lavanderblues

Friday, February 23, 2007

a berrylicious chinese new year!

this post is rather backdated, considering that it's already the 6th day of the lunar new year today. but ah well, i've been busy attempting to study for next week's CAs, and enjoying the "festivities", or whatever little of it i have here.

the first day of cny was rather quiet, save for a surprise visit from the behind-house-neighbour's son which i shan't comment upon here (i think many of you would have already heard stories from me).

and so, my restless food-loving father suggested that we (the 3 of us) go for high tea at the ritz carlton. now, ive been to the high tea buffets here quite a number of times, and im constantly impressed by their inventiveness with their menus. every few months or so, they'd revamp the theme of the whole buffet, and out comes a whole new array of food and desserts. and they'd all conform to a similar theme or concept. the one that got us hooked last year was their chocolate theme - my dad the chocolate lover, naturally lapped it up like a baby. then there was the honey theme, which we avoided because we felt it'd be too sweet, and now, berries!

sweet, plump, juicy, tangy berries in all sorts of concoctions - homemade jam for the scones bursting with berry-goodness, tarts, cakes and pastries, trifles, a cute strawberry cupcake that i couldnt resist, homemade ice cream simply overflowing with the good stuff, even fresh ones for you to dip in the chocolate fountain they've got going there. many different types of berries were featured - the quintessential strawberry, fresh plump juicy blueberries, raspberries, and blackcurrants like i've never tasted before, there were even deep dark sweet cherries (which technically is a stone fruit and not a berry, but who really cares when its just so good).

the savoury stuff didnt disppoint either. butter poached lobster? seared tuna sandwiches, amazing fried balls with mushroom and other good things i didnt remember, scones with homemade jam and fresh cream, smoked salmon rolls with pickles and capers, really wonderful scallop "har gows" etc. im salivating now.

there was even a honey buffet, a whole section with about 12? (i didnt count) different types of honey, deep dark acacia, raw, infused with cinnamon, and many others i didnt particularly take note of. the thing that puzzled me most about this part of it was - what do you eat the honey with? save from simply licking them off the spoon, there didnt seem to be anything that i could have had to compliment it, or even any media for gastronomic tasting or delivery. i had to ask the chef, who gave me a pretty dubious answer (after a long hesitation might i add)- eat it with fruits (wouldn't it be super sweet?) or alone. ultimately i just decided that it was there to plump up the spread, and to make the whole thing seem more refined and experimental.

but they needn't have. with the elegant string quartet playing tunes from our favourite musicals, sipping tea (orange pekoe for me and camomile for mum) from fine bone china - notice the gorgeous intricate design that i couldnt help but admiring for extended periods of time, and the gracious service it was surely refined enough an experience for anyone.

my full and happy parents =)

- am amazed i did an entire post on the buffet experience itself, woah. more on the cny back in malaysia later!

lin~*
6:12 pm

Sunday, February 18, 2007

sharline's 21st

happy birthday sharline!!!

friday night - was sharline's 21st bday celebration, for the real big day today! it was a tasteful after dinner affair @ union bar with wonderful drinks (mojito!) and finger food, and great people =) i had lots of fun, albeit almost losing my voice shouting over the noise to carry on decent conversations, and it was just a wonderful party. she looked soooo gorgeous in red! her bf is soo sweet! crooning michael buble's fever, and organising everything for her =P haha.

anws happy cny too!

lin~*
11:57 am

Saturday, February 17, 2007

valentine part 2: island creamery =)

lin~*
6:03 pm

our hannabi valentine.

it was a fun vday dinner at hannabi, the lone table of 7 admist the sea of couples. heads craned to look at the dateless people as we made our way out of the restaurant. kudos to joel for eating the most - and for finishing up the stuff i cldnt finish. our literal "bin". who was disappointed in us that we didnt eat our max as we suggested a jaunt at island creamery after that for something sweet. and to xuan as well, who polished off a humongous plate of jap beans with disapproving looks from the guys who felt that it wasnt worth ur $ to fill yourself up so much with peas. buffets are for meat people!!! - according to them at least. i predict tt joel will get constipation for his fibreless diet.

it was fun, with guys being extremely engrossed reading cleo - looking out for hot girls probably. and the fried pufferfish starter complimentary from the restaurant. getting reminded halfway through the meal by bean's "joshua, if you're sick you probably shouldnt eat this sashimi. there's like probably a lot of flukes in there" - with everyone else being super stunned at her comment. and me choking on the slice of mackerel sashimi i just ingested. flukes. enough microb i say!

photos frm part II of the our dateless valentine up later!

lin~*
1:33 pm

Friday, February 16, 2007

lin~*
1:03 am

Thursday, February 15, 2007

honeycomb cake

spent the afternoon baking today. 3 honeycomb cakes! for ourselves, the neighbour, and msian relatives. took sooo much time, i got soo tired by the time i trudged to andrew's house to get my stuff at 7plus.

but still, it was a pleasure to stand at the sweltering hot stove, stirring sugar and water until it caramelises and gives off this really gorgeous aroma. and mixing cake batter is always therapeutic, throwing together flour, sugar, egg, butter and in this case, condensed milk too, getting your fingers dirty with sticky gooey goodness. and the happiness when i slice open the steaming hot cake, fresh from the oven and see the pretty holey pattens formed by the baking soda - hence its name; honeycomb cake (indonesians call it Bolu Sarang Semut).

and because i was making such a huge lot of cake, (6x the recipe!), 12 eggs were involved, and i had great fun practicing how to crack them one handedly! and this photo was taken with one hand cracking an egg, and the other holding the camera to take the shot!
talk about multi tasking eh?

lin~*
10:26 pm

love.

happy valentine's day!

it was indeed a very happy valentine's day for me, as the surprises (or not-so-surprises) of the day slowly unveiled.
i received this darling piece of jewelery in the post some time last week, from lawrence in the states. only opened if after midnight on 14th feb though, with him looking on in the (so very screwy) webcam. i say it was screwy because the connection was BAD. and at regular junctures - usually after i peel off the next piece of wrapping, silly skype disconnects, and i have to wait fervently to reconnect again. it was just -so- irritating.

thanks dear, for this gem you so lovingly picked out admist the jumble of the vast cyberspace and sent it here to me where it currently adorns my neck.

a second surprise was that i now have my very own url! not the normal ___.blogspot.com. no. i have my very own www.___.com! courtesy of lawrence too! i'll be working (very slowly) to design this new place, and eventually will shift this blog over there. very slowly because although i've already conceptualised the design, there's a whole new programming language to learn - php, in order to code this new place. no more puny html. php here i come! expect it only within the next few months though, because there's the need to study for many painful examinations in the meantime too. gah.

wonderful hannabi jap buffet and island creamery at night on vday with cherished friends. more on that on a later post.

lin~*
5:58 pm

Sunday, February 11, 2007

south buona vista road duck rice

brief hiatus after 4hs of cofm tutorials and another 4 gruelling hours camping out in the medicine library, to eat duck rice with em, hon, joel, and eugene sometime last wk. succulent pieces of duck meat marinated in a gorgeous savoury sauce, accompanied with rice, lime juice, sambal kangkong and nice braised tofu.

lin~*
10:50 pm

happy early 21st birthday fiona dearest!

her dinner party at the YMCA metropolitan hotel last night was an extremely sweet and happy occasion, spent reminiscing about old times with good old friends, looking at the photo album of fiona's life she compiled, teasing people about pretty girls, and of course getting to know new other-halves of good old friends =)
i almost cried when her friends sang songs for her so beautifully, and when she gave her mum a thankyou present, which was so exceptionally special.

it was a wonderful night (even if i didnt get to go to the balcony with the rest after that), and im so glad that a good friend who's been with me for about 8yrs now has blossomed into such a beautiful young adult. gorgeous! =)

and here's a rather special photo - 3 huilin(g)s together! we 3 were seated at the same table, so it was all very confusing that when someone called huiling, all of us wld like reply. hahahaha. funny. the 3 huilin(g)s in our batch in rgs, who all somehow or another became fiona's close friends =)

lin~*
10:08 pm

cny is coming!

u just know cny is coming, when u
spend 45mins stirring pineapple jam in a ceramic pot over a sweltering hot stove;
when your mum makes delicious pineapple tarts (better than you've tasted anywhere else before - crisp exterior, followed by a meltingly gorgeous interior with the tangy sweet pineapple jam blending superbly with the warm, buttery outer biscuit coating - so oh my god wonderful);
when u spend a saturday morning tying red pipe cleaners on all the plants in the house;
when you have to wait till 8pm in sch for mum to pick u up because she had to go to the flowergarden to buy new yr plants;
when u hear yucky dong dong chiang music in all the shopping centres;
when there's more and more goodies to eat =)

lin~*
10:04 pm

post genetics + pictures taken with new camera phone

pricey lunch at food republic, vivo city. imagine $6 for a plate of nasi lemak! $7 for a measly small tiny bowl of bak ku teh. rip offs man. but we still had fun.

gorgeous dogs that melt your heart. at the fantastic pet shop on the roof of vivocity.

horny dogs who cant get enough of each other, with rouan yelling out a commentary for anyone to hear. how embarassing. haha.

triple9 shot anyone =P (according to joel at least)

funky shades at river island.

lin~*
9:30 pm