Roseate

Mini Updates

2009-10-31T18:34:00.002+11:00

Exams are coming next week! and after that, I'll be back in Singapore on the 12 Nov, I am looking forward to meeting all my best friends and seeing my family. I miss them so much. I have looked so awful over the past few months, stress over work, over exams, and over job applications! Oh gosh, need some good pampering this summer..

Just some weekend indulgence with z at another nearby suburb (Randwick Junction), our second time there, very nice cakes but so-so coffee. We had 'Vienna Almond Tiramisu', it has honey coated almond toppings and the liquerish taste was quite strong, and 'black forest' cake.

Did I mention Tiramisu is my all time favorite?

Awful looking P

Gorgeous looking z

Vienna Tiramisu & Blackforest

Back to whacking books!!!

Marriage - Commitments

2009-10-28T15:14:00.001+11:00

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.
Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping.

I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Dew. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger.

I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Dew about my wife's divorce conditions... She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset.

I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time.. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.

Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute.

Then i held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...

I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore. She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more.

Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead. I know how her heart could not bear to hear my last words now. I still carried her, my last one...this time with my wretched heart.

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you. If you do, you just might save a marriage.

Last Day on Earth

2009-09-20T15:46:00.004+10:00

This is a favourite song of mine currently, her voice is so soothing & she looks angelic

From LYRICSMODE.COM lyrics archive

Lyrics | Kate Miller-Heidke lyrics - The Last Day On Earth lyrics

Spring Graduation 2009

2009-09-20T14:55:00.010+10:00

Girls! I have finally graduated, after 3 long years in Perth. The experience has been wonderful, despite it being such a boring city. I am so glad that i made the effort to make new friends, apart from Singaporean students and the locals. My part-time barista job at Neds/Barretts have made me a more interactive person and someone outgoing. My boss and manager has treated me very kindly, despite me being an Asian, i haven't really encountered any racism, the customers are friendly and patient.

I made friends from Taiwan, HK, Britain and also Malaysia. So far, my group projects are usually within done with my singaporean friends, so sorry for being so pushy with the deadlines and all, just wanted the assignment to be done with progress. Sherwin, Mark, Lynette, Zhiqi, Chok, Edmund, we have done projects at least once or twice. It was a good experience working with all of you.

Very thankfully, of the lot i have 3 particularly good friends i wanna mention - Katherine, Laura & Alan.

Thank you Katherine for making working times fun (I know waking up at 4.30 am is a b*tch) and outside work, we get to do very healthy things like hot yoga and gym, very importantly, cafe-ing all the time! You have been of great company, to SKYN trips! haha, that's our secret to flat tummy!

Thank you Laura for exposing me to the British Accent (took 15 mins to understand what she was trying to get at, the first time speaking to her), thank you for not giving up on me! We shared deeep dark secrets..So glad Laura came visiting this weekend. I wonder when would be the next time we will meet each other, please come by travelling ASIA when you got the chance, beg the police officer like Chris did whenever you are in transit at Singapore Airport. Shall post pictures of our outing at a later date.

Thank you Alan for being my Burswood companion! haha, we have the best partnership in BLACKJACK and sometimes BACARRAT! i will certainly miss those days living with you, you have been such a great housemate and cook. Thank you for been my photographer on my graduation day. I hope you like my 'Kk' top! Good luck with the final semester and your job.

Most importantly, all 3 knows that my favorite food in Perth is 'Sweet & Sour Fish' LOL, *faint*

I must say, there were 'politics', alot of it, during my stay in Perth. It was not easy living under one roof with someone other than your family members. You never know what others may think of u, despite that amiable front they put up every day. So, you can never trust anyone too much. Well, i had my fair share of shi*t, but thank god, truth always prevails.

Enjoy my Graduation Pictures, may the pictures motivate those who are still struggling out there with Undergrad & my other brilliant uni friends who are pursuing Postgrad, it's another year or two. Don't Give Up!

Belle - Mark - Me

Me - Timothy

Geoffrey - Alan - Me

Geoffrey - Jiang Shui - Me

Belle - Alan (HK housemate) - Me

Jack - Me - Belle - Alan

Alan - Brandon

Lean Swee

Chok

Johnson

Rodney - Me - Alan

Alvin - Me

Me - Chandan - Lorraine - Alvin

Katherine - Tiffany - Me - Natalie

Pancake Brekky

2009-08-31T22:40:00.006+10:00

This morning z made Pancakes, it was much better than the 1st attempt, i like it crispy and thinner, he insist i take pictures and blog abt it! i decide to help him add the magical touch to his pancakes with a dollop of butter and some drizzle maple syrup, haahah! so there you go!

叉烧 rice at Middle St.

2009-08-24T16:58:00.021+10:00

my kitchen is about 2 by 4 metres, very very tiny to work with. But in my little kitchen, i am able to do wonders and whip up quick and yummy meals! This is my very first attempt at making Char Siew (叉烧) Rice - Cantonese Style Roast Pork, my dad loves 叉烧 & Roast Pork Combination rice, and for me, things would be perfect if there was roasted duck and spicy spicy chili!

i adapted this version of 'oven-cooked' 叉烧 from this lady's blog - 'MyWokLife'. i have used tons of her recipes and i must say they are fantastic. her blog is one of my favourite as the ingredients involved are inexpensive and most of them would already exist within your household, hence you wouldn't have to go hunting for weird ingredients that you may never have heard of. Cooking and experimenting with all sorts of flavors is how i keep myself from being extremely homesick over these 3 years here, as i could have a taste of local delights from home, it would cost alot more to enjoy such lavish food out. i must say z was pretty impressed with my 叉烧, he wiped out every drop of gravy on his plate!

Recipe as follow -

Serves 4

Ingredients:
500 gram of long strips pork shoulder cut (could use pork
belly, but that would be toooo guilty..)
1 small cucumber, sliced (as side dish)

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon of ground white pepper
1 teaspoon of light soy sauce 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce (thick soy sauce) 1 tablespoon of honey
5 tablespoon of sugar (add more, if desired)
1 teaspoon of Hua Diao Rice Wine
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
½ teaspoon of Zedoary, ground, or in 3 - 4 small pieces (Chinese translation: 沙姜)
(Or, replace with 1 teaspoon of ginger juice.)

Use oven-baking:
1) Preheat oven to 250ºC.

2) Line baking dish with aluminum foil, and place pork strips on it.

3) Place baking dish in the center of preheated oven.

4) Bake one side for 10 minutes. Turn pork strips over and bake for another 10 min, or until caramelized.

5) Remove from oven. Thinly slice when strips are cooled. Serve with Char Siew sauce, and cucumbers.

Tips: I would cook a side dish of boiled veggies as the amount of pork is a little overwhelming for me.

Also, do not leave the pork in the oven for too long, as it would not keep the meat tender.

Drizzle pork strips with the seasoning mixes during marination to intermingle meat and the sauce further.

I have not added red food coloring to my 叉烧 as i do not really like food addictive, especially with the huge amount of sauces in this recipe, and secondly, i wouldn't be able to use the red coloring any where else, hence decided to go without it!

According to the author, Zedoary (沙姜) is a mild Indian spice, it has benefits of helping food digestion hence i guess it would highly recommend it since this dish is quite meaty.

Good luck trying, and do visit 'MyWokLife' for very healthy and easy-to-cook recipes!

P.S Many thanks to MyWokLife for this wonderful recipe.

First time stepping into a Cinema in Aus

2009-08-23T18:58:00.014+10:00

I am not exactly a fan of fiction books, but Jodi Picoult titles has been a rave amongst my friends who does lots of reading. Because of that, i bought 'My Sister's Keeper' about 3 years ago from memory, very heart-wrenching book, that could make you tear. Recently, or not very recently, a movie on this book was filmed. I was very excited when i heard about it and i was wanting to catch it when it was first out but because of schoolwork, i could only catch it this afternoon, it is my first movie in australia over the 3 years i have been living here!

I was a little disappointed after the movie, not that i didn't enjoy it but it felt abit too draggy, maybe it was because i knew where the story line was heading.. Cameron Diaz being the mom of Kate. Cameron looked old on screen, i think it was deliberate to make her look as such, worn-out from her duties of keeping her daughter alive. But still, she played the role well. z treated me to the movie, 28 Aud for student tickets, so expensive isn't it? we could have watched 2 movies if we were in sg! Very much surprising, there was a Max Brenner's at Bondi, just a level below the cinemas! Obviously, i couldn't let that go! by the way, this outlet closes at midnight!!

We're on the bus, heading to Bondi Junction!
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ER'S MAX BRENNER'S MAX BRENNER'S MAX BRE

very popular in Syd, they have over 7 outlets in NSW

Ooooooooh Yeaaaahhhh

Tucked in that little corner is where you could select their house pralines from white to dark chocs, i think they are pretty pricey though

Look at the colorfully painted walls, i am sure the girls will go mad, wanting to take pictures with the nice walls! Reminded me of this all mango dessert stall in Bangkok where they had mango-filled pictures (look below). if i have a cafe one day, i will paint it like that too, How vibrant it brings to the shop!

Mango dessert shop in BKK

The interesting bit, look at the pipes saying 100% chocolate, we had no doubts the pipes were filled with chocolate, and goes all the way into the counter-area where they had this machine that segregates the White, Milk & Dark chocolate..(look below)

Following the pipes....Can you see the chocolate pumps? isn't that so cooool?

Apart from our drinks, we had belgian waffles x 2, drizzled with their milk chocolate sauce

'Drink me' - Dark Chocolate Mocha Frappe, do they have such mugs in singapore?? I didn't see many people having the signature 'Chocolate Suckaos' like they do in Sg, and the weather was pretty warm today..

Mr Belgian Waffles, you're finished.

Presenting you chocolate by Max the 'bald man' , not the one in grey of course..

'i don't invent anything in chocolate, it all exists in people's minds and hearts'
Max Brenner

Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar
Shop 6007, Level 6, Westfield
500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction
+61 2 9389008

Bondi Beach

2009-08-22T22:55:00.004+10:00

This is a late entry. We went to Bondi Beach 2 weeks back as i wanted to pop by the flea market there, the flea market was packed with people that i couldn't take a picture of how the place was, i bought a very nice piece of jewelery there, will show you soon! The beach is nothing compared to our dearest East Coast Park! I remember it was quite cold that afternoon but there were still so many people surfing and sun-tanning!! Shiverrrr..

Blackforest cake after lunch!

Finally after a long wait..

2009-08-22T18:08:00.042+10:00

Sorry for the lack of updates in the recent months, was back in Singapore for a short short 1 month in late june, busy catching up with all my close friends and family and also making myself look good! haha! Not forgetting, i had an extremely fabulous 22nd birthday party at Udders, ice cream parlour, nearly all my guests turn up, close to 30 of them, making the celebration a very successful one. I sincerely thank my good friends - esther, char and yue for turning up earlier that morning with the decoration and everything else. Staff at Udders were nevertheless very patient with all my guests. Will post some pictures on them when i am free. Also, back in sg, over the last weekend, i headed to my cousin-in-law's hometown in M'sia, we had a massive seafood galore, ate so much and was so cheap..i can't wait for dec where we would head for our seafood fiesta again with my closer aunties and uncles.

Here i am, relocated to NSW to complete my postgraduate till next july. Short but intensive course! thank goodness, z is here with me too! time passes too quickly whenever you are not alone, that leaves little time to enjoy the good stuff that Sydney brings. It is only week 5 and i have already completed 3 minor quizzes, assignments due in 2 weeks' time, and another quiz next week. School term here is hectic, unlike perth. The grading system here is different too, the distinction is from 75-84, where in perth, it is 70-79, feels kinda hard to score.. Additionally, most of my peers in my course are PRCs, they seem rather smart and have a rather good command of english. UNSW is filled wtih ABCs, don't see many aussies themselves around, and i haven't made much friends here except for my group mates. Still missing my friends back in Perth.

Well, school aside, z and i manage to catch a breather and we headed to sight see today. We had a delicious meal of DIN TAI FENG, i go crazy over their xiao long bao & their taro/yam xiao long bao, char doesn't like DTF that much i remember, she prefers Crystal Jade. The style of food were exactly the same, only thing different i noticed was the wide array of beverages, especially wines, australians love wine, and it is so cheap here! everywhere is BYO, no surcharges for most restaurants..

The interior is kinda different, but they too had that glass panels where you can see Master Xiao Long Bao folding 15 folds of the skin and weighing them equally.

We ordered exactly the same stuff as we would had in back in Sg, but somehow felt too full, perhaps because of the heavy sandwich i made this morning, just to digress a little, the best sandwich i have ever made was tuna with avocado topped with mozerella, toast it, PERFECT breakfast! i bought some kind of sandwich press when i came here, so handy for toasting all sorts of bread stuff, quesadillas and what nots! my favourite kitchen appliance currently, haha! Yue would love it too! i shall blog abt my sandwich receipes some time soon!

okayy, back to the topic..we walked to Sydney Opera from the city and on our way there, saw this hugggeee Mac Shop and TADA..............MAX BRENNER's, i think i am missing the girls so badly, kept craving for the places that we used to hang out! but too full for Max today, the next time round, i promise!

Symbol of Globalisation - Mac

These buildings are so victorian, i love it! z told me Melbourne had much more, can't wait for sept to come where i will be heading to Melb!

Can you see Max behind me? Oh, i remember mentioning it to someone that i saw our local bank, OCBC here! i broke out laughing, i never thought OCBC was that 'global', oops!

These are the underground bar and cafes at Sydney Opera House, aussies were enjoying their cool beer! there was a live band playing when we were there, very nice place.

That's the view of the CBD area

In the afternoon, we had tea at QV building (Queen Victoria). the pictures of QV below was taken about 3 weeks ago, just to show you how QV looks like. QV gives the feeling of the High Court in Sg, very solemn.. The shops in QV are high end, like those in Paragon, Hugo Boss, Roberto etc.

At QV, we had our coffee break, carrot & walnut cake, orange & almond teacake, anyone?

Alright, that's a little bit of Sydney for you, will update more when i get to go out, my next big trip would be in Sept, where i will be meeting my sister and dad in Melbourne before heading back to Perth for my Graduation on the 15th! sounds exciting?

鼎泰豐 Din Tai Feng

World Square, Level 1 Shop 11.04

644 George Street

Sydney NSW 2000

+61 2 9264 6010

P.S > Esther, i've been reading your blog constantly, the things that you put up makes me think about life, about friendships and most imptly, about relationships. You asked how people see of you, well, to me you are more than a faithful church-goer and responsible fellowship of Christianity, your loyalty towards your friends is unwavering and your sincerity makes people think of you all the time. It is so rare to find a friend like you, and i am glad i did. However hard school research and life is, you are not alone, and of course, someone like you would be able to pass the hurdle at the end of the day. In the mean time, if you are reading this, take care and i wish you a Happy Birthday in Advance.

Chris Smith's Arrival

2009-07-01T02:30:00.004+10:00

Heya Chris, it was great being able to meet u at Changi Airport for a delightful 45 mins of Asian Chinese Cuisine, what u had tried wasn't any close to the best Chinese food i had, the next time round we'll bring u to better ones! take care travelling in europe, till we meet this Sept, ADIOS~

Happy PAPA's Day

2009-06-22T02:45:00.007+10:00

it's been 4 days since i got back from Perth, don't worry pals, i am safe from the H1N1 i guess, no symptoms, still kicking and eating heaps, means i am well and i can go out! but z only returned ytd, not cleared from the H1N1 yet, he has been sniffin the whole day, hope its jus runny nose frm sudden weather change btwn Sg and Melb.

Eat & ate & ate & eat. that was what we did for the day. Had 2 father's day celebration today, one was with z's family and one was mine, but unfortunately my phone went flat so couldnt take much pictures for my own family's celebration.

i really miss chinese food, crave chinese food so badly tht i wanted to gorge down several bowls of rice. finally saw z after the last time he came visit at me at perth, he lost so much weight, now it's time for him to put it all back before we fly off to Sydney where we have so little rice again. you might wonder why so, firstly, rice is not cheap, secondly, u need to cook other dishes whenever you wanna cook rice, it's really kinda troublesome when you have to whip up so many dishes for one person, usualy when i do, i ll keep it for at least 4 meals, so i will be eating the same thing over and over again 4 times in a row, kinda sad for an overseas student life, so better appreciate when you have home made cook food, freshly prepared and warm whenever eating it!

hey look, i permed my hair! haha!

i love JY top!

z and dad! could tell dad really like taking pictures with him, although they don't really talk, but could sense his dad loves him very much!

z's 2 lovely sisters

z's family, mom's taking picture!

Later in the evening, i had my own family celebration at VivoCity, it's this chinese restaurant called 'Pu Tien', really nice chinese, but at this outlet it is actually within the food republic food court, so it was noisy and open, hence you could see people walking in and out, this outlet wasn't as good as the marina sq one, where it feels more private! however, dishes were really good, unique from Crystal Jade chain. I kinda liked it very much, would highly recommend it for families, not for couples as you wouldn't be able to try a variety of it!

and yes, tmr chris is heading for a stopover in Sg before taking off to Amsterdam, z and i will be picking him up at the airport and take him for 2 hrs of local delight, really excited over it! stay tune for my next update, chris is cute! haha and smart, he is a law/ geog student from my sch!!

birthday partay

2009-06-12T19:40:00.004+10:00

Yes! i am coming home in abt 5 days time, hopefully swine flu doesn't follow me home too! While it's stressful now that exams are here, i am so excited about my upcoming birthday bash, theme being 'Rich Hues, Bold Statement'.

Over the past few days, i have been shopping for my invites, very pretty textured handicraft paper, i will be handmaking each and every invite to my guest, please keep them well! it is such a joy making lovely cards and having to surprise your guests with them. If i were being invited to a party or some sort of invitation, looking at such well made cards, it makes me wanna go to the function and not miss it. Don't you reckon that the sincerity in the invitation is so real? Well, that's just how i want it to be for my birthday bash. I sincerely wish that all of my guests would turn up, as those being invited are really special and played an important part in my 22 years of life. Thank you for being present in my life! Well, i'll start working on my invites the moment exam ends, which is on monday! i'll let you catch a glimpse of it as soon as i've made up one! in the meantime, guests, go plan on your dress code, it is dressy flamboyant!

I hope my cake would look something like this, but cake lady told me that such cakes wouldn't taste nice, coz you would need solid butter sponge cake in order to hold the thick colors and cream, i wish i could have the best of both worlds where i can have yummy liquerish cakes and also nice bold looking unique ones... could someone suggest which i should order??

Wish me well for exams, tata~

Night at Brass Monkey

2009-05-31T21:13:00.005+10:00

Penny, Kath, Me

That's Autumn and my manager, lisa

Pretty Iris and Kath (Bestest Buddie)

We had a meeting farewell party for me and Autumn at the Brass Monkey two nights back, it was fun filled especially towards the last part where we all got pretty tipsy, and started dancing around the pub with some random people, took alot of pictures on my Autumn's camera, i'll upload it some time later! Penny brought Iris, we were so surprised, we thought she had left for the farm to work, but she was still waiting for her application for her visa to stay in Australia. Iris is a taiwanese friend at work, i ve mentioned her in my previous post, she is looking as good as before! so happy to be able to meet up with her before i leave Perth.

It was great working with everyone at Ned's, especially my shifts with Lisa, my manager, both of us are always full of sarcasm and snide remarks! totally enjoy it, hard to find someone who appreciates the wicked humour sometimes! i'll miss everyone

Can someone tell me if its dumpling festival?

2009-05-28T22:58:00.005+10:00

i saw dumplings today at the chinese provision shop at Broadway, and immediately i bought three, my favourite ones are the yellow original ones, where u dip it with sugar, i bought two of those and one savoury one so i could have them for dinner, and the sweet ones for teatime!

this is the first time i am having Australian made dumplings, not as rich or meaty as those in Singapore though, somewhat it is lacking in flavour, few key ingredients were missing, no roasted chestnut, no triple belly pork (the more fatty the better), no chinese mushrooms, 2 pathetic small dried shrimps only (i think dried shrimps are very important to bring out the rusty fishy flavour). But something unique was that they mixed the yellow beans with the rice, those in Singapore usually have the beans with the meat, i reckon the yellow beans are Tau Suan beans, gives that added texture to the sticky-ness of the glutinous rice.

Despite so much lacking, i am still glad that at the very least, i could savour dumplings like all of u back home, enjoying dumplings with your family! i miss home..

Curry F(L)avour me!

2009-05-27T22:50:00.006+10:00

i guess this is what happens when you are away from home for too long, you just miss all of Singapore, especially for me, when it comes to food. Lately i've been having bad craves for extremely spicy food and local delights!

Above is my home cooked hot green curry though doesnt look that green, fused with Nasi Lemak rice and not white rice and with more chilli, nasi lemak sambal! Asian Fusion for you, i guess i probably added a little too much coconut milk, it turn out less spicy than expected, i cut some fresh red chilli padi though to add more flavor..
z is begging me for non-spicy version.. i'll consider tonight.

2009-05-18T14:50:00.007+10:00

My exam timetable is out, quite a cramped timetable, given that this is the last semester of my Bachelor's, it's kinda torturing, exams on 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th and i am flying home on the 18th! z will be back from melbourne on the 20th. I am so excited to see all my friends and relatives, especially my grandmother! I hope est, yue and char plan something quickly, i miss sun with moon, had cravings for Japanese food lately that i went to have Kido at Broadway with one of my close friend, C. I miss dining with z, whenever we have Japanese food, i always accompany salmon sashimi and tuna maguro with hot sake.

C, my very wealthy friend, obviously looking very tired after 2 London trips within a mth to visit his gf!

Salmon California Roll

Shabu-Shabu that we shared

Did i mention that winter is here, it's been freezing cold lately, i was freezing when i left home for work at 5 this morning, thankfully kath came to pick me up, i wouldn't be able to ride quickly on my bike, feets and hands would be so numb! This morning after work, kath and i managed to pack up quickly and leave for breakfast at Sugar Bean Cafe, although she was feeling a little sick and has sore throat, she insisted on having the big breakfast, and me, i stick to my favourite pancakes! heh!

Teacher Died of H1N1 in New York

2009-05-18T14:27:00.003+10:00

Quite shocking as to how a tiny weeny flu virus could kill, i always underestimated flu and thought it could be passed off with some antibiotic or such, but until z told me the story of the 'Spanish Flu' in 1918, spreading even to the Arctic and remote Pacific islands, which wiped out so many people worldwide. The next closest flu epidemic that i could ever remember was SARS, in 2002.

From memory, there were people who died from SARS in Singapore back then, and pre-primary schools were shut, i think i was having my O's then and we were hoping that sch would stop but of coz it wasnt severe enough for such a cause. Today i read that there is an increase of H1N1 cases in Japan up to 121 cases, and it took the live of a teacher in NY. The latest WHO data showed 8,451 people in 38 countries confirmed to have caught the H1N1 virus.

No one really knows the origin of such pandemic, i hope there would be some drug that could improve our immunity against such viruses & for those out there, do not pass of flu simply, it could well be something really serious.

Mas Selamat got caught? World Peace? Not yet.

2009-05-09T23:36:00.001+10:00

My dad called me yesterday at an awkward timing, he usually calls at night or noon during his lunch hr. i was wondering what good news he has for me, or was it some big expenditure i did that shock him, i was apprehensive in picking up the call, at that point of time i was about to hand in my assignment!

I picked up, the next thing i heard was, 'Mas Selamat kena caught already, 1 mth ago, today then singapore announce'. I almost broke out laughing!

Now what, do we thank malaysia? are they more efficient than our police force out here? who knows, sad case for demoted officers. Hopefully Mas Selamat re-arrest would dampen and demoralise hopes of the remaining JI force.

Went for a walk with steph and our little friend, Wallie, not quite little. Wallie is a friendly goldn retriever, he was so tame and timid at the same time, he was running away from little dogs that came around him. When we were about to go home, Wallie didn't wanna climb back into the car, he looked sad, stef and i had to lift him up the car boot! pretty heavy dog

'Hi, I'm Wallie, really honoured to be featured in your blog'

Doggy Poses (haha)

2009-05-02T21:02:00.003+10:00

Mentioning about huge dogs from my previous post, here are some pictures that i took abt 6 mths ago, back in Australia. I was with Kath and were driving down along hampden road and saw this animal, she shouted 'horse!!'..we quickly went down and took pictures with it! it was so mild in nature and loves people touching her. hilariously, i wanted to ride on it!

Random Rants

2009-05-02T20:48:00.005+10:00

Weekend team at Neds! Today was ultimately quiet at work and we were so bored, took random shots on my phone, Stef and Adam was so spontaneous to pose for me! Blonde jokes day and food attack at work once again, now i know why i got fatter weeks after weeks.

During Mid day a really massive bear looking dog came strudding into the cafe, i was shocked, never seen such a big dog before, it was black and fat and big, walked so slow, looking for food. The lady with it said that dog didn't belong to her but she was walking it hoping that they will bump into the owner somehow so the dog could go home!

Black bore

Stef, digging into Pumpkin Soup. Camera-shy Adam, trying to smile. He reminds me of z, in the past always getting shy and red so easily!

Catch up Session with E

2009-04-30T16:13:00.014+10:00

Spaghetti Carbonara & Salmon Penne

à la Crème de Marrons

Met up with E for lunch at broadway Sugar Bean Cafe, nice pasta and value for money, lots of uni students lunching there. Been a while since i met up with E, we usually have coffee together in between breaks during out semester but now, timetable are so packed and different!

We headed to La Galette De France, 5 minutes away from broadway fair, E had the Raspberry Coulis that i had the previous time and i tried their new Chestnut Cream Crepes - à la Crème de Marrons. It tasted slightly like kaya, semi sweet and smooth texture, i added roasted almonds for that extra crunch! It would be perfect with Coconut ice cream. thanks E for your sweet treat, it was yummy-licious.

'The Bride Was Beautiful'

2009-04-25T22:25:00.003+10:00

"breathing was difficult; the pain in her back intense. despite her condition, katie, 21, held off her illness to celebrate the happiest day in her life: getting married to nick, 23, who fell in love with her since 11th grade. five days later, katie passed away."

from photo essay by romain blanquart. via cup of jo.

Crave for Pancakes

2009-04-23T14:45:00.006+10:00

woke up at 7 am this morning, headed to broadway fair for Sugar Bean Cafe, usually have my breakfast there at 8 am every wednesday, before my 10 am tutorial, Z has been whining about his fabulous pancakes but up till now still haven't manage to try it!

i usually go for the muffin & coffee set for $A5.50, but this morning, the crave for pancakes set in, pancakes and latte $A10.70. Very, Extremely enormous portion! it was 2 pc of what's in the picture, couldn't finish!

Broadway Fair Shopping Centre,
Shop 30A, 88 Broadway,
Nedlands, WA
+61 93865844

Dinner at Laura's

2009-04-18T01:16:00.006+10:00

Say Cheese!

Irene & Iris (Both looking so pretty), Iris is my Taiwanese colleague from Neds, Irene her sister

Kath (in yellow), my other bestie in Aussie, thanks for lending me your car dear.

Seafood risotto, Beef lasagne, lettuce salad! Yum, all prepared by dear Laura. It was her farewell dinner, a pity Chris left early, we all had lots of chat and some drinks over dinner. Simple but yet meaningful. I will miss Laura

Back at Soto's

2009-04-13T17:14:00.027+10:00

As usual, needed my sharp dose of caffeine fix early in the morning. Headed off for 'Soto Espresso', pestered Z to take me back to where we were last night. Couldn't stop thinking of the delectable wide array of breakfasts they serve. We started our day with very nice hot breakfast. Not forgetting to mention, it was crazily expensive. I paid about 50 AUD for the two of us (funny how Australia has the 10% public holiday surcharge, imagine if Singapore had this, people would be STOMPing away).

I had 'Eggs Benedict'- Poached eggs, spinach on side, smoked ham on New Norcia crusty sourdough roll, finished with rich creamy hollandaise sauce.

Z had 'Soto's Big Breakfast'- portobello mushroom, grilled tomatoes, 2 generous serve of french toast, poached eggs, ham, streaky bacon, caramelized potatoes.

Take a sneak peek at our breakfast, don't you salivate on my pictures!

'Soto', smacked in the corner of Beaufort St.

"Coffee should be as black as hell, as strong as death, as sweet as love"

Soto Espresso

507 Beaufort St.
Highgate 6003 WA
+61 9227-7686

World's Best Pizza (I'm Not Joking)

2009-04-13T01:29:00.012+10:00

Me: Laura, i'll take you to have World's Best pizza tmr night

Laura (Looked at me with a 'Yeah Right' face): Alright then.
The next day, she went to work, asked Von (our pastry chef), if there was such a place, she thought i was pulling her leg, every time i do, but not when it's food.

The trip to Little Caesars Pizzeria, one of the World's best pizza, was very worthwhile, took us nearly an hour drive away. Although we started off at about half five, it was getting dark too quickly and there were minimal street lights at the suburb where Little Caesar was located, situated somewhere in Mundaring Perth Hills, tucked in the middle of streets of shops, the place looked somewhat like those coffee shops back home. It was packed with crowd so we had to seat at the tables along the roadside.

We had 3 large pizzas, one was 'Chicken Aloha'- ham, chicken, cheese, pineapple, tomatoes, 'Jane's Addiction' (becoming Prisca's Addiction soon)- PROSCUITTO (i love this salty ham), tomatoes, cream cheese, grilled prawns, onions, third one was 'Oyster Kilpatrick'- oyster, worcestershire sauce, onions and some other ingredients which i couldn't remember, but 'Oyster Kilpatrick' won an award in the Pizza Competition. J loved it so much he had nearly half of the pizza and packed some home, i didn't quite fancy it, the oyster produced somewhat of an ashy taste, or maybe fishy, not sure but jus felt that it wouldn't go well on a pizza base. Proscuitto never failed me when it comes together on a pizza. Just to digress a little again, i remember having a similar tasting pizza at 'Modesto', Orchard Parade hotel, the pizza had rocket, proscuitto and cheese on tomato based pizza, the combined flavor of fresh greens and saltish ham blend so well, i could certainly have finished the whole pizza given that it was a thin crusty based one.

A pity the guys were so full that we couldn't order dessert pizza, two of which were award winning i must say, are you thinking 'HUH, dessert pizza??', YES! ice cream on pizza, custard, pecan nuts, raspberry fruit sauce and sugar icing drizzled on pizza!

Like I always do, having sweets after dinner, we headed to a different cafeteria at HighGate, 'Soto Espresso'. The setting was a different one to 'Exomod Cafe', Soto was dim, giving such a lingering effect, puts u in a sleepy mode, the lighting was minimal. It is perfectly positioned for people watching and tastefully created to put you in an ultra-relaxed vibe. It had a surprisingly huge chalkboard, right up to the ceiling, on it was an extensive array of food menu, from breakfast to lunch..

Look at the table, it has no legs, wonder how does it swing in

That's 'Soto Espresso' for you

Little Caesar Pizzeria
Shop 7, 7125 Great Eastern Highway
Mundaring, WA 6073
+61 9295 6611

Soto Espresso
507 Beaufort St.
Highgate, WA 6003
+ 61 9227 7686

Demise of DBS CEO

2009-04-12T16:30:00.003+10:00

The CEO of DBS Bank, Richard Stanley has died from a leukaemia infection on Saturday morning at 8:36 am. Quite shocking after news of recovery just few days back, wonder who would replace Mr Stanley in time to come. He is indeed an important figure head for DBS who seen the bank through tough times especially during this global financial crisis. Life is unpredictable and death calls upon you when you least expect it.

Dim Sum at Regal on Roe Seafood Restaurant

2009-04-11T18:55:00.030+10:00

It was glorified Dim Sum for lunch! 4 of us were famished that we had close to 15 baskets of dim sum at Regal on Roe, pretty new restaurant at Northbridge. Quite disappointing, they didn't have my favourite 'Lau Sa Bao', which is flowy duck egg yolk custard in steamed buns. I had it had the other famous dim sum place at Northbridge, Dragon Palace Restaurant, it seems like Dragon Palace is the only one that serves these buns in WA. For those in Singapore dying to try these steam buns, a good recommendation would those from 'Hei She Hui' (Bosses), VivoCity Singapore, they have orangey looking ones with hot flowy egg custard in them, Esther would know what i am talking about, we dined there together once, or maybe twice together.

Just to digress a little, Bosses is filled with dark brown and black panels, exudes a feeling as though visiting the Bosses of those underworld, but once stepped in, you would find oriental wallpaper, with nice chandeliers, black in color from memory, waitpersons clad in black mandarin collared uniforms. Overall their food is superb despite being a little pricey compared with other Chinese Dim Sum restaurants. Worth mentioning was the variety of Chinese Herbal teas that they serve, somewhat like what they had at Shang Palace at ShangRi La Singapore, where they had approx 10-15 different types of Chinese teas.

After Dim Sum, watch Laura say GoodBye and off we headed to our weekly grocery shopping at Subiaco
Market, Laura had a list of food to get for coming Thursday gathering at her place!

Of course, we never failed to visit La Galette De France, but today we decided not to share, and each of us had our very own crepe, Z had Original crepe with butter coating, I had Pear Relli with Ice Cream & Laura stayed with her Raspberry Coulis. It's her second last chance today to eat La Galette De France's crepes.

Regal on Roe Seafood Restaurant
20 Roe St. Northbridge
WA 6003
+61 89228 2198

黑社會, Bosses
1 HarbourFront Walk, Vivocity #02-156/157
Singapore
+65 6376-9740

Happy Easter Day, eat White Meat

2009-04-10T20:50:00.007+10:00

Uni is having break for a week, the Easter break! I remember working at Annelouise's dad fish shop last April during eve of Easter, she mentioned that it was a Catholic tradition for them to just eat white meat on Easter, not exactly sure why though, but anyways i thought, hmm.. i shall cook Hainanese Chicken Rice tonight for dinner then! since i had freshly made hot cross buns from Barretts bakery, for breakfast.

I made the chicken broth and chicken rice from scratch, not that difficult, ingredients were basic. This fabulous receipe was extracted from lady 'Gastronomy Domine' blog, i did some alterations to the original receipe to cater Z's tastebuds. To add some vegetables as a side, i boiled the bean sprouts remaining from Vietnamese day in the Chicken Broth! As it was Easter holiday, i couldn't buy Rice Wine from the nearby Chinese grocer, so i just omitted it, i'm it would have tasted even better with it though, anyways, do have a sneak peek at my homemade Hainanese Chicken Rice & i have attached the receipe that i used.

To make Chicken and soup mixture (serves 5 pax)
One chicken, without giblets
Four pints water
Chicken stock cube or 500 ml Chicken stock
One teaspoon salt
Wine glass of Shaoxing rice wine
Two tablespoons of light soy sauce
Thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
Ten cloves of garlic, squashed lightly with a knife blade
Two large spring onions (scallions)

To make Rice
One tablespoon rendered chicken fat (see below)
Thai Jasmine Rice
Chicken soup mixture (amt would be the same as how much water you would normally use to cook rice)

1. Begin by bringing the water, stock, salt, rice wine and soy sauce to a boil. Pull out any poultry fat from the inside of the chicken, and put it in a dry frying pan on a medium heat to render out the fat.

2. Stuff the chicken with the ginger, garlic and spring onions, and place it in the pot of boiling mix. Bring back to the boil for two minutes uncovered, then put the lid on and simmer for 40 minutes.

3. When the chicken has been poaching for forty minutes, remove it from the chicken soup mixture and very importantly, throw the chicken into a cold bath. This would lock in the tenderness of the chicken.

4. Put the rendered fat into uncooked rice, stir well to make sure all the grains are coated, and fill the rice cooker with the chicken soup mixture sufficiently, as you usually would with water. To add more fragrance to the rice, put about 1 clove of garlic and ginger (peeled and smashed lightly) into the rice cooker.

5. Slice some cucumber, tomatoes and lettuce for garnish, you could also use some of the freshly cut spring onions from leftovers. If the dish taste a little bland, i would suggest some sesame oil over the chicken. You may also steam or boil greens like Bok Choy or other chinese vegetables for your daily dose of fibre!

Have fun!

Day out at Garden City Mall Booragoon then sweets

2009-04-10T00:40:00.004+10:00

Bilby's burger at Davies Road, Claremont was so good. It was fairly huge that Z & I shared one, unfortunately didn't manage to get a picture of the King Pin Burger. The King Pin burger was about the size of those at Carl's Jr, but the fillings were much fresher, had like BLT with egg and beef pattie which were juicy and succulent, nicely chargrilled and not too tough. Relatively value for money, we paid 9.20 AUD for that huge burger and some chips alongside.
Thank you J for taking us there for dinner.

The name of this Burger outlet is derived from the species of a native marsupial endangered animal in Australia. They use to cover two-thirds of Australia, but now only populating in deserts, i read that the Aboriginals would cut off the Bilby's tails for food and decoration, how crazy.

After Bilby's, we headed for Garden City mall, Z needed to get a jacket as Melbourne's weather was getting too harsh. Although it was supposedly Thursday Suburb late night shopping, most of the shops were already closed by 9, there wasn't much shopping that we could do! As it was early and we didn't want to go back, J took us to Exomod Cafe at Mount Lawley, cakes were fantastic, ambience and setting was relaxed.

Z infront of Myers, Garden City

Exomod Cafe at Mount Lawley, seems like their main theme was red, they even had lots of matching plates of red color

Presenting Tiramisu Forte & Cookies & Creme Cheesecake

My ChocoLatte

Ciao~

Vietnamese Day

2009-04-09T01:20:00.005+10:00

It was the first dinner in Perth for Z, i decided to do a 'Vietnamese Cuisine' Day for Z and my other guests - Laura & J, J has been friends with Z for nearly 11 years, since days at Victoria sch, the last time they met was a year back when Z was here to visit me.

Preparation for beef broth required hours of fine tuning and the secret to the broth was the process of having the whole onion and ginger flamed over naked fire, making it charred and after that peeling the charred skin off and soaking it both in the broth.

J, Z and I spend the whole afternoon rolling rice paper roll, had snow pea sprouts, grilled chicken with hoisin sauce, prawns, mint, carrots and capsicum in them, first two rolls were awful looking and so we ate them up! We had so much fun that we ended up folding heaps of rice paper roll that 7 of us couldn't finish.

My housemates and guests were so entertained by Laura, she was our only 'White' guest this evening, and had the honour of 6 Asians' company. She talked about London and her hometown and how dangerous it was back home with shooting, stabbing and drug dealings being common, how shocking i thought! It was such a culture exchange session just now. Laura will be travelling to the Eastern states in 2 weeks time, not sure when will i ever see her again.

My housemates (Jon & Vince)

Heaps of Rice Paper Rolls

Vince & J

Myself & 7 'Pho Bo' behind me

threadless arrived!

2009-04-06T17:46:00.007+10:00

threadless tees that i've ordered 2.5 weeks ago have finally arrived, gotten 3 for myself and the grey one at far right for z, material seems pretty thin but designs are fabulous. Now waiting for my american apparel ones..

Sorry Laura, gotta miss the yoga class tmr as i've got acctg mid semester exams. Thank you anyway for swopping shift with Vetti just to accompany me to the airport late night, really appreciate it. Looking forward to long Easter break and having seafood risotto at your place next week, monopoly and twister definitely!

the birth of Roseate

2009-04-06T00:30:00.006+10:00

Firstly, thank you buddy jm for helping me with the layout and editing of the pictures for Roseate, it took me a few days to come this far, not really a tech-savvy girl. Will improve on it for the next few days, i promise. Roseate would surely bring joy and laughter to z, my girl pals and family. I'll keep all of you updated about my life here in Perth and wherever i am!

Yesterday, i did my grocery shopping at Subiaco market with Laura, bought heaps of food in preparation for z's arrival on Tuesday. Laura and I shared Raspberry Coulis with almond flakes crepes for tea, at La Galette de France.

Diggin' in

Halfway through

Laura looking intensely at the 'Coconut Pyramid' i bought