chocolate carrot slice

smells great!

this recipe is quite easy too.

final week of ortho. didn't get to bake in time for tuesdays, so no trudy tuesday this week. so it's trudy wednesday for this week. we all thought it doesn't quite have a ring to it.

to o&g next week...

along the way of my 12km walk

while testing out this 12km trail, came across this bit of the path.

Sri Chinmoy peace mile. it looked like a good running trail. but i deviated from it at 400m to do my detour back home.

chocolate pudding

chocolate pudding + ice cream and blueberries: K has been thinking abt the chocolate pudding for a long time. extremely decadent. it has lindt chocolate in it. we were 'chocolated out'

blueberry muffins (+ extra choc chip)

blueberry muffins from my new baking book. really like my new baking book... easy enough recipes that taste great.

baking routine on tuesdays called: trudy tuesdays.

bicolored chocolate chip cake

the recipe was meant to be tricolour cake. but i didn't have pink color, so it turned out 2 colors. my pictures aren't the best, but K thought it tasted ok. i thought it was quite sweet.

the rest of the cake was again offered to the team at work :)

pandan cake fad

trial number 1:

from a box, and i divided the cake mix into 2 pans because i'd expected it to raise alot. it didn't, so i'm left w 2 flat cakes... haa

so at least it's green. but it's not particularly fragrant or sweet. hmm..

tulip farm 2009

yellow tulips!








and pink ones!
and of course there were other colours... too many to put on my blog...

there were no bees hovering around these ones... so these ones smell like lemon drops. faint scent. :)

Barwon river walk

went along the barwon river today. had always been meaning to go for a walk along there. it's actually pretty near. might take the bicycle out there in the future. it's a long trail!

my arbitrary start point

and of course, i've to show you the river

the trail along the way. quiet as usual on a weekday

chocolate and walnut cookies

found a relatively easy recipe in the book for cookies in

general. so i made a tray of chocolate chip and walnut cookies. smelt good too :)

chocolate chip and walnut muffins

poor lighting... but the choc chip and walnut have all sank to the bottom of the muffin. how do i make the choc chip and walnut stay at the top?

gingerbread man/ boy

baking craze at the moment.

today is gingerbread boys from the packet

fresh out of the oven... smelt great!

my first few goes w the icing sugar... my happy gingerbread boy and my frustrated gingerbread boy... they tasted the same

kyle XY

managed to stumble on this bbc/abc tv series on you tube.

finished all 3 seasons in a seemingly continuous session. now, i can go do other things (e.g. sleep, go to the stores). i thought my eyes were going to fall off. not sure how the gamers get so good at just staring at the computer screen for so long. hmm...

but the tv series was really good though. 1st season is about this science engineered 16 year old teenaged boy who gets adopted by this loving family and he discovers the world with his innocent kind nature. every episode in the 1st season made me smile. loved episode 2 when he can't sleep and explores the need for rest and routine.

2nd season is abt the 2nd 16 year old teenaged girl who gets manipulated right from the start and is not nurtured and we see how that 2nd teenager turns out. so yes, the ever-present question about nature vs nurture. the teenaged girl brings along all the angst of adolescence that is very complicated to deal with if you hadn't had earlier years to hunt for an identity.

so lessons learnt, for me: 1) be kind. sometimes a kind smile or a kind look is what someone else needs; 2) being ordinary is not necessarily a bad thing. we hold the fort while we wait for someone extraordinary to provide the propellant for change. of course we can be the extra-ordinary one too, but if we are not, no need for despair. 3) often we don't treasure the ordinary/ normal things that happen. they are memories too. and we can make them happy and extraordinary ones. 4) there were more lessons, i can't remember all my realisations.

didn't like season 3 too much because there was too much complexity and deceit, that were although very smart, changes our kind protanganist to someone harden by the brutality of life. to be constantly hunted is a very undesirable position to be.

hmm... i think i got abit too attached to the characters. loved all of the characters. the family, kyle, and even jessi.

ongoing culinary adventure: lemon meringue tarts

i think my blog is turning into a cooking blog... haa...

i had intended to make this a few weeks ago, but could not find the tartlets in Coles. finally bought it yesterday and used lemon curd that i had bought from margaret river providence.

S came over to catch up w K and I today, so i had an excuse to make it for dessert :)

recipe from the June 2009 Woolworths Fresh magazine

my end product. i think i didn't put enough sugar into my meringue, so it tasted more marshmallow-ish than meringue-ish... oops... it was not bad anyway...

My first attempt at making kueh

Bought this cookbook in singapore re vegetarian dim sums. written by this chef in malaysia.

was flipping through this book and found a recipe for this sweet potato kueh...
found glutinous rice flour in the asian grocer in geelong! (couldn't find it in laguna in melbourne)...




so i ended up w a whole tupperware of kueh... they never bother to tell you how much u were making... there are 2 layers in this tupperware

a close up... K thinks it tastes almost like the real singaporean/ malaysian thing! yeah!
i thought it was not too bad for a first attempt...

You tube videos of Il Divo: they've got great vocals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVzkjXffAuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myTzrtr46dI&feature=related

Perth continued: Xanadu wines

so of course we can't make a trip to Margaret river and NOT go to a winery... so we picked xanadu winery... http://www.xanaduwines.com/ we picked xanadu winery bec we happened upon a page in the perth entertainment book and had a quick look at the menu. it looked like it had vegetarian food.

the vegetarian main: it had unique flavours

the pumpkin and potato samosas... very nice...

and of course, dessert. and of course, my blog always has to have a picture of me with my food..

Perth continued: Margaret River

So we belatedly decided to rent a car and drive down to Margaret River bec K wanted to see this 'longest pier' in WA.
the pier at Busselton... except it was closed for renovations! darn. we could only walk 250m of it.









we stayed overnight at the Margaret River Hotel. we booked it 1/2 hour before checking in at the tourist centre at Margaret river. the tourist information was amazing.








we went to jewel cave to do a cave walk. it was amazing inside. limestone formations abound. we were the only 2 ppl inside the cave (+ the guide of course, which totals 3!) it was quiet and allowed us to appreciate the magnificience of the whole cave. the guide said we had walked about 509 steps as we went around the cave. the guide at one point turned off all the lights in the cave and let us experienced ultimate darkness. cool..

Perth continued: Rottnest Island.

Finally persuaded JW to go with us outdoors! She hadn't been to Rottnest Island either. so the 3 of us took off on a ferry to the island. the ferry left at about 8.45am and got there at about 10.15am. got abit rocky from fremantle --> Rottnest.

us with the bicycles. JW and K hadn't ridden for a long time. we cycled for about 2hours. ah well... i thought we could have gone on for longer.










The lighthouse in the middle of the island. and because it was at the 'highest' point, of course i had to climb up to the hill and have a look at the view the hill had to offer.











the infamous quokkas. ( i think i spelt it right). we only saw 1... yes, singular. K and JW decided to get off the island at 2pm. i thought we could have walked more or cycled more or just sat there and bask in the sun more. ah well... the lure of the city was more powerful than my desire to be with nature.





i was more impressed with this huge peacock. it was nonchalantly strutting around the tourists.

perth trip 2009

went w K. it's nice to go w an ex-housemate because you know each other's routines and quirks. going with K was alot of laughs as usual.

the tiger airways flight to perth was delayed by 3hours. K had woken up late and had hastily packed and ran out of her house. she thought the trip was NOT going to happen bec she was going to miss the flight. BUT... the flight was delayed. so all that adrenaline that she had was for nothing.

JW and her housemate kindly picked us up from the airport. it was very nice to see JW again after all this time. it has been 1.5 years! time flies...

the next day was spent in the city. the cat buses were really good (and free!). saw king's park and the botanic gardens. saw Bells tower. hang out at some shops.

at this short Kokoda track was a steep set of steps. there was this 50-ish man walking up as we were walking down. then when we were at the bottom of the steps, he was walking down. and as we walked up, he walked up too. puzzled, i asked how many times he was going to do this. he said, "20, i'm working out for papau new guinea" wow... it felt like a good workout. i was pretty tachypnoeic at the top.

the boa tree

the DNA tower... and of course, i couldn't resist but to climb it. 108 steps apparently. another bloke had ran up and down in 58 secs...

the bells tower. literally to house bells. they apparently weigh 40tonnes. when they r rang, they weigh about 136 tonnes. that's why they need a tower

back on 7 nights from tomorrow night

the only thing to look forward to while doing nights is when i finish nights. i get 7 days in a row off.
so the next 7 days off, will b going to perth. K is going with me coz she's doing the nights regime too. tickets been confirmed from 11/6/09 --> 15/6/09.

my kitchen

just a continuation of a mini tour around my house (rented).

i was having this argument with Z about how important the kitchen is. she was renovating her place and made the kitchen !smaller!. so i took a picture of my kitchen. so in the future, if i've got a choice, my kitchen needs to look good...

the kitchen

my attempt at pasta bake with the oven

my coconut pie (a recipe by Bill granger from C's cookbook). i think i put way too much coconut for my liking.

and my humble breakfast. they don't call it 'homecooked' food for nothing. kimchi noodles stirfry + fried egg + fried egg tofu.

The Sword of truth series

by Terry GoodKind.

finished reading the 2nd book. this series is as heavy as lord of the rings. phew.

the first book: Wizard's First Rule was really good! it's also the basis of the Legend of the Seeker tv series www.legendoftheseeker.com . the book is much much better.

the second book: Stone of tears. been sitting on the couch with my book while it's cold wintery outside. K says that i'm enjoying the life. haa... finished it over 2 wintery days. there are more to the series, i discovered. decided against buying the 3rd book today because i'll prob just keep reading it. should do other things now, like hmo3 job applications.

3 nights down...

survived my first set of 3 nights. got 7 days off now. now day 5 of 7.

my geelong room

thought i'll put up a couple pictures of my geelong room for my mum to see... :p
my buddhist corner... the 2 pictures that i'd bought from vietnam. No one at home had seen it yet bec it was wrapped up in brown paper and i couldn't be bothered to unwrap then re-wrap it at home.
i just had to buy 2. the red one is calming, the silver one is energetic. i couldn't decide, so bought both :p
the statue is from Big W.



my $29 table from officeworks. K and i put it together. now i have a table! (i was sitting on the floor yesterday night)

back in geelong

i've finished browsing the 2009 hospital medical officers handbook. starting medical nights tomorrow. hope that'll turn out ok.




K has been giving me a hand w grocery and furniture purchases. (i still don't have a car)



we went to Black Bull Tapas Bar and Restaurant for lunch on sunday. http://www.blackbulltapas.com.au/ the tapas were really good... K calls it spanish dim sum...

eggplant fritter in 1 and mussells in the other

mushroom tapas

"The tea leaf in the vast sea of this world"

this comes from the translated version of "The Pursuit of Happiness and other life observations" by Ven Shi FaZhao:

'In the vast sea of this world, each of us is like a tea leaf, which will fuse into this ever changing vastness in a matter of time. During this process, everyone will have to dedicate their lives completely. A society does not deliberately focus on each individual, just as few would pay attention to every tea leaf while drinking tea.

Having been soaked in clear water, the tea leaves continue releasing their fragrance for the world, not the least bit resigned to the fact that they are unnoticed. Hence we need not be disheartened when we are overlooked due to our blending into the community, as it is through this process that we make others complete, tender help to society, make our contributions and attain fulfillment in life. '

I've always known that we can learn something from tea, i just never knew what it was. so here is one realisation from tea.

Steve Watkins

there were a couple of books in the library: Unforgettable walks to take before you die and Unforgettable journeys to take before you die. These seemed to be aimed at the younger generation of travellers who seek to be inspired by their journeys.

No longer is travel just for entertainment, to see the world, but to look for that something extra, to see the wonders of the world.

His photos on this website are amazing.
http://www.vividplanet.com/stevewatkins.com/sw_portfolios/photographer-portfolio.htm

Hanoi part 2

we then went to the Ethnological museum. It was quite interesting about the different ethnic groups in Vietnam.

they were showing the different huts, clothings, hunting/ farming equipments, rituals, festivals etc

there is also an outdoor exhibit section with this ??!!

we then went back to the old quarter for more shopping and bought tickets for the water puppet show. that was cool. it was sung in vietnamese but it was so funny! loved it.

we spent the early morning of the last day at the Hoan Kiem Lake, then went to do more souvenir shopping as LY was panicking about souvenirs.

Hoan Kiem Lake