Easter Sunday Feast!

I mentioned that I'd update more often and I'm keeping to my word (so far). Today is Easter Sunday and we've got a feast planned for the weekend. Yesterday, Thong (my housemate) made vietnamese dinner. We had vietnamese pancakes, beef salad and prawns. All vietnamese by a vietnamese. And it was yummy.

And today, it was my turn.
So, I made tacos, cauliflower gratin and Caramel Apples. Sounds yummy ey? IT IS :)

For the tacos, we just bought the mix, beef, taco shells and taco sauce. I chopped onions, tomatoes, lettuce and cabbage for the toppings.


After that, I fried 500grams of minced beef in a pan. Once it starts to brown, I added 3/4 cups of water and the seasoning mix for tacos. Fried for a further 10 minutes and it's done. Looks something like this.


We bought a couple of sauces too. Sour cream, nachos sauce and taco sauce.

For nachos, I laid it on a baking tray, sprinkled tasty cheese on top and popped it into the oven to bake and melt the cheese. This is how it ended up.


Moving along, I made Cauliflower gratin cause I thought we'd needed some veges after so much meat. So I bought one large cauliflower and broke it up into bite size florets. Then I boiled it in water for a couple off minutes till it cooks. I transferred it out into a bowl of iced water to cool it completely. Then I let it dry.

Melted butter into a saucepan, whisked flour into it and cooked it over medium heat, stirring.

It becomes this thick dry mixture. I remove it from the heat and then gradually whisk in milk until it becomes smooth. I stir it over low heat till it bubbles and thickens. Then I put in a cup of tasty cheese until it melts and becomes very smooth. I add a little salt and pepper to season.

I put the cauliflower into a baking dish and then I drizzle the sauce evenly over the cauliflower. I sprinkle tasty cheese over and bake for 15-20 minutes.



After baking, this is what cauliflower gratin looks like. Yummy.


The best part of making a meal: Dessert. Sweet, tasty, yummy.

I got 6 apples which were cut into wedges. I put sugar into the saucepan and the sir it until it dissolves. This one was really tricky. I have never made caramelised apples before. So I didn't know how it should look like. After the sugar dissolved and became pale golden, I took it away from the heat. I think I was supposed to let it cool a little but I poured in the thickened cream immediately. It just spoiled everything. My caramel hardened and got stuck at the bottom of the saucepan. Terrible. I was like whattttttttttt? Shitttttttttttt!!! Determined to make it work, I put that into the sink and started a new one. This time, it had to get it right. Because I only had enough cream to make a second one. I dissolved the sugar and everything went well. Then after I took it away from the heat, I made sure I poured in the cream carefully. Very slowly. Little by little. And it worked! Thank goodness. After that, it was easy. Add vanilla extract, cinnamon stick and apples. Cook until apples are tender.



After that, I let it cool while we were having dinner. To make it superbly yummy, make sure you have ice-cream and chocolate shavings.




It was a really good easter feast. After this weekend, it's all work for me. Here are more pictures.

the chef and her work!

Till the next massive cookout,
I hope ya'll had a great Easter too =)

p/s: I gained an hour today cause daylight saving ended. I'm now two hours ahead from home.

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Two more days and I start my new job as a Marketing Assistant at Vitality Brands! Wohoo... Can't wait. Very very very excited about it, but nervous too. I mean, my first actual full-time job after a million years of studying.

Since my only responsibilities now are working,working and erm... working, I've decided to try as many recipes as I can from the recipe books that I bought from Malaysia. I have more time on my hands to cook, so I'm gonna try a new thing every week. The reason: I watched Julie and Julia two weeks ago. So inspired. So last week, I tried a fish dish called 'Fish with Coconut and Spices'. I bought fish fillets from the market and had everything else at home. One mistake I made was that I got fillets which were too thick. But it turned out quite alright. Was abit too hungry and ate immediately after I finished cooking, so no pictures.

Just last week, I made 'Chinese beef and asparagus with oyster sauce'. Super easy, super fast and super yummy. This one, I managed to snap a picture.

I know it doesn't look that great, but it was nice. Good enough to eat!


On Thursday was my last day teaching at uni. Kinda sad that I was leaving uni for good. No more tutoring. No more fun times. No more working twice a week. But while I was going to the office to hand in my hours of work form, I saw this on the wall. It brought a huge SMILE to my face!
CLICK on the picture to see what the fuss is all about.


I was sooooooooooooooo happy. Wheeeee! My name on the wall at uni. Hahahaha. I know la. show off. But still. It's an achievement. And I'm very proud of it =D


The boys are watching football and it looks kinda interesting. Heard it's a good match. Will go take a shower and watch the match while painting my nails.
Will update more about my new job/life real soon.


Till the next one,
Happy Easter everyone! Enjoy your easter egg!

Jean's Graduation!!

Jean's back in Malaysia and she posted up her graduation pictures on her fb.
I just had to steal it and re-post it here, cause she looks great in a graduation gown.


Her hood was a bright yellow. and her graduation bear had the same coloured hood too!

jean in her new hair-do, yellow hood and me with a bad-hair-day

definitely deserves a thumbs-up!

jean, vicky and unidentified friend. (i don't know her)


Looking at her graduation pictures, I can't wait till my ceremony. It's on the 19th of May. Another month an a half to go. But so so so so excited about it. Mom and sis are coming too!! Looking at the pictures, I must note down to get a haircut before my graduation..


Till the next one,
Have a good week cause easter's around the corner.
Whee to public holidays (cause I start work in exactly 6 days!)

TGIF

I'm not technically enjoying it now, (about it being a friday) but I know come april, I'd be loving my Fridays cause it's a sign that the weekend is near!
Time flies and it's a Friday again.
Updates for the week:

Jean graduated! Wheee... On Thursday at 10am at Union Hall, Bundoora (sounds like a wedding announcement). I wish I could have been in the hall to see her receive her scroll, but I HAD to teach/work. But we got a couple of pictures together before the ceremony and I'll post em up as soon as I get them from her.

In more not-so-exciting news, Jean's leaving for Malaysia this afternoon. She's on her way to the airport now for her flight at 5pm later. I wish she didn't have to go back. Melbourne feels different without her around. Nevertheless, fingers crossed that she'll be back here in July.

Just a couple more updates about my new job:
I start on the 6th of April, after the long Easter weekend. Working hours: 8.30-5.30 with an hour of lunch in between. That's not too bad. But come winter, it'll be freezing at 7 in the morning when I have to leave for work. I'm so very very excited about the new job. There's loads to do and loads to learn there so I'm really looking forward to it. The job AND the money of course.

Since I'm not technically working full-time yet (I only teach at uni twice a week), I've been trying to keep up with my "tv-freak' label. Since last year, I haven't had time to watch the tv shows that I used to. One Tree Hill, Gossip Girls, Grey's Anatomy and Friends (again) just to name a few. So since I have some time on my hands, I've decided that I better start watching now or I'd be seasons behind everyone else. Since DVDs are only a dollar on Tuesdays (movie days), I've been renting movies and the all-time-fav Gossip Girls and How I Met Your Mother.
I know I watch alot of tv, but hey, life's short and when you've got extra time on your hands, there's no harm in watching a couple hours of tv. =D

Just in case you think I watch too much tv and I'll become stupid/dumb sooner than you think, I still read. Just finished an old book "Just Friends" by Robyn Sisman. Starting on 'Can you hear the nightbird call' by Anita Rau Badami in a bit. Any suggestions for a good book?

Till the next one,
Have a fun/exciting weekend out
and have a safe flight jean. will miss you.

Updated: Now up and running

Hi everyone. Sorry about the lack of updates. I never seem to have time to update when I'm back in Malaysia for holidays. I don't know if it's the weather or what. But now I'm back in Melbourne, just in case you didn't know. Got back here the first week of March. As usual, the 'parting' moment was hard. It's always hard to leave home, knowing that it'll be a long time before I'm back there again. I was home sick for the next couple of days. Missed home, my mom sis and grandma, and home cooked food. But all's good now. I've settle back into the Melbourne lifestyle and gotten used to doing all the chores again. ugh.

Since I got back, I've been busy busy busy. Applying for my Graduate Visa just right before my student visa expires. I've also been applying for jobs like crazy. I'm on seek.com everyday looking for something that I'd like to do everyday for the next year. That was HARD. There are so many jobs available, but barely any that would suit me. It was either something I wasn't interested in, or something totally out of my field. The transition period between completing studies and getting a job is really stressful. And mind you, I'm not the only one who thinks so. Eeling's looking for a job herself too. And we talk about wanting 'this and that job' sooooo much.

Thankfully I've got great news! I was offered a job that I really really really really want. After three interviews, I start after Easter holidays. I'm so excited about it. I'm finally EMPLOYED. No longer having to worry about paying the rent and utilities. It's such a relieve. So I've got another week to relax and of course teach at uni and I'll start my new job! Wheee!!!


I'll update soon. With more interesting news. Fingers crossed.

Till then,
be happy for me! haha. I'm EMPLOYED!!
and have a good week ya'll

Big foot

I'm waiting for pictures from hunlin's camera/laptop before I can properly update about eeling's trip here in Melbourne. Which reminds me, I haven't even updated about my Sydney trip.. which was wonderful!

I was going through my pictures and I found these.
Hunlin and I needed new flip flops for summer cause our old ones gave up on us already. And we didn't really need em over winter. So we went to Jety Surf on Bourke Street Mall to get ourselves a pair of Havaianas flipflop each. I got a brown one, the same colour like the one I had before cause I think brown suits me. He got a black one with green lining. He likes green all of a sudden.

After deciding on our colours and sizes, we went to the counter to pay. They packed up both our pairs and handed us THIS.


Apparently, we get one free for every purchase of two pairs of Havaianas. We asked for a green one but yellow was all they had left.

Since they didn't have a bag big enough to fit this thingy, I had to carry it all the way back to our place. It was a 15 minute walk back, so you can imagine the stares we had. But it was all good. It was a hot and sunny day then, so it was kinda alright looking like that on the streets of Melbourne.

It was a huge flip flop.
comparable to the height of our fan
definitely not my size.

There were also some photos of 'Olivia helps with Christmas' by Myers on Bourke Street Mall too. It's this thing that Myers put up every year over Christmas, with a short story and moving thing-ys.
The picture is really dark because we were there at night. If you're planning to check it out in the day, its really difficult to take photos thanks to the crowd.

Olivia the Pig is trying to help with Christmas .

Till the next one,
enjoy the rest of the week