muntedkowhai

Hot Sweaty Sticky Wet Weekend

2012-01-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

Oh my lord. This weekend has been slightly unbearable. We have no real air conditioner but a semi functioning portable loud reverse cycling machine (which is still nice when you have next to nothing). I was rubbing ice cubes over my arms while we watched TV, it was that bad. Saturday night, we had ice cold melons for dinner until around 9pm when I got seriously hungry, I ordered pizza after I saw our neighbours come home with two boxes of pizza.

On Saturday, we travelled to the neighborhood of Thornbury to inspect a house. There was a lot of turn out despite its distance from any train or tram stations. It was a 90s house which had been renovated haphazardly. Veneer floor "boards" buckling, not joining up or even holes in the floor from miscalculating! Paint job was crude and the floor borders did not meet up or were coming off from the walls. It looked cute but upon inspection, the sellers were wanting to pump the price up by 50k just because they spent a few thousand doing a lousy renovation job. Plus the kitchen and yard was too small. Alas, the house hunting continues. We have a meeting with the home loan people on Wednesday, so fingers crossed!

Photos from the weekend:

Home made curry paste covered Yellow Jacket fish shallow fried, salt and pepper calamari and a glass of Hefe with orange slice to wash it all down.

Even my succulents needed to be saved from the strong Australian sun, resting on the shady balcony.

Flowers from Carrie and Ryan, I love lillies.

Banana Walnut bread for breakfast

Cold citrusy beer

Surrounded by flowers, bliss.

30

2012-01-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

I've been totally spoiled. I turned 30 yesterday. People make sure a big deal about turning 30 that I didn't know what to expect of myself. I went to work and got treated to a lovely Japanese lunch by my co workers and a surprise bouquet of flowers arrived for me from Aaron. (With an Aaron type of message of course. "Happy Birthday Babe, Hope gravity is kind to you. Love you, Aaron.") Another bouquet arrived before I got off work, this time from Ryan and Carrie, Aaron's brother and fiance. See, so so spoiled.

At 6pm, I met up with Aaron and we had a beautiful dinner at Cumulus. We ordered ala carte and everything was SO delicious.

Slow cooked octopus with aioli ,dehydrated olive

If you're ever in Melbourne, give Cumulus a try.

Aaron's flowers

Also, to celebrate getting old, I bought myself a pair of pants from Zara.

Happy Australia day

2012-01-25T02:42:00.000-08:00

Mate

Oregon on a chain

2012-01-24T12:43:00.000-08:00

How cute is this? Your state in gold or silver, around your neck.

Sharing

2012-01-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

The sun has decidedly make its presence known this entire week in Melbourne, Australia. It's wonderful to have summer but some of these temperatures make it rather intolerable to have an enjoyable stroll sometimes. Well, at least my succulents are lapping up the wonderful rays:

A pair of new plants I got the other week, very slow growing succulents:

Some other wonderful images that I've been bookmarking:

Mating earrings from CarrieBilbo

Isn't that the truth

I love everything from SEED

Moeraki earrings

2012-01-21T23:06:00.000-08:00

Now available here:

Making organic forms

2012-01-18T13:03:00.000-08:00

Since I've been back from NZ, I've had it stuck in my head that I needed to turn the beautiful colours of NZ rockpools into a small collection with organic texture and form.

I've just made the first batch of these earrings and can't wait to release them.

Food and Making

2012-01-16T12:31:00.000-08:00

It's been a lovely week back in Melbourne. We've been exploring different suburbs of Melbourne because we're house hunting. (Well, we're doing the beginning research and hunting while building up our deposit.) Melbourne's a really expensive market to get into! We went to Footscray which is infamous for its crime rate and ethnic melting pot, so we thought we would get more for our money there. We went on Saturday to look at an old house and when we got there, there were like 60+ people there. The house was on a lean, mold on the walls, water stains running down the corridor halls, sinking bedrooms and they just put the price up even more to 400K for auction. It's totally insane. Aaron and I are willing to put work into the house we buy but not expensive structural work. That's too much. So while we licked our naive house hunting sores, we walked around Footscray and fell in love with the melting pot it's so well known for. The markets there are just like the basaks in Malaysia, less smelly but the variety, the little old ladies pushing, the sights, the sounds, everything.

We stopped off at a HK BBQ restaurant and had delicious roast duck noodles. Oh my gosh, so very delicious. Just like HK.

Aaron waits for some jelly filled donuts at Olympic Doughnuts, one of Footscray's iconic insitutions:

Then to balance it all, I spent part of the weekend creating pieces for Muntedkowhai. Organic pieces:

Back to Normality

2012-01-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

We are back into our first week of work in 2012. The full resting up in Christchurch has done us good, even though we had to share our holidays with the shakes, it was good. I had scramble eggs quite often for breakfast as the chickens at the Adams lay around 20 eggs a day! Someone had to help them!

Here are a few photos from my phone:

NZ scallops for dinner. (With roe on, in Australia, they always take the roe off)

Driving to Dunedin

Moeraki beach

infamous for the boulders that jut out from the beach

Aaron by the Waimakiriri river, near his house.

What is left of Knox Church in downtown Christchurch. There is always a reminder of the big earthquake everywhere you turn.

Ingenious and practical Christchurch people, when the Cashell mall was destroyed in the Feb earthquake, they started the container project. Hand selected stores were given a container or two each to reopen their stores. As such, this cafe came about, from a few containers.

There is also an area for food, where food carts release appetizing smells into the shopping air, luring shoppers to have some:

Spicy bratwurst

finished with some frozen yoghurt and ice cream.

The calm after the holidays

2011-12-29T15:26:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas with families. It has been super relaxing here after Christmas, reading, eating, feeding chooks, tv and naps. Just what I needed after the hectic months of November and early Dec.
Here are some photos of the past few days:

Shaky christchurch

2011-12-22T20:14:00.001-08:00

We are still feeling tremors of afthershocks after two earth quakes today. The first one, a 5.8, caught us in the jam packed mall of Riccaton. People's nerves are raw and there were lots of people screaming and crying. We walked out of the mall while others pushed and ran. I don't blame them, the entire building shook, the ceiling swayed and the earth rumbled ever so loudly.
The second quake, a larger prolonged 6.0, happened while we were back at Aarons house. Everyone stood still and I stood underneath the kitchen door frame.
We are told that there will be more quakes this holiday but for now, its eggnog night.

Holiday

2011-12-22T12:29:00.001-08:00

We have been in NZ for the past few days and it has been bliss not doing anything in particular. Waking up ridiculously late, laze around and feeding the chooks. Will take as many photos as I can to share with you.

Before and After

2011-12-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

My mum reminded me that I had forgotten to take a photo of what my new routine for make up is like.

Here's a before:

Sun spots on cheeks, general redness (from a severe burn in mexico 4 years ago!).

That gal primer, porefessional and then followed by one layer of Chanel foundation.

Lasts, all day.

Click on the photos themselves to enlarge.

Meanwhile, this weekend has been crazy hot and muggy, so much so that we didn't do much but stay at home and watch SKINS on my computer and I experimented in making organic shapes:

Hawaii

2011-12-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

My family and Aaron's family has booked a one week holiday in Hawaii (On top of coming home to Portland for a wedding and seeing all my family). I'm so looking forward to a holiday to a place I've never been to before. With beaches, natural hikes, volcanoes, scuba diving, Hawaii and especially BIG ISLAND, is the perfect holidaying spot. We've already booked a house for the week but totally gutted that this beautiful holiday house, The Falls at Reed's Island is all booked out till 2013! Take a look at the photos and the price ($302 a night! Sleeps 6, which is a barrrrrrgain):

The modern yet simple and clean lines of this house is such a refreshing sight after pages and pages of outdated gaudy floral beddings and horribly tiled floors. The house itself is situated in the lush tropical forest of Hilo, with your own private lava cliff and waterfall as your backdrop.

Bliss. Next time we'll book further ahead!

Mushrooms galore

2011-12-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

I'm one lucky gal.

Aaron made mushroom soup with home made vegetable stock.

Goat cheese with mushrooms on fresh baguettes.

A rule I live by:

2011-12-05T13:00:00.001-08:00

from

Society6

The Three Amigas

2011-12-04T13:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of a make up girl. On most days, I'd wear mascara and lipbalm and that's it but recently, especially this year I've been trying out more and more makeup that is minimal and easy. My aim was to find : function, ease.

At the beginning of the year, I sat down for a MAC makeover and you know how when you're at the department store and they put the make up on you and it's fantastic? Then you get home and you're like, I can't do this every day and what the hell? Why doesn't it blend?

With MAC, I found I needed WAY more time to get it looking nice and the mineral foundation that I bought, made my face oily and it came off quite easily. I started using it less and less. The mineral foundation did not provide that great of a coverage and so I needed to use the MAC concealer.

Then, I bought the BENEFIT primer that I've heard SO much about and on the urge of the sales lady, also bought the POREfessional minimizer. These are GREAT prep to the foundation phase. The primer not only smells insanely nice but it keeps the make up on for so much longer. The POREfessional minimizes the look of my pores and it created this smooth and non oily surface for my foundation. The other week,one of my co workers went to try foundations at Chanel and was given a sample in a shade much darker than what she would use. So I took it home and had a good. I didn't have much expectation but oh my lord, have you tried Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua? It's spendy but TOTALLY worth it. It's thin and it doesn't feel like you've got anything on. I went onto MAKEUPALLEY and checked reviews, the reviews doesn't lie. After using it for 3 days (just the sample packet), I was hooked.

Seriously, if you're in the market for a foundation, try this one out.

FYI: I found this combo worked for my skin. I only need medium coverage, to cover my sun spots and blood veins running across my cheeks from previous sun damage!

2011-12-04T01:56:00.000-08:00

I'm enjoying this new burst of experiments.

Long live Sundays.

WANT

2011-12-03T02:12:00.000-08:00

Stunning

2011-11-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

Last week Mum and Daughter EATS was picked by me but I didn't cook it! I have been a bit overwhelm and sick this week to cook it so Aaron did a lovely job. He made it for our Sunday brunch, with a side of seared tuna. It went with it perfectly. Here's the recipe, click it to enlarge it. It's taken from the awesome SBS FEAST magazine:

Lemons

Lightly seasoned tuna

Dill, Parsley and roasted pine nuts

Perfect for a cold.

Best Sunday Brunch ever!

2011-11-23T13:12:00.000-08:00

Available here.

Under $35

2011-11-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

Here's a few pieces that are $35 and under, perfect for Christmas:

(Click on the piece)

Tuesday dinner at it's best.

2011-11-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

Ever since my co workers made this pizza last year, I fell in love with it. In fact, it's my all time favourite pizza now! It's so easy and so so good! Topping: good olive oil, new potatoes boiled and sliced (aaron seasoned it in this instance), caramelise red onions and boccocinni cheese.

Here's a before and after cooking:

Christmas for the men in our lives

2011-11-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty proud of myself, all my Christmas presents and bought and sent (THANKS INTERNET!) to the states for my family back in Portland. All there is to do is buy for my boyfriend. Buying for my step dad, dad and Aaron has always been the hardest. Mum is super easy but these men, I mean, there's only so much HOME DEPOT gift cards one guy can have. While everyone is unwrapping their presents and going wow! All my step dad gets is, thanks, a gift card.(Which I'm sure he appreciates one way or another but still, you know what I mean!)

For a few years, I've given my step dad a Beer Club for a few months whereby a 6 pack of different microbrews from all over the states arrive at his door step every month. It's a really neat gift but I wanted to break away from tradition this year.

Here's a list of awesome manly or sex neutral gifts that might be ideal for the men in your life:

6 pack leather strap for bicycles: $40

Um, could it be the most perfect gift for your beer chugging cyclist? Just don't drink and ride.

Travel Anywhere Guide: $28

Forget guidebooks, pack your travelling cards so that you can make an experience instead of going to a destination.

Carabiner...Ahhhhh =$3.99

For the active guy in your life. Carabiner and bottle opener in one.

Get a brain swimming cap: $25

Because Speedo caps are so boring.

Thumbsaver: $12.99

Because even the handiest of guys needs some help sometimes!

Beer Claws, meat puller: $10.55

For the men in your life that BBQs like no other, make the pulling of pork a more animalistic experience.

Whamo snow track ball: $8.57

Go on, you know he's been wanting this since he was a kiddo.

Mirin and Sake marinated Pork wrap

2011-11-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

This week's EATS was chosen by mum who bought a japanese cookbook. It calls for very un Japanese ingredients like cilantro, mint, basil making it more like vietnamese than japanese. It was however, still very tasty and since Mum made it a day before, she warned me of the downfall of the crepe part of the recipe. I went out to the asian store to get peking duck wraps instead. It was good, less work for me as well!!

serves 4 to 6

1 1/2 lb pork shoulder

vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup sake

1 tablespoon sugar

1 leek or scallions

a piece of fresh ginger, peeled and lightly crushed with the back of a cleaver

4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

How to cook the pork:

Cut the pork in half so that it cooks faster.

Heat a small amount of oil in a heavy saucepan on medium heat.

Add the pork and brown it on all sides.

Remove excess oil with paper towel when all sides of the meat are seared.

Add the soy sauce, sake and sugar and just enough water to cover the meat.

Add the green stem of the leek or scallions and the crushed ginger.

Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, then after a few minutes skim the surface of any scum*, reduce the heat and cover with a lid.

Simmer for about an hour.

45 minutes into the cooking, add the peeled hard-boiled eggs to ensure that they do not overcook but will absorb enough flavours.

Every so often, check on the level of the liquid, making sure that it does not dry out,

and turn the meat and the eggs over so that all the surface gets a chance to brown in the sauce.

When the pork is cooked and the broth has thickened, remove the eggs, cut them in half, and sliced the pork into thin slices.

*skimming the scum will give a clearer broth.

For the crepes:

heaping 3/4 cup all -purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

salt to taste

1 tablespoon sunflower or vegetable oil

Mix the flour, sugar, salt and 1 cup of water together in a medium bowl,then add the vegetable oil. Leave to stand for 5 minutes.

Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet/ crepe pan.

Pour a thin layer of the batter into the skillet.

This amount of batter should make about 10 thin slices.

To serve:

1 cucumber, julienned

2 scallions/leeks, julienned

some salad leaves, arugula works best as it gives a bite

a handful of fresh mint, basil and cilantro

miso paste

Miso Paste:

13 oz *awase miso

1/2 cup sake

1 cup mirin

1/3 cup sugar

Mix ingredients togehter in a saucepan and heat to boiling.

When it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a nice simmer.

Reduce the liquid, stirring constantly.

When cool, store in container and in the fridge.

It will store for 2-3 weeks.

A dish of greens, cucumbers, cilantros, basils, mints and spring onions.

Paper thin wraps

The entire spread.

Wrapping it up.

Melbourne with Jolin

2011-11-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

Every time Jolin visits, I forget how long we've known each other and how even though we have always lived in different cities, countries, we pick up from where we left off. Could it be our similiar interests? (Food, science, shopping!) or that our birthdays are only a day apart? I don't know but I've known Jolin since I was 16, as a 6 former at Kings College up in Auckland. That's freaking 13 years ago! Whoa! Since I moved to the states, I got to meet up with her when she went to San Francisco to work for the summer. In NZ, I got to go snowboarding with her when she visited Dunedin and then we caught up in Gold Coast for a weekend away after I finished my masters. So all in all, we went to school together for 6 months and then caught up on several occassions that I can count only on one hand.

Jolin came down to Melbourne for a long long weekend and I took days off to spend time with her. You can imagine , most of our adventures is of food and I would have to say Jolin is more of a foodie as I am. (This is shown by her eating her dinner and going " Oooo, Laksa! That looks good"....after we had brutwursts.)

Here are some photos that summed up her visit:

A visit to Little Cupcake

Jolin and I with our RED VELVET mini cupcake.

(Little cupcake is still the best cupcake place in the Melbourne CBD that I've tried. The icing is SO very good)

We went to the live showing of QI with Stephen Fry and Allan Davies, they were touring Australia:

Unfortunately, they were disappointing because all the questions were the same as previous episodes on TV and the Australian guests were not funny, smart or engaging. I even fell asleep for part of the show!

After the show, we headed to Little Press for a spot of coffee and something sweet....

and Jo got to meet George Calombaris, the celebrity chef of Press Club and Masterchef.

Walking down Hosier lane and appreciating the new mural outside Movida. It is a collection of hand painted words from the artist's text message history.

A day rockclimbing, I did much better this time and actually got to achieve some walls!!

As a reward, yang tofu noodles.

The rest of the other days, we spent shopping and lazying around the house.

It was so much fun and I actually had fun discovering more of Melbourne myself!

Nettle Soup with Scallops

2011-10-25T03:04:00.000-07:00

Since the Moussaka was such a hit last time, I decided to try another Melbournite chef recipe. This time, a recipe from Andrew McConnell's Cumulus. (Yum, Cumulus is near our work and go there once in a while for coffee and breakfast but mostly for their delicious sandwiches....)

I mainly picked this recipe because of the Nettles. I've never cooked with it before nor ate it, but Nettle has become quite popular with the resurgence of eating natural.

We went to Abbottsford Slow Cook farmers market (once every month) and bought a huge bunch of Nettles. I'm sure that most people know of it's stinging properties and since the recipe is quite minimal, I will go into how I prepped Nettle to remove the stings.

Do wear gloves, or if you're like my boyfriend who knows how to not get stung, go ahead and remove the leaves from the stem. I had a sink of warm water waiting for the leaves and I soaked them for 10 minutes. This is to wash the leaves and to also remove the sting from the silica stingers. (Formic acid away!) Some website says that you may notice the water changing to a rusty colour, which is supposedly normal but all I saw was dirt and grit. I quickly blanched the leaves in a pot of water, not too long because we're making soup of this and don't want the essence all drained out. As they're blanching, I noticed how amazing Nettle smells. They're a nuttier version of spinach. Yum.

After the leaves are blanched, they can be used per recipe:

Serves 6

1 medium onion diced
1 clove garlic
1 medium desiree potato, peeled and diced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Small pinch of dried chilli
1 litre chicken stock
200g picked young nettle leaves – approximately 1 large bunch
18 large scallops – roe intact
1 lemon
Ground black pepper
Salt flakes
50ml cream

In a stainless steel saucepan melt the butter and oil together and add the onion. Cook gently until soft and aromatic, taking care not to colour the onion. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes followed by the stock, potato and dried chilli. Bring to a simmer, and when the potato is cooked add the nettles. Continue simmering for three minutes. Remove from the heat, puree and pass through a fine sieve.

Just prior to serving, heat a heavy based or non-stick fry pan and add a teaspoon of oil. Season the scallops, then in batches of six panfry on each side for a minute or two until caramelised then arrange in soup bowls. Meanwhile, bring the soup to a simmer, add the cream and a good pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

To serve, either pour the soup into a large jug and serve at table, or arrange the scallops in the serving bowls and ladle soup around the scallops.

Canadian scallops, never again. void of natural sweetness.

We don't have a food processor or a hand held whizz, so we went with the masher and got it as fine as we could:

Final product. SO FREAKING GOOD. yummm

Aaron made a side of caesar salad to go with the delicious soup.

Weds eats with Mum.

2011-10-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Mum's pick this week is a simple rainbow trout stuffed with lemon and thyme. It's been super hot here and the less work in the kitchen for me, the better it is for everyone else. I couldn't get my hands on any rainbow trout after I checked supermarkets and local fish shops, so instead I opted for a snapper. 2 snappers in a week! Lucky us!

Lots of thyme and lemons for stuffing

Stuffed and tied with twine.

While the fish was in the oven, I made pan seared asparagus cous cous salad with sun dried tomatoes.

The final dish! Fish finished with lemon olive oil.

The recipe:

1 2-pound rainbow trout or red snapper, scaled, gutted and cleaned.

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

1/2 lemon sliced into thin rounds

1/4 cup evoo

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Heat oven to 450F. Season the trout cavity with salt and pepper and stuff it with the thyme, parsley and lemon slices.

Using kitchen twine, tie the trout crosswisewith 2 lengths of twine, spacing them 2" apart.

Rub the trout with 1 tbsp of oil, then transfer to an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

Bake trout, turning once with a metal spatula, until cooked through and golden brown on the outside, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the remaining oil with the juice in a small bowl, and season with salt and pepper. remove the twine from the trout and cut away from the filets. Transfer the filets to serving plates and drizzle with sauce before serving.

Summer is on it's way

2011-10-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

The weather is warming up and it is less depressing when I get home from work because the sun is still up. The air is lighter.

Dinners can be more simple

What we wear, makes us feel younger.

I'm a lady now, it's official.

2011-10-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

Aaron makes the best pork belly. Back to swimming, I go!

And drum roll....... I had my brows waxed for the first time today.

I never knew it actually made a difference.

MOUSSAKA

2011-10-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Melbourne has a huge population of Greeks and if I remember right, it has the largest population of Greeks outside of Greece. This is reflected in the numerous Greek restaurants, food products and of course the infamous PRESS CLUB. George Calombaris is the mastermind behind PRESS CLUB and has a huge mainstream following. I've never really given greek food too much of a try so I decided to pick this recipe for our Wednesday dinner. Moussaka is akin to a greek lagsana. Is that sacrilegious? Anyways, heres the low down:

Ingredients:

1onion, finely diced
2 clovesgarlic, finely diced
1 tbsplemon thyme, chopped
1 tbsprosemary, chopped
300 glamb mince
100 gpork mince
100 gveal mince
2 tbsptomato paste
2cinnamon quills
250 gcrushed tomatoes
2salt, to taste
2eggplants, sliced 1 cm thick
3medium-sized potatoes, 1cm thick

Bechamel

100 gbutter
100 gflour
3eggs, beaten
100 ggrated keflagraviera cheese
600 mlmilk

1 Saute diced onion, garlic, lemon thyme and rosemary until soft, add all min and brown.

2 Add tomato paste, cinnamon quills and crushed tomatoes reduce to a low heat and simmer for 1 hour. Season to taste

3 Brush eggplant and potatoes with olive oil and either grill on BBQ or pan fry until tender

4 Melt butter in a heavy based saucepan

5 Add flour, stir on a low heat for 2 minutes

6 Slowly add warm milk, continuously stirring until thick. Cover with lid and allow to cool for 10 minutes

7 Whisk in beaten eggs and kefalograviera cheese, season to taste

5 To assemble: Oil casserole dish and lay eggplant over bottom. Then add a layer of meat sauce. Arrange potato slices over meat sauce then cover with béchamel. Bake in a preheated oven for 45mins at 200°C until golden brown and béchamel has set

This, I agree, is actually quite a feat for a weekday dinner. It is filling, great for a winter dinner. I made two lots and have frozen the other batch. I thought putting cinnamon into a meat meal would be weird but it wasn't horrible. Once in a while, I would get a hint of cinnamon and it was pleasant. I really enjoyed the crispy potato slices and the fact that, the Moussaka actually stays put when you cut it through its layers, make it way less frustrating and surprising! I would definitely repeat this recipe on a weekend and concentrate on my meat sauce because that's everything!!

Sorry for the images, they were taken on my phone late at night, so lighting was pretty crap!!

Life cycle of a strawberry

2011-10-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

Noodle disaster (again)

2011-10-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get mad when you make a dinner that is not stellar AND nowhere near what it's supposed to look like? This happens to me alot with noodle dishes. Remember the hope dashing day of noodle pulling? Yes, we'd all like to put that behind us. So when my mum suggested this HK favourite recipe, I said to myself, alright Noodle, you're on.

This recipe is taken from Kokken69 but it is a ubiquitous breakfast dish in Hong Kong. It really is a comfort food. The recipe is simple and usually is eaten with congee and yau tza gwai (chinese fried donut).

Recipe :
Dried Egg Noodle 200g (blanched quickly in hot water to soften. Drain and set aside)
Premium light soya sauce 2 tbsp (生抽王）
Premium dark soya sauce 1 tbsp (老抽王）
Oyster sauce 1/2 tbsp
Sugar 1/8 tsp
Pepper Generous dash

Bean sprouts 1 loose cup
Chinese Chives 1/2 loose cup ( I didn't have this with me so I omitted this)
Toasted Seseame seeds Generous sprinkle.

Method :
1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a heated wok.
2. Add bean sprouts and fry for 1 minute over medium heat. Add softened noodles and fry for 1/2 minute over high heat.
3. Add all seasoning and continue to fry noodles over high heat for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in Chinese chives and fry for another 1/2 minute. Sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds and dish out. Serve with chilli sauce.

Here's what Kokken69's noodles look like:

Inviting isn't it?

Here's what I made:

Yea. nailed it.

Problem? It said to blanch the noodles quickly, in and out. I put it in, stirred it a bit and took it out. Let it drain and did other things. I should have ran cold water onto it because the noodles kept on cooking and it all balled up together. This made me blood boil and I called defeat. You win Noodles, take your noodles and head onto the next town.

Boo!!!

Bad dinners make me sad and tired, so the next night,my wonderful man made a Thai Curry because he knew I had been wanting Thai all week. Aaron is a man of from start to finish so his dinners always taste good. He scorns at recipes that instructs you to add paste, he wants to make his own paste. The taste is so different!

The final prodouct. Vegetarian Thai Curry.

Happy Tiff.

2012, HAWAII & PORTLAND HERE WE COME!

2011-10-02T13:41:00.000-07:00

Booked tickets to Hawaii and Portland for June 2012!!! Can't wait to be with family and friends again!!

Chinese secrets

2011-09-26T14:55:00.001-07:00

Last week, I opened up my packet of Har Mai and groaned. Not again, I've bought a packet of dried shrimps "Har Mai" from a chinese store and it has no shrimp smell or taste. It is such a hit and miss thing. I don't know what brand to buy, where does Mum get her awesome Har Mai? The ones where you dont want to use alot because the flavours are THAT intense. Out of pure frustration and because I think there are a lot of people out there who would like to truly know how to pick Chinese sundry goods, I asked my mother to do a series of blog posts where she introduces the item and how to pick good ones and how to prep them.

Here is her first post.

Getting back on track: fitness

2011-09-24T21:27:00.000-07:00

Since I've moved to Australia, my fitness or lack thereof has caused me to not be able to fit into my summer shorts. The horrors of all horrors, a pair of shorts that were very loose around my waist is now not suitable for buffet dinners. I mean, is that a reality slap or what. I knew being older meant having slower metabolism but I truly wasn't ready for this!

So I took Friday off, went to get swimming gear and headed to the pool. I didn't want to over exert myself because it had been a good 4.5 years since I last swam laps. I choose swimming as I've always enjoyed the sport. It's an individual sport (read, no letting team members down!) and being in the water means the probability of me injuring myself is far less than other non buffered sports. Also because my fondest memories of swimming is heavily tied to my mother. She is no olympic swimmer but I always remember her being there in the pool or pool side. My mother got me swimming lessons when I was quite small, I think it was on the recommendation of my doctor for my asthma. My earliest memory in HK is my mother with her arms open, in the pool and encouraging me to splash my way to her. She was always there, be it in Malaysia at the Golf Club swimming with my aunt or on the benches at the Howick swimming pools. She was always watching us, splashing around and it must have been so bored for her. Actually remembering that makes me sad because my dad was never involved so I could only imagine how heavy her thoughts were. When you're a kid, you don't take notice of things like that though, we just swam.

So swimming for me, was a natural choice. I didn't suck at it and I find quite a nice kind of peace when all I could hear under water was my own breathing out.

I did 20 laps on Friday and I went back for more today. It feels great. It probably helps that we've somewhat gotten rid of our winter and summer has made it debut!

My first knitting project

2011-09-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

When I found out that my sister was pregnant, all those months ago, I wanted to make something for the baby. I was getting tired of crochet and I've always admired how intricate knitting was, so I decided to make a jumper as my first knitting project. I thought it was a bit ambitious as I've never knitted before and there were weeks where I just left it and came back but overall, I'd say it was relatively easy! I wanted to make this jumper from Purlbee:

I omitted the cable patterns because after a few initial tries, I gave up.

I'm sure I can get a hang of it now but Mia is getting this jumper, whether she likes it or not:

Can you imagine this little miss in it when she's a few months older?

Welcome, Baby Girl.

2011-09-11T02:29:00.001-07:00

This weekend has been quite relaxing yet exciting. All the way across the Pacific Ocean, my sister gave birth to her second child. Mia Tiffany Adams followed her brother and arrived into this world, in the early hours of the morning. Both mother and baby are healthy and well. My mother went up to Whidbey to help Val take care of Benton and hold down the fort while Brandon and Val welcomed the new bundle into this world. Whenever I think of my sister and her role as a mother, I'm overwhelmed with pride. I'm also very touched that Mia has Tiffany has her middle name. I can't wait to give my nephew and niece so many cuddles, that they might never forget me.

As it has been rather rainy and cold, Aaron and I stayed at home this weekend and watched a few games (you have noticed that the Rugby World Cup has started, right?). I also, had a hand at making an actual apple pie.

Baking, not for the faint of heart

Cinnamon, nutmeg and apple marriages

The recipe is from Joy Of Baking which my sister recommended.

It was really yummy!

Breakfast of champions, I say.

And tonight, on the eve of Chinese Mid Autumn Festival, Aaron and I are making a simple dinner.

Autumn Festival is akin to Christmas for Chinese people.

It's just not the same without family.

2011-09-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

As the previous baking post suggests, I'm a baking challenged. However, my two co workers are avid bakers and this Saturday, we headed over to Sophie's place to make cupcakes and decorate them for a new co workers' home warming party. I love the colours and all the fondant flowers we made for the cake! The cupcakes were decorated with cream cheese icing, the best!

Speaking of icing, have you seen this? These cakes by Glory are so beautiful and would look beautiful for a wedding:

Look at the swirls, the gradient of pinks!

We tried to make these but obviously failed, the cream cheese icing needed to be harder and we needed a bigger tip for these flowers.

Adorable head rest

2011-09-01T14:58:00.001-07:00

Hand printed pillow cases

from kinshippress

Baking disaster

2011-08-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

I am officially a baking retard. I thought I'd try a recipe from the GRAND CENTRAL book. (mmm I still remember to awesome awesome sandwiches from department seminars in Portland) Everything went well until I burnt them!!

Boooo!!!!

Colours

2011-08-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

Not to jinx it, but the sun has made a most welcome presence in Melbourne the past week. All the colours pop and moods are lighter. Over the weekend, we were expecting my high school friend for a 4 night stay but due to weather problems up in Gold Coast, she was left stranded and now I have two days off for myself. It would have been fun touristing around Melbourne with Jolin but it seems like these two days will be better spent crafting.

I've been experimentating with dyes lately.

Other colours catching my eye on Etsy recently:

Floral print dress

Spring colour earrings

Even though it is resin, this coral coloured ring is very eyecatching.

so hot right now.

These would be so easy to make!

And on the subject of dyeing, how cute are these flower press dye that the talented Tinctory has been experimentating on:

A perfect cardigan

2011-08-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

How cute is this studded cardigan from ASOS?

(The price is right too!!!)

Welcome back sun.

2011-08-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

The sun has finally arrived back to Melbourne. The days are longer and warmer, making this weekend a splendid weekend just to take it easy. It's hard to find a good hairdresser and since I've moved to Melbourne, I've been hairdresser hopping but I think I've finally found a place that I'd like to go back to. Sweet Georgia Brown in Malvern on Glenferie Road, opened up 4 months ago. It has a very organic asthetic and is mostly a barber shop with vintage barber chairs and no fuss attitude. Their price is incredibly affordable at $35 for an adult cut and less for students, children etc. I like that women and men cuts are the same price, it only makes sense! I don't have a particular style in mind, I just wanted it shorter. No fancy fusses and after half an hour, I was done.

If you're anywhere near Malvern, give Sweet Georgia Brown a go!

After my haircut, we went back home and made a weather suitable light lunch. Corn chips, cumin and chilli infused prawns with fresh guacamole (Aaron had bought 1kg of avocadoes the day before). This, with our home brew, was perfect!

On Sunday, we stopped off for some beer in the sunshine after shopping on Chapel St. We scored a few jeans as the PEPE LONDON shop was closing down. Aaron bought some casual dress shoes.He is such an awkward shopper! Is every men like this? I see guys coming into the shoe store and they're by themselves and they know what they want. I didn't want to impose my taste on Aaron but he didn't really know what he wanted. After a while, we decided on a pair and now it'll be nice to see how he incorporates it into his wardrobe.

The rest of Sunday was spent experimenting with dyes and making some bands for a possible project. Here are the testing results:

I MISS OREGON

2011-08-15T14:53:00.001-07:00

I'm loving this tshirt right now. Despite its seemingly constant drizzling and gloomy skies, Oregon is USA's best kept secret. Alot of people ask where Oregon is, even in the states! It's sandwiched between California and Washington State. It's a slice of heaven or as its' state motto implies: Pacific Wonderland. I'm going to see if I could get my mum to buy me this.

Hello World

2011-08-14T14:39:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, was the first day I've stepped out of my apartment since last Wednesday. What transpired between those days has been a hellish nightmare on my lungs. I caught the flu. For normal people, flus are something you take medicine for and with time it goes away. I have asthma compounded into the equation, which means hardly any sleepy, trying not to OD on ventolin and forecasting that, respiratory failure isn't a joke! Although the fever and chills have gone, I'm still left with a really inflamed set of lungs and tiny amount of phlegm that is lodged to make my current days hell.

I have done nothing but online scrabble between naps, sleep on the couch and just curse that damn virus. Today, it's better. Yesterday was worse.

Come on full recovery!

Why I love Melbourne

2011-08-11T21:18:00.001-07:00

MÖBIUS from ENESS on Vimeo.

A whole new world

2011-08-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

Since last weekend, my face has been surgically stitched to my new phone. Before, I was barely using my motorola flip razor phone (with its back sliding off once in a while) but now the HTC incredible has totally changed the way I use a phone. I'm horrible addicted to Words with Friends (a free app that allows you to play scrabble with friends or strangers!), so much so that I've got 10 games running at the same time. I mean, I really might have a problem. On the other hand, if you want to play with me, my screen name is muntedkowhai.

Aside from new technology, our household has been trying to get over colds. I've been rather good, borderline, never really caught it but I feel rather tired sometimes and have a sore throat once in a while. I will prevail.

I have however, had time to scour Etsy to find some new favourites that I thought I would share with you guys:

Fish spine earrings

Scale lamp

Tribal earrings

Hand dyed canvas bag

Hand painted silk tees

2011-08-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

I'm totally in love with these hand painted silk tees from Byrachelrose via Etsy. I mean, look at the colours, the over lapping colours. They're absolutely unique!

Moss Agate Earrings

2011-07-30T22:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've been active with Muntedkowhai. I want to rectify this, so I'll slowly get back into it. I'm starting with these two Moss agate earrings. Draped and dangled with gold plated chains. A lovely organic piece of accessory.

Available from Etsy or Bigcartel.

Current Etsy favourites

2011-07-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's all jewelry.

click on photo to go to shop.

Numbers

2011-07-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

These number rings are simply gorgeous. They are made by Lulu Frost and you can stack them to commemorate a special day. If I had the money, I would buy 724. The day itself has just passed, along with the 2nd anniversary of my Aunt's passing. I can't believe it's been two years. We poured her a small glass of white wine last night, as her son and I cooked up a seafood feast. Nothing spectacular but just of what a normal laid back hong kong family meal is like.

Found on Flickr

2011-07-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Crochet stools.

Best thing ever.

My older man

2011-07-17T03:07:00.000-07:00

Aaron turned 31 this weekend and we celebrated with our friends from NZ. There was lots of homebrew drinking and we dined on delicious fare and beer at Josie's Bones. It was a much needed weekend of socialising and relaxing and before you know it, it's back to work!

Sweater progress:

Slowly but surely, front done and first sleeve is nearly done. I've beginning to enjoy knitting more and more. Perhaps because it is new and still challenging.

A new teapot with infuser for us.

Mesmirizing

2011-07-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Horny Toad

2011-07-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we all went back to the beer facility to bottle our keg of Horny Toad weizen. We had 140 bottles and we bottled 140. (Even had a few glasses to taste while we were bottling away) It's not like any other weizen I have tried but with a bitter bite that is kind of like a pale ale with all its hoppiness but only in a smaller dose. We had to start out by washing all 140 bottles on a washing tree, turning the bottles to evenly coat the insides with water for a proper wash. It was quite a sight, 6 people frantically rotating glass bottles, like playing a huge musical machine at a mediocre primary assembly. After that, bottles were moved to another tree to dry and we were all set for some bottling. I had my go at it but found that I was pure rubbish. Not enough head, spilling all over the place. I was put on capping duty.

Our christmas tree of cleaned and dried bottles!

Aaron doing his slow but surely pour.

You're coming home with us beer!!!

We also balanced beer drinking with some chinese tonic soup the day after. See, Mum, I had not forgotten.

You're welcome

2011-07-08T03:12:00.001-07:00

Home made pizza.

Forgive me father, for I have bought another pair of shoes online

2011-07-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Happiness is when you go link hopping in the morning with your cup of coffee and find perhaps the best pair of shoes ever. It's perfect for winter, right price and ships to Australia for a mere 10 dollars. Can I get a Hallelujah?

the MIA Limited Edition ankle boot from Endless.com

Best part?

Shoe+shipping= $80USD

I mean, get out of town!

Still a Jcrew girl

2011-07-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Click on photo to be directed to shop.

And a quick and short message to my cousin Charlyne.

Hope your wedding day was everything you wanted it to be!

Enjoy your honey moon and we can't wait to see the photos!

Still full

2011-06-27T14:34:00.000-07:00

This week's Pang eats is chosen by my mum. She chose Boca bread.

Aaron took this opportunity to make something that the bread could soak up.

He made two things: Potato coriander spinach with mustard seed soup and a beautiful oyster blade and sweet potato tagine.

The beef was so melt in your mouth and the soup so flavorsome and the bread was so easy, fast (the only waiting time is when you let the dough rise) and delicious!

My only note about this recipe is that I had to use way more flour than just 3 cups for the amount of yoghurt added etc. Other than that, it was fine!

As I look at my mum's results, I see mine is fatter, puffier and I'm not sure if that is meant to be! Either way, it was delicious.

Total time: 1 hr 10 minutes, plus rising time.
Servings: makes 10 flatbreads.

Note: Adapted from a recipe by Josef Centeno. This makes more yogurt mixture than is needed. The remainder can be used as a dip or spread and will keep, refrigerated, for two days.

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Juice of 1/2 lime

a handful of chopped chives
1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

Kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups flour

1. In a nonreactive bowl, mix the yogurt, lime juice, garlic and ginger. Season with one-half teaspoon salt, or to taste. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast with 1 cup warm water and the sugar. Cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes, or until frothy. Separately, mix the olive oil with 3 tablespoons of the yogurt mixture.

3. Stir half of the flour into the yeast mixture, then add the yogurt mixture. Stir in the rest of the flour and the 1 teaspoon salt, and knead for 10 minutes, or until the dough is elastic. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, loosely cover and allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

4. Punch down the dough and knead for another 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 10 equal portions; roll out each into an oval a little over

8 inches long and 4 inches wide. If the dough contracts while rolling, let it rest while you roll out another piece, then come back to it (it will relax and roll more easily).

5. Heat a seasoned cast-iron griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Oil the surface lightly with canola oil and grill the dough, one or two pieces at a time, until each is puffed and golden-brown on the bottom, 30 seconds. Flip the bread over and grill the second side for 30 seconds, until golden-brown. The bread will be soft, not crispy. Keep warm until ready to serve. (You also can rewarm the bread in a 400-degree oven for 1 to 2 minutes.)

Each flatbread: 216 calories; 4 grams protein; 30 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 9 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 1 mg. cholesterol; 121 mg. sodium.

2011-06-26T00:37:00.000-07:00

3 weeks ago, my co worker asked me if I would be interested in taking a yoga class with her. Just once a week, to try it out. I agreed. I had been meaning to put some exercise back into my busy days. I've never tried yoga before and my previous thoughts of yoga was, it was too gentle, not too much of a vigorous exercise. It's just a peace meditating type of calm exercise. Well, I was right in my thinking for the first class. Then the second and third class came, it became more enjoyable. The wonderful teacher, corrected our stances and it became challenging! At the first class, he spoke of body warming up, navel turning right and left and all these jargons that I had nothing to grap onto. I pretty much thought it hoccus poccus. No, I can't feel my back extending. What do you mean. Now, however, by the end of the third class, I was invigorated. I've been doing yoga at home maybe 3 times a week on top of the classes on Wednesday. I'm really into it now.

If you thought like that about yoga, you should really give it a try. It would amaze you to think what a good posture is really like. What we perceive a good posture to be is actually quite stressful for our spine. We have 3 more classes to go and we're going to get his dvd so that we can practise at home. How wonderful! To exercise without going "somewhere" but just in the privacy of your own home.

And because I don't own a decent sports bra, I headed out to find a proper one. I had heard of LULULEMON before when I was visiting in Vancouver BC but never had much interest in buying overpriced sportswear. Everyone said, you have to get a pair of their yoga pants, they make your ass look like a demi god. So taking that advice, I went to the lulu lemon here on Chapel St and since it's end of financial year sale, I bought a pair of pants(wunder pants), two bras (Flow y bra) and one padded tank(power y tank).

Amazing.

Yesterday, we went to THE ART OF THE BRICK. A pretty amazing exhibition of Nathan Sawaya's art work using Lego as his medium. A lawyer turned artist, Nathan constructs his sculptures, mostly on the theme of metamorphosis with lego and glue. There are some pretty amazing pieces.

My favourite one is the 4 colourful skulls.

am in love with ikat prints

2011-06-23T14:47:00.000-07:00

I'm loving the ikat prints from jcrew. So colourful and reminds me of native american prints. The question is, would I be able to pull off prints?

A new cook book

2011-06-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

So Aaron has this propensity to cook curries. I mean, this guy loves his cumin, corriander, chillis. All the Cs. He recently ordered a 500 curry recipe book, curries from all around the world. Since it was my turn to pick a recipe, I decided that I'd take two from the book. Initially I was only going to pick the Okra and Tomato tagine but we needed meat. We're growing boys, you see. So Aaron has scanned the two recipes side to side, click on it to enlarge and pick which one you'd like to cook. Both recipes were super easy, the okra and tomato tagine took no time whatsoever! It was delicious as well!

We have guests staying the night tonight and figured we should have cooked this instead! oh well, yummy left over lunch for me!

Ok I admit it

2011-06-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

I bought Maybeline's baby lips lip balm solely on its branding.

It is super soft AND it has a Japanese candy smell to it.

Loves.

This week's Mum and Daughter eats:

2011-06-17T16:02:00.001-07:00

Pork stuffed with rosemary, sage and dried cherries.

It was so yummy!! There's nothing better than herbs and butter married together.

Surprisingly easy and fast to make, such a crowd pleaser. I made this for Aaron and my cousin Samuel. He had just finished his exams and so came over for a relaxing night of good food. Sam even made the mashed potatoes, pretty good!!

Stuffed Pork Chops with Rosemary, Sage, andDried Cherry

2 (6 – 8 ounce) boneless pork loin chops

Stuffing.
2 slices toast, diced
¼ onion, diced
¼ cup dried cherries, chopped
¼ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely diced
1 small bunch sage, leaves finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper

Sauce.
½ cup white wine
¼ cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
Squeeze of lemon
1 small shallot, finely diced
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves minced
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 400 a half hour in advance.

For the stuffing, saute onions, garlic, and herbs until soft.

In a medium bowl, combine the diced toasted bread with the cooked onion, garlic, and herb mixture. Add the cherries, chicken broth, balsamic, mustard, and salt and pepper and toss.

With a sharp knife, slice a 'pocket' into the side of the chops. Be careful not to cut through to the other end of the chop. Also, make sure that the chop is intact on the sides to keep the stuffing in place.

Fill each chop with the stuffing, packing as much as you can into the chop while keeping it intact.

In a heavy bottom skillet, brown the chops over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes on the first side. Flip the chops to the other side, add the rest of the stuffing to the pan, and then move them to the oven and roast for about 10 - 14 minutes depending on the size.

Remove the chops and the stuffing from the pan and tent with foil to keep warm.

Heat the butter in the pan and saute shallots. Combine herbs, wine, grainy mustard, stock, and lemon juice. Deglaze the pan with the mixture. Let reduce about 4 – 5 minutes and pour on top of the chops. Serve immediately.

A long fermenting weekend

2011-06-14T02:12:00.000-07:00

So it was a long weekend over here in Victoria. I'm a strong believer that every weekend should be a 3 day weekend, making time for errands, socializing and rest. We would be much happier persons if that was the case!

We went and brew our first batch of beer, thanks to Sumit and Melinda. They introduced us to Ubrew it. It's a facility where they provide a menu of recipes, the ingredients, kettle , keg and space for it to ferment. You can buy bottles or cans and by the end of 2 or 3 weeks, you bottle it yourself.

We decided to make a 7% weizen and had to weigh out every ingredient as per recipe. Two scientists on the job makes for very precise weighing, I tell you what! We sat around as it boiled and bubbled in the kettle, drinking the free beer from several kegs.

Sumit (Happy!), Pip (Ecstatic!), Melinda (Scared?) and Aaron (Normal)

awaiting for the kettle contents to be finished.

Pip has a wee sniff, cascade hops are approved!!

ok beer, see you in three weeks!!

Another thing that has made my week recently was the arrival of my Kindle! Kindle is a great great thing when you live in a two bedroom apartment, travel to work on public transportation and like cheaper books! No more shoving a huge book into my purse (along with my lunch etc) and being able to get anything I want on it, is pretty spectacular. I'm currently reading Emperor of All Maladies, which was recommended by an en mass email from work a month or so ago. It's about the history, current and future of Cancer. It's written nicely, easy for non-medical, non-science readers. I highly recommend it, it is a very interesting read.

Another project I started this weekend, was the remaking of our couch: piecemeal. I had no pattern to go on, I just guessed and I've guessed too big. So this coming weekend, I'm correcting the size a bit, so it would fit a bit more snug.

It's not looking bad. The material is tough yet comfy and I love the colour. I'm thinking of making the back pillows a different material. I saw the other day at the FABRIC STORE, they had dark oatmeal zebra strips, which could be quite fun! Or a dash of yellow.

Mixture weekend

2011-06-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been a good mixture of home time and socialising time. I've noticed that I don't take photos that much anymore and made a real effort to capture my weekend via photographs. In between going to work on Saturday for a bit, I hopped into The Fabric Shop in Bruinswick to see if I could have some replacement material for the sofa cushions. The cushions that we sit on are loosely woven and in that respect has come away from the stitches which is very unsightly.

I bought a darker material, sort of a mushroom if you will and am planning to make some new covers for our sofa.

Will slowly replace the entire couch bit by bit. For now oatmeal and mushroom will just have to get together.

The weekend was actually really beautiful, filled with sunshine and moderately warm temperature, especially for the first week of winter! I made sure all my succulents had enough sunlight and arranged them in the kitchen where they were soaking in it.

(That's a new plant, a gift from Maya)

New gem stones I bought during the week, moss agates. Can't wait to see what I can do with them!

Jumper coming along, coming along!

Saturday was kinda cool because Aaron and I went to have a pie after work and we went to try out coffee at St Ali. He had talked about it for the longest time, heard from his co workers that it was indeed great coffee. So we wandered down an unmarked alleyway into an unmarked store to find a bustling breakfast venue. Our coffee was good and we'd definitely go back for a breakfast! I really enjoyed exploring with Aaron and it reminds me how little of it I've done since coming to Melbourne!

Sunday was left for lazy bodies:

A wander through Malvern

A cup of chinese tea

Aaron made me a cup of flat white for breakfast!

And to cap Sunday night off, a Burlesque show with my fellow co workers! I had never been but it was so entertaining and I didn't know what to expect. We particularly went to see Raven, a male burlesque dancer and he was quite good!

If you are interested, you should definitely go visit

Burlesque bar.

2011-06-01T04:03:00.000-07:00

Last night, it was my mum's menu night and she wanted to make Black bean braised chicken. Let me say that all the recipes that we pick for our Wednesday dinners are short, easy and new. Perfect for a midweek perk up in the menu section!

The black bean braised chicken in it's own thick sauce.

With a side of stir fry Soy bean sprouts and spring onions.

If you have never had soy bean sprouts before, you should definitely try it. It has a nutty flavor in the sprout and you can find them pre packaged in most asian supermarkets.

The recipe:

6 garlic cloves, lightly smashed, peeled and mashed.

5 tablespoons fermented black beans, washed several times to remove salt, drain well.

Sauce:

3 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

2 tbspn dark soy sauce

1 whole chicken cut into bite-size pieces.

3 1/2 to 4 tbspn water chestnut powder or flour

cooking oil

3 tbsp chinese white rice wine or gin

1 cup chicken stock

sprigs of coriander for garnish

Method:

Make a paste of the mashed garlic and black beans, put aside.

Mix sauce, put aside.

Coat the chicken pieces with the flour or water chestnut powder.

I would use a frying pan to heat about 1/2 inch of oil. If you use a wok, you'd end up using more oil than you need. Deep fry the chicken pieces until lightly golden.

Remove chicken, drain on a paper towel and set aside.

If at the end of frying, the oil is dirty with clumps of flour, drain that out of the pan, wipe dry with paper towels.

Place remaining 3 tbsp oil in the pan over high heat and when a wisp of white smoke appears, add the garlic, black bean paste. Break up with spatula. When garlic turns light brown, add chicken pieces and mix well.

Drizzle with the white wine into pan from edges, stir and mix well.

Stir the sauce, pour into pan , mix until chicken is well coated. Turn off heat.

Transfer chicken to a pot. Pour 3/4 cup chicken stock into pan to help collect juices and sauce, then pour into pot over chicken. Cover pot and cook over low heat until chicken is tender, 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. If sauce becomes too thick, add a bit more stock, 1 to 2 tbsp at a time.

Turn off heat, remove chicken and sauce from pot and transfer to a heated dish. Garnish with coriander and serve with cooked rice.

Also, knitting wise, I'm getting the hang of it! It is no longer the fiddly and frustrating hobby that it once was! This jumper called for cables but after attempting , I decided to make it just a plain jumper because I'm only a beginner at this! I'll leave the fancy patterns to a few projects later.

knitting disaster

2011-05-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

I spent the last few days learning how to rib knit and finally got a hang of it. Then I recounted the stitches and somehow along the way, I've added 10 more than I needed!? How does that work? I had my eyes are still getting used to what normal stitches lined up look like. So I had take apart the bottom of the jumper:

Back to square one. It's the start to a wee jumper I'm knitting for my yet to be born niece. Knitting, like crocheting is rather therapeutic. It'll be more enjoyable when I find out how to hold my needles properly. Right now it's one needle straight up and the other knitting off it.

Last night, Mum and I made gnudi for dinner. (Remember she's in Portland, Oregon and I'm in Melbourne!)

Gnudi

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus 1 cup for coating
1 jar store bought marinara sauce, heated

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, spinach, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and yolks. Stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and flour. Form mixture in to small, flattened balls.

Dredge the formed gnudi in flour to coat, tapping off the excess. Slide formed gnudi into the boiling water. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan; work in batches if necessary. Remove the gnudi using a slotted spoon after they float to the top and have cooked for about 4 minutes.

with Sage butter:

Ingredients

Pasta, of choice
4 tablespoons butter
8 sage leaves
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

While your pasta cooks, melt butter in a 12 to 14-inch saute pan and continue cooking until golden brown color ("noisette") appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter. Add sage leaves and remove from heat. Add lemon juice and set aside. Drain the pasta, but leaving some cooking water, and gently pour into saute pan and return to heat. Add the cheese, toss to coat and serve immediately.

Water for Elephant

2011-05-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Last night, a few of my co-workers and I went to see "Water for Elephants." I was mesmerized by the pattern of the elephants' face. The beautiful fleshy pink background with randomly spotted greys was just amazing. I was mostly captivated by the elephant in the movie and even though it did drag out a bit, the setting was enchanting enough. No body does the dustbowl carnival era better than the mini series Carnivale.

A relaxing weekend

2011-05-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

Over here in Melbourne, we had one heck of a weather weekend. On Saturday, it was gorgeous and sunny and surprisingly warm!! I went to the yarn store by our place and picked up some knitting needles and some yarn as I'm very eager to knit something for my niece that is due in September! I spent Saturday practising casting on, knit and purl stitches thanks to all the youtube videos! I find it more fiddly and my eyes are not used to counting knitting stitches yet so it's hard for me to pick up if I screwed up a stitch wrong.

Sunday, it was rainy and cloudy so Aaron and I spent the entire day in our apartment, just relaxing. We had a game of scrabble that we did not finish. Both of us got alot of vowels in the beginning of the game and then all the consonants at the end. Aaron was winning.

If your boyfriend dressed you for a week....

2011-05-19T14:17:00.001-07:00

A challenge to let the boyfriend choose your outfit for an entire week.

Pretty entertaining!

Resurrection of Pang Eats

2011-05-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

So my mum emailed me the other day and said we should resurrect the EATING group that I started with Anna. The idea is to pick a new and easy recipe to make together (even though we're not in the same city/country) so we can break up the monotony of weekday dinners! Even though we're in different seasons (perhaps she won't feel like soup when I do!), it'll still be fun and it connects us in a way that is intimate. For, very often when I cook, I think of Mum and how she used to cook the dishes that I so love. When I first moved out, I constantly emailed and phoned her to make sure I was doing the right thing. I still do that sometimes!

This week, Mum picked the recipe and it is Simple Salmon Chirashi.

1 cup medium grain white rice
salmon fillets for two
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup halved ans sliced english cucumber
1 cup cubed avocado
1 sheet nori, torn into pieces
2 green onions, sliced diagonally
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp wasab powder
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Cook rice.
Preheat broiler.
Sprinkle salmon on both sides with salt and pepper
Broil fish until done the way you like it, about 6 minutes for medium
Divide rice among two bowls.
Lay a piece of salmon on each
Top each serving with cucumber, avocado, nori, onions and sesame seeds.
Mix soy sauce and oil in a small bowl and serve with the salmon and rice.

I even sprinkled just a bit of Yukari, which is Japanese purple basil. It has a very distinct salty taste and it really livens up plain rice! I use it sometimes on congee.

Salmon with Yukari

Shark Mittens

2011-05-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

I'm just saying, I might make an extra pair for myself when I finish my nephew's pair!!

Pattern free here.

Back!

2011-05-09T03:47:00.000-07:00

4 days of baby has me all tired out!
Tiny bundle of cries but when she was sleeping, it was sweet.

off to brisbane

2011-05-04T12:36:00.001-07:00

and.... we're off to Brisbane to visit Aaron's brother and his new family! Have a cool weekend!

It's getting cold

2011-05-02T14:55:00.000-07:00

Another one finished.

Baby girl moccasin booties

2011-04-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

This coming Thursday, Aaron and I are travelling up to Brisbane to spend 4 days with his brother and girlfriend who just gave birth to a baby girl. Aaron's parents will be flying from NZ to meet us there as well, so I'm thinking baby girl is getting lots of cuddles. I had some left over baby soft dusty pink yarn and decided to tackle this pair of cute moccasin booties. They came out quite nice! So wee! The pattern was off of Raverly. The pattern was easy after you decipher some parts. It almost needed a graphic representation, well at least for me. Especially at points where it fastens and reattaches is written quite ambiguously. Also without prior knowledge of bootie anatomy, I was at a lost as to which part I was making. (Referring to instep part) I could see how this pattern could be a bit difficult to grasp visually for beginners and so I have provided some drawings at places which I found confusing.

(Click on pattern to enlarge and see my graphics, hope it helps!)

Lately

2011-04-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's been a while since I've had time to update but Easter holiday has come and gone and I'm pooped. With Anzac day stuck to this year's Easter, we had 4 days of holiday + weekend. However, I did not get to enjoy this as I had to go into work for a few hours a day. A friend came to stay which on top of work, hosting was tiring! We had fun shopping and what not but I'm ready for some "me" time. I took today (Friday) off in lieu of the days I had to go into work and I'm so happy. I get to have my own long weekend!

Today, I'm going to be spending time on my batiking. It starts with drawing patterns!

Bought a pair of jeggings the other day and oh my! They are comfortable!!
This pair is from Country Road.

Working on a raspberry beret, for those lazy nights when nothing good is on tv!

Back to porridge. Aaron made me a bowl of oatmeal with some honey.

Simple dinners are the best, a pair of salmon fillets waiting to be steamed.

Also , a make up question for you readers:
What brand of primers do you use and love?
I'm a new member of the whole foundation and concealer club ( I know, dreadful) and now I want to purchase a primer but am at a lost.
I've talked to a few people and they say Benefit's THAT GIRL is a great primer:

What do you swear by?

My love for knee highs

2011-04-20T14:47:00.001-07:00

never dies
i ache for this one

new, finished beret

2011-04-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know. How crazy it is that I've actually finished a crochet project!

The pattern is here.
It is in Japanese but is easy to do if you know how to read crochet symbols. If not, I'm coming up with a translation for this pattern.

Engagement photos

2011-04-15T17:30:00.001-07:00

Now, I'm no huge fan of engagement photos just because I often think, what's the big deal? However, this sentiment is partially ebbed by the engagement photos of my high school friend Kendra. She's always been such an electric girl that there photographs totally summed up how I feel about her:

Photos are taken by Stefani Chung.
(Washington DC)

It's a good thing

2011-04-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

that this Steven Alan Stone Hera Dress is sold out!

Toast Love

2011-04-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm in need of winter clothes, Toast has been brainwashed into thinking, I can brave the winter months in that lovely chiffon top and super relaxing pants. And those shoes, they're all out of my size which makes it safe to admire!!

Beret crazy

2011-04-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

So I went overboard this weekend. I went to this yarn shop that is about 10 minutes walk from my apartment and found yarn heaven. I picked two delicious colours and didn't buy enough of it (still need one more skein to finish both berets off!).
Oh well, I've had so much fun just crocheting the entire weekend, it was very therapeutic.

This weekend, Aaron and I had brunch with a friend at Eden Espresso (this place is close to us and has been quite consistent with good coffee and very decent breakfast, plus we love being seated in the courtyard!) then went yarn shopping. After that I went into frenzy mode and just crochet until we hopped to the city for Rich Hall's comedy show. He was funnier impromptu when he's on QI.

Where did the weekend go?

More pop corn stitch berets please

2011-04-07T03:44:00.000-07:00

This one was made for my co worker.
I might make more, it is getting chillier in Melbourne!

Crochet project

2011-04-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

My friend Niki asked me if I could crochet an ottoman pouf for her. I've seen these all over the show on Apartment Therapy and so on, the pattern is easy but it's finding the right yarn that's difficult. In fact it's not yarn at all, I'm pretty sure you crochet/knit this with cords. I can't wait to go researching on the cords and start on this project. Speaking of projects, now that it's getting a bit colder, I'm wanting to buy more yarn and crochet some hats and scarves!!

Colours

2011-04-02T23:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't done much this weekend. I felt rather slow and was so tired on Saturday that after a second hand shop outing, I came home and had a luxury nana nap. I woke up to a very lovely dinner made by the boyfriend, a tuscan tomato soup. Yummmm, home made soups are the best!

It was exactly what I needed and even though I've got a bit of a headache today, I put that aside to clean the apartment and mixed some dyes to test out what colours I want to use:

More batik experimentating

2011-03-30T04:19:00.000-07:00

I've been doing more batiking with mum's help (she's left Melbourne now, sad!) and am now encouraged by the results to actually practice more and start a collection. Here is the pink flower without the wax and some fish scales still with their wax lines on.

family

2011-03-27T03:24:00.000-07:00

You know, our family is spread all over. We're in Malaysia, Hong Kong, USA and Australia. As we get older, time with our family is precious. It's not about Christmas, birthdays or anything big like that. It's about making a dress with your mum, eating every morsel of her delicious home cooking, remembering funny stories from our childhood and gathering to heal our souls. This past weekend, we had my cousin (also my mum's nephew) over for dinners. We healed over jokes, memories and games of mahjong. Nothing beats the warm feeling of family, the laid back and being yourself feeling, that is true bliss.

This weekend:

Mum's prosciutto and fig salad

I took an afternoon off and had xiao long bao with mum

Art market with Mum.

Victoria Harbor

Mahjong!

Aaron and I at Mr Tulk

A second attempt with different dye at batiking.

Experimentating

2011-03-22T23:42:00.000-07:00

is so much fun

A blissful week off

2011-03-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

I've thoroughly enjoyed this entire week off and spending some quality time with my mum. I've missed her so much! While she's here, I've taken the opportunity of learning more chinese recipes and getting her to help me with a tunic pattern she bought for me from Japan. Between my very basic Katakana and her knowledge of sewing, she taught me how to sew this:

Gingham tunic!!

We've had quite a few delicious meals these few days and they were all home cooked.
We even invited my cousin over for a 4 course dinner!

Aaron , Mum and Samuel.
Mum's a bit excited!!

Mum insisted that she doesn't want to do too many touristy things so really, we've just being doing things I normally do: buy food.
No one should come to Melbourne without going to Victoria Market and we took here there this Saturday.

We even got a new addition to our plant family. A new venus fly trap!
They should do very well here in Australia.

Back to work this week but more art indulgence with my mum after work!

I bought these

2011-03-17T16:19:00.001-07:00

For work:

Mum and Daughter outting

2011-03-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

My mum has arrived in Melbourne! She brought me lots of awesome gifts, including this brown cape/poncho she made me and a Japanese sewing pattern for a tunic!

These awesome Japanese patterns can be viewed here.

Spent the better half of the morning in Brunswick shopping for the tunic material and having lunch:

mum!

Our new place

2011-03-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

It's a bit overdue but two months post moving in, our place is finally looking organized and more like home. Tomorrow my mum will be arriving in Melbourne so I've been doing a bit of cleaning and washings. I'm so excited! Here are a few photos of our new place, having a second bedroom totally rocks!

A small cafe table for two

With no built in liqour cabinet at our new place, we have resorted to a more open option.

Living room, plenty of natural sunshine.

Guest room also means Tiff's semi Muntedkowhai room.

A jellybean succulent plant for the guest bedroom!!

And a cozy bed for my mum!

For the wee feet

2011-03-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

How cute are these hand knitted booties from The Miniatureknit shop?

One more week

2011-03-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

So for Christmas, I got my mother a round trip ticket to come visit me here in Melbourne! I haven't seen her in over a year and since she was going to be so close in Singapore, I thought it would be lovely to have her here. I can't wait to show her around and just spend time with her!

Sassy mum!

So yes, I'm rather excited! I'm taking a week off work and on weekends we can all go out venture into the city. I seriously can't wait, I'm a total mama's gal and I've missed my mum so much since I've made the huge pacific ocean move. Plus it'll be awesome that my mum gets to know Aaron more.

Aside from all this, I've started sketching some designs I have in mind for Muntedkowhai. So I'm slowly building up pace again , keep an eye out on this space.

The other day I made snapper ceviche. Yums:

and how absolutely wonderful and affordable are these handmade hammocks!!!

Hamanica

How gorgeous are the black enamel horses?

2011-02-28T12:27:00.001-08:00

Erica Weiner

Quake

2011-02-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

The surreal tragic news of the devastating earthquake in Christchurch has everyone talking and worrying. Aaron is from Christchurch and his family is fine, some houses destroyed but all alive. As is my aunt and her family. People are being rescued from collapsed buildings, it is really tragic. There are myriads of ways to donate to the city of Christchurch and its people, so please do.

Hold me to it.

2011-02-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

I framed my crochet motifs last night, with a frame my supervisor painted and gave me. It's a delicious shade of peppermint ice cream! I should hang it up but there are a few more framed pieces that needs to be hung up as well, I just need to get around to doing it!

The new place is coming together nicely. There are a few things that needs to be done and we're running into busy weekends and can't wait for one to ourselves!

The kitchen is the only place where we're sorted out, thanks to Aaron.
(Framed Oregon brew coasters, cookbooks and a floral bag for plastic bags)

This weekend, thanks to the encouragement of Tania of Arohasilhouettes, I'm going to retackle the problem of batik. I've got ALL the materials that I need already. I just need to problem solve some things and I should be on my way.

Hold me to it! This Saturday will be spent batik problem solving!!