Nihon e Youkoso!

I'm in Japan!

After a boring 7 hour flight, QJ and I finally reach Haneda International Airport. We were starving! At 11.30pm, only a handful of shops remain open but damn that bowl of miso soup with pork and tofu was so damned good, and that bowl of katsudon was very very yummy as well. If airport food taste that good, I just can't wait to try what the rest of Japan has to offer. :D
Considering we only arrived late at night, going to check in for a room just to sleep for a night seem a bit...wasted. So we slept/lepaked at the airport.

Gotta say, HND airport has one of the most comfortable seats for sleeping. Haha! Plenty of ppl slept here. Couldn't really sleep but Wifi's really fast and the chair's really comfy-I just couldn't complain. Plus, the toilets...fuiyoh giler canggih. Haha!
Have always wanted to come Japan but never I'd get my ass off to get myself here. Well actually, QJ had to drag me here. Haha!
Here's to a day of great food, fun sightseeing and lots of nice pics, hopefully.
Ja!

Location:２丁目,Ota,Japan

Of teacups, highballs, dishes and etc

It's already middle of May and it has also been 5 months since I last blogged. Life has been BUSY but a lot of fun! So much has changed in the past half year and yet it seem like such a short time since I joined my new company.

For those who may not have known, I'm currently working in a cafe on Jonker's St, Melaka. Maybe most of you exMMU-ians would have heard of the name of the place: Geographer Cafe. Making the leap was the most scary and yet exciting decision I've made so far and yet might have been the best I've had for now. In the past months, I've gained so much new knowledge in things that I could only have learnt from books (or in this time and age: the net). I've also gained so many new colleagues and friends (male colleagues-ahaha! My previous colleagues are all chicks and we have to do all the heavy lifting. It's nice to be pampered for a change when they absolutely refuse to let us girls carry heavy stuff ;P), and chatted with so many of our guests - from all over the globe! I'd rain QJ with so many stories of the day the moment I step into the car and it'll go on until we reach our apartment. Tho it's absurdly tiring and I've practically kissed my Sat Sun weekends goodbye, having my 'weekend' on normal ppl's weekdays do have their perks (shopping in mall without the crazy crowd and without the crazy jam on the road-bliss). Tho, I do miss my family (and FLUFFY!!) so, I better check my calendar for an off day to go back soon ^^;

But somehow, letting all these days pass without dotting them down seems like a bit of a waste, seeing as ppl forget (and I forget a lot of things these days!) and maybe (in my dreams la) one day I might compile these tales from my guests into a book and publish it for good money someday (AHAHAHAHA....right). So perhaps, it might be a good idea to make this blog into a bit of a notebook of my day with my guests...and colleagues. Not too much drama, I hope...tho I dunno how committed I will be with this new idea (more so with the coming of D3 like...today! yikes!)

Until then, lemme leave you with some pics I have in this sweet iPad that came with my job (nyehehehe-show off!)




That's our staff trip to Ulu Bendul waterfalls. Yes most of them are guys (the other girl didn't come cuz she wanted to collect her results. Boo!) and most of them are foreign workers. Very very hardworking, talented, and fun bunch! Learnt a lot from them!




A cuppa that one of the boys made. Will be attending a coffee class this Thurs. Can't wait!




A pic of lé BF and me, on the way to Wazen on my bday...yum!




My nighttime companions, cum pillow/bolster.


That's all for now I guess. Gotta sleep before I regret it again tmr morn +.~zz

2011: The Year That Was.

2011 has been a year of many new things for me, and most (that I can think of) are good, if not great.

The year started with my restarting my routine of running. Since I stayed near Gurney Drive, I had my own personal stretch of 'gym' (when it doesn't rain) with natural sea breeze (when the wind DOES blow. Definitely not pleasant when its low tide tho..haha!). It was quite pleasant and the running bug bite me for quite a bit. Decided to register myself for 21k run for Penang Bridge International Marathon when registration opened and stuck to a regular regime. Kinda slacked off during the rainy season but picked it back up just in time for the bridge run and successfully finish the marathon, faster than my target too :D

PBIM itself was quite an experience of a lifetime. To have the Penang CM, Mr Lim Guan Eng join the bunch of crazy runners in the ungodly hours of the morning to officiate the marathon, earned him heaps of respect from QJ and myself. Hats off, YB. Running on the empty and quiet bridge while the skies were pitch dark with a bunch of other crazy people who should otherwise be asleep at this ungodly hour, was surprisingly very motivating and rather fun! One of the best things throughout the run was...100Plus. Never did 100Plus taste so goddamned good. Aaaahhh... :P HAHA! If nothing gets in the way, I'd definitely go again next year, and I won't be running alone XD

Another one of the best things that happened in 2011 came during my birthday this year. Darling QJ came up to Penang to celebrate with me and gave me a box. Small parcel with a huge pricetag came in the form of an iPhone4. Life has never been the same ever since I got this lil baby. Did so much with it. It is my organizer, my reminder, calendar, directory, messenger, social tool, my recipe book, my notepad, my alarm clock, camera, and toy. The only thing I did not use it for is for music. For that, I have the iPod. Shall not leave that to waste :D

Even took it with me during my runs. Helps me track my pace, my route, time, etc. Nifty lil app by Nike (tho I hate their shoes). Here's a route map of the run on Penang Bridge. The route map for my hike to Kerachut beach was even more fascinating...

Spending another year away from QJ was getting too much to bear. The trips to visit each other always seem too short and time was never enough. After 2 years being apart, I finally got a job in Melaka, and came 'home' to him. Happy to say I'm so much happier now, both at work and with him. There are things I missed terribly back home in SP (parents, aunt, dog, home, stupid nieces)...but I guess it can't be helped :/ ....and definitely doesn't help that the stupid CM of this state doesn't wanna fly to Penang. Instead, he wants to fly from Melaka to Subang. What the F. Nicely done sir. Nicely done. Dear people of Melaka: wake up please? Vote properly next election...else you'll be having more inoperable monorails stranded all over the state. 

Moving was a bitch. Running PBIM 10x over wouldn't have been so bad as my packing AND moving experience. Yuck. I hate moving. Gah! Saying farewell to the family was a pain too...tho it does help that I have some warm home made food to bring back and munch in the car.

2011 is also a year that I've picked up some confidence and started some cakes and cookie sales :D ....so if any of you guys wants cookies (festive or otherwise)....you know where to look! :P ..haha! Colleagues and friends were among the first of my customers...and hopefully this will open to more in the future (then I can quit my job and work from home and take leave whenever I want to...buahahaha!). Most of my family's birthday cake was also made by yours truly...hehe...great for practice, and its even cheaper than the ones outside ;P ...win win?

2011 has also been a year of many marriages, engagements, proposals and some break ups. Couldn't make it to most of my friend's weddings and none of the really close ones got married. For QJ and myself....we're still single but not available :D ....nyehehe...so please do not forget our portion of ang pau this coming CNY ya? 

Come to think of it, we didn't do much travelling in 2011 (apart from Melaka-Penang travels..that doesn't exactly count!). Hopefully this will change in 2012 :D Bali, yes QJ?

All in all, 2011 has been a relatively quiet, pleasant year with occasional sparks of fireworks that leave a trail of warmth in the heart. As much as the passing of one year to the next is just a change in how I write the date, I do wish that it'll be a sweeter one, with more treasured friends and memories and hopefully for a better life lived filled with many happy moments.

Happy New Year :)

Signing off,

Kristine & QJ

p/s: I DID my annual Christmas Mall Deco thingy....haven't gotten the time to actually post everything up yet. Procrastinating, lazy, etc. Its on my FB if you wanna see ;P

Cookies cakes and etc

Those closer to me would notice that I've taken up baking a lil more seriously as of late. Attempted and experimented with few new cakes. Have also started small scale business for cookies/cakes (my customers being my colleagues. Hehe). It's a great boost to confidence as well as to experience and skills now that I've been baking far more often than I used to. Starting a proper business may not be too difficult and too far off afterall (I hope). Baby steps. At least I've started walking.

On another topic, have also recently secured a job in Melaka. In other words, I'm finally going back and QJ couldn't be happier. It also means it's back to me cooking and you on the dishes allrite dear? Kekekekeke /ebil. Huge change, hope everything works out allright.

Now if only the jam would ease and I can get home sooner. I'm freezing and starving in the bus and I've got a tonne of baking to be done by tmr, in time for colleagues celebrating Deepavali! XD

Some of the things I'll be working on tonite:

Jam tarts

Moist chocolate

Midnight Chef in Me: Scones

I have the tendency to somehow, one way or another start baking/cooking around midnight. Be it cuz I had a nap right after work, or that I got too distracted with some shows I've been watching on my PC. Yesterday was no exception.

Thankfully, scones are really easy to make and it took less than 15 mins before it was ready to be popped onto the oven for baking.







15 mins in the oven later and voila. 'Supper' if you will. Glad my first attempt of scones turned out well but I suppose the recipe was rather foolproof. Hee!






Best served with Devon clotted cream and jam, or lemon curd (will attempt this weekend or so).

Some other bakers advices that to enjoy fresh scones, freeze the dough for the leftover scones and only bake them when you want to eat them. I reheated mine in the oven (put them in closed container and sprinkle a lil water) and they turned our warm and fluffy, but I don't suppose they'll taste that great after more than 3 days. I'll see how my frozen batches turn out ;)

Plain Scones By Amy Beh from Kuali.com

Ingredients

375g self-raising flour, sifted
1 1/2 tbsp castor sugar
1/2 tsp salt
50g butter
180ml UHT milk
(I add in 1/2 tsp vanilla essence)
125ml water (won't use all. I used only very little)

Method

Put sifted flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Lightly rub in butter. (i took a little bit of the flour and put into blender with cubed frozen butter and blended until they look like rough breadcrumbs. then pour mixture into flour mixture)
Use a palate knife to stir in milk. Add just enough water to mix until a soft sticky dough is formed.
Turn out dough onto a lightly-floured tabletop. Quickly but lightly knead dough until it is smooth. Flatten out dough evenly to about 2cm thick. Use a 5cm round cutter to cut out the dough into rounds.
Place scones in lightly-greased baking pans. Brush scones with a little milk and bake in a preheated oven at 240 ºC for 15 minutes. Serve scones with a jam of your choice.


Makes about 10 scones depending on thickness and size

Video and recipe from Joy of baking: http://joyofbaking.com/scones.html

Caking spree

Aunt and my 2 elf-assistants. Cake was not disastrous eventho they kept bugging us to 'help' us.

I've been on a cake making spree lately. Spent last weekend making Black Forest and Moist Chocolate Cake. Both turned out pretty well, especially the moist choco cake considering it was the first time I attempted this recipe taken from a magazine probably older than I am. Hee!

Mini-black forest cake for myself

Sis liked the Black Forrest cake (it all kinda started from her, the whole caking adventure) and this 4th attempt turned out pretty well and QJ absolutely love the moist choco cake. Happy to say that I've started very small scale sales of these 2 cakes. Hopefully this will bring to further culinary career path/business. Hehe.

Yummy moist chocolate cake. Really not bad for a first attempt.

Now I better start jogging again least I gain back the weight I've lost with all the desserts I have in my fridge. Kekeke.

Cake 'sweating' in the damp room right after taking it out from the fridge. Eek!

Peekaboo!

Here's a cutie pie. Born to the family on Father's Day. Quite the bundle of joy to spend time with, my niece.