quite nice having a sip of the froth with the sweet cocoa, before hitting the espresso.  

I had the Pesto Scrambled Egg. It was delicious, I think. Haha I was in such a rush because the food took quite a while, I was paranoid that I'll be late for the tram so I ate in a hurry.

Wk had the scrambled eggs on sourdough toast, with mushrooms. The scrambled eggs looked so perfectly silky and cloud-like. Tasted great too. 

This morning I was supposed to be at work for training but it got canceled so had the whole day off work woohoo! Decided to bake Japanese Cheesecake again. This is probably my 8th (or more) time making this. Still not happy with how the cake would crack at the top a little but everything else, I am supper happy with. 

Look at how beautifully it stands up :)

After it cooled down the top deflated a little so the cracks weren't obvious anymore. But I still would prefer it to have no cracks in the first place #anal

The other day I suddenly had a craving for lamb shanks, which is weird because I'm usually not a fan of it. I'm guessing it's the cold weather that made me want a warm, hearty plate of it with lots of flavourful gravy on top of mashed potatoes. He made it couple of days ago but it wasn't what I was expecting. He decided to try out another recipe in hopes of surprising me with something different to what he usually makes but poor, poor boy, I wasn't impressed hahaha. There wasn't gravy in it which was what I was looking forward to the most.

So yesterday I decided to make it myself, this time sticking with the recipe we always use. Lots of gravyyyy!

It's so easy to make. Just brown off some seasoned lamb shanks. Stir fry some aromatic veggies, then throw the rest of the ingredients (herbs, tomato base, stock) in and let it slow cook for 1.5 hours or until meat is very tender and detaching from its bone. Easy peasy. Recipe here.

Mmm so satisfying. The meat was just starting to fall off the bone. 

Ok done with this post. Till the next one. Ciao.

NYE 2012

I finally got to know how it feels like working 5 consecutive days in a week. I have only one word for it, EXHAUSTING. I know to most people they'd go, "Pffft work 5 days only complain so much. I work 6 days since forever!" If you come and be in my shoes I bet you won't laugh at me the same way. 

I stand almost all day at work, and not only that, for most of the day I use my entire body strength to give massages, lift heavy towels, brisk walk around (because running looks silly) trying to get everything done on time (one of the most crucial requirements in this field), in short it's very physically demanding to say the least. Some days I don't even have time for toilet breaks, a sip of water or even lunch. On top of that my brain has to constantly be thinking of retailing and rebooking opportunities, how long I can spend on each component of the treatments, what I've got to prepare for my next treatment. And of course not forgetting this is a customer/client-based business, some days you will have to face shitty people and all you can do is give them a punch in your imaginery world but in reality, smile and just suck it in and pray that time goes by as quickly as possible. 

All in all, its both mentally and physically draining. I'm not complaining, I do prefer myself to be constantly moving around rather than sit by a desk all day, just want to point out that doing it 5 days consecutively is really quite a task.

Ok work aside, since the last post was seriously lacking in pictures, here's a post to make up for it. And what's Ee Von's blog without some tantalizing food pictures? :p

On New Year's Eve Maggie and I together with the blokes whipped up a feast! After both disasterous roasts on Christmas Day 2011 and New Years Day 2012, we came to a unanimous decision of NO ROASTS this year lol, just be practical and do some simple dishes. Pipis, snapper, chicken and kailan (Chinese broccoli). 

For those of you who don't know what pipis are, they're basically clams (lala) but slightly bigger and with thicker shells. Quite easy to prepare. It's done when the shells open, just like cooking any other marine molluscs.

Pipis in XO sauce. XO sauce is very flavourful by itself. All we need to do is just saute with some garlic and ginger, add some condiments, then lids on to steam the pipis till they're opened.

Teochew style steamed snapper. The 'fish liquid' is flavoured with the ingredients used in the dish resulting a savoury and sour sauce, not 'fishy' at all. Probably because our fish was fresh. Really easy to prepare too. Spring onion, ginger, fried garlic with garlic oil, pickled mustard, sliced Chinese mushrooms, tomatoes, silken tofu, a dash of soy sauce and sesame oil. Steamed for approximately 10-15 minutes.

This was something I looked forward the most to it tasting really good but in my opinion it tasted the least impressive compared to the others. We were trying to make Clams with Chinese Wine and Ginger but the soup turned out really salty, plus lacking in the wine and ginger aroma. The strange thing is we didn't even season with any salt, but we did use quite a bit of Chinese rice wine and after skimming through the ingredients list, it's predominantly made of rice and salt. Not sure if we're not supposed to cook the wine and instead splash it at the very end of cooking, or not use so much of wine.

San Bei Ji or 3 Cups Chicken, one of my favourite chicken dishes and it's made of whole chicken breasts. I've never liked chicken breasts except for this dish. So tender! I came across this Youtube recipe and it's the best everrrr.

Kailan with oyster sauce. I think these are baby kailan, not sure but these are the more expensive type of kailan compared to the bigger ones. It was soooooo fawesome! (no it's not a typo, the f is there on purpose) Basically the kailan is boiled in sugared water until just cooked (about 30 seconds), then the sauce is drizzled on it. Sauce is made of oyster sauce, light soy, chicken stock, sugar, pepper, fried garlic, sesame oil, Shao Xing wine, water and cornstarch mixture to thicken. They taste exactly like in Chinese restaurants!

And how can a feast be complete without some fancy drinks, right? None of us are into alcohol so we made this mix of ribena, soda water and canned lychees. Perfectly refreshing for summer time!

Ok a picture of myself to take a break from all the food wtf.

 

Fringe has finally grown and I no longer feel like I look stupid with it wtf. Can you see that massive pimple on my right chin near the corner of my mouth? That was one of the worst, angriest pimple I've ever gotten. Obviously I have makeup here so it doesn't look that horrible. It was so massive and red but it wouldn't erupt at all for 2 solid weeks. I've erm... taken care of matters and now the bump is cleared of nasty organisms leaving behind what looks like a scar, which has been there for a week. T_T Hate how these scars stay forever.

Ok last picture!

Maggie made some buns and gave me some. The top 2 are Japanese Coconut Custard Buns and the bottom is obviously Po Lor Bao (Pineapple Buns). If you've never had Po Lor Bao you're seriously missing out. So yummy! I mean both Po Lor Bao in general and her buns. We were both discussing about our woes of our Kitchenaid heating up whenever we knead bread doughs. Silai betul. And her breadmaking craze got me interested too! Made something yesterday but I think that's enough of food pictures for today, will blog about my bread in the next post.

Ok time to do some chores. How sad. Doing chores on my day off work T_T

I have no idea what title to put.

Day 4 of flu and I'm finally feeling much better. Finally able to eat without having to throw up hours later, which is the worst feeling ever. Yesterday I threw up the cereal I ate in the morning which I ate dry because I wasn't bothered to mix it with milk. Wk thinks it needed some 'lubricant' to help with the digestion that's why I threw up hahaha. Ok TMI...

This is the 2nd time getting influenza this year and the last I had was in what? March? Wtf, that's less than 2 months ago! I don't remember myself falling sick so often in Malaysia except when I'm extremely stressed or exhausted which of course, doesn't happen all the time. Seriously need to consider getting one of those flu jabs but then again, I hate jabs or any sort of needles, with a passion. Aaaagh. 

You know what completely sucks when you're sick? It's when you feel so headache-y or exhausted that all you can do is lie down otherwise you'll feel like crap. And when you lie down too much, you get a backache. And despite having those fantastic time off work or school, you can't enjoy or do anything productive because you're so bed-ridden.

Ok enough of the whinging.

I made Chai Kueh 菜粿 around last week. My mom used to buy Chai Kueh on Sunday mornings when she goes to the morning market to get groceries. My favourite, favourite part of eating Chai Kueh is dipping it into the sweet, garlic chilli sauce which usually comes with it. I couldn't find a recipe to the chilli sauce so I dipped it into a regular garlic chilli sauce and it tasted perfectly fine. As you can see, my skin is on the thicker side. The thinner the skin, the more translucent it'll be. I guess I need to practice my wrapping skills then because I couldn't roll it any thinner without puncturing the skin while wrapping it. Please ignore my hideous wrapping lol. The skin didn't taste like what I remember them to be... it tasted more like.. Har Gau skin? Which isn't bad but just different. Maybe it's because of the thickness, I don't know. 

This stupid cake was supposed to be a Purple Sweet Potato White Sesame Marble Pound Cake. I know that's a mouthful, and I know cakes have no inteligence for me to call it stupid but so many things went wrong with it... aaaagh. So frustrating. The cake may look good as a whole here but only I know what's wrong with it and I wish I can just pick it up and slam it onto a wall until it breaks into a million pathetic pieces, just to show how frustrated I am with it.

We were at Prahran and I discovered this Japanese supply store which made me really happy =D I love walking in specialised food supply store. There're so many things there that I wish I could buy everything! Decided to give this Daifuku a try since I've seen many recipes of it but never tried one. It's basically glutinous rice cake with adzuki bean paste as filling inside. Tastes pretty interesting. It's soft, sweet... and freaking powdery. As I was eating it the corn/potato starch coating was flying everywhere. My mouth, my jeans, Wk's jeans... goodness.

Awesome, awesome drink from PappaRich. Don't remember what it's called, Ribena something. Basically it's Ribena, with either watermelon pulp or blended ice, and then there's watermelon spheres in it, Nata de Coco, and canned lychee. YUM! So refreshing that I didn't even bother about it being a cold drink eventhough it was so cold outside that day. This reminds me so much of those crazy, funky drinks you can get at SS2 Murni.

 

This however, was a complete disappointment. It's their Roti Telur Bawang with Curry Chicken. I was craving for roti that day and I was sooooo looking forward to this and all I got was some sloppy, soggy roti. How outrageous! Just looking at this picture can already tell you how 'soft' it looks, how it's lacking some serious colour which depicts the crispy texture a roti should have. Aaaagh disappointing. Come on PappaRich, I've had good roti from you in the past. What's with the inconsistency in quality! I can easily get a perfect Roti Telur Bawang from Modern (mamak in Klang)!

What's best for a sick person and it's freezing cold outside? Congee takeaway of course! =) Congee with the classic pork and century egg.

Alright time to start on some assignments. Waiting for Wk to come home with my lunch. Can't wait, I've been food deprived for daysssss.

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.

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.

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.

Quarter of a century

Does anyone absolutely hate it when you get uneven eyelids? I do. Check out my regrowths. It's as though I dip-dyed/ombre-d my hair. Mine's better. It's FREE! But takes almsot one year for 'results' to show lol.

Hahahahah this picture. I was cooking while Wk was playing Plants VS Zombies. It was kinda chilly that day so he wrapped himself with the throw, which looked really funny so I took a picture. I literally squtted and laughed really hard when I looked at this picture. Oh yeah if anyone's wondering, that's a TV slash PC monitor screen.

Fruit Ninja is dabombdiggity! It's a game in iPhone, super addictive at first but I got bored when nobody could beat my highscore, except myself *proud*. 

Another one which I really like (and am really good at *proud*) is Vege Samurai. This was my last best score, before they supposedly 'upgraded' the game, screwed up the audio and the control system.

***

I've been through birthdays for so many years I think I'm too old to be excited over it already hahah. Tomorrow I'm turning a year older. My usual friends and my family are not with me this year but I'm still grateful that I won't have to be alone. Wk's taking me to a steakhouse for dinner tomorrow. Perfect timing to wear my newly bought Topshop dress.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Hello December

Feels unreal looking at how time passed so quickly. Feels like it was just yesterday when I first came to Melbourne, feels like it was just yesterday when I cried and bid everyone goodbye, leaving my family and my closest friends behind in the airport as I took the steps to be here. Hey, it has been 9 months now.

It was my mom's birthday on the 30th last month. I called home with Skype and unfortunately the webcam in the other side could not work so it was a 1 way video but we did manage to have a chat. Yesterday, the 1st of December was my sister's birthday. I wished her on Facebook and we laughed about how my dad actually sent her a Happy Birthday SMS in the midnight. It was funny because my dad is not an SMS type of person, neither is he the type who wishes people during birthdays lol. 

Been doing nothing much lately except for fully utilizing the internet and the kitchen - what I do best hahaha. 

Asian Style Lamb Cutlets

In my previous post I talked about buying these cutlets and how expensive they were. The recipe I used was actually good, really loved the marinade and sauce except that I could not figure out how to cook the lamb well enough. I did not want it overcooked but it ended up being very undercooked. I followed the instructions really carefully especially the cooking time but maybe my pan was not heating up properly. What a shame. The sauce was mainly dark soy sauce, vinegar, Szechuan peppercorn and others which I do not remember. I shall try making it again but no way am I buying 16 pieces of lamb cutlets the next time.

Steamed Toothfish

I also talked about buying these fish cutlets which resembled codfish very much. It actually tasted exactly like codfish too! So our initial guessing was correct, this could most probably be codfish with another name here. I steamed the fish then drizzled soy sauce over the top but I have discovered another way to make the sauce a lot more tasty. Will talk about that next time. The fish tasted obviously good but the only let down was I slightly overcooked it and I did not check if the scales were properly removed before steaming it. Not that I am a fan of eating fish skin anyway but it is really annoying to find fish scale in your mouth. I did not see this fish in the market last weekend so I am guessing it is a seasonal/catch of the day thing.

Bah Kut Teh

Not sure if anyone remembers me saying this but I have never been a fan of Bah Kut Teh and this is coming from someone who grew up in Klang hahaha. I've never eaten so many times of BKT in a year until I came to Melbourne, frankly. The only time I would eat BKT in Malaysia is after visiting my grandfather's grave during Cheng Meng cos my uncles and aunties would come down to Klang from Subang and having BKT is like a tradition already. It is actually not a very healthy choice of meal but I cannot deny how easy it is to prepare it. Just get the BKT packed herbs, boil water and throw everything in it. One pot wonder.

Son In Law Eggs

When I first saw this on Masterchef, I was intrigued. How does an egg have a hard-boiled white but soft-boiled, runny yolk?! Whatmore, the egg was deep-fried! I personally dislike eating hard-boiled eggs except for the tea leaf, herbal ones. Even with that, I always throw the yolk away because I absolutely detest that powdery texture and that weird taste (sulfur) in my mouth. After a few tries and finally succeeding in getting my eggs cooked just the way I like (hard whites, soft yolk), I attempted to make this Thai dish and can I proudly say it was delish?? =D I might make a whole post about this cos there's so many things I discovered while making this. 

Pineapple Fried Rice

Hooray for making my own pineapple boat =D But it's so freaking difficult to eat from it so we ended up transferring the rice into a proper plate hahahaha. Using fresh pineapples to cook tastes so much better than using the canned ones. Fresh ones have that tanginess to it, canned ones are just full of sugar syrup.

Lamb Shank

This one is not a new thing. I have cooked this so many times but this time, I am most happy with the outcome. I used my shallow, non-stick pan to slow cook the shanks. This gives a much more even heating instead of stacking the shanks on top of each other in a deep pot. They usually come out not the texture I like (so soft it falls off its bone) but this time, it was perfect. Also made some garlic mash which turned out pretty good too.

Tonight I will be making Katsudon, a Japanese rice bowl dish with deep fried pork cutlet, egg and sauce. 

It is the weekend! I will be off planning for next week's meals as well as what to get from the market. I have learned that it really helps me to save more money as well as eating healthy when I plan my meals ahead. At least I keep track of how many times in a week I eat my red meats, seafood, etc. And I also get to make sure I use up all the things I buy instead of leaving them to go bad. Planning last minute is like impulsive shopping. It always result in getting ingredients I use that one time and never end up finish using it before it turns bad. When you plan ahead of what to cook, you take into consideration of what you still have in your kitchen and that helps you to spend your money more wisely. Buying produce from the market is usually cheaper and fresher. You also get to plan and pack your lunch. Eating out in the city ALWAYS cost a bomb. Always. We usually only do it once every 1 or 2 weekends. My friend suggested me something which I found to be really insightful in terms of eating healthy: keep at least one day in the week free of meat, in other words go vegetarian because that allows the liver to not work as hard, processesing all the protein we consume.

Tomorrow night we will be heading to this place called Ibuki for Japanese dining with Wk's friends. Hopefully we will get to go swimming this weekend, did not do it last weekend because we woke up late and after running errands, it was getting late. Wk was saying that he might have to work this weekend... which means we might not be able to swim and I might have to go to the market alone =( not fun lugging groceries ok.

Anyway. How is everyone spending their weekend? =)

A lil' eating and shopping

Sea Salt | Fish and Sushi Bar

If you're looking for awesome sushi or fish and chips for awesome price, Sea Salt is the place. I first discovered this place when Lenny, one of my classmates brought me there to get some sushi rolls. They're awesome because not only do they taste good, they're affordable. I especially love their inari (beancurd pockets), so huge! I ordered this Sea Salt Fish Burger the other day and omg it was massive. I swear there was like 3 pieces of fish bites in the burger along with vege, cheese and a fresh sesame seed bun. For healthier option, they even have grilled tuna or salmon burger, which are only a dollar more than their normal, battered fish burger. Those taste really good as well.

Ramen-Ya | Melbourne's Best Japanese Ramen Noodle Restaurant

I haven't tried enough of ramen in Melbourne to know if they are really the best, but their ramen is indeed good. Not cheap but still affordable. Apart from ramen they have bento boxes but I've only tried the Tonkatsu Charsu and Shoyu Gyoza Ramen. I'd say if you were to try, go for their specialty which is the Tonkatsu Charsu. I'm not a huge fan of ramen and these definitely didn't blew me off my mind but they're decent-tasting and the warm soup's great for a cold day.

Kenzan @ GPO

I can't seem to find the website for this restaurant but doesn't matter because I don't quite like the fact that their food does not justify the price at all. The dish in the picture for example, is their Sake Teriyaki which is basically grilled salmon with teriyaki sauce, served with vege, mashed potato and steamed rice. That cost $22! Ok for salmon, maybe that's alright but seriously, $22 for a single serve, don't you think it's too much? We ordered this entree of 4 shitake mushrooms with minced prawn filling, and it cost us S16! That's like $4 for 1 freaking mushroom! And their Agedashi Tofu is S10. Will I go back and give it a second chance? Hrm... not keen. I can see that there's a lot of attention to details put into the preparation of each dish, and ingredients are fresh but I can't help to think that they are a little overpriced for something that tasted 'good' and not 'omg I want more'.

***

Online shopping is my bestfriend now. With Ebay and Asos and a friend to onlineshop with to save on shipping, who steps out of the house to shop anymore? Hahah.

 Colour contact lenses

I can't seem to find the info page to these contacts from the website I got it from, maybe they don't sell them anymore :/ but look how cute the packaging is! They even gave free gifts which were a pair of lenses (which was crap, naturally) and a cute animal lens case. The colour of the free lenses were slightly different when worn so I threw those away already. My animal lens case are pig faces! ^@^  <--- obligatory lala emoticon to go with the pig face lens case hahahah!

 Ardell false lashes

Can I just say putting on individual false lashes is a bitch? They are so tiny and flimsy and it's so difficult to put them in the right position. That being said, they look so much more natural than the strip (full) ones.

 Asos.com

Currently waiting impatiently for these few items to arrive at my doorstep! 2 dresses, a top and a slip.

MAC Morange & Ruby Woo Lipsticks

I didn't buy these online, never buy MAC online unless you know the seller sells genuine stuff. MAC counterfeits are everywhere and they look real. Anyhow, I would never get lip products online cos you never know how long they've been kept. Lip products are essentially liquid/cream so they generally don't have long shelf lives. 

I've always been afraid of loud, bright colours but recently got the urge to try so when I got to pick 2 lippies for B2M (Back 2 MAC), I decided to go crazy. I knew I wanted Ruby Woo (as the name suggests, it's a red) for the first, for the second one I decided on an orange. I went to 3 MAC counters to finally find Morange, and I'm so glad I tried searching for it instead of settling for something else. 

These pictures are obviously edited, it doesn't really show how bold the colour is. It is truly bright and I luff it =D