11.59am 9 May 2006 Tuesday
Last night we went to Sunrise Cafe for dinner. It was supposed to be Kurdish/ Middle-Eastern cuisine and I've to admit that their gyros was pretty good. Their shoestring fries were crisp and addictive too. H liked the tatziki but I thought it was lacking some pizzazz. We're still drooling over the delicious doner kebab in Wilhemshaven. It was a dingy cafe permeated with cigarette smoke, and filled with dubious characters. But the food is so flavourful and delicious, you can almost forget that you're perched on a high-top chair, eating over a styrofoam plate, trying to avoid the remnants left by the previous occupant...
But back to Sunrise Cafe. As we were just starting on our dinner, two ducks, I kid you not, suddenly flew into the alcove and smacked pretty hard against the glass door with a thud. They looked rather dazed as they tottered around the plaza, quacking away. Just to emphasise on how unusual ducks are in the Sonaran desert, there were at least 2-3 cameras snapping away. A middle-aged man with his wife and mother (?) was making kissy noises at the ducks and insisted on feeding them with lettuce and chips. Obviously his country doesn't post huge signs like "No littering - Fine $500" all over like ours.
3 more days to flight! Quite coincidental that Michael is stopping by SG on the way to India and we'll actually meet him when he's on the way back. We're planning to bring him for breakfast, badminton, more food and then pack him into the the plane back to LA, all in 12 hours. Can't wait to bring H around and go eating with MH!
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
Countdown!
1.47pm 8 May 2006 Monday
Exams start tomorrow and I'm struggling with that dull achy cramp in my stomach. Periods follow Murphy's Laws to the tee - they come exactly when you've exams and a 30-hour flight. Unfortunately they also create an uneasy ambivalence to everything, exams and what not. See, me blogging this moment is a testament to that. In any case, I'm in a very comfortable position in most of my classes and I'm not going to throw that away, so after this I'll start on my paper.
So these couple of days have been pretty exciting for the two of us because H is applying to jobs and we're trying to figure out what happens if he is offered a job. We're flying this Friday and the house, bills and everything else needs to be in order. My mum requested for bath salts so we spent a day searching for them, and I found one that is supposed to be good for premenstrual syndrome. Hrm. I wonder what will happen if H takes that bath with me...
um what else. It's NBA season so we're pretty excited whenever the Phoenix Suns play. We were grabbing onto each other, covering our eyes in the last minutes of the game, screaming, shouting, yelling, etc. Last week they made an AMAZING comeback from 3-1 (best of 7 games) to beat the sucky/ arrogant/ obnoxious/ violent LA Lakers 4-3, which means that they won 3 games straight, and with a 30 point margin in the last game some more. Tonight they face the LA Clippers for the first time this season, so it'll be exciting to see what happens..
Nash, Sun's star player and this year's MVP, twisted his ankle the last game but hopefully he's better now. He's an oddball; very intelligent with kind (lazy) eyes; balding, stringy, longish hair which does nothing for him (I'd advise him to shave it to look more cool but then again, Nash is more like the class geek than star player); the shortest player on his team; and he's white! In a black dominated game! He has the most disgusting and quirky ritual that he performs at least 2 times before each free throw - he licks his right hand!!! Bleah. H says it's for traction (haha), but whatever it is, it works. He's ranked number 1 in free throws, an astounding 92.1% accuracy but eeeeee... And when he exits the stadium people usually run to give him a high-five! With a hand that he licked dunno how many times!!! Bleah.
Spent the rest of the afternoon reading about badminton. ahem. I think it's time for me to start revision...
Exams start tomorrow and I'm struggling with that dull achy cramp in my stomach. Periods follow Murphy's Laws to the tee - they come exactly when you've exams and a 30-hour flight. Unfortunately they also create an uneasy ambivalence to everything, exams and what not. See, me blogging this moment is a testament to that. In any case, I'm in a very comfortable position in most of my classes and I'm not going to throw that away, so after this I'll start on my paper.
So these couple of days have been pretty exciting for the two of us because H is applying to jobs and we're trying to figure out what happens if he is offered a job. We're flying this Friday and the house, bills and everything else needs to be in order. My mum requested for bath salts so we spent a day searching for them, and I found one that is supposed to be good for premenstrual syndrome. Hrm. I wonder what will happen if H takes that bath with me...
um what else. It's NBA season so we're pretty excited whenever the Phoenix Suns play. We were grabbing onto each other, covering our eyes in the last minutes of the game, screaming, shouting, yelling, etc. Last week they made an AMAZING comeback from 3-1 (best of 7 games) to beat the sucky/ arrogant/ obnoxious/ violent LA Lakers 4-3, which means that they won 3 games straight, and with a 30 point margin in the last game some more. Tonight they face the LA Clippers for the first time this season, so it'll be exciting to see what happens..
Nash, Sun's star player and this year's MVP, twisted his ankle the last game but hopefully he's better now. He's an oddball; very intelligent with kind (lazy) eyes; balding, stringy, longish hair which does nothing for him (I'd advise him to shave it to look more cool but then again, Nash is more like the class geek than star player); the shortest player on his team; and he's white! In a black dominated game! He has the most disgusting and quirky ritual that he performs at least 2 times before each free throw - he licks his right hand!!! Bleah. H says it's for traction (haha), but whatever it is, it works. He's ranked number 1 in free throws, an astounding 92.1% accuracy but eeeeee... And when he exits the stadium people usually run to give him a high-five! With a hand that he licked dunno how many times!!! Bleah.
Spent the rest of the afternoon reading about badminton. ahem. I think it's time for me to start revision...
Monday, May 01, 2006
Mousse au Chocolat
A big hit at our party and easy to make!! Very yummy...
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
- 150g dark chocolate
- 3 eggs -> separate into egg whites and egg yolks but make sure there is no yolk or fat at all in the egg whites!
- 80g heavy whipping cream
- 20g sugar
- Milk (the amount needed depends on the chocolate)
Method
1. Melt the chocolate over lowest possible heat using a double boiling method. Make sure that the water doesn't boil!!! Double boiling: a big pot of water with a smaller bowl in the middle of this water bath. Be careful not to allow water into the chocolate, otherwise it'll "freeze".
2. When all the chocolate has melted, add the egg yolks in and beat it well. Depending on the chocolate, you might get a lumpy mixture or a smooth mixture. Ours was lumpy so we added milk a little at a time, and beat it continuously until you get a smooth, shiny mixture. You can take it off the heat after this is done.
3. In a separate, clean bowl, beat the egg whites with sugar using an electric whisk until stiff peaks form. It will not work if there is any fat in the bowl. Stiff peaks mean that you can use the whisk to lift the mixture and it will stay in the same position when you remove the whisk. This is an important step to ensure the "fluffiness" of your mousse.
4. Scrape the stiff egg whites into the chocolate and fold it into the mixture carefully. Don't use a whisk because it breaks up the egg whites - you might find a spatula or a big spoon useful. When completely incorporated, start the next step.
5. Using the same bowl as the egg white mixture (or a new one if you prefer but it doesn't make a difference), whip the heavy cream until stiff. When that is done, incorporate it into the chocolate/egg white mixture like you did before. Don't worry if it doesn't completely incorporate, just make sure most of it is well mixed.
6. Pour into a dish and refrigerate till it sets! (about 3 hours) For our party we used small cups so that we didn't have to cut it, but you can use any bowls, casserole dishes or anything you like.
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
- 150g dark chocolate
- 3 eggs -> separate into egg whites and egg yolks but make sure there is no yolk or fat at all in the egg whites!
- 80g heavy whipping cream
- 20g sugar
- Milk (the amount needed depends on the chocolate)
Method
1. Melt the chocolate over lowest possible heat using a double boiling method. Make sure that the water doesn't boil!!! Double boiling: a big pot of water with a smaller bowl in the middle of this water bath. Be careful not to allow water into the chocolate, otherwise it'll "freeze".
2. When all the chocolate has melted, add the egg yolks in and beat it well. Depending on the chocolate, you might get a lumpy mixture or a smooth mixture. Ours was lumpy so we added milk a little at a time, and beat it continuously until you get a smooth, shiny mixture. You can take it off the heat after this is done.
3. In a separate, clean bowl, beat the egg whites with sugar using an electric whisk until stiff peaks form. It will not work if there is any fat in the bowl. Stiff peaks mean that you can use the whisk to lift the mixture and it will stay in the same position when you remove the whisk. This is an important step to ensure the "fluffiness" of your mousse.
4. Scrape the stiff egg whites into the chocolate and fold it into the mixture carefully. Don't use a whisk because it breaks up the egg whites - you might find a spatula or a big spoon useful. When completely incorporated, start the next step.
5. Using the same bowl as the egg white mixture (or a new one if you prefer but it doesn't make a difference), whip the heavy cream until stiff. When that is done, incorporate it into the chocolate/egg white mixture like you did before. Don't worry if it doesn't completely incorporate, just make sure most of it is well mixed.
6. Pour into a dish and refrigerate till it sets! (about 3 hours) For our party we used small cups so that we didn't have to cut it, but you can use any bowls, casserole dishes or anything you like.
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