Totally Frank

A week begins anew

2011-11-27T02:41:00.000-08:00

As I continue to go through my adult years, I wonder more and more if I'll ever have a brief respite from the hustle and bustle of life before I die. When I'm not busy doing something, I'd be worrying about other things; sometimes they are things that I would be busy with the day after, other times decisions in life that are life-changing.

Last week I thought to myself: the week has barely begun and yet I've had next week filled with activity already. Gone are the days where my holidays consist of nothing but blissful languidness. Apart from being physically busy and planning and anguishing my schedule, I also have the tendency of pondering over my life's directions and decisions - what was, what is and what is to come.

This year and the last, I think I made quite a few serious, life-shaping plans and decisions. Some of these involve lots of risks and difficulties but also sweet nectar (hopefully) at the end. Where am I going with this blog entry, I know not, but what I can say is recently I've been pondering (more so than usual) on whether my decisions were actually sound, or was I just being too brash when planning and deciding. I constantly call out to the Lord to reveal to me his wisdom because I know the limits of my own wisdom and the limitlessness of God's. May the Lord give me the patience to persevere and strength, should my plans and decisions be revealed as mistakes and require rectification.

A brief update

2011-11-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

- I am currently waiting for my examination results after which I will graduate given that there are no 'shock' results.

- I have already started exposing myself to the laboratories that I may be using next year for my research degree. I feel like I have so much to learn. It's like starting from square one again. Sometimes, it does feel overwhelming but I have to remind myself that I've not even (officially) graduated from my undergraduate studies and that I am actually learning 3 months ahead of the planned commencement of my next course.

- Funny how so many immigrants in Australia who have the command of English equal to that of a brick, no intention to assimilate and no real loyalty and skill are given residency yet highly skilled, young workers who speak at least decent English and want to contribute to Australia are shunned.

- The first world's gone mad with so many 'Occupy' and worker's union movements going on these days. They need to be thrown into less fortunate countries to see how hard people work to survive and how little they complain (if at all). This is what happens when you overprotect your citizens. They become sheltered and forget that it's actually normal to work hard for money.

- Dragon Age: Origins is quite the bomb. I haven't been addicted to a game quite as intensely since FFXIII.

- I am most likely quitting my part-time job next year. My research course is likely to be very demanding: full-time work in the weekdays and probably even some work on Saturdays. They've offered me a casual position but I'll have to see.

- December will be very 'full-on' for me. I've got friends and family to entertain and my own graduation (God-willing) to attend. I also have slightly more work shifts in the pharmacy and will also volunteer to work more in the lab on days I'm not working in the pharmacy.

- More to come next time.

From the ashes

2011-06-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Not really.

This blog had never died. It was more like an extended slumber.

So much has happened since my last post. The first semester of my final year is over and of course to get to where I am I endured not one, not two, but three torturous placements. I've also got a job now and am glad that I had not had one from first year. Student life should really be enjoyed.

What else?

Oh right, I've learned to make pasta as well!

I'm so proud of myself for finally being able to make pasta dishes literally from scratch - not just the sauces. With enough practice, I think I could operate my own little pasta restaurant next time - god forbid. From flour and eggs to authentic carbonara.

My first attempt was not the best obviously. I made some pasta again today and it was much much better; it was much thinner and refined and less clumpy. I'll get it absolutely spot on one day.

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Another thing about today is that I'm having an allergic rash at the moment and my face is just full of weals. The very same thing happened 4 years ago and I had a swollen face the next waking morning. Hope the same doesn't happen this time. I took some antihistamine just now but I'm not counting on it to do much.

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I'm glad to have restarted blogging again. What initially discouraged me was the lack of a good photo-taking phone and a camera. Pictures do really tell a thousand words - and they make my blog look prettier. I still don't have any respectable photo-taking means at the moment though... we'll see how things go.

21 번째 생일 축하해

2011-02-02T04:22:00.000-08:00

Or as they say in Americano,

Happy 21st Birthday.

Oh Snap!

2011-01-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

(pun not intended in title)

Starbucks Trenta

2011-01-19T00:12:00.001-08:00

Fig. 1 Because real men drink from a bucket

No, seriously, a Venti isn't big enough? I once drank a Venti. I felt like an obese water balloon till I voided my bladder.

Fig. 2 Inside your typical Starbucks coffee machine. Combined with hiring only children, boat people and unskilled personnel, this is how your overpriced trademark weak Starbucks coffee is made.

Anyway, you can now consume your favourite Starbucks beverages by the bucket load. Don't forget to keep your Trenta cup though - you'll be needing it for the other end in no time.

Final Fantasy XIII-2

2011-01-18T23:53:00.000-08:00

Coming soon to a PS3 (and an eggsbox $3.60) near you.

2011-01-18T05:15:00.000-08:00

I Bought a classical guitar today - an awful classical guitar. Nevertheless it's meant to just be a temporary one; one to fill my time outside of Australia. That would also mean I won't have to lug back ten kilograms of hardwood and casing each time I return from Melbourne if I wanted to satisfy some musical needs in Miri.

I pretty much spent most of my day playing my guitar today. I tried a few Final Fantasy songs like Serah's Theme and FFX Ending Theme and also several Christmas songs (I know I'm one month late).

My bloody placement letter is still stuck missing somewhere. I've been peering into my mailbox for the past two to three days and nothing; absolutely nothing. I'll probably give it one more day before sending the coordinator an e-mail.

So does it matter?

2011-01-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

READ THIS FIRST: I suggest that you read this post line by line and that your eyes should not wander to other parts of this post if you want the full roller coaster effect. Scroll down slowly.

ANRCDCIOG RAEERCSH CDGMRBAIE UTSVREIIY, DNSOET MTTEAR LTTREES, IOANTRMPT LTTEER. BUAESCE LTETER ILSTEF,. POELPE

Are you able to unscramble these words with ease? No? Then please try the segment immediately below.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

AOCDRNDICG RSCHEEARCH CMABRIGDE UINERVTISY, DSENOT MTAETR OERDR LTTERES, IPROAMTNT TIHNG FRSIT LTTEER RGHIT PCLAE. BCUSEAE HUAMN ERVEY LTETER ISTLEF, WLOHE. PLEPOE

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Was it much better? The answer to the rhetorical question should be: yes. Let me make it even easier by paradoxically adding more words to complete the entire passage. Unscramble away as before, below.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

AOCDRNDICG TO RSCHEEARCH AT CMABRIGDE UINERVTISY, IT DSENO'T MTAETR WAHT OERDR THE LTTERES IN A WROD ARE, THE OLNY IPROAMTNT TIHNG IS TAHT THE FRSIT AND LSAT LTTEER BE IN THE RGHIT PCLAE. TIHS IS BCUSEAE THE HUAMN MNID DEOS NOT RAED ERVEY LTETER BY ISTLEF, BUT THE WROD AS A WLOHE. IF YOU CAN RAED TIHS, PSOT IT TO YUOR WLAL. OLNY 55% OF PLEPOE CAN

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NB: This entire passage is from a chain letter.

Strange. I thought Cambridge claimed that the only thing that mattered was the first and last letter. Shouldn't that mean that you should be able to unscramble any word with similar ease as long as the first and last letter remained untouched because you don't read every single letter by itself anyway?

Let me convince you further.

Unscramble this:

FALNKRY SENIKPAG POUIITVCDTRY PETMLUUMD WFCROOKRE RIUENTLSG DAEESRECD MITAOIVOTN GLIIUITLBY SIUIETLBTSGGIY ITATRIRE CTNOACTS FEOOABCK RSIOENTPG GBGARAE.

What do you mean you can't do it as quickly as before? Are you even able to do it now? I thought Cambridge said you could, as long as the first and last letters remained unchanged because you don't read every single letter by itself anyway? I think you may be dyslexic :(. That's alright, let me help you out:

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FALNKRY SENIKPAG POUIITVCDTRY PETMLUUMD IN THE WFCROOKRE RIUENTLSG FROM DAEESRECD MITAOIVOTN AND GLIIUITLBY AND SIUIETLBTSGGIY TO ITATRIRE CTNOACTS IN FEOOABCK BY RSIOENTPG TIHS GBGARAE.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Not much better?! Really?! You may actually be borderline retarded then. Get diagnosed before it's too late.

Not really.

What am I going on about? Well, I'm just trying to say that if you actually believed that you were special and that you could unscramble any words with ease as long as the first and last letter are the same, you've been fooled. Many factors actually influence how quickly you can unscramble words even with the first and last letters unmoved. The length of the word for instance, is crucial. You can't unscramble 'dneiuenqlt' as fast as 'qiuck'.

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In the chain mail above, you will find that lots of the words are TWO and THREE letter words that CAN'T even be scrambled without moving the first or last letters. FOUR letter words only scramble a tiny bit (for eg. 'fsat'). FIVE letter words scramble a bit more (for eg. 'hrury') and should be manageable even by 6 year olds. SIX letter words should still be easy enough as well (for eg. ltteer). The bulk of the chain mail contains these short scrambled words which are easy to decipher.

The degree of scrambling also determines how easily words can be unscrambled. This is also related to the length of the words; two and three letter words have zero degree of scrambling, while four to five letter words have a tiny degree of scrambling. The degree of scrambling starts to matter when you have long words. For example, 'cieafrlid' is harder to decipher compared to 'cfilaried' or 'clafiried'. If you noticed in the chain mail, longer words like CMABRIGDE or UINERVTISY only have letters moved a position or two. For example, in the word CMABRIGDE as compared to CAMBRIDGE, A swaps with M, BRI stays stagnant and G and D swaps places.

Other factors like, number of vowels, number of repeating letters and familiarity of the word should also play a part in how easily one can unscramble words.

What I was doing above was that I removed all the shorter words in the first scrambled paragraph and more thoroughly scrambled the remaining words. This meant that the sentences will not make sense but it shouldn't matter because the claim of the chain mail is that you can decipher them anyway. Then, I added in more (and also shorter) words to give it a bit more context and also left the degree of scrambling to that of the original chain mail's, which is much simpler to unscramble. Finally, I revealed the entire, unaltered chain mail whereby context and minimal degree of unscrambling should make unscrambling easy peasy. I then proceeded to creating my own scrambled paragraph with a high number of long words and a high degree of scrambling. First, I only revealed the long words of the paragraph. The sentence does not make sense but it shouldn't matter right? Next I, included a few shorter scrambled words to make the paragraph structurally correct when unscrambled, which should have helped make things easier because you would've been able to categorise the scrambled words into nouns or verbs etc.

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My point is, Cambridge did not do this research, this is spam and not changing the first and last letters of a word doesn't mean you can unscramble words as though it hasn't been. If anything, not changing the first and last letters only means that the word is less scrambled and can be more easily unscrambled ('lyble' vs 'blely').

Another thing that should be mentioned is that it's okay if you were fooled. What's not okay is if you spammed people's e-mail and social networks with this deceiving crap or any other chain mail crap that involves asking you to forward mails to put a legless, armless, goatless kid in school or that Bill Gates is giving his money away to strangers and losers or that you a dead girl will rape you tonight if 'you don't forward this to 2376 people in 2 minutes' or that panadol is the devil's spawn and will kill you according to unknown authors who can't even spell.

Spamming is probably only okay if the material doesn't holding you at ransom by making you feel bad for not forwarding, is not full of lies and if it's genuinely just for entertainment or laughs (jokes or funny pictures or optical illusions).

Putting garbage in people's inboxes and on their walls shows a lack of sophistication, motivation and probably disrespect to people. Oh, and it also irritates people.

Hope this has been entertaining to you :)... or that it hasn't burned too much. Ouch!

Alternative medicine

2011-01-15T06:16:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge. Enjoy.

Calvin & Hobbes

2011-01-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

I recently have a curious affinity and appreciation towards this cheeky, quietly-smart comic.

When life gives you lemons

2011-01-10T02:53:00.000-08:00

...you give them a roundhouse kick Chuck Norris-style and you make lemonade and you sell them and you become rich!!! >=D

There aren't many better sources of wisdom than your good ol' shower epiphany.

Parting from the rat race

2011-01-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

At this point in time, choosing to do the elective, VPS3032 Current Aspects of Pharmaceutical Biology seemed to be one of the best choices I've made last year. The unit may have been an almighty mess due to the fact that it was being run for the first time and it's coordinated by wacky Dr. John Haynes - otherwise affectionately known as the kidney man - but it still was a highly enriching and enlightening unit.

Back to the contents of this unit. The study material of this unit was journal articles; journal articles from prestigious journals like Nature or Cell - some by Nobel Prize winning scientists. These articles are what inspire other scientists in the field, what nourishes the PhD candidate but as study material for a bunch of rag-tag 3rd year BPharm undergraduates? Moreover, we were the guinea pigs so we could have very easily ended up failing the unit if it was unbalanced.

They called it a revolutionary teaching method - jokingly I suspect - whereby the contents of the unit were extraordinarily deep, dense, challenging, thought-stimulating and frontier but where examination questions were provided prior to the examination. The latter was the case because of the former. The coordinators and lecturers feared and genuinely believed that we may all fail had we been made to attempt having sufficient mastery over an insurmountable number of cutting-edge research articles for a standard examination. That would've been too ambitious - and suicidal - even for reputable scientists. Another question did remain though: Would providing examination questions make the unit too easy? I can tell you quite straightforwardly: No. In fact, it was still so difficult that students had to collaborate and work together just to manage to cover ground. Thankfully, in the end, my results for the unit indicate that it was balanced, meaning it was neither too easy nor un-doable.

From the beginning, I chose this unit knowing that I would have less time to study for my other units relative to those doing research appraisal and summer research. I chose this unit solely because I am interested in it. I know people who have chosen units based on workload and perceived difficulty. I don't agree with that but they're not me and I'm not them so they can do whatever they see fit. What I enjoyed in the unit were the subjects taught and how surprisingly refreshing it was. I enjoyed learning more deeply about stem cells, cancer and RNAi (RNA interference) - not so much bioinformatics - and how the course was run in the form of brief lectures and enthusiastic, reputable experts and lecturers; interesting, revolutionary articles (probably too many); presentations; and short reports.

Through doing this unit, I've realised a few things. Firstly, a pharmacy career can wait, especially when I practically have it secured already. Secondly, I'd like to do my Masters and PhD, working with the very people who taught in this unit. We'll see if all this can materialise by next year. I don't want my career to be too linear. I like options. I appreciate the financial side of a job but also the more intellectually satisfying side of it and I can attain that by being an expert, probably in the fields of cancer and/or stem cells and/or RNAi; they are three of the most prospective fields in medical/pharmaceutical biology.

If you had the advantage, would you not take them too and breakaway? Would you rather continue to strive in the rat race?

The possibilities are endless, and I plan to seize them.

2011-01-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

Struggling to stay in shape - and no, round is not an acceptable shape in this context.

Time to up exercise and control food intake.

Omega

2010-12-31T05:46:00.001-08:00

I've totally wrecked my tummy by eating so much. I don't think I'm used to the greasy food here yet. Regardless, a new year beckons.

Happy New Year.

Status, class, taste, high fashion and whatnot

2010-12-28T18:20:00.000-08:00

Asian people in general are obsessed with displaying status -not all but a good proportion. Different cultures are engrossed with different things and so it is not the obsessing that is unique, but the love for status symbols. This is especially true in countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan where fashion is important (relative to third world Asian countries which is the rest of Asia) and 'status' is more greatly craved.

There's nothing wrong in wanting to be fashionable and designer fashion is an almost guaranteed way to be just that. You can't deny that designer products are mostly superior in quality to regular ones - albeit at a rich price. If you can afford the luxury, why not? The crucial question is: do these patrons really want fashion or do they, in actuality, only want the status that is carried by it? It does not take a dead-eye to notice that the two most popular houses of high-fashion in the Asian demographic are Louis Vuitton and Gucci. This is no mere coincidence of course, for these two brands are notorious for littering their products with their logos. They perverse a significant portion of their handbags, belts, wallets and shoes with their prized logos. Most of these products are only average in terms of design relative to the rest of the collection - well it happens when the focus of your work is to see how many LVs and Gs you can fit instead of putting in effort to design something gorgeous. Why, then, you ask, are these lesser but logo-drenched products vastly more popular than their more design-focused counterparts in the Asian population? If you haven't already caught on, then you should know now that it is the status that matters to most of these patrons.

Might as well right?

Put simply, a product, covered densely with internationally recognised and worshiped logos equals instant recognition. You can pick out a Louis Vuitton tote bag of this sort from a mile away. You can recognise a Gucci wallet from the other end of the supermarket queue with your eyes closed. I usually recognise these articles because they can be quite an eyesore. Others would recognise them because they are blatantly painted with the logos of the aforementioned fashion brands. Fair enough, if you buy them and genuinely think they look nice but I've lived on this world long enough to know that most people aren't so pure. You know it's true and don't even think of denying it. These patrons purchase designer goods for the status and disregard the fact that they look like something out of a cheap wallpaper catalogue. They don't care if it's made from cheap canvas and not from beautiful soft lamb skin. As long as it screams out 'I AM RICH AND I AM CARRYING A LOUIS', it doesn't matter if you're carrying a dead puppy as a bag.

Oh, Miss Hilton!

"Hey you there, stereotypical wealthy Asian bimbo! Would you like this gorgeous, classic, plain lambskin Prada handbag or this brown, cloth Gucci handbag with logos everywhere which costs the same and looks like a grocery bag?"

Time described the apparel as "unassertive, combining traditional good manners and an ultramodern industrial sleekness."^[4] Truly, the designs to come out of the House of Prada reflected the feminine worker aesthetic, which made it quite unique in contrast to other high-fashion brands.^[4] It would be identified with affluent working women who held demanding jobs."^[4] Thus, it is no surprise that Miuccia took it upon herself to call her women's bags "uniforms."^[4]

The logo for the label was not as obvious a design element as those on bags from other prominent luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton.^[4] Its appeal, including the apparel, was its image of "anti-status" or "reverse snobbery."^[4]

- Wikipedia on Prada

"Oh! I is get Gucci handbag! I is get same one for my mama too. Oh and also, I is want that belt too with the giant gold GG buckle and cloth lining for my pimp dad."

Nothing appreciable with the design or the material once you bleach out the Gs.

So there we have hypothetical Asian bimbo trying to buy bags and wallets which look the same because of their absolutely IDENTICAL skin. You could even say that without the logos, the goods she bought would look ordinary at best - and that's being generous. Does it matter to hypothectical Asian bimbo? No, because subconsciously ingrained in the minds of she and her family, the primary and most important objective of purchasing an expensive bag from a designer store is to allow the world to know that you can afford one - what better way to fulfill that than to buy a bag covered with logos that serves as a beacon of attention.

It yearns for your attention!

Once, I saw a young Asian man walking on the streets with designer clothing and articles all over him literally. He wore an oversized short sleeved shirt with massive Burberry checks, a Louis Vuitton belt with their trademark Damier skin, a pair of blaring Gucci logo-ed shoes and carried a large Gucci logo-ed carry bag. To top it off, he wore shorts and sunnies. Now picture this guy with below average height and a scrawny body. He looked like a Vincent van Gogh painting gone wrong. He looked like someone swallowed, digested and vomited two kilograms of crayola. Despite all the status symbols, this person failed to look classier than a street busker and to have more taste than glomerular filtrate.

Looks like he wore his mom's curtains.

In short, he looked awful, and to summarise everything, money might buy you status (or the illusion of it) but it cannot buy you any class or taste. If you're struggling to comprehend the idea of having status and no class/taste, just picture a wealthy, successful man with terrible dressing sense and manners, especially manners. Coincidentally, quite a number of Asian patrons are like that, and I digress.

While buying luxury items/clothing that have a greater emphasis on design rather than screaming logos is still a form of purchased status, it commands, to a certain extent, respect and shows intelligence, sophistication and if you have a good eye for fashion and what suits you, class and taste. Ultimately, you will grab attention only for the right reasons while maintaining your integrity. Remember, there's a whole world of difference between attention-grabbing and attention-seeking - and attention-seeking is what obnoxious ADHD children and logo-filled articles do best.

If you decide to go the route of high fashion, pay for something priced for it's elegance in design, not something priced for it's cheap computer-generated skin and sub-standard originality and design. After all there's not much class in owning something that is as common -and as ordinary - as herpes. Embrace fashion for the sake of being in vogue, not anything else.

Victoria Beckham has a hundred of these Birkins... and each one costs 10,000 pounds sterling.

Now, while all that is easy to see, a less obvious sub-culture exists within this status-loving population. While this may sound cynical, this is no codswallop. It seems even some less affluent people are willing to pay an arm and a leg just to own one miserable piece of logo-flashing luxury item so that they can show off. This is probably the only thing worse than all that was mentioned beforehand. Come on, people know who and how you really are and that basic-range monogram canvas Louis wallet will only serve as a temporary means of deception. Materialistic it may be of those who buy luxury goods but the essence of materialism is manifold worse in those who can't truly afford it than those who can. Think about it; it makes sense. To a person who can afford luxury items because he/she earns enough, purchasing them is not too big of a deal whereas it takes a massive drive of materialism in a person who can't support a luxurious lifestyle to even contemplate buying something remotely expensive. Furthermore, you require quite a concussion to be willing to jeopardise your finances on something way below on your priority list just to deceive the world - oh and also stupidity and selfishness.

I am not even willing to talk about people buying fakes with the genuine intention to deceive people. I know some people buy them for fun and that's fine but if you're buying pirated designer goods other than for that reason, then the words cynical, deceitful, materialistic, wanna-be, greedy and undeserving come to mind. It sounds rather mean and I apologise for that but it's not wrong. You'll also be laughed at on the streets because a person carrying a fake is not hard to spot. A person should live his/her life to his/her full ability and with honesty. Nobody is expecting any more. In all fairness, just because people are doing something, doesn't mean you have to be obliged to join the rat race if it is unwise to do so.

Please note, I have no intention of promoting the consumption of luxury goods. If you have no love for luxury items, that's absolutely fine by me and kudos to you. On the other hand if you, like high fashion, fine by me as well and may you embrace it for what it's truly worth. I do not intend to demean the rich or the poor - only the small sub-population that deserves it. This was written to express my view and not to offend. I hope you found this piece of writing entertaining.

Stay tuned for more.

If I were a pirate lord, I would say, "Welcome to Singapore!"

2010-12-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Singapore.

Before returning home to Miri, I made a detour to Singapore; that tiny island country that you can't even spot on the globe.

It is that sovereign microcosm that exists amongst the chaos that is the rest of South East Asia. I guess you could also liken it to Japan whereby it exists as a world of its own.

The weather throughout the entire trip in Singapore was predictably notorious: crucifying heat and pesky downpours. This was more of a shopping trip for me than a sightseeing one; why else would I be willing to leave Melbourne before Boxing Day?

Marina Bay Sands Resort welcomes you with a giant dong on the horizon.

That being said, I did manage to visit several places of interest on the island and off the island. I went to the Marina Bay Sands Resort.

There, I visited shops,

made good use of my freshly attained legality,

and also saw for myself the SkyPark. This towering construct is a testament to architecture at its most marvelous. It'll cost you $20 to head up to the top but the view is really something.

It was a suffocating, warm day at the resort but nothing compared to the following day whereby the weather was scorching and baking everything under the sun - figuratively and literally. I had the pleasure of experiencing the full sun-baking experience at Universal Studios on Sentosa island.

The entrance to the theme park was epic not because of the midget child labourers checking your tickets on your way in but because they were blasting out the epic Narnia battle theme song! It caused me to nerd-jizz there and then.

Inside the theme park, you find maps to guide you around. The theme park is divided into several themes.

First, there's Madagascar.

Then there's Far Far Away Land which was my personal favourite. Gotta love the fairy godMILF.

Right next to Far Far Away Land will be Jurassic Park which also contains Waterworld.

Waterworld is a place in the theme park and also, at the same time, the name of a show.

I did watch it and you could simply describe it as Michael Bay-esque - plot-less, action-packed, explosions and hot actors/actresses.

The remaining places in the theme park were

Egypt,

Battlestar Galactica

and New York, which I scooted through real quick. Oh, I had lunch at New York and it was bad because I'm a baller that way. Seriously, on this side of the world Melbourne is literally the best place to get good food. I digress.

Guess what? Once again we hit another casino and that's right I was barely legal enough to skip inside. I noticed that in the two casinos I visited, most of the players were old, zombie-looking, soulless, I've-got-nothing-better-to-do-with-my-pathetic-life, middle-aged men and women. I just feel sad for these lost people mindlessly gambling away their money weather or not it was hard-earned.

After covering two of most recent, spanking-new tourist attractions of Singapore, it would be wrong to not mention an old one which probably rakes in more revenue than the two combined: Orchard Road. Need more be said? This is probably the most impressive shopping street on this side of the world. I definitely spent most of my time on this street here although I might've actually enjoyed Boxing Day in Melbourne more.

Anyway, to sum up, what do I think of Singapore based on my visit? Asian food is good, shopping is good, city is wondrous, streets are sparkling clean and the cars on the road look great. On the other hand, the weather is not to die for - it will cause you to die; the local accent is laughable for a nation of Singapore's caliber, to the extent that even the less exposed locals of Sarawak can speak more audible English; customer service, courtesy and friendliness is probably comparable to that of the Neanderthals. I was also surprised to hear how so many people are still more comfortable in speaking Mandarin or Cantonese/Hokkien than English. I Guess you learn new things everyday.

It will probably be another half-decade before I visit the most advanced nation in South East Asia again so until then, I hope you've enjoyed this post. Cheerio and stay tuned for more.

What's next?

2010-12-20T06:29:00.000-08:00

In just 11 days, this year as we know it will be over. This was a very blessed year, even more so than the preceding one just as last year was better than the year before. I hope this trend continues. At the end of every year, I find myself looking retrospectively and saying, "you've come a long way this year and you've grown up". This year was no exception; I continue to improve myself. The Lord has been extra kind with me too showering me with blessings in the form of everyone around me.

The year 2011 will come soon, too soon in fact, and it will be a challenging one. It will be a year full of work placements, difficult subjects and mad examinations. Surviving these challenges equates to graduation in December, so at least the reward is matching! Crucial life-shaping decisions will be made and executed then as well as to what I wish to do after graduating.

Speaking of graduating, I predict my experience to be bittersweet - bitter in that I will be closing a significant chapter of my life, sweet in that a new beginning, a new chapter will be bursting to life. Well, no use fantasising and daydreaming about all that now. While we can plan for the future, we live in the present, and that's what matters. I shall work hard and smart for my goals. Nothing less will be good enough because life's challenges are meant to be met wisely with confidence, focus and diligence. I think the way I function is quite simple. I set a goal, I envision it and I work towards it. No matter how long it takes, or how difficult it is, if the mindset is right and the hunger for success is there, my goals will be fulfilled. At least, I hope that is the case :P.

Thank you, to the people in my life, my loved ones, my family and friends, all of you. Every year's a better year thanks to you and once again I hope the coming year is no different. May the Lord continue to help us all and may he provide us a fruitful year to come!

If you managed to read through all that rambling, give yourself a pat in the back ;). Stay tuned for more updates!

21

2010-12-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

Would you look at that? I'm 21 already and that means - in western culture - that I am an adult. It also meant that I was barely legal enough to enter the casinos in Singapore during my vacation trip there last week!

I just wanna thank everyone involved in making my 21st birthday so so memorable. Surprises upon surprises were thrown at me and surprised I was - pleasantly so, of course. The surprises started as early as Wednesday (my birthday was on Saturday). That day started of miserable because of the torrential downpour. The rain got me bad while I was waiting for the tram to Flinders Street. My plan for that day was to visit the Disney art exhibition at ACMI at Federation Square. I think I had fun there but I was ravenous after that. My tummy started to rumble and ache while head started to spin a little. I decided to have lunch at Lygon street but had to return to my apartment first to grab something important. Before arriving at my stop, Bryan, who was with me, received a call from Jian, who was in my apartment and was apparently craving nuts. We took a detour into the supermarket to get her nuts and walked the remainder of the journey home. Arriving home, the three of us decided that we should have lunch together but Jian had to deal with something first beforehand. She was 'waiting' for a friend to come to my apartment so that she could pass him something. Being absolutely hungry I could only sit myself down on the couch patiently while waiting for her to be done with her errand. Jian finally went downstairs to 'meet her friend' and when she came back, the three of us could finally leave.

As I opened the door and prepared to step out, my long dreary face became even longer (literally this time) as my jaws dropped and my eyebrows rose. A whole crowd of people outside at the hallway started singing my birthday song while holding three cupcakes.

You guys are legendary. Thank you so much. I heard that the detour to the supermarket was to stall me so that everyone could sneak into my apartment first to surprise me when I come in but hey, your surprise was still awesome guys! Thank you as well for the stick blender, pasta maker and the inspiring Neil Perry cookbook.

On Thursday night, I had a dinner outing with my church mates and drinks at San Churro's. That was a mad experience too. I was forced to recite a passage of the legend of Hernan Cortes on the wall... with PASSION... in front of everyone... and so I did! Using a sexy accent, a movie accent apparently, I crooned my way through everything and won the approval of my mates. Yay! Thank you for the SLOW COOKER guys!

At near midnight on the 10th of December, Jian and Bryan came over to my place to surprise me yet again! I didn't see this coming because I thought all the surprises were over. You two are the best! To those who called me to wish me happy birthday on that night, I apologise for not picking up because I was busy downstairs with my surprise visit + cake + cherries!

Last but not least, thank you for ALL of your warm wishes. It truly was an epic birthday experience, one that I will remember for a long long time.

Well, that was a really quick summary of everything that mattered to me on my birthday week. Hugs and kisses to all of you who waited till today for a blog update. More will come soon! Stay tuned.

Hardware Societe

2010-11-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

I finally got to visit the much hyped Hardware Societe. It was on a warm afternoon that the three of us decided to have lunch at this small, tucked-away cafe.

We started off with drinks. The coffee here is relatively cheap/affordable although there's nothing too spectacular about it (but hey, good value is always good!). The iced chocolate, NOT so good. One of the most pathetic iced chocolates I've had in my life so far. It was so poorly made that any clueless person could do better. It literally was just fresh milk with some chocolate powder...giving you a very bland glass of chocolate milk! Who does that?!

The macarons were fortunately, big, but does that mean it was good? Well, I can't really judge because I only got a tiny bite out of the (odd tasting) pistachio macaron (first impression wasn't too good).

After relocating tables two times (escaping the sunlight and cigarette smoke from some mentally challenged Asian woman who puffed into our faces), I could finally enjoy my meal - or so I thought. Take a good look at the picture above. The sardines look gorgeous don't they? I must say that I'm a fan of sardines. The ensalada and kipfler potatoes tasted great. They really stimulated my palate for the sardines. The only problem with this dish was sadly, the sardines, or more specifically, the thousands of tiny prickly spines in each of those wretched ocean dwellers. I am perfectly aware that you can eat the spines of canned sardines. I mean, it's preserved, treated with chemicals to make everything so mushy. I highly doubt anyone would enjoy eating the spines of fresh sardines. They're like ANY fish with spines. They DO NOT come with mushy spines. Moreover, their spines do not come neat and few; they're a mess inside the fish. I know that it's not the cook's fault that sardines have spines like that but I'm not paying $16 to have to dig my way through milimetre by milimetre, weaving my fork between spines to dig out morsels of flesh. I'd probably pay RM6 but not $16. For $16, I'd expect pin-boned sardines.

For good sardines on toasties, try Movida Terraza. I tasted a bit of my friend's lamb dish and would probably say it was slightly above average. Oh and avoid the Quiche Lorraine; it comes out of the fridge (once again nothing wrong with that, but the fancy name might mislead people to dish out hard-earned cash for something refrigerated).

Final words? I kinda expected so much more with the hype this place has attained. It's hard for me to say if this place is worth coming back to or not because there's more to their lunch menu than just my sardines or my friends' dishes.

For now, I'll label them as 'another alleyway cafe' but with a bit of fanciness. They've got class - way more class than the chav lygon street cafes - but they've got to do better.

Carbonara revisited

2010-11-20T17:08:00.001-08:00

Legend has it that this was a famished Italian coal miner's delight. Legend has it that I was that coal miner.

Maybe not - but I know I was famished when I cooked this last week.

The word 'carbonara' stems from 'carbone', the Italian word for coal. It is said that pasta carbonara should always be served with lots of freshly cracked black pepper to emulate the effect of airborne coal falling onto the miner's pasta as in the legend.

An authentic plate of pasta carbonara consists of pasta (no surprise there) and the oh-so-delicious carbonara sauce which is generally made of olive oil, white wine, onions and pancetta/guanciale topped off with an egg yolk, pecorino, and lots of cracked black pepper. It's also acceptable if you omit the onions and white wine. Basically, you'd fry your pancetta before tossing with your pasta (usually spaghetti) in pan, after which you remove from heat and serve quickly topped with egg yolk and a generous amount of pecorino and cracked black pepper. I personally like to drizzle some olive oil on my pasta carbonara because I am a hardcore fan of olive oil and slightly lubricated pasta.

With the egg yolk, a very creamy texture and taste can be achieved. Americanised versions of this delightful pasta dish includes the addition of cream, which I think is utter butchery of one of the most delicious pasta dishes ever to exist. Sadly, even among Italians, the thickened cream version is prepared, either due to ignorance, oblivion or tourism. If you ever see a carbonara dish prepared with cream, be aware that it is not authentic and hiss at it for being the bastard child of capitalism. Does that even make sense? I am just kidding of course; I love capitalism.

If you've never tasted authentic pasta carbonara, you should. It's simplicity, purity and richness will blow your mind away.

Mr. Tulk

2010-11-20T05:11:00.000-08:00

Slightly astray the teemingly busy Swanston street, is Mr. Tulk, a rather neat cafe serving breakfast, lunch and anything in between. The cafe is located at the left flank of the State Library of Victoria and is named after the library's first librarian.

The place has got a modern look unlike most breakfast places I've visited.

Before dining at Mr. Tulk, I took some time to read up on reviews and found that - from the reviews - this place might have good food although below par service. One reviewer mentioned that it took a while for him/her to grab a waiter's attention. Curiously, the same thing happened to me - and I don't like that. I find it really odd how the majority of the seats and tables were far far away from the dry and wet kitchen. This meant that waiters will either be paying attention to the kitchen and neglecting the customers or paying attention to the customers and neglecting the kitchen. There were also only 2 active waiters, which seemed insufficient.

Regardless, I did eventually get to place my order. I asked for grapefruit juice and

corned beef hash with Dijon mustard and poached eggs. This dish was simplicity at its purest yet it was all good. The poached eggs were perfect - gooey in the middle and firm on the outside. The corned beef hash was rich and it was very successfully complemented by the very tangy mustard sauce. That's about it really. Nothing too fancy about this dish but I really did appreciate the simplicity and would not mind ordering it again.

So, my final words... Try this place out if you're looking for a nice atmosphere with nice, simple, no-nonsense food. Don't expect anything gourmet because they don't provide that. Waiters were nice and all but you probably need an air horn to get their attention.

Ceviche & Aglio Olio

2010-11-15T04:20:00.000-08:00

Today I've prepared an entree and a main dish from two different continents.

For entree, I've made Ceviche which is a South American seafood dish.

This, in my opinion is quite a healthy entree to eat. Ceviche is basically made by marinating fish in citrus (lemon) juice along with other ingredients like chilly, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. In fact, the fish is very mildly 'cooked' by the acid. The fish turns opaque but the texture is part raw, part cooked. Flavour wise, you have a gorgeous combination of fresh fish, refreshing lemon juice, tangy onion and garlic and hot chilly. I topped the dish off with some aromatic coriander and fried potato strips (which goes well as a side) and served it in a lemon boat. Who said only the Japanese had sashimi?

For the main, I've made Aglio Olio, also known as the 'poor man's pasta'. Don't let the lack of visible sauce fool you as this pasta dish exudes flavour and fragrance. You first start off by boiling your salted water and cooking your spaghetti in it. In a frying pan, heat your olive oil and while taking care not to burn them, gently fry some finely sliced garlic, onion, chilly and pancetta (Italian bacon), allowing the flavours to infuse the oil. Cherry tomatoes can then be added to the oil and lightly cooked till they start to blister. The pan is taken off the heat, the pasta drained and tossed into the pan with the oil. Some fresh black pepper can then be cracked into the pasta in the pan and some parsley and rocket thrown in to toss as well. Serve with grated pecorino and some dried chilly if desired.

Preparing ingredients and cooking can be colossal tasks but if the end product is able to holistically tantalise all your senses and evoke joy, then all the hard work is indubitably worth it.

Like what you see? Drop a comment and let me know! Don't forget to tune in often for more updates.

Cafe trips

2010-11-11T04:39:00.000-08:00

I'm lucky to have been able to visit two very quaint cafes in the past two days.

The first was 'Court Jester', a Polish cafe serving breakfast, lunch, snacks and desserts.

Court Jester is based in a renovated warehouse. I heard that this place is run by a collaboration of two people: an artist and a cook. I'm not too sure about this but Court Jester is both a place to eat and place with plenty of artwork.

This place is tucked hidden away from the main roads of Brunswick so it may be tricky to find. The place itself looked worn down although that usually means that there will be a rustic feel to the ambience of eatery and to the food, which is always delightful.

Entering the place, you will be greeted by antiques from days past. A gramophone, sewing machine, camera and telephone.

There were plenty of artwork on the walls of this warehouse-cum-cafe, most of which seemed bizarre.

The long communal table (there's only one table) itself was a canvas for many aspiring artists in the form of the cafe's customers. There were tools available on the table for you to lawfully 'vandalise' the table. Just don't get the wood chips into your coffee.

To fit the communal theme, the menu was articulated with chalk on a black background upon the white wall. That was also the only physical menu available in the cafe. Meatballs were also stewing in the pot beneath.

As always, I went for my chai latte with honey. I loved how even the plates are old. This totally brought back fond memories. The chai was standard; it wasn't too strong or weak. No complaints there.

Not long later my breakfast was served before me. Two poached eggs with gooey middles sprinkled with black pepper and dill on top of smoked salmon, a light creamy Russian salad and a Polish potato kugel, all resting on a luscious, evergreen bed of rocquette (or rocket).

I think I really enjoyed this because of the clear, simple flavours of the dish. There wasn't anything fancy and sometimes that's what you're looking for; a clean, rustic meld of taste and texture. Lemon juice liven everything up as well as if the dish wasn't already explosive enough. Salmon Says in as few words, was nutritious, delicious and satisfying.

My breakfast companion ordered sauerkraut sandwiches (with ham?) with a side of Russian/Polish coleslaw served on a wooden platter. I really loved the taste of crunchy sauerkraut with bread and cured meat. For those naive to this lovely food, sauerkraut is simply fermented cabbage, enjoyed mainly by several European countries namely the Germans (who love it on their sausages). If you've never had this European version of kim chi, it's time to get your legs moving and your mouths tasting.

All in all this was a very laid back, enjoyable visit in which the experience was a vastly positive one. Will I come back? Love to - if I could find the place again.

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Yesterday, the four of made our to Earl Canteen located near Movida Terraza on Bourke street. If you recall, I talked about Movida Terraza once and the delicious sardines I had for breakfast.

Anyway, we're not talking about Movida Terraza today; we're talking about the very cosy Earl Canteen.

We didn't have breakfast there (not at 3 p.m.), instead, we had tea - not literally. This place is actually famous for its baguettes (who can resist wagyu meatball baguettes?), sandwiches and lunch boxes. We went there for drinks and macaroons.

I ordered decaf iced coffee and boy was it good, especially on a really warm sunny day. I must say though that while the iced coffee was really aromatic and rich in flavour, the mocha frappe of Primary Cafe in uni still holds my heart.

In addition to our beverages, we had 2 flavours of macaroons: Rose and Earl Grey. It was like eating perfumed macaroons but that's not to say I didn't enjoy my macaroons! The macaroons were fluffy and crispy on the outside and had nice fillings on the inside. I've become quite a macaroon lover of late.

I look forward to coming back to Earl Canteen in future namely for their iced coffee on hot days, macaroons on depressing days and also their lunches on fancy days.

There really is hardly any place on earth quite like Melbourne and its vast, diverse spectrum of foods and cultures. Do stay tuned for more delicious posts in this blog! Cheers everybody.

Gastro-phetes

2010-11-09T03:45:00.000-08:00

Today I continued with my cooking adventure by preparing yet another pasta dish. This was the reincarnation of Nigella Lawson's Greekish Lamb Pasta which I cooked a year ago if I'm not mistakened. This pasta dish is best served with feta cheese but really, it goes well with pecorino as well.

To make the meat sauce, you need to first fry some finely chopped garlic, onion, dry oregano and mushrooms. You then push them aside to fry your lamb mince, after which you swish in a generous amount of red wine to simmer. The tomato paste and tomatoes go in after the wine is somewhat reduced. A little bit of milk is added to the sauce to neutralise the acidity of the sauce and also to give it a creamier taste. The sauce is then allowed to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Obviously, as for all meat sauces, the longer you cook it, the better it will be (3 hours is not uncommon). Don't forget to season your sauce with salt, pepper and perhaps some more oregano. I used Maldon salt this time, which I bought from the market. Maldon salt is basically sea salt but a little more special.

To plate up, place your al dente pappardelle first, followed by some of your ragu and then topped up with a healthy amount of feta (I used danish feta, which is extremely creamy but less salty) or pecorino cheese, or even both together.

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For dinner, I had the pleasure to dine at Shoya which is a chef-hatter modern Japanese restaurant.

I will walk you through the dishes I had:

Unagi Canape

Grilled miso marinated eel canapé topped with crab meat salad,

Salmon caviar and truffle

From the ingredients they used, you could guess that this would be really good. The canape was an amalgamation of 4 very mouth-watering ingerdients: Eel, crab, salmon caviar and black truffle. It was surpassingly rich in flavour. I particularly liked how the salty and sharp flavour of the caviar contrasted the oilier, richer taste of the eel.

Golden Perch

Lightly grilled miso flavoured perch topped with tomato mousse,

foie gras, and semi dried Mullet Roe

The second dish was great too, except that I had a deja vu experience eating this. Just like the first dish, the perch was miso-flavoured and there was roe. It was also rich like the unagi canape (tomato mousse, foie gras vs crab salad) although the tomato mousse was really light and fluffy. As a dish itself, the Golden Perch was creative and tantalising but it probably wasn't a good idea to serve two similar dishes together in a banquet.

Assortment of Sashimi

The third dish was sashimi. Simple yet probably one of the best dishes of the night. The presentation of the dish would score a perfect 10/10. In that hollowed ice globe, was tuna, salmon, kingfish, roe, scallop and another fish which I can't recall... it probably was snapper. Beneath the very very fresh seafood was a slice of lemon to give the sashimi a very pleasant lemoney background flavour and aroma.

Beef Spinach Roll

Stewed Ox Tongue wrapped with spinach soufflé

served with lemon, basil yogurt

The fourth dish was a major letdown. The texture of the roll as a whole was undesirable and the taste was sickeningly overpowering. The spinach souffle which tasted like wet newspaper was a major failure while the ox tongue tasted mushy like dog food. The entire thing tasted as though it was doused in teriyaki/soy sauce. I ate this dish with a frown on my face and quickly had a cup of green tea to wash it all down - for good. The table beside us had the same dish a while later. The guy had a religious experience because he kept saying, "Oh my God, oh my God" while his female companion's face turned as wrinkly as Shar Pei skin the moment she mouthed her god forsaken beef spinach roll.

Crab Tempura

Whole ‘Taraba’ crab leg deep-fried in tempura style

This was interesting. Instead of the usual prawn, a whole crab leg was deep fried in cold batter. The tempura was served with lemon wedges and green tea salt, which was really nice. The tempura was flavoursome yet refreshing, especially with the squeezed lemon juice and the green tea salt, which provided a sharp yet aromatic edge to the crab.

Fish Steak

Chef selection of fresh fish fillet,

served then laid on a bed of teriyaki sauce and sesame vinegar

When eating this dish, I can't help but to have another deja vu experience. The dish tasted somewhat similar to the first two dishes and the ox tongue roll. I guess they're not very creative with their sauces, typical of Asian cuisine. The fish (presumably tuna) tasted really rich, as were the three dishes mentioned before. Biting into the steak, you can feel the difference of texture achieved by the seared outer part and raw inner part. The crackly shredded seaweed on the outside provided further diversity in texture and flavour which went well with the fish steak. Once again, if this dish was by itself, it would be superb, but, as part of this banquet meal, not so.

Wagyu Beef Steak

Wagyu eye fillet dressed with black truffle,

enoki, shiitake miso sauce

We finally reach our main dish. The wagyu steak was cooked perfectly. I asked for medium, I was given medium. Its taste and texture was characteristic of any well cooked wagyu: savoury, rich and melt-in-your-mouth soft. The downside of this dish however was the sauce and the side. The sauce was too rich and overpowering. Once again, miso was used as the base but this time with the addition of enoki, shiitake and black truffle (again). It was an utter overkill. I felt sick after eating the dish, in fact. The side was, I think, gratin, another creamy item to further muddle up the luscious wagyu steak and its famous orgasmic flavour. Its absolutely crucial to not overdo the sauce and sides, so as to avoid undermining the natural flavours of your meat. This was a classic case of mistreating your wagyu steak. Call the food police, now.

Mixed Rice

Mixed tasty steam rice with chicken, vegetables and mushrooms

Miso Soup

Miso soup with seaweed, tofu and chopped green onions

The last two savoury dishes seemed woefully out of place. It remains debatable if they belong in fine dining, let alone at the end of the banquet. Nevertheless they did taste good. The mixed rice tasted like a delightful party of flavours at the start but I got a bit bored of it towards the end. Also, while I had to stomach down yet another miso-based dish, the miso soup by Shoya was definitely the best miso soup I've had in my life. It had this smoky aroma to it which was really pleasant.

Chef’s Dessert

To end (and save) the night, I had chocolate mousse and black sesame seed panna cotta. The panna cotta had the distinct fragrance of roasted black sesame and with the smooth silky texture, it was perfect.

The chocolate mousse in the shot glass was decorated with a piece of gold leaf and 2 peppercorns. It was infused with what I believe was sake. This too was exemplary. Chocolate and alcohol are best friends, and together, they become my best friend. The sake was really strong, giving this dessert a nice kick but the mousse could still use a bit more chocolate to match the intensity of the sake. Nevertheless, I enjoyed every mouthful of both the panna cotta and the mousse.

Final words:

Will I go back there? Probably not. I didn't feel very well after having my dinner. I commend them for being very innovative, technical and skilled with their food but I think for a few dishes, they went overboard. I also felt like I was eating several dishes with similar tastes and textures as well. In terms of taste, they kept using soy/miso/teriyaki sauce. In fact, the three sauces practically belong to the same family (soy sauce is made from fermented soy beans; so is miso; teriyaki sauce is basically soy sauce). They could've at least altered the sauces a bit to make them taste less similar. That said, Asian sauces I guess are inherently similar to one another, so I probably shouldn't put all the blame on them. I can't believe they also neutralised the wagyu steak with an overtly aromatic mushroom/miso sauce. I still feel very let down by that. Needless to say, the ox tongue roll has to be removed from the menu immediately.

If you recall, I ate at Kobe Jones a year and a half ago. Kobe Jones is not a chef-hatted restaurant. Their food contained less technique and sophistication. However, their banquet dishes were matched PERFECTLY. They took into account factors such as variety and continuity. They probably don't deserve a chef hat because their dishes aren't as extraordinary as Shoya's but their banquet meal was a joy to be had - so much so that I had it twice. They did correctly what Shoya did wrong in terms of serving up the perfect banquet meal. They had a good balance of vegetables, seafood and meat and they were careful as to not overpower them with sides and sauces. Come to think of it, Shoya's banquet meal had little to no vegetables. Scary.

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Well, that's all from me this time. Stay tuned for more. Remember to check up on my blog frequently!

Also, to my Uni mates who finished their exams earlier this week:

Worst dinner ever

2010-11-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

Some chefs really shouldn't be called chefs at all. They have no god forsaken idea or motivation to produce proper dishes. They brutalise the ingredients they use, meld them together into an abomination, serve their demon child to the customers and get paid handsomely for it.

Fettucine with prawns and a light tomato sauce & something icy

2010-11-06T04:28:00.000-07:00

Guess who's back?

The wait is finally over. I am back in the kitchen and cooking glorious food once again. Let's get straight to the point!

Today's lunch was fettucine with prawns and a light tomato sauce. With pasta being my passion and obsession, you probably should expect more pasta dishes in the coming month. I will of course cook other things as well. Make sure you keep an eye out for new posts at least once a week!

Anyway, I spent several hours today grocery shopping. I first went to the Victoria market to scout and see what's on offer. I then went to buy the necessary ingredients for my dish, which includes fresh fettucine. I'd love to make my own pasta but not in my pathetic kitchen.

Firstly, I blanched vine-ripened tomatoes and skinned them. The tomatoes would then need to be chopped to small pieces. I then fried the prawns, garlic and tomato together. I grated some lemon zest into the pan and added a shot of brandy before pouring in the cream. I let the sauce reduce a bit under a simmer, after which I squeezed in the juice of a whole lemon. I seasoned the sauce with black pepper and a tiny bit of salt and then took it off the heat. By then, my pasta was cooked al dente already, so I strained and tossed it into the pan with the sauce. I threw in a big handful of freshly chopped parsley and mixed everything. To serve, I topped the pasta up with some extra cracked black pepper, parsley and freshly grated pecorino cheese (always always use fresh cheese if possible; it makes a whole world of difference).

Delicious.

This pasta dish tasted so very fresh because every single ingredient was fresh. It tasted part tangy part creamy and you can smell the background aroma of lemons. Add the savoury prawns, garden-fresh parsley and pungent pecorino, you get the perfect meli melo of flavours and textures.

Seeing the day was warm as well, I decided to make something icy cold for myself. This is the Masterchef-inspired Chinotto and Kaffir Lime Granita. Not too pleased with it BUT I can't say that it wasn't fun to eat. After making this, I think I much prefer fruit-based granitas.

Chinotto is the Italian version of Cola; it is the weaker version. To make this, I emptied 2 bottles of Chinotto into a pot, added 200 mls of water, a bit of sugar, the juice of a whole lemon and 8 lime leaves. I let the mixture heat up to melt the sugar and then I poured it into a baking pan. I then included a bit of my brandy into the mixture and popped the whole thing into the freezer to freeze it. To obtain the grainy texture, you just have to scrape the frozen Chinotto mixture with a fork. I put the crystals into a shot glass and decorated it with a lime leaf.

To be frank, I expected it to taste better but I guess I was being unrealistic. Anyway, when I was making this dessert, I used lime leaves instead of KAFFIR lime leaves. I'm not 100% sure but I believe they are different with the Kaffir variety being stronger. I was hoping to taste a lot of the lemon and lime flavours but I did not. Nevertheless, this was a good start and was fun eating and making!

2010-11-02T14:20:00.001-07:00

When I woke up today, I realised why I did so terribly in yesterday's examination; I panicked - to the extent that I lost all common sense.

Now I have a nervous 2-to-3-week wait to see if I'm dead meat or not.

2010-10-31T01:06:00.000-07:00

Madness.

I need a miracle from you God.

Zero Hour

2010-10-23T17:42:00.000-07:00

Judgement day (or rather week) is upon me. It lurks and looms in close proximity.

There is an undeniable, uninviting scent of fear in the air.

I really need my work output to be on overdrive now if I want to survive this. That said, I also need to prepare my heart for the worst. My plan for post-graduate studies can easily be derailed this semester if I'm not careful.

I hope for the support and prayers of my friends :). I ask God to give me a miracle as well so that I may do well and reflect the glory unto him.

So now as I prepare to sip on my cup of placebo, I mean, Berocca... I shall trudge on.

All the best everyone, whatever your endeavours may be at this present time!

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Some plans for my blog after the exams:

1) Post lots of food related posts - I intend to do lots and lots of delicious Italian cooking after the exams so do hang on tight!

2) Articles - I plan to - with my limited number of years on earth - write up a few interesting reads.

2010-10-19T23:03:00.001-07:00

I think I'm going to have a nervous breakdown thanks to my elective.

Better switch my attention to other units first...

Men will always plan

2010-10-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

Today was alright.

I woke up at 7:30 to get to my PEP debriefing session at 9:00 a.m only to find that the facilitator is MISSING. They managed to get a substitute out of somewhere (a P.hD student pharmacist) to facilitate. She was real nice and sweet and perky. We all shared our experiences in PEP and she always sounded very absorbed and interested which I think is amazing. She's good at letting us feel comfortable. When I mentioned how the PEP was my first pharmacy working experience, how I was sentenced to Chemist Warehouse, how it was extremely busy and how I somewhat got neglected a bit, the facilitator was sympathetic and supportive but of course encouraging! Of course, apart from all that, I can't say that the experience wasn't rewarding, because it was and I'm grateful to have learned so much. The facilitator was also stressing a lot on how it is important that pharmacists don't end up becoming a dispensing machine and that was very inspiring. She said that whenever the dispensing technician was around she would NEVER dispense. Instead she would be counselling her patients. How wonderful is that? What she said gives me hope (GMH).

Jian's birthday is today. While she received many wishes in her card, I have one wish too. I wish I dressed nicer today!!!! I forgot that pictures will be taken on a day like this :P

Recently I've also been pondering about my future as I'm nearing the end of a chapter of my life. I will be graduating end of next year and where to from then? The options include doing my internship here (the most unlikely), doing my Masters here or doing my Masters in Singapore. Now, I'm quite reluctant to do my Masters in Singapore's NUS because I'm pretty darn sure that there aren't many faculties in the world that can outshine my pharmacy faculty. It's hard to reject doing a Masters degree in such a reputable place with reputable scientists and state of the art facilities. Oh and also the Masters of Pharmaceutical Science offered in NUS is coursework-based and it's on dry stuff like tablet-making, industrial law and etc -.-. The Masters in my campus would be research-based. While I'm relatively naive and intimidated by research work, I do like that at least I get to research a field I'm interested in, probably with the Pharm Bio department.

Ah, if I don't finish my 5 page report on the confocal microscope, this will all be pipe dreams :)

Perspective

2010-10-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while hasn't it?

A strange week has gone pass after 3 weeks in Bendigo.

I was swamped with work primarily.

Today, I was a wee bit down but God provided and he sent his angels to help me. I also knew that despite all the work and problems, I must go to church because going to church is like renewing your vows with God. Renewing those vows keeps you reminded of many important things that put things into perspective. Every week, going to church fills your pouch with new wine, your tank with new fuel, your table with new bread - all this is important to keep you going for the looming week. Worshiping the all gracious Lord can truly empower you.

God didn't provide me a direct solution for things or do my homework for me. I offered to him my troubles and work. He took the burden from my shoulder, gave me wisdom and love to soldier on. I will still have to put in toil but my faith in him is absolute.

After working in me, God drew a smile in my heart and said, "Remember to keep things in perspective. Now go and do me proud, my precious child!"

2010-08-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Winter this year is so solemn. It rains almost all the time and when it's not raining, the skies would be grey and thick. There was quite a bit of rain this afternoon. It came to wash the city...

...and its people...

clean.

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I am looking forward to my day trip to Launceston. A change of scenery will do me good for sure.

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Yesterday was a horrible day with two tutorials and one presentation, all of which had final mark contributions. I get stressed and worked up too easily and those two terms perfectly define how I was yesterday. I was mentally exhausted at the end of the day and all I had in my mind then was to play hard, eat well and sleep like sloth till the sun's right above my head (which didn't literally occur thanks to the rain). The plan was executed nicely...

and now I have three hours of downloaded - and missed - lectures to prove it! Haha.

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There is so much going on in my life lately and I suspect it will be like this and some more for the rest of my life. Ah, the growing pains.

2010-08-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

When I read my blog posts from the past, I often feel like they were mostly poorly written. I often feel that the 'English' used screams out immaturity, lack of seriousness and mistakes (in the language). It's a bit embarrassing to be frank. I wonder what others see in my writing, especially those of the past months. Regardless, I need to guard my emotions and not get too 'eccentric' and carried away when writing. Editing is probably another part of writing which I should practice more vigilantly especially when I'm so prone to making structural/grammatical/vocabulary mistakes.

I should try to write more 'professionally'.

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My apologies for rambling again. This has been another mental diarrhoea from me. :)

The case for models

2010-08-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

There has always been noise made about female models in the fashion industry. We are all very aware of the stick-thin, anorexic-looking models we see on the runways in Milan and Paris. They are usually these beautiful women with skin draped over their skeletons

The bickering has always been about how these pencil-thin models do not reflect how 'real' women look like. People claim that the using of underfed girls as models portrays that all women have to be like them to look beautiful. Also, others say that they promote eating disorders amongst teenagers who aspire to look like them.

I agree with all this. I agree with the fact that these overtly skinny models are not that appealing, do not reflect the average healthy look of a woman and can be bad influences to young girls.

What did this political-correctness-obsessed world come up with to counter the culture of having stick-thin models on the runway? Simple: plus-size models

Plus-size models are supposedly a better representation of the average healthy woman.

I will say this: The above statement is true, but only to a certain extent.

It really depends on what your definition of a plus-size model is. Some plus-size models look genuinely healthy/fit while others are so blatantly, obviously, unhealthily OVERWEIGHT.

To illustrate what I mean:

In the above image you see a size 12 plus-size model and also the traditional stick insect model

Here, you see a size 18 model... also a plus size model.

What ticks me off greatly is that when naive, ignorant people brand me a sinner when I rebuke plus-size models. Be honest, would you really hire the size 18 model to help you sell clothing? I also get branded a monster for supporting stick insects on the runway when the truth is I do not. The fact is, A LOT of plus-size models are size 18! Some are even more than size 18! How can a size 18 woman be a healthy woman? How is it that these people are so obsessed with political correctness that they think that the only way to nullify stick insects is to have grossly overweight women on the runway? Are they not hypocrites?

These women are NOT the representation of the healthy woman. These women are overweight! Notice how I do not want to call these plus size models 'real women' like so many women, modelling agencies call them? This is because I dislike labeling people as such. Who gave you the right to decide what is a real woman? Are stick-thin women not women? Are obese women not women? Are slim women not women? While the best kind of physique women should strive for is a healthy, fit - and definitely not grossly overweight - body, it's wrong to tell women what a REAL woman looks like.

Now, to be honest, I'm not 100% if a size 18 woman really looks like that of if airbrushing was used but doesn't anyone think that she is solidly -not just borderline - overweight? Do we really need to lavish love onto size 18 models when, say in Australia and the United States, there are so many obese people around? They are no better examples than super skinny models because they do not promote healthy living (but complacency and delusion) as well. Overweight people need to overcome their delusion and ignorance. It is easier to accept a pro-fat manifesto than to jog for hours. While plus size models make them feel good about their over-sized posteriors and overflowing muffin top, there are very few women over size 14 that are healthy. In fact, they seriously need to lose weight or risk developing diseases.

The final words:

I accept that our society is made of people of all sizes and shapes. I celebrate that there are slim people, fit people, skinny people, slightly overweight people but I genuinely hope that we get to decrease the number of anorexic, extremely skinny, bony people and also obese people. I have friends of all shapes and sizes and I love them all!

Because models are often seen by girls and women as, well, models/role models due to their publicity and media exposure, plus-size modelling agencies need to ensure that they do not hire women who are obviously overweight.

I have no problem with overweight or very skinny people on the streets or if they are in movies or comedy series but the fact is when the focus of camera is on YOU alone, you automatically become an 'idol' and media propaganda will have the general public think that it is the right thing to do to be grossly over/underweight. My opinion is that size 10-12 models are good. In fact, I don't even want to call them plus-size models - just models. I also refuse to call them 'real' women like so many feminists do because there is no standard size in women. Women are not from factories and hence exist in various sizes, heights and shapes.

I'd also like to make a point that I do agree that some slightly bigger/skinnier women are very healthy as well and that obviously not every size tenner is healthy. But, more often than not, you'd find more healthy sizer tenners than those who are size 18. However, modeling is an industry where looks is important. Modeling is not immediately a tool to promote healthy living. Let's not forget, it's to help sell clothing. Fortunately, most size 10-12 women look healthy and are healthy if they do not have an underlying condition and if they eat and exercise well. I don't know... maybe they can do a history check on the models' health before hiring them XD.

I'm glad that recently the fashion giants are starting to change. Take for example, Emma Watson for Burberry. She is NOT skinny. To me she looks healthy and gorgeous. On a side and dare I say, a more cynical note, I honestly think these people who fanatically support and hire overweight models want to just be politically correct. Let's be frank, while I do not like them, stick insects have been selling clothing for fashion giants with great effectiveness and lethality. Do you honestly think fat models will help Giorgio sell that nice evening gown? Nah, it's all about political correctness gone wrong.

I hope that this elucidates my stance on plus-size modelling. I do not support stick insects, I do not support grossly overweight, unhealthy models but I support healthy women to be on the runway. This article is mainly talking about models (who have to fulfill requirements in height) but would also like to acknowledge that the majority of (yellow) Asian women are smaller and hence being size 6 might just mean you are pleasingly slim.

I also hope people give deeper thought to such issues in future before letting rip on me. Just because the media tells you plus-size models are great and that you should crucify the stick insects doesn't mean you should just blindly and stupidly agree without giving thought. Remember, excessive political correctness is BAD.

References:

1) Mainly myself

2) http://www.news.com.au/opinion/plus-size-models-doing-big-girls-no-favours/story-e6frfs99-1225770448113

The Three Musketeers and Melbourne

2010-07-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

I've had lots of fun in my holidays. I only wished it was longer. The withdrawal is still affecting me a little bit. It just seems like there's so much in mind. There's just not enough me-time. Such is the pain of growing up!

Now, these photos aren't necessarily in chronological order. Nevertheless, they are the best display of my fun times in the mid-year break in 2010!

Jabulani! My long hair meant that this was taken a day or two after my final paper!

Torrential downpour and the complete lack of an umbrella meant that I had an early bath but thanks to my trench coat - which I wore wisely on the day - my clothing were dry! WIN

The day was pouring like mad but we managed to meet up with Bryan at David Jones for a lil bit of retail therapy.

For dinner/tea we went to Chilli Padi to have some food. I had the Pad Thai and I guess it's clear that I liked it. :P

I met up with Jian the day she came back from Kuala Lumpur. On the day, we met up with Bryan too.

I'm not sure but this might've been when the World Cup 2010 was still on. Bryan stayed overnight after the game and Jian crashed into my apartment in the morning and took my scarf hostage.

One day the trio decided to have some good burgers for lunch and what ensued was an inter-suburban excursion for Bryan and I lasting the entire day.

Needless to say, the burgers were good. We traveled from Melbourne to Albert Park for this. Homemade burgers are always the best. Grill'd just tastes too 'franchised'.

After our burgers we scurried back to the city...

and no blogpost pertaining Melbourne is ever complete without the over-used, over-posted picture of Flinders Street Station.

In the city, our first stop was Luisa's boutique. They were having these additional 10% sales on top of the 70% they already had (since ever) so we thought we'd check the place out.

Just missing a beret ;).

There's no denying however that our main motive of heading back to the city was to drink so 'Roast Milk Tea' with pearls at this bookshop in Chinatown. Despite the grammatical error in the drink's naming, it was the best and most value for money cup of 'milk tea' I've had in Melbourne. Although known as a drink, I personally wouldn't include bubble milk tea in the drinks category. To me it's more suitably placed in the Asian dessert category because of the level of sweetness usually associated with it.

After our brief stop in the city, we took the train to Huntingdale station.

From the station, we walked to Jian's place in Clayton where we exercised our vocal chords and had a grossly improvised little karaoke session of our own. By nightfall, Bryan and I rushed back to the city to meet Mei Ling in Carlton for some KokoBlack. I had soy hot chocolate and boy was it awesome.

On a separate day, we met up again and I bought a pair of black patent leather shoes from Bally.

And here's Chanel... running out of steam.

On Sunday night, I had dinner with Jian after church at Nandos and AGAIN it was pouring rain. The gloomy weather is driving me crazy.

If you happen to be at Victoria Market one day, do remember to grab yourself a Beef and Guinness pie. They are to die for. I haven't had better pies than this one.

Finally, just last night, the three of us decided to have egg mayo sandwich for dinner but I think the Halloumi cheese appetiser stole the show! I've finally found Halloumi cheese in the city! Gorgeous devils these!

Alrighty, this will be all for now. I hope you've enjoyed this post! Don't forget to drop in once in a while :)

Docklands at its best

2010-07-19T04:45:00.000-07:00

One fine afternoon, the bunch of us went to the marina at Docklands, and that was after all that shopping in harbour town. The sun was pouring down rays to put a smile on Melbourne city in the middle of winter.

It would be a crime not to take pictures especially given the perfect weather conditions...

There are many nice apartments here at the marina. Excellent view of the waters and the city.

Who needs cars as well when you have yachts to take you to work, party or the football game.

I really love how the water reflects everything so nicely...

and how the sky is nearly baby-blue perfect.

I wish I could own one of these boats and then say, "Look down, back up, where are you? You're on a boat with the man your man could smell like!"

Just as I stepped away from the boat a 7 feet tall giant came...

and he attempted to murder the unsuspecting lady by pushing her off the edge into the water!

However, his plans were foiled by the lady's finger-point of death!

Then, Super Mei came to save the day. Using her double Buddha's Palm attack, she blasted the giant away

and in one final move, she pummeled the giant into a 4ft 1" midget.

Thanks Super Mei for saving the day!

So lame :P

Cheerio people!

2010-07-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

I did some thinking last night. This morning I've decided to take down the post I've written last night, be it temporarily or permanently. Sensitive thoughts should be kept inside I figured. I don't want to cause ill feelings or further exacerbate them.

It may be time for a paradigm shift/drift in me.

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On a different note, today's the first day of semester two. There will be lots of hardcore stuff from that elective I've chosen. It will mainly cover material on stem cells, cancer, bioinformatics and RNAi. I've chosen this because I felt that it may be something I am more familiar with. Also, it was more appealing than the other electives.

Time to hit the showers.

A new day begins!

Food rap

2010-07-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

Malaysians or Asians, untrained in baking pastries, cookies or bread should stay away from the oven and stick to chao mien. That includes most bakeries in Malaysia and every bakery in Miri. You enter these bakeries and you see miserable looking employees. The plus side is, they only look half as miserable as the buns on display :(

Let me just put it bluntly - I DESPISE ASIAN BAKERIES. By this I mean, faux bakeries operated by untrained Asian bakers, baking western-style buns, bread and pastries. I am not talking about traditional Chinese pastries or steamed pao because obviously, we gave birth to them and are the best at making them. When you step into an authentic bakery, you immediately immerse yourself in the unmistakable fragrance of the loaves and pastries around you. When you sink your teeth into them, there should be a taste of exceeding freshness. They should also be somewhat fluffy, produce some resistance when bitten into and not be too hard or soggy. The thing about the rip-off Asian version of baked goods is that they almost always depend on the fillings and whatnot that are piled into/onto the abomination bread/pastry that they have made. It's probably the only reason it is (somewhat) edible. You always have western-style buns morbidly loaded with rip-off ham, krafts low-quality cheese, spring onions, meat floss, impossibly-sweet butter, burnt cheese, bbq pork or fake sausages. Oh don't even get me started on those synthetic sausages. These rip-off western-style buns are often devoid of fluffiness, soggy, too hard or unnaturally salty or sweet. Absolutely without class.

*sidetrack* I secretly think that Chinese cooking can never produce the quality that Italian/French cooking can. That is probably why most (not all) of our food only taste good thanks to soy sauce, fat, MSG, salt or sugar - lots of it.

To take for example, Char Kueh Teow only tastes good because it is fried ferociously in TONS of oil (sometimes lard), soy sauce (contains MSG) and MSG. Sometimes I think Char Kueh Teow should be called rice noodle oxide. The bean sprouts in it probably saves Char Kueh Teow from being put into McDonald's menu. Pasta (durum wheat) is often boiled and added with sauces like bolognaise (packed with protein swimming in thick tomato-ey goodness), pesto (huge amounts of basil/rocket leaves blended with olive oil and pine nuts), napoli (tomato, onion, garlic, parsley, basil, olive oil) and marinara (cream/tomato base with loads of seafood). Pasta sounds more nutritious to me. Now don't get me wrong, I never said pasta tasted better than Char Kueh Teow. I love Char Kueh Teow. My point here is that Char Kueh Teow derives its taste from industrial-scale oxidation and seasoning while pasta derives its flavours from a rich array of ingredients like meat, vegetables and herbs. Because of this, food like Char Kueh Teow should never exist in the menus of fine restaurants devoted to the true spirit of culinary arts. It belongs to the 'comfort-food' category. Why? Well, you wouldn't feed your children hawker-fried Char Kueh Teow everyday would you?

I am not just going to blast bad food in Malaysia of course. In Australia, we also have appalling Asian bakeries serving cold soggy bacon, ham, cheese in bread that only functions as a medium. In addition, unless you know where to look or go to proper restaurants, Asian food is disgusting in Australia! In as few words as possible, Asian food here tastes like student-cooked food or science experiments gone horribly wrong. It's almost as sad as starving to death. And you know what's funny? Local Australians genuinely think the Asian food they're eating tastes 'GREAT/FANTASTIC/AWESOME'. Cracks me up all the time.

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What I think:

I respect French/Italian cooking the most but when it comes to technique, the French will always be number 1. Japanese tails closely too so you can't say I'm biased. Australian/English food is fine too.

I highly value cuisines that derive flavours solely/predominantly from the food ingredients used. Seasoning is part of every cuisine in the world but SHOULD NOT be used overwhelmingly.

French cooking is all about getting the most potential out of your ingredients. French cooking involves combining a variety of food ingredients to provide exciting, high quality taste. It often involves laborious cooking. Presentation is extremely important in French cooking as well.

Italian cuisine is somewhat not as fine as French cooking. It is surely more rustic and uses a lot more of spices. While it may never achieve that flamboyance and perfection in French cuisine, it makes up in warmth. Having Italian food is definitely more heartwarming. Cooking quality Italian without passion and love is heresy.

Japanese cuisine is supremely unique. It is almost alien. I think the thing that strikes me the most about good Japanese is the freshness of the ingredients and the exuberance of flavours. We do find this in Italian and French but probably expressed in different ways. The flavours in Japanese are simpler and probably more refreshing. Being simple however, doesn't mean taste is compromised. Japanese cooking techniques are not simple as well. While it is debatable, it can also be said that Japanese food is the most healthy in the world.

Chinese cooking - I think most of my readers are familiar with it. We eat it almost everyday of our lives. I am sorry but like I said above, Chinese cooking depends too much on flavour enhancers, salt, sugar, viscosity modifiers and fat. The pork belly your mom cooks derives most of its flavour from soy sauce (loaded with MSG) and soy sauce alone (lack of diversity in taste). The shark fin soup you drink does not derive its taste from shark fin (effectively tasteless) but from chicken stock (presumably synthetic) enhanced with MSG and viscosity modifiers. Surely you will agree with me that you feel sick and thirsty after having chinese food in the restaurant. The amount of salt, MSG and fat in your beloved dim sum is shocking as well. Surely you notice that the flavours from your siew mai or char siew pao come significantly from flavour enhancers and fat. You must've also noticed that your sweet and sour chicken from that roadside cafe tastes good. What they usually do is take morsels of chicken meat, coat it in corn flour three hundred times the amount of chicken used and deep fry. They then pour synthetic sweet and sour sauce all over it (water, viscosity modifier, acetic acid, colouring, flavouring). While sweet and sour sauce can be made from real ingredients too, you'd have to be as lucky as a lotto winner to find a place that does it. All this said, I am of course aware that there are exceptions. Some Chinese dishes like Emperor's Chicken are a master class. Sadly, most aren't because they lack technique, presentation and genuine taste. Yummy as they may be, they are essentially not very valuable.

There are miscellaneous dishes that I'd like to single out as well just for the fun of it. Curry, to me is a dish that will forever be an important part of culinary history. The exotic and immense blend of herbs, spices and other ingredients makes curry a beautiful dish whether it is served in a 5-star restaurant or beside the road. I guess this also makes Malay food like curry puff and satay very respectable.

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Apologies for the rather disorganised nature of this post but I was focusing on getting my raw thoughts out rather than publishing a journal article. Hope my points are clear. I don't intend to offend people of course and I hope you respect my view on things too. Next time I will work on this topic again using better words and terminologies and also clearer and more concise ideas.

That's all for now!

2010-07-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

Remember those days when Totally Frank used to be less about food and more about emo talk, reflections, discussions and opinions? I feel that I should bring back some of them into this blog of mine. Having a blog mostly devoted to places and food and pictures feels a bit spineless.

I feel like starting off with a bit of random ramblings today and let's see where this leads to in the coming days/weeks.

1. I used to get into some trouble writing these things in my blog.

2. Had a walk in the city tonight, 2009 style - emo-style! *laughs*. I am, however, in a much happier state than I was in 2009. I get more fulfilled and happier as the years pass. This is not to say though that I have less to worry about. There are more responsibilities to shoulder and for certain, spiritual warfares to fight. Sometimes I do wonder if God will stop forgiving me for my next vile sin. I know the textbook answer to that but it does make me think how a filthy being like myself deserve to continuously bask in God's love and mercy. I have let him down so many times. Oh Lord, you've put me in impossible situations. I really don't know what to do anymore. I am weak but you are strong. Help me. Don't give up on me, please.

3. Inner struggles aside, I reiterate again that I have never been this happy and content with life before. God has blessed me tremendously this year with that that I have yearned for years ;)

4. I've done well in my exams this semester - surprisingly well. Thank you, to the big guy above, and to my mother and friends who have showed moral support. I even get e-mails and smses of support :) *chuckle*.

5. BOY it's cold...

6. MasterChef is quite inspiring. Everyone knows I'm very passionate about food and I always dream about myself opening a fine-dining restaurant as head chef. I am a sucker for anything that tastes like it's been cooked with great skill and passion. It would be awesome if one day -though my hair be salt and pepper coloured - I could open an Italian or French kitchen utilising intricate French cooking techniques. That would definitely be much more fun than pharmacy. I don't, however, have any morsel of regret for choosing pharmacy. Whilst cooking may be fun, I value scientific knowledge greater in importance than many things in this world.

Fandango

2010-07-05T23:43:00.000-07:00

The breakfast bunch continued its breakfast pilgrimage today at Fandango. I've been wanting to come to this place for a while now but they always SOMEHOW happen to be closed - well not this time.

Fandango is this small little quaint place beside Auction Rooms. Staff are extremely friendly, much like the staff from MART 130 and just for completeness sake, the worst service I've experienced thus far is from The European. Ugh. Overpriced with a side dish of nasty waitresses.

Back to Fandango.

I ordered this for my drink. What is this? Chai? NO. Not today because I saw another beverage on the menu which I love as well - dandelion latte! That's right, I love dandelion tea. Pity that they made mine very mild. It's a good coffee substitute they say. I love the smell and the taste.

Food wise, I ordered the scrambled pesto eggs with baked tomato and sourdough bread. Now, it's not that it wasn't nice but it's that it's only average. I mean, I go to breakfast places always wanting to try something special. I try my very best never to order things like 'big breakfast' or 'pancakes' or 'muesli' etc. The reason is -unless they ARE the house specialty - they are massively ordinary and common. Big breakfast to me is more like comfort food rather than a healthy, 'gourmet' breakfast; I mean anyone can deep fry hash browns, stir fry mushrooms and bacon. Pancakes? Pancake mix all over in the supermarket. Muesli? Too easy to make at home. Of course, there are places that make awesome versions of these ordinary breakfast dishes. For example, Green Refectory makes an awesome breakfast stack (which has haloumi cheese and chutney.. lovely!), Pancake Parlour specialises in pancakes and Auction Rooms makes one hell of a porridge.

I love the more unique breakfast dishes. I had sardines on bread at Movida Terraza. Tiny, but really special and yummy. I also love the apple fritters at Griggons & Orr. The corn fritters at MART130 was good. Although eggs are a common dish in breakfast, the eggs I had at MART130 was fantastic as well (the post below) if not the best.

Anyway, I shall digress. Back to my dish. Well, of course it tasted good but there weren't sparks flying out of my brain when I tasted it. No chemistry.

That said, I am definitely coming back again but only for THIS. Bryan's French toast was the day's winner. French toast with butter and maple syrup and baked apples and bacon. OH DEAR. The ULTIMATE comfort food except more special than just your everyday breakfast stack. This looked extremely scrumptious. The French toast was fluffy and it tasted good!

This was Su-Mei's brekkie: Beetroot eggs! Did I mention I love poached eggs? Easily my favourite form of breakfast eggs. The beetroot sauce thing was really strong in flavour.

There will definitely be trips back to this nice little breakfast place again, thanks to their service and devilish French toast :)

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Bought a new pea coat by the way. Still getting used to it.

Risotto with Mushrooms and Walnuts

2010-07-03T03:22:00.000-07:00

I love risotto almost as much as I love pasta but that doesn't stop me from cooking it. For dinner tonight, I made myself a bowl of risotto with mushrooms and walnuts. I used a slightly different method today relative to how I usually cook my risotto. I even bought an extra pan for it. First, I boiled a pot of chicken stock with sauvignon blanc. I then poured the rice onto a pan of heated olive oil and with my spatula, coated every grain in oil. They will then turn transparent, after which I added stock/wine, ladle by ladle until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice plumps up and softens. The risotto should be al dente - that is, not too soft but has a bit of resistance when you bite into every grain.

On a separate pan, I melted some butter and fried some chopped onions, large mushrooms and also walnuts. I've also included a dash or two of nutmeg to give the sauce an earthy essence. I then added some more of the sauvignon blanc into the pan and let the mushrooms simmer in it for a few minutes to obtain the fragrance and sweetness of white wine. I poured the reduced sauce into the pan with my rice and added a little bit of cream. I let the heat work its way through the cream for a minute.

After adjusting the taste with some cracked black pepper and milled sea salt, I scooped a few ladles of the risotto into a bowl, added some parsley and shaved parmesan and...

Tada!

Nothing can really go wrong when you're cooking mushrooms. My risotto was very flavoursome. It's definitely something I will cook again in the future.

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It was snowing in Melbourne today!

Look closely; I am not kidding.

*gasp*

It's as big of a miracle as Netherland's victory over Brazil... LOL jk... Robben you diver!

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Hope you've enjoyed this post!

GO GERMANY!

MART 130 Revisited

2010-07-02T05:47:00.000-07:00

Breakfast again today with Su-Mei and Bryan plus Nikki! We had a lunch-breakfast thing today cause we ate 'breakfast' at um noon.

I ordered this to start me off. No need for me to tell you what this is, but if you don't know what it is, you need to spank yourself in the bosom!

I tried the MART eggs today. I've always loved eggs! The only thing about them is that they are usually pricey and they won't fill you up. The eggs I had from MART was delicious! Organic sourdough toast with very fresh smoked salmon, eggs, creme fraiche, and salsa. Gosh this was a heavenly blend. I'd like to especially commend MART on the smoked salmon. It was extremely moist and succulent with a nice smoky - yet not too salty - flavour. I also loved the salsa on top and the combination with creme fraiche made this dish absolutely wholesome.

Su-Mei had the cannellini beans with sourdough toast. I initially wanted to order this because I felt that this would've been more filling (with all those CARBS Su-Mei). Su-Mei however, has tried everything in MART except this one, so I yielded and took eggs instead. I had a little try of her dish and it tasted good too!

Nikki ordered what Yii Zhu ordered last year end. I swear it used to be bigger!

Judge for yourselves! (from yiizhu.com)

Bryan darlinggggg had the popular corn fritters and bacon with lovely chutney and sour cream. This is one of their more savoury dishes. I've had it before and I must say, it tastes lovely as well ;)

Well that's all for this post folks! Thank you for reading cch89.blogspot.com. I thank all readers, especially those who check on my blog straight after uni and despite the fact that they have exams/tests going on soon. XD.

Cheers.

You Pappardelle My Baguette

2010-06-29T03:59:00.000-07:00

In the past my favourite pasta was the Fettucine because of its flatness and ability to capture sauces. Pappardelle is flatter AND wider than Fettucine. Does that mean I have a new favourite pasta?

Tonight's dinner was Pappardelle with Tuscan Cabbage and Pancetta. This dish is easy. Simply fry chopped garlic and cubed pancetta together in olive oil, toss in the chopped tuscan cabbage, add white wine, reduce and pour some cream into it. Of course you must adjust the taste with salt and pepper. After boiling your lovely pappardelle al dente, toss in the pan with your sauce and serve with some parmesan cheese.

This pasta dish isn't at all rich and creamy. If anything, it's got minimal cream involved. Sadly, I wasn't able to taste the sauce myself because I made a mistake and cooked 1 serve of it only - so I gave the sauce to my brother. I ate the remaining pappardelle with the residual sauce in the pan. I still enjoyed it though; I really love the texture of pappardelle!

Apart from the pasta, I also made something else. This is my Baguette with Brie and Baked Pear. I think it tasted good but it could've been better. This is an oversimplification of what I really intended to make. It's not too hard as well. I had absolutely no idea how to bake pears when attempting to make this (but now I do after checking the net). I used my imagination. I dissolved some sugar in water and put in my diced pears to soak for a while. After that I added nutmeg (I wish I had cinnamon) and shoved it in the oven. I also toasted my baguette and warmed up the brie. I then placed the baked pear cubes on top of the brie and that's all.

It tasted quite nice to be frank. The REAL method of baking pears is to rub the pear with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Nutmeg is also acceptable. I guess I wasn't too far off by soaking them in sugar water and adding nutmeg. Think of it as the healthy version; the version without artery-clogging butter. The next time I attempt to make this, I plan to glaze the baguette with a concoction of olive oil, honey and garlic. Only then, will my baguette be wholesome!

*Please forgive the rather dark and ugly looking photos because: a) I do not own a good camera; b) the lighting in my apartment is absolutely terrible. Nothing beats natural sunlight. This is the main cause of my photo's ugliness. If you look at the breakfast pictures in the post below, the quality isn't too bad because natural sunlight is my friend!

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Had breakfast with Bryan today again. Nothing fancy this time.

As usual, I started off with chai latte.

I ordered the Open Greek Omelette which was only average.

Even Bryan's toast with peanut butter and butter looked more appetising.

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Puppy love!

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Saw this in Big W. What on earth do kids today play with?!?!?!

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I hope you've enjoyed this post ladies and gents, boys and girls. Sad to say, despite the end of exams, I am not feeling relaxed at all. The life of a human being is such. From the start of adulthood till the end, there will never be total peace of mind till we pass on. It's sad but true.

Make my day by commenting! :P

Cheerio guys!

Auction Rooms for the n-th time

2010-06-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

It's only right that the first normal post post-exam be about food. I am so passionate about food it's unbelievable. Today, Bryan, Su-Mei and I went to the Auction Rooms (the n-th time for Su-Mei and I) for breakfast. They've changed their menu a little bit, but to me, that change was a positive one.

It was fun to just sit in that lazy place and chat away and relax. The only downside to the experience was actually the waiters. I think it's fine to work in a relaxed, unorthodox manner but basic waiting standards and ethics should never ever be dropped. We had this douche of a waiter who was a pompous dandy. Wearing tragic blue socks with purple pants and boat shoes, the service he provided was no less than rude. 'He' simply plonked our glasses and teacups onto our table and walked away with that cocky look on his face. A little friendliness would've been much appreciated. Later on he can be seen outside eating breakfast with his legs crossed. He donned his brown Burberry trench coat and came in afterwards. Oh please you immigrant, you make immigrants like me look bad. You're working! Please stuff the attitude while doing so and knock, knock... this ain't no freak fashion runway - it's a breakfast place.

Also, another waiter served coffee from BEHIND a customer and from the elevated side of the cafe, SQUATTING. To illustrate, imagine yourself sitting in a lecture theatre with your friend sitting directly in front (and below you). Now, serve him coffee. Unprofessionalism apart, he could've startled the customer who would've whacked the burning cup of coffee into oblivion resulting in burning and staining of skin and clothing to all within range.

Alright, enough of the ranting. Let's get on with the food!

I had some poached fruits served with vanilla labna (essentially yogurt) sprinkled with crushed candy and nuts. Personally, I'd have preferred the fruits to be a little bit sweeter but it still was fine. I'm all for a healthy meal. My poached fruits and labna was a refreshing - albeit light - dish.

Su-Mei ordered the very fragrant, delicious and savoury 'counter-bid'. It's basically lots of succulent mushrooms (originally the mushrooms were brown but my camera decided to make them pitch black...) with polenta and a bit of olive oil to add to the aroma and taste.

Bryan ordered something I had for my past two visits to Auction Rooms. Their 'porridge' is epic. The rich taste of the oats and cream, the earthy flavour of the toasted walnuts and the sweetness of the caramelised bananas converge upon your taste buds to give you a truly religious experience. A whole spectrum of textures are present as well - spanning from the mushy oats to the hard crunchy walnuts to the bananas which are somewhat in between the two extremes - to provide an exciting contrast of sensation. That much said, the porridge isn't without weaknesses. I feel that the ratio between walnuts/bananas:oats is too stingy. Subsequently, I am also more likely to feel sick of my porridge towards the end. Either serve more walnuts or serve less oats! :P

All in all, the food was a pleasant experience. I had my usual Chai latte with honey as well. No breakfast is truly complete without it!

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I've bought a new cookbook from the Fly by Night bookshop on Elizabeth Street - for $4!!!

It's Italian and I bought it mainly to stimulate some motivation to start cooking again. It's also to supplement the two cookbooks I already own (one of which was gifted by my dear friends).

If all goes to plan, I'll start cooking tomorrow and by midnight we'll have a post up on my latest cooking endeavours.

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England got spayed by Germany - and rightfully so.

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Well, I hope you enjoyed this post. Do comment if you have anything to say and don't forget to tune in tomorrow to find out if my dinner ends up a success or a fail! Haha!

Return to normal service

2010-06-26T05:36:00.001-07:00

Finally, after an arduous month or so, I am back. Totally Frank has returned from the grave to serve you once again. Despite it being the holidays now, I still feel quite tired. I think it's because I haven't really had the chance to rest. I studied hard and after that, I played hard. I need to slow down for now and chill a bit - give my body a rest.

First, I wanna say that I just got a haircut. After SO long (2 months I think), I finally decided that my hair is too hideous and bothersome to be left untrimmed.

I went from this..

to this..

and boy am I relieved. I don't look like HANTU already right?? *AHEM*

Today I tried the new kebab shop that opened on Franklin x Elizabeth Streets a.k.a my territory. They claim to be the 'King of Falafels' but I opted for something more conventional.

I had lamb and chicken from the spit with turkish bread, salad and tzatziki and avocado dip. They tasted quite alright. And in case you're wondering, my posts on my cooking will be back again soon enough.

For two days, all I did in the daytime was shop.

Well, it's not as crazy as it sounds. Yesterday, I was WINDOW shopping. Today, I did some damage. Funny thing is, the deals you get now seem better than the deals back in boxing day 2009. Odd, but true. So if you haven't started shopping, you ought to take this golden opportunity.

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Unless you live under a rock, you will be aware that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is on now. If you ask me, this has been a very very strange World Cup, full of unexpected twists. Don't think I like it. Nevertheless, with the exams finally out of the way, I can watch the knockout stages in peace. In case, you didn't know, I am for Germany and Australia so I hope Germany put England out of its misery once and for all this week.

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It's raining so much these days.

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Stay tuned for more conventional posts. I'm still experiencing a bit of a hangover from the inhumane brain trauma received from the exams.

2010-06-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

You may or may not realise, that in this time of adversary, talking to you keeps me happy, motivated and most of all, warm.

;)

Griggons and Rockpool - On a fine Wednesday

2010-05-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

On a fine Wednesday in April, the family started the day with a warm breakfast at Griggons and Orr (again!) - and when I say warm breakfast, I meant it literally.

This teapot's got its own knitwear! -.-

We had some sort of fruity tea, the name of which I cannot recall. All I remember is that it was very very strong. Why does GnO do this?

Straight after breakfast I had to go to Uni. Joy!

And after Uni we went to the South Wharf DFO. Southbank to me is very very beautiful. It's so romantic along the stretch of the river, especially at night.

"Imagine walking here on a crisp and cool autumn night, gazing at the city landscape and the river reflecting the city lights with hints of soft jazz music in the atmosphere."

;)

It's as close as Australia can hope to match Europe.

When night fell, we dined at the prestigious Rockpool Bar & Grill at Crown.

And of course our intentions were,

to eat the fellow in the picture - to tantilise our palates with a serve of David Blackmore full blood wagyu.

Rockpool Bar & Grill was awarded 2 chef hats by the Good Food Guide 2010 - the highest possible rating being 3 chef hats. To even get a single chef hat, you'd have to be serving mighty awesome food.

Like most fine dining restaurants, the lighting is dim and I don't wish to be firing off flashes everytime I take a picture so bear with the dark photos!

We ordered a 3 course meal meaning: starters, mains and desserts.

For starters we had "wild mushrooms on creamy polenta" (which was not on the menu) and also the "steamed mussels with Joselito Iberico ham, chilli, tomato and chickpeas".

The wild mushroom dish was very good albeit a little oily. You could taste that the wild mushrooms were superbly fresh - so fresh that you could almost taste the woodlands they may have originated from. The combination with polenta was superb. It's hard to say if it was oily but it surely was rich and creamy. It was eaten with a serve of garlic bread, which was fantastic as well.

The mussels were one of my favourites of the night. When intending to have seafood, by all means, look nowhere but Rockpool because their seafood is absolutely the best I've tasted so far. It's so hard to describe how wonderful the mussels were. Put it this way: I am not a fan of clams, mussels, abalone, oysters or any squishy seafood. In fact you could even say I'd go all out to avoid them. The mussels here however changed that perception. It was so so fresh that you could almost hear ocean waves crashing into the back of your throat the moment you put that mussel into your mouth. The freshness was brilliantly complemented by a light and slightly spicy chickpea, ham and tomato broth. Absolutely gorgeous!

So after our starters we patiently waited for our mains, which understandably took a while. Not too long after...

Mom's "wood fire grilled grass fed lamb chops and cutlets, from Brian Crosers's Mayland farm with mint jelly" graced the table. I am quite a lover of red meat and this dish is no exception. Needless to say, this was another "best" in my list - best lamb I've tasted ever. It wasn't too hard, the flavours were bursting out and with the mint jelly, you can't make it any better. I loved the mint jelly so so much. Can you imagine the marriage of flavoursome, savoury lamb, warm and tender with beautiful minty, cold and sweet jelly?

We also ordered, of course, the wagyu. I know what you're thinking... just one slab of meat and a lemon wedge? Well this ain't no ordinary slab of meat my friend, this is WAGYU with a 9+ Marble score! Most delicious wagyu I've had in my life thus far - also the most highly rated one. It's hard to describe a WAGYU experience. Do you know how they say that good quality chocolate melts in your mouth? This is no exception. It melts! It's so soft and succulent that you could even cut it up with ease with a butter knife. Because of its extraordinary quality, you'd expect that the flavours are transcendent and the texture out of this world. It's so good, you'd experience withdrawal symptoms and not eat your regular beef for a month because they just aren't good enough! After the withdrawal period, you'd slowly wean yourself back to having your beef burgers and porterhouse.

Yours truly personally had the "seared crisp snapper with braised peas, smoky cherry tomatoes and green olive butter". Once again, best fish I've tasted here. Fresh, springy and alive to say the least. I think fine dining is at its best when it's simple like this. If it's too heavy on sauce and other sides you'd not be able to taste the fineness of the ingredients and in this case, the fish. Absolutely amazing. Seafood really is great here and it's been the best so far for me.

Along with our mains we ordered sides as well. A bit too much if you ask me. We ordered what the waitress suggested: creamed silverbeet, potato and cabbage gratin, and salad. The salad was my favourite to be honest not because I loove greens but because it went well with the mains. It was a light but refreshing change of taste compared to our savoury mains. I loved the dressing but most of all, the olives in it. Boy do I have a weak spot for olives. The creamed silverbeet was interesting as well. It didn't look very appetising but it sure was good. I didn't even know what silverbeet (I've heard of the word but not what it really was) was and was hoping that it wasn't some kind of insect........

The silverbeet was really nice and creamy while the gratin was very rich as well. They were all good but the portions were a bit too generous. You'd think that you wouldn't be full from fine dining but we were so so full after the mains and the sides. If the size of the sides were a bit smaller, they would be better appreciated.

Last but not least, we had our desserts.

Dad ordered the "Vanilla Macaron with Strawberry Ripple Ice Cream and Strawberry Salad". It looked the best to be honest. The thing about desserts in Rockpool is that they are contemporary, meaning they are relatively commonly seens around. The difference is that they make it the best of the best of the commonly found modern desserts. Personally I like Italian/French desserts.

Brother ordered the "Rice Pudding with Plums and Candied Almonds". This was the most special of the lot and of course it tasted good. It would've been great if we weren't stuffed to the max.

Mom ordered the "Crème Brûlée with Prune and Armagnac". I'd imagine this tasted fantastic. Mom seemed to like it and even finished the whole lot. It was a massive serve mind you! Why!?

I ordered the "Black Forest Trifle Inspired by the Fat Duck’s “BFG” ". I trust I'd have enjoyed this a lot more had I not been filled to the brim by my starters and mains. The sizes of the deserts were rather huge and daunting at this point. No doubt they were delicious though.

Verdict: Put it short, Rockpool is a must in your culinary endeavours and adventures. They serve contemporary food and although I prefer Italian, I must say this was a rather magical experience. As I have detailed above, the food passes with flying colours. The service was excellent, the ambience was classy and romantic. Pity the serving sizes were a bit out of proportion. Funny I'd complain that the serving is too big. Well a better way to put it would be that it needs better balance. Then again, more is good and who am I to complain about a place catering to the massive appetites of Caucasians. Still, I don't think it really is a bad thing. It's a pity also that my family aren't food lovers like me. I think I would've enjoyed the place much more were I with my other friends but once again I have nothing to complain and thank you mom and dad for this wonderful (and luxurious) experience.

Ann's 20th B'day

2010-04-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's been quite a while since your birthday Ann but here are the pictures that I have of you exiting teen-hood :P.

The birthday lunch was held at Chocolate Buddha and no, this place doesn't serve chocolate; it serves Japanese food.

Oh and there're lots of Buddha heads around.

We all know as well that no party is complete without Frank and Bryan.. oops. We're so cool we even wore the same stuff to the lunch -.-

We kept ourselves entertained by camwhoring (again!!) till our food came.

Not long after we finally get to satisfy our hunger.

Su-mei ordered sushi (for lunch!!!!!). Poor thing. You need to eat more girl!

The rest ordered beef ramen.

and yours truly ordered the 'kaki soba'... kinda gross... the name. It's just soba in warm soup with tempura.

It's hard for me to rate this place because they were serving their lunch menu, which is no their main menu. I would say that the lunch menu was very average and for its taste I'd say a bit overpriced too.

After we've all had our meals, it was time for the birthday song and cakes of course!

Ann had not one, but TWO birthday cakes! Aren't you a lucky girl!

Cake no. 1: Bought from Cupcake Factory (my favourite cupcake store)

Cake no. 2: Made by Sharon's sister. So pretty!

Here's a closer look...

So pretty!

But Ann's smile is even prettier! XP Look at that, she must be thinking, "grrr when will they stop taking photos... I want cake!!!!"

Of course with two cakes, you gotta cut the cakes twice!

Can't believe you're 20 this year. You look 16 to me. Kidding! Must be nice to be younger than a lot of us :P.

And despite your birthday being a month ago (almost exactly; I remember because it's on April Fool's day), I just wanna wish you another Happy Birthday and I hope you've been enjoying your 1st month outside of your teenage years!

Life in a snap!

2010-04-30T20:07:00.001-07:00

Snap!

1. Count your blessings - be content

2. Continue to always leave blame out of the game of life

3. Do not contract Bieber Fever, or you'll be drooling like a Golden Retriever

4. Be confident in yourself, in ALL aspects of life.

xoxo

204 years ago

2010-04-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

The '1806' is quickly becoming one of my favourite cocktail bars in Melbourne. The service is great, the staff are friendly, the drinks are good and most importantly crowdedness is kept to a minimum.

It was my second time here and the four of us - Simon, Bryan, Jian and I - and we decided on a Friday night to go to a bar to chat. We roamed the city but all the bars we visited were unbearably packed. I did assume that 1806 would be packed as well because it really was a good bar. After searching high and low for some seating space, we decided to give 1806 a try and what do you know, ample seating space. No one's crowding the bar or standing everywhere.

We quickly ordered our drinks.

Bryan ordered the Blue Lagoon

Jian ordered the Hibiscus Hula

Simon ordered the French 75

and later had Spanish beer for dessert.

Yours truly had the Cobbler

Overall all the drinks were great that night. I can't say much for the others but my drink was very refreshing. It was weak but I like it weak. I'm not a huge fan of alcohol but a little bit is always nice. Simon's French 75 tasted like champagne with lemon juice, Bryan's was massive and Jian's had the most kick in it.

If you're looking to go to a bar for the first time, I highly recommend the 1806. It's a really nice place with very friendly staff. It doesn't tend to get overcrowded and the drinks are excellent. All this adds up to a great time chatting with your friends.

Drink responsibly!

Sensory Lab on a rainy day

2010-04-29T01:53:00.000-07:00

Today more rain (or rather, light showers) graced Melbourne. It's utmost refreshing to brace the misty rain on a gloomy April day. My friends and I went to try this "relatively" new coffee shop called Sensory Lab in David Jones. We've passed by it countless times, been intrigued by the gadgets and widgets they used to brew coffee, been entranced all the time by the aromatic scent of freshly brewed coffee. Sensory Lab uses rather revolutionary methods of extracting the best out of coffee. The theme of this place is that of a laboratory. Odd, I know.

We were sat at this long communal table. Did something catch your eye?

Could it be this? Yeah it's something you'd find in the lab containing HCl. It even looks like HCl

I like their sugar containers as well. It's the exact same container where we'd put our Calamine lotion in in the lab. Protect from light!

We ordered our stuff and not too long later, our beverages were served onto our table.

I had the Mocha. Notice the use of a laboratory spatula. It looks great but taste wise it was rather disappointing.

I could barely taste the coffee in it. It was very chocolatey. This was supposed to be weak in nature but I didn't expect it to be that weak. Still, I forgive them because it was Mocha and different people like varying ratios of chocolate to coffee.

Jian had the cuppacino. Sadly this one was weak as well but it's hard to forgive this one because it's supposed to be just coffee! Coffee might give me a headache but I don't wanna be drinking some half-strength stuff either. Of course I'm not expecting it to be espresso-strength but this seriously needs more coffee in it!

Bryan on the other hand was a purist. This one's called Syphon Filter or rather, the technique in making it. Pure black coffee. I'm not too sure how this one tasted like but it smelled SO strong and bitter. Bryan said it tasted "green" and it wasn't too strong. I can't say much about this but the waiter did tell us that it would be "different" to the regular coffee we are used to.

After our 'sensual' experience we camwhored for a bit!... but I'm just gonna be posting MY pictures here :D.

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Epic photobomb in this last picture! Can you spot it? Tell me in the comments.

Hope you liked this post especially THOSE who wait for posts EVERYDAY. Thanks for your support. :)