winter

 socks loves getting comfortable right next to the heater.

 or using us as human warm cushions.

this was a yummy steak with caramelized onions and brussel sprouts with a verjuice reduction sauce at Blue Skies restaurant on the docks. very yummy...but...i donno if it's worth the $33 price tag! that much could buy nearly a week's worth of groceries for one person.

fish head meehoon

 I got this at the sandy bay korean mart today, for $1.70 [approx what you'd pay for a single serving of Bulla ice cream from Coles] it's a korean [or japanese?] ice cream dumpling, which consists of a mochi skin [chewy, sweet and flavoured with powdered green tea] and filled with vanilla ice cream and walnut pieces. delicious! if that description wasn't enticing enough, here's the ad on youtube. anyway it's just interesting for a change if you've always had mainstream ice cream.

After church today we made this seafood meehoon [rice noodle] soup which is a Chinese Malaysian lunchtime meal consisting of thin rice vermicelli in a creamy sourish broth with salted vegetables and deep fried fish head pieces. it's nice having a hot soupy meal on a cold winter's day. it's one of my favourite Malaysian meals. Traditionally it's made with deep fried crispy fish head, which is full of bones which I don't like. So, we've made ours with marinara mix [bite sized pieces of white fish, salmon, mussels, prawns and calamari rings] instead.
Below, the pickled mustard greens which go into the broth. I love using a cleaver to cut everything, instead of having multiple sized knives around.

 Tomato wedges and spring onions add flavour to the broth as well.

 Chinese cabbage which I got at Salamanca fruit market for just $3!

 Boil it all up with chicken stock, ginger and sesame oil. Add the seafood pieces near the end of cooking since there's nothing worse than overcooked mussels!

 Soak the rice vermicelli in water before adding it to the broth.

 Add some evaporated milk [or cream] just before eating and there you have it!

This is probably not a very good recipe to follow, so if you want proper instructions, go here.

food...homemade and otherwise

 it's been awhile! but i've not been that inspired to blog. nowadays with so many more interesting blogs out there, i feel like i dont have anythong worthwhile to contribute to this sea of blog posts.

 anyway, above is a caramel cup i had at a cafe in campbelltown. we stopped by here on our way to Launceston. It was nice -  i think, a shortcrust base, with some top n fill caramel in the centre? and white chocolate on top.

 this was the blandest pasty i've ever had in my life! this is what makes people make derogatory comments about English food. it doesnt have to be this bad...surely....

 This burger that the hubby had wasn't too bad though. you can't go wrong with bacon.

 a blue cheese and ham pizza i made using an instant pizza base recipe from Jamie Oliver where you put self raising flour, oil, water and salt in a food processor and roll it out! no yeast or kneading involved. then it's cooked on a stove, then under the grill.

a pecan slice from baker's dozen [ a Launceston bakery chain]

some views of my daily life

 Clifton beach - from my colleage's backyard. it's stunning! and just 30 mins from the city. This ocean beach is a lot rougher than the water at river beaches. and the tourists don't know about it.

 cremorne beach in the afternoon

 not a soul in sight! how beautiful.

 in the horizon is the tasman peninsula.

back in suburbia, this was taken from our bedroom window

may musings

 I haven't been able to think of anything interesting to blog about, and now i think that I'd enjoy reading about other's everyday lives because it's so real, so true, so unpretentious. We've enough media/reading material out there describing a fantasy world where everyone looks perfect, with makeup on the moment they wake up.
I think what's "real" is harder to find and when found, looks amateurish to most people perhaps?

 anyway, forgive my lack of profressional photography equipment. this is all i could come up with yesterday with my cheap samsung camera. we had a walk down Fossil Cove at Blackman's bay and were rewarded with  beautiful layered rocks amidst crashing waves.

 the crashing waves only started later though....

if you wanted to see better photos of Fossil Cove, look here

Isnt tasmainia beautiful? 

the view from our balcony

it's freezing today, but not as cold as it is on the mountain as can be seen!

a library list

A patient I visited today said I had such a gorgeous "Chinese" look, and that she just loves Chinese people. I've had that said to me a few times before and it's intriguing how people perceive me here. In Melbourne there were asians everywhere but here I seldom remember that I'm often the only asian person a lot of people meet in their daily lives. It only occurs to me when someone points it out in that manner, and I suppose they might think i'm rather, "exotic"? Hehe. I love learning about other cultures, because it's infinitely interesting. Life would be boring if there were only one culture to enjoy. In our kitchen we've got worchestershire sauce, mirin, gochujang, curry powder, Shaio Hsing wine, pol sambol, vegemite and 2 types of pesto.

Anyway, I thought a list of things one borrows from the library may indicate what they're interested in, so here's mine at the moment:

16 May 2011	Nigella feasts. Disc 1 [videorecording].
16 May 2011	Warship [videorecording] : a history of war at sea.
16 May 2011	Ancient Egypt [videorecording]
16 May 2011	A guide to tasting Tasmania /
16 May 2011	Know your cat : understand how your cat thinks and behaves /
16 May 2011	Discover Tasmania : your guide to a complete Tasmania experience
16 May 2011	RAN. Disc 1, episodes 1-3 [videorecording] : remote area nurse.
17 May 2011	Who framed Roger Rabbit? [videorecording]	DVD
18 May 2011	How to instantly connect with anyone : /
24 May 2011	Middle Eastern cookery /
24 May 2011	Puddings
24 May 2011	Made from scratch : discovering the pleasures of a handmade life /
24 May 2011	The thrifty cookbook : 476 ways to eat well with leftovers /
25 May 2011	Small space style /
25 May 2011	Kosher cooking : delicious recipes for the Jewish home /