its been busy busy!

hello hello! its been awhile now hasn't it? haha did that sentence sound ang mo or what?!! anyway...yes i have sadly been busy T__T this has been the most hectic week ever! so i didn update last week coz i was in preparation for this week with 2 major assignments and a report due at the same time it was balrgh....the whole week haha can cough blood one i tell you but its all over now....

i have been over industrious tonight hmm...i think i cook when im stressed so this time is a bit over...but aaaaanyway!

last monday's lunch...
i bought a container just so that i can bring sandwich like this to uni....sigh it was on sale so don scould me...haha. erm...what was it...oh yea! mashed egg dressed with mayo and blue cheese! with lotsa salad and some herby thing inside wher eyou cant see. and i got hummus int ehre! =D i love hummus!

oh coz this was special! monday's dinner was bibimbap! home made kimchi, porkbelly saute, carrot and brocolli sticks, fried egg and lotsa gochujang! =D yum yum

tuesday
i was....late...so i just dumped rice and kimchi pancake in and off i went :P

had lunch at home on wednesday

thursday
wednesday was weiner day! with kimchi and seaweed salad yes i was very blur that week so i didn ahve any flash ideas

friday!
i needed to finish my pau...yea that unidentified plastic bag has my pau inside so i can clear my freezer my corn also i froze so yea...trying to get some stuff out for new things! =D

on saturday! we went for the capping show! its some like comedy thing the uni has out done by all the theatrical dept here at otago
we had poppa's pizza before we went! =D thaat was yummy!

new week! finally, this week!
monday! hmm....i felt like i needed to diet so i cut down on carb...the rice ball is actually pretty small so yea...with fruits, dumpling, vege and carrots cooked with tauhu and miso...hmm very nice combination! coz miso and tauhu are soy products! try it!

tuesday
tuesday..hmm..i had...the same thing..gee i didn notice....

wednesday i started late so lunch at home!

thursday!
thursday! i had something special! seaweed salad, dumplings and my afro/lion egg! =D made my day! since this week was like blargh...

friday
hmm tats today! pasta with pesto! try it so easy and taste so good. get the basil one i like that one =D the sundried tomato's not really my thing coz i don really go for tomato anyway :P

anyway! what happened tonight! well...i was watching tv and had this craving...so i decided to make...
green goo...how very exciting....
tada! kaya K-A-Y-A i love kayaaaaaaaaaaaa~~~!!!! yay yay =D i did it the lazy way...instead of standing in front of a double boiler for hours on end stiring this custard i dumped it in teh microwave and it took me roughly an hour for the whole process...then again i did a small batch...hmm ah wells but its pretty good! =D had it on some toast just now XDD

then ive been meaning to try out amelia's banana cake recipe for some time and i just had two black banana's calling me..so i also made
banana muffins! =D with peanuts and chocoalte in there so theres an extra crunch! yay yum yum tee hee so today is pretty exciting! and all the assignments are done except for one more report due next week

tomoro im going to help my fren make tau sar pau for some fund raising thing.coz i got the recipe and stuff so tahts pretty cool! then we will be making chang >__< yay yay

chang chang it was lik eyesterday bak chang festival and i didn eat at all T__T coz i was busy with assignments hmm...how many times have i said that....ah wells anyway! i was so excited about bak chang i went to the shop to get ingredients and went home and la la la and then when i got home i was like oh yea i went to the shop to get tau sar for the pau -___-''' wasting my life...guess i have to go back again tomoro :P ah wells

exciting! =D

*ciaossu*



the song is soo cute =D its really summer time...well everywhere else but here :P

cooking!

first week of uni has been stressful so i decided to wind down and start cooking up in the kitchen :P went to market yesterday bought some meats! and erm...what else...think think oh i bought omega plums! they're the bomb! coz the skin aint sour! =DD so anyway! tonights dinner was! up there cabbage roll!
made some filling coz i tot of freezing dumpling so i can bring to uni for lunch and stuff like taht la and then i made some skin for the dumpling and then i got lazy so i tot i'll go to town to buy some today (made the filling yesterday) but then right it rained =( so i just made some pau and stuffed the rest in la then the last bit make cabbage roll! =D no wastage! safe the earth! safe your money! ahah anyway!
apart from that...i did a little baking too! ho ho ho what is it i wonder well i know whats in there la let you wonder...one's going to be eaten here the other over yonder and over the seven seas...well about a few oceans la haha

either than that ive been super lazy this weekend slept in today and trying to recharge for the new week ahead! after this weekend..its going to be HARD OUT! coz i got them assignments and stuff to do and more studying. i don have any idea whats the lecturer talking about for food micro...well i do la but i need to make notes before i forget you know that kinda thing :P

so yea i made a new fren in uni! =D but the thing is that now the teacher wants us to like make groups of 3 and we got 4 in our group -_-'' plus my other fren is like lets make a group of the 3 of us without my new fren :P and im like urgh...im stuck in the middle...i don really wana play the bad guy ugh im always not wanting to play the bad guy and not wanting to ditch ppl. then its like i dono la or she goes in my group and i find other people? >_< why am i worrying for her anyway? but i don want her to be in a situation where shes like i have no group to join and stuff TT__TT what to do...

ah well it will work out i hope O_O!

ive been packing lunch to uni everyday! but i forgot to take picture everytime...i guess coz i don really wana be late for uni for the sake of one photo :P haha ah well but i must remember! that way i got sth to blog about haha so yea well i shall go and erm...enjoy bumming the 2 more hours of my weekend! haha see ya

some pictures

some of these pictures are really old..heck i just forgot all about it and when i saw it in my phone i was like hey...these are supposed to be somewhere else...ahaha so yea these ones were taken when we had our graduation dinner for diana which feels liek eons ago...but actually was just about a month ago...sigh time flies...

had it at a cow called bertha!
erm...with no h ahah im lazy to go and correct it :P
how cute...if you can actually see, theres a cow there taking care of the 'fake' gas fire place...tee hee
well for starters...we had a bread platter which consisted of ciabatta bread with chopped almonds real nice but real messy coz the nuts didn stick to the bread at all so if you took it the wrong way then well no nuts for you i guess! :P
another starter. scallops and saffron rissoto. was pretty interesting. nice in a way =D and simple.

then the mains.
me and mum had the fish of the day. i think it was gurnard. a tad too oiley for me. i mean if it was olive oil ok but i think it was like butter and it came out too strong. fish was tasty then salty...ahah but it was ok i guess.
daddy had the...erm...lamb i think..ahah i don really remember but i know it came with kumera mash which is disguised like ice cream....ahaha his lamb was quite good actually...
alina had the pork fillet. a supposedly tender meat with cranberry sauce i think. but for some reason i think they cooked it too long so it was dry and sad =(
diana had the venison with some unidentified objects there that i don know of...hmm i think it might be vege im not sure.but her venison was good tender and juicy.
dessert we had mille fueille? dono how to spel it its like 1000 layers in french and its supposed to be puff pastry and it came out with sponge! oh the horror!

then after this we flash all the way to the new years singapore trip. we went there for new year and was so sad. we went to marina bay for the fire works but when we got there marina barrage was full (later we found out in the news there were like 250000 ppl htere O_O) so we had to go to raffles to see them and in the end we saw no fireworks coz it was on the otehr side of all the freaking sky scrapers

but! i do have this!
don mess with the painting ppl man... even if you lock your bike they will not only paint over it. they will also shove it in the longkang for you just so that they can do their restoration job O_O
then nearby our hotel..we saw this interesting house. very modern and chic you know. notice anything?
yes its a renovated freaking teres house and instead of 2 storeys like his dear neighbours...that person has 4 levels! O_O how kiasu....

on the last night in singapore we went to eat cake at canele in paragon...its erm...at the ground floor near...where arr...hmm i think 2/3 shops to the right of market place.
mont blanc!! omg its so hard to find this freaking cake.
its short crust pastry filled with chantilly cream and topped with cream enriched chestnut puree. it sounds so good right? well it was sad =( the chestnut flavour was not carried out that much. could have been better
green tea cheese cake. real nice and smooth. you can taste the green tea and at the same time the cream cheese that they used. =D yum!
this is erm...i don remember but i think it was the best of the lot. its all dark chocolate but its not sweet and has a nice chrunchy bottom to contrast the moose and sponge layers on top
and lastly the strawberry tart. was pretty good! used nice pastry for the bottom and had a nice almond sponge inside =D
last but not least! we also had macarons! they were done really nicely! and look! frilly feet! =D this will be my holiday challenge!

well enough of all the outside eating. yesterday i sadly forgot to take photo of my bento thingy but then i remembered about dinner!
diana requested for steak last night. well here you go!
i think its erm...rib eye fillet. check out that marbling...yumyum...just season with cracked pepper, salt, oregano and rub it in with a bit of oil. thats the trick!
i learn from jamie oliver if you rub the steak with a bit of oil you don need to put oil in the pan you cook the steak in. coz you need a really hot pan to cook steak and if you put the oil in, it will smoke like crazy and will spit and attack you furiously when you put the steak in. plus! oiling it keeps the moisture in! =D

then you just fry it on minute at a side. for about...5 min depend on how well you like it. then rest for 3 min to let it retain juiciness! =D so simple! but it all starts with good meat! XD

lastly, last nights dinner. was braised brocolli with a hint of oyster sauce, spring onion and celery mash and steeeeeeeeeeeak ahah shud try it! spring onion mash is the bomb it brings out everything in the potato! =D well ...

thats all from me!

*ciaossu* XD

auckland

auckland auckland...we stayed at some crummy backpackers on the 10th floor overlooking queen st.
we walked around and got kinda losted but then found this amazing japanese restaurant and decided to have dinner. they even have a bell to ring for service! cute
entree was edamame and cold tofu coz auckland was so hot
this was the main! had sashimi. was amazing...everything was really fresh right down to the lil prawn there
had this too~! it was their signature makisushi. was humongous! it had cucumber, egg, eel, prawn and salmon and flying fish roe. was really yummy! =D
we were so full but decided to have dessert -__-'' so yea had ohagi and sakura mochi! both done really nicely. sakura mochi was really floral...well it is cherry blossom leaves...
then at the end when we went to pay we saw these and commented on how adorable they were and the hot waiter decided to give it to us. wakakaka

well that was the most detailed meal i had the others i was all excited and only remembered to take photo after i finished eating -_-'''
went to sylvia park the next day. was really interesting coz its split in two and the middle is like outdoor park where the x'mas tree is and the rest of the area is closed up
was at newmarket and look what i saw....
nyahahaha~! this is the cutest thing ever! i saw it when i was in the bus so the quality of the shot's not that great! see the santa there? every time someone walks pass him...he will shake bum! wkakkak it was so retardedly cute had to take photo. i went back the next day but then right...i walked pass him but he didn't shake bum for me =( i guess they switched it off
back in the city, decided to go for cake at a cake gateux shop. diana had the green tea cream cake sth like that and i had the chestnut moose one. not too bad but the sponge was dry :P ah well~!
met up with a friend and she brought me to see beaches and million dollar houses. so yea see the city of sails. thats the last photo of the trip! :P

so yea i bought i tonne of stuff -__-''i feel so guilty now...got some dresses and mostly cooking and baking stuff. i found the most amazing $3japan shop. aha everything was like $3.40 (+gst) so yea...was pretty cool. got some soup bowls and stuff. definitely going back there in the future. so yea...went up for dianas job interviews and she accepted a place at onehunga. so yea...auckland it is

ok im going to erm...think of a hair cut...nyaha! XD today is the day~!

*ciaossu*
ps
forgot daily dose of take-yan

fishing day

yesterday i went fishing! at port chalmers but it was soo cold! and windy...but the view was really pretty tho...
on the way to the fishing spot, we saw 3 seals! this is the cute one...nyahah the others were old -___-'' and gawking at us
this was on the way home already just walking back but the view realy looked like those post card ones! :P
we decided to head back early la...coz it was cold and in the end right...i didn even go fishing...nor did i touch the fishing rod...i just went so taht i could have my picnic -___-'' but it as yummy! =Di made inari sushi, fish+spring onion onigiri, gyoza and tamagoyaki the fried sweet egg that they sell on top of sushi

i packed this one special for nette who's still having exams =( poor tihng..so yea have to eat well eventho you have exams!

now, is the recipe request for gyoooza~
when making gyoza, you will need a ratio of vege and mince. thats what makes it juicy at the same time you don want the mixture to be too wet coz it will cause problems when you are wrapping them later on. just keep that in mind.
so! ingredients:
mince:vege=2:1 or 1:2(healthy version) (200g:100g etc)
i like to mix pork and beef mince coz it taste nicer :p but feel free to use just one type.
the best vege to use will be chinese cabbage! if don have use normal cabbage or chives or even silverbeet...but its winter there you are bound to find cabbage cheaply i assume.
this is the MOST basic and EASIEST!

1) get ready your meat by seasoning it with salt, pepper, oyster sauce/soy sauce and most importantly sesame oil then what ever you want la...as long as its reasonable -__-'' then you gota knead and squish it to mix it well until it feels pastey!

2) soften your chinese cabbage(3-4 leaves) by microwaving it covered for...bout 3 mins or until its limp then sqeeze softly just to get some of the water out. don sqeeze too hard or it wont be juicy. then mince it up put in bowl and season with some salt and sesame oil. this makes the mixture 'less wet'
*you can add other things as well like mushrooms, spring onion, etc feel free to play around with it* ;) thats the fun in cooking

3) then mix the meat and cabbage together! knead it until it is well incorporated. if you are making a huge batch, (400g:200g), add an egg white in to loosen the mixture(this is so that when you finish cooking you are not left with one lump of meat in the middle) then chill the mixture for at least 30 min before use.( a wet mixture will cause pools of water to form in the mixture that will be a bitch when it comes to wrapping so use the oil!)

there... then all you need to do know is wrap it in the gyoza wrappers. you can buy them at the asian store get the round ones. i make my own but see-ing that you got no personal kitchen it might be hard to be hogging it all the time -__-''

4) wrapping! place filling in (as much as you want lar as long as it can form a semi-circle. i always make humongous one coz i can get away with it) then close it to a semi-circle and pleat about 7 folds.(just crinkle and press starting from one side to the other)
its good to make like big batches then you can freeze them uncooked in between cling wrap so they wont stick together. it is a nice and hearty quick meal itself or with rice or nudle and some fried vege.

to cook!
1) boil water in the kettle
2) heat your pan on the hob when hot, add oil then reduce to medium heat
3) arrange your gyoza inside pleated side up
4) then pour your boiled water in until it covers just half the gyoza and cover
*this makes a steaming environment so its steaming and frying at the same time!
5) when all the water is evaporated, lift the lid and increase the heat to inbetween high-med(its 4 for mine coz i have an element stove)
6) check the bottoms and leave them until they are golden brown! then you can take it off and eat! soft on top crunchy on the bottom! yum yum yum!

haha you can make a dipping sauce with 1:2 vinegar:soy sauce and if you are very hardworking can put in thinly sliced ginger too!

so yea! hope this helps! happy trying tell me how you go with it it cant get simpler than this!
now im off to watch drama...nyahaha
*ciaossu*