Sunday, April 18, 2010

Weekend









I had quite the bipolar weekend. On Saturday, I was up at 7am because of the minor birds singing a very clear and sharp symphony outside my bedroom windows. In my head, I threw mini shoes at them. It was sunny however and I couldn't ignore an early start to the day. If it had been rainy and cloudy, I would have shut the bird music out and tried to sleep on.

I got a lot done though, I cleaned the kitchen, bathroom and living room and after that great sense of accomplishment, I had breakfast. There is nothing better than enjoying the state of cleanliness, just right after it has been declared. After a bit of errands in Malvern, I came by this knit and yarn store. I had been wanting to crochet a couch blanket for these cooler months creeping up but the yarn stores I saw online were either too far away or too specialised. I had originally wanted red yarn but found this great olive green yarn that I thought would work better. So I bought 7 100grams of it, I'm not sure if that is enough but we will see. Crocheting makes watching TV less weird. I always feel like I should be multitasking.
Sunny Saturdays means dresses and open toed shoes!

I also went to the post office to pick up my batik supplies. This is a Tjanting. It has a reservoir for melted beeswax which I will use to draw patterns. If you have not guessed it by now, my next project collection is using the traditional technique of batik textiles to make wonderful designs. Along with the pen, came a silk fabric stretcher and wax melter.
I can't wait to experiment.


(This durian was unfortunately frozen, so Sam had a really hard time trying to open it. The fruit has a really spiky outer shell)

I met up with my cousin and we had lunch at Boxhill (an asian mecca quite far away from the city). We went there to do a spot of asian groceries for our weekly dinner at my place. We saw durians for sale. We couldn't resist. It has been a while, since 2008 that I had a durian. If you don't know what a durian is and is fortunate enough to live in a place that has a strong south east asian community, you might be able to get your hands on one and try it. It is an acquired taste and most people don't like it. It is not often that a fruit is creamy, custard like and smell of dead flesh at the same time. Don't let that deter you though, it is nirvana in your mouth.
When someone likes durian, you always in the back of your mind think highly of them because of their acquired taste.
It is true.

We made a quick Chinese tonic soup: Hairy melon, pork and salted duck eggs.

Dinner consisted of: bittermelon with pork in black bean sauce, snowpeas with a medley of seafood stir fry. YUM.


Sunday on the other hand, was spent mostly in PJs except when in the afternoon I had forgotten I needed to go into work to set up some experiments. So I had to put on clothes:

Sunday was great though, I spent it crocheting the blanket and watching silly HK drama series on my computer. If you have ever watched HK dramas, you'll know what I mean. It's so stupid but so comforting because I grew up with it. For some reason, when I watch it, I feel like I'm watching it beside my dad in HK. It's nice.

I've also been reading this:
by Thomas Hardy

5 comments:

charinthecity said...

I saw Tess on TV with Gemma Artherton... depressing! Good on you for tackling a classic though. Sam looks like he's just given birth to a durian baby. (-; I don't mind them but I like the other fruits like mangosteens and rambutans more.

linnykins said...

Sam's expression is priceless! Durian baby indeed, haha. I like the colour of your dress.

Your photos are making me hungry... mmm...

S said...

DURIAN!!!




*drools*



Hahaha Boxhill! They have a small restaurant there that does the BEST 'pull noodles'.. you know, the hand made ones? I hope you can find it and try it next time you venture to the Asian Mecca!

Unknown said...

@char: yes that 2 part series was what drove me to buy the book. i was going to buy the book you suggested but they are all out. (popular subject!)

and how awful would it be to have a durian baby! eek!

Unknown said...

@s: yes the lai mein place, i saw it and my cousin told me about it. will have to venture out there again to try it.