Homemade dishes

I have decided...if I ever want to change profession or this whole master thing doesn't work out, I will start my own restaurant, serving my own creations.

Here's one from my dinner tonight...stir-fry ham with baby spinach...I thought it tasted pretty good :)

On the other hand, I do have my mishap with cooking. Overcooked my ham this afternoon in the microwave! From ham, it became cracker. Not too bad though. Perhaps another creation.

When the cooker stopped working...

Just when I wanted to cook fried rice today with a flatmate, the cooker (stove) died on us. What luck! And we thought of having good meals this week as we will most likely be surviving on frozen pizza, instant noodles and bread next week amid our prep for exam.

Anyway, here are some ways to cook without a cooker (both conventional and unconventional):

Cooking instant noodles with a rice cooker (my style. I know it's uncreative but I lack the courage to try new things)

Cooking instant noodles in microwave. This is my flatmate's style. She put the noodles along with the seasoning, fish (additional ingredient) and boiled water into a big bowl. Then, she added an egg and mixed it into the water. Next, she put it into the micowave for 6 minutes. When she took it out, she added vegetables and put back into the microwave. After a few minutes, the noodles is ready to be served. Smelled really good.

I want to buy tomatoes...in Manchester

Yeap, went to Manchester today for a day trip. Almost 3 hours journey but I spent most of the time chatting with my friend. Amazing how long we can talk.

At about 11.30am, we reached a very, very wet and windy Manchester. I thought Warwick is bad but Manchester is worse! It's so so cold there, I could barely walk. At that time, I am glad I didn't choose to go Manchester. I doubt that I can ever survive there.

Upon arrival, the first thing we searched for was Chinatown because we wanted to have one of those all you can eat buffet. Finally found the place when we took the free city bus (really good idea to promote tourism). After a short walk, we decided on the place to eat, largely driven in to a restaurant (offering international buffet but actually chinese food) by the drizzle. Having paid GBP6.50, I find that the selection here is inferior to the shop in Birmingham. There wasn't even any proper chinese dessert (except cincau perhaps)!!! Quite disappointing. Made up my mind to go to Birmingham again just to have that buffet.

Spent the rest of the day lounging around the city centre where most of the malls are. Wanted to buy tomatoes (my first thought upon arriving in Manchester. Silly, aren't I? Paying GBP11 to buy tomatoes) but the queue in tesco was too long. Saw a beautiful pair of heels from Clarks but cost GBP44.95! What a waste. That shoes left such an impression on me that I left my camera in the shop :( . This was such a bad week. First I left my student ID and bank card in the WBS lounge. Then I lost one of my earring on Friday. Today, I forgot my camera! Luckily the staff kept it for me. I hope that's the end of my memory loss streak. Sign of old age perhaps? I hate to think bout this.

In all, the trip wasn't exciting (weather problem) and my friends are now not so keen to have me carrying stuffs either for myself or for them. Good for me, though I did get some lectures from them. Reputation ruined in one day. Sigh...

Mareeshia-jin desu

My nationality is in question now. Where am I from?

Some time back, I discovered that the Chinese (from China) thought I am from Thailand. I figure that it's because the Thai always happened (unintentionally) to sit next to me in class, NOT because I choose to sit near my "own people". Anyway, it's a flattery to be thought of as Thai given that the Thai girls are mostly cute and tiny (both of which I am neither).

Today, after introducing myself to a potential student for WBS, the next question was "Are you from HK?" I thought ok...I look like Chinese, so fine but why HK? According to him, I looked like I can speak Cantonese. Amazing. I didn't know I have that look. FYI, I am supposed to look like I can speak Hakka because both my parents are Hakka. Not sure where Hakka people come from though...perhaps someone can enlighten me on my roots?

Later in the day, a classmate was shocked to learn that I am not from Japan (this is like almost two months into the course). Someone should tell him by now that there aren't any Japanese in the class.

I wonder what's next...

Saving ME

I just want to remember today as the day my flatmate saved my dinner.

"It's snowing"

19:41 It's snowing :)
19:43 I wish. Doing corp finance now on lecture 4. Don't get his equations
19:44 Haha I know.. .but its actually snowing
19:45 Its snowing

When I saw that same message from another friend, I went out to see for myself. They were not kidding me!!! It's snowing. I tried to touch it but I couldn't. It just melted on my hand. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like watching cottons flying all over the place. I knew then that I had to go back to my residence. It's also a good chance to experience walking under the snowfall without being perceived as "katak di bawah tempurung".



This is the second good thing to happen today. The first was that Shiro will be discharged from hospital on Tuesday. I am so glad to hear that news. It pained me to know that he had been vomitting and couldn't eat and he lost a tooth. But, it's ok as long as he is well and alive when I get back.

22:36

Trying to read. Kinda poetic to be studying in a room while it's snowing outside...till my flatmate knocked on my door and told me we have to go out. I changed into my jeans, grabbed my coat and went after her. It was crazy. My hands were freezing. It was still snowing and therefore wet all over. But who cares? We took some video, stood in the courtyard, frozen for a moment before deciding to head back into our warm rooms. At the moment, my fingers still feeling a bit numbed. I think I will get some ice-cream now ;)

http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee226/phikchoai/?action=view&current=MVI_3343.flv

Good day at first...

I was so keen to write this morning because of the wonderful things I saw...and then I don't feel like writing anymore. But I figure that writing is a good way to keep one distracted. Also, I know that Shiro will be alright.

So, what was it that I wanted to write about? Plenty...

The beautiful scene I saw outside my window this morning. At first, I thought my eyes were playing trick on me. Then I realised that the surrounding did look a little different. The grass was whitish green! It was simply marvellous. The weather in the night was so cold (below 0 degrees celcius) that it led to a frost. Too bad the picture can't do justice to the beauty of I saw.

Attended another career fair. This time an international fair. Finally my collection is complete. Coz I really wanted a torchlight and now I have one from Morgan Stanley. Got a cool calculator too. Doesn't bother me anymore that Mr G took my calculator of 4 years away. In addition, I got another water bottle courtesy of Linklaters and a flower highlighter from ICAEW. I love these highlighters.

These items are in addition to some items I got last week from the Technology Fair. Most of the items were quite useless i.e. more for decorative purpose such as a rugby ball and fake globe. Don't ask why I got those stuffs. But I did get my mousepad from bloomberg, a cool mini notepad (with pen and flag) from BNP Paribas, calendar from Data Connection and a luggage tag from Standard Chartered.

With these little treasures, I am not sure if I want to go to another fair. It can be quite tiring, pretending to be interested in someone's company and asking rubbish questions. Of course, helping my friend to accomplish her mission statement (which was to get a flower highlighter, she got 3 in the end!) was a joy as she can now stopped going on and on about getting one every minute.

I think that's all for today. I am quite anxious for news now. It's very distracting. Everything will be fine. I know it.

They did it again

EW: Getting chillier everyday...sigh

It's just amazing. My flatmates. Today they had yet another dinner party. Just a small one but the dishes certainly ain't small nor simple. Let's see what we had...

1. Tomyam fish - absolutely delicious with plenty of button mushrooms (my favourite)
2. Chawanmushi!!! - i can't believe I can have this in UK. So touched...
3. 3 cup chicken (direct translation from mandarin i.e. san bei chi) - basically refers to the amount of wine and sugar added though not in huge amount. My first time tasting this dish and I love it. Should try to get recipe...
4. Beefball - First reaction is "It's humongous! Like a football". Of course upon tasting it, it's really, really good.
5. Grilled chicken - My flatmate is really spoiling us!!!
6. Stir-fry spinach in oyster sauce - phew! finally something lighter...

After this meal, I have to eat less, else I can forget bout fitting into any of my (new) clothes anymore. Sigh...

The downpour and others

It has become a habit of mine to check the weather everyday before I step out. Mainly to help me plan my choice of clothes for the day. Although the forecast can be inaccurate most of the time, it still provides some security for me. Today, it said cloudy in the evening. So, when I came back for lunch, I changed my coat to a waterproof jacket. It was a decision not to be regretted.

I was already inside the building when the rain began. And it became heavier by the minute, to the point of howling. For people familiar with UK, this is not a usual event. Lots of my coursemates were soaked from head to toe.

I personally love rainy days...more so here as it reminds me of home :)

Today I got some quiet moment of my own. I think the hectic schedule has made me an anti-social person. I went to the kitchen to be delighted by its emptiness. Cooked rice, spinach soup, mushroom and eggs (my personal specialty and also because my mushrooms are expiring soon) and sausages. I would like to believe that I am getting more skillful in cooking but a friend is of the opinion that I start from low base and so I can improve easily. Ouch!

Mad dash around Paris

First day in Paris: I love Paris!
Second day in Paris: I want to work here! Where's the namecard of that French company I got from the career fair???
Third day in Paris: I want to go home...

It was almost crazy. When I knew that I will have a friday off, I quickly made plan with my friend to do a short trip, a weekend getaway to somewhere nearby. And we ended up in Paris.

Personal experiences

The first thing I learnt about France is the unfriendly people. The air stewardess in the airport was my first encounter, followed by many other air stewardesses. Second is the way Parisians drive. Right in front of us was a zebra crossing but no car stopped. Neither did any car stop even when the light turned green for pedestrians to cross. Crossing any roads quickly became a nightmare. Third is the receptionist at the hotel. We had trouble using the lift and he just made some gestures without assisting us. It took him awhile before deciding to get out of his desk to help us. Before anyone start thinking that we are some idiots, let me describe how the lift works. We had to press a button to get the lift to come to our floor. So, that's relatively easy. The difference is that the lift may not necessary be at our floor when the light on the button goes off. It just goes off when the lift stopped somewhere. So, we had to keep pressing the button. When the lift arrived, we had to open the door (just like in the old movie). It was quite fun but definitely not user-friendly.

Back to my story...All was not lost for Paris. As we were stuck in front of the Compagnie Des Chemins De Fer, trying to find our hotel, a man stopped, spoke to us in French before changing to English to ask if we speak English. It was very kind of him to stop to help us. I think that was the first and last kind Parisian I met.

Felt cheated twice. On my final night, we found a small grocery shop near our hotel still opened. We went in to buy some sandwiches for dinner and bought a bottle of mineral water which cost me EUR0.80 for 500ml compared to EUR0.51 for a 1.5 litre bottle I bought the previous night from a supermarket. The price was not written on the bottle at all!!! The second time was for breakfast on the final day. We went into a Deli's Cafe and ordered pies and hot chocolate. The board said the chocolate cost EUR2.30 but we were charged EUR3!!!

Sightseeing

Our first day was spent on hopping onto the Paris L'Open Tour bus, costing EUR29 for two days. We went on the grand tour to get a glimpse of Eiffel Tower, Musee du Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe and other buildings, braving the coldness of the wind hitting against our faces. While we did not intend to get down the bus till we had finished going round the whole line, a glimpse of a beautiful carousel on top of a hill changed our mind. It was a good, no great decision. Not only did we get some good bargains, we also saw a wonderful view of Paris from the Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmarte. Later in the evening, we managed to get on top of Eiffel Tower after lining up for nearly an hour, enjoying the beautiful view of Paris from atop amid freezing temperatures.



On the second day...

Coming from Malaysia, I have plenty of kiasu gene in me. So, early in the morning, we set out and reached Musee du Louvre before 8am. There wasn't any people in sight except for a jogger or two plus a few militarymen. Despite the drizzling rain (quite unfortunate), we had fun taking photos of the place from all angle with different poses. At about 8.30am, we spotted people beginning to queue. That was the signal for us to start getting into the line too. Half an hour later, the door to the museum opened. A long line had already built up behind us. Upon getting our tickets, we made a dash to Mona Lisa, situated in the Denon wing. We found her rather quickly and started snapping photos. Then we made another dash to see Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Along the way, we passed by many paintings, sculptures and antiquities. Two and a half hours later, we exited. We paid EUR9 for this and we never stopped to appreciate any of the arts. Such a pity.

Lunch today was considered a treat. We were drawn into Le Mondrian by its EUR13 plat du jour (i.e. lunch set) consisting of main dish and dessert. I chose poisson of the day, gratine something saumons (baked salmon in cheese). As for dessert, I shared a cranberry creme brulee (which turned into a raisin creme brulee miraculously) and fromage (cheese) with my friend. While I truly enjoy the creme brulee (because it is sweet), the fromage was too cheesy with lotsa sour fruits.



We continued our adventure, hopping into the orange line open top bus. After enjoying the scenery, we made a stop at Notre Dame. By that time, the sun had already set. We decided not to pay to see the gargoyles. Rather, we just walked around the church. We arrived just in time for the mass and had the pleasure of listening to some wonderful singing which we recorded by accident.

We ended the tour with a boat ride. Although we had to pay EUR10 for this ride, it was worth the money as we passed by some famous buildings and bridges on a cold, beautiful night. Although the ship is filled with tourists, it's still kinda romantic to just find a corner to enjoy the amazing view and the peacefulness of darkness.

Third day was rather unadventurous. We had to reach the airport by around 12pm and therefore did not have anymore time for sightseeing. We spent our morning looking for a nice cafe and we couldn't find a decent one!!! Sunday is seriously a lazy day here. What's with these people anyway???

Flying on Air France

I have only one comment on Air France. It was late the two times I had to get onto it. Based on this and the "friendliness" of the crew, I will not recommend this flight.

Nevertheless, the journey itself was amazing. My favourite part of flying is always the lift off. It felt so cool to be able to do that and each time I will wonder how is that possible. As the plane flew higher, we rose above the clouds. At some point, the plane dashed into the bed of clouds. That was when we had one of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. The view was white, a pure white. I almost thought we will see some care bears jumping from cloud to cloud. That gave me a rather wonderful feeling.

Throughout the while trip, I felt that it went quite well despite a few hiccups. We saw the things we wanted to see, we had fun, we took plenty of photos and some videos. No regret bout going there in such a short time though it was really tiring and too much of a pressure when I got back to face tonnes of unfinished work. Sortie.