oh jus realised i added peoples' blog links without asking for permission first in my haste to respond to yanwei's urge to link all IDiots of the world.. ahhaa

So i apologise here.. hope nobody has serious objections k? Thanks! (:

okay chatted to my housemate chengwei about my pukey situation and i tink its probly due to too many things happening that r out of my control and beyond expectations so im feeling deeply disorientated now.

i need to get in control (or maybe space out some more) soon!

Im feeling queasy in the tummy, feeling pukish, confused, uncertain, angry, sensitive, sleepy.

Is this homesickness?

Or is it just my cod fish dinner last night?

(GMT +08:00 -07:00 + 01:00 = ???)

As if to confuse my already confused body clock, there was the daylight saving time switch on 24th march saturday(i wonder how they decide the date. based on no. of sun light hours?) so now im only 6 hours instead of 7 hours behind singapore time.

The whole of europe or whoever is affected have to all unanimously switch their clocks one hour later so they could enjoy one more hour of sunlight. I call this "The Big Bluff Conspiracy". (alongside with The Other Conspiracy where they close all shops at 6pm so everyone stays home and the anti-gardeners pluck off all flowers and make all grass die so everything will look as usually grey) Everyone has agreed to bluff themselves. Weird.

Now I have to wake one hour "earlier" to go to school. shitipie.

Tribute to a dear old friend......

10 years of laughter, tears & bitching = a longgggg lasting friendship.

Happy Fantabulous 22nd Birthday Jano Retardo!

P.s/Doesn't that bring back some memories about sec 1? haha
P.p.s/Nvm about the wrong date here, we all know i remember your birthday (:
p.p.p.s/wanted to put your photo here but i cld only find your leggy brown dress photo (meant for me to QC)in my laptop and i dun really wan any unwanted queries abt whose nice legs those belong to.. so.. yeah ahha ;D

MUACKEROOOOS, xian (:

tell the time by guessing the hour.

turn back time cuz the lens is gone.

the watch of a freespirited mind.

Alsjeblieft! There you go!

occasionally, i still cannot believe that im 13hours away from home. netherlands is starting to feel ...familiar. it feels like i can possibly live here forever. this is a weird feeling. sometimes there is saddness.. i am growing attached to this place, this bedroom(i actually like it more than my real home one--cuz usually its messy ha) and my new friends...

i gave a farewell gift(spongebob kindersurprise egg) to one of my favourite dutch friend, willem, after our assignment had ended. imagine giving farewell gifts after finishing GEM 2101 Changing lanscapes.. i wouldnt have done that in normal circumstances ahha

but i was feeling kinda sad i wouldnt have anymore of his "Wahoo!" outbursts and silly little dance. he has been a great friend..and he's entertaining on msn and is a good online dutch-english translater. haha. and i wun see him or other things i have been seeing 1feb to 20jul ever again... I think.

hmm.

p.s/a cute dutch boy plucked yellow bloems for me by the roadside today. and i really appreciated him walking alongside with me all the way from school though he had a bike. marc, dank je! (: jij weet hoe je mensen vrolijk maakt!

rare treats (:

curry cupnoodles YUMmm!

Just for you, jane. (:

P.s/Im abducted by aliens! really! That's me in captivity. ;P

What do you do with knife and pot besides cooking?

Desperate measures!
Problem: Pot handle became loose.
Solution: Use the knife tip as a screw driver!

Poohmama, kk and frd arrive in Eindhoven!

20March


The first good meal we ate out in eindhoven(turkish kebab takeaways dun count heh) to welcome the germanygang. At this italian eatery in the city centre. This cantomello lasagna is GREAT! (its normal lasagna fillings but stuffed in a cylindrical tube form). 7.50 euros. worth it i tink. The waiter uncle(real italian) is lovely too! He drew out food when we asked what they were on the menu. ahah. cute. Ice cream with cone only 80cents! bet its cheaper than italy hahahaa.

Only evidence that the germanygang has been here. poohmama, pass on the pics! (:

Steenstraaters cook at Daniel's...

18March

Now you see it....

Now you don't...

Just when you think you can't finish a whole heap of pasta that is the same portion as 4 other guys, your plate is clean. Think Umit's pasta got standard (:

18 March

Nutella + bread+ chopped nuts + cococereal in milk = wholesome lazy sunday brunches


nutella + spoon + chocolate melk = sinful lazy sunday treats

:D

UniquelySingaporeRecipes - Rojak

Ingredients
1 small cucumber, cut into wedges
2 slices pineapple, cut into wedges
½ small bangkwang (turnip), peeled and cut into wedges
1 cup bean sprouts, blanched
A bunch kangkong (water convolvulous), blanched (It's ok if dun have this)
2 pei tan (century eggs), peeled and quartered (It's ok if dun have this)
½ ju her (cured cuttlefish), cut into pieces (It's ok if dun have this)
1-2 fried yu tiao (Chinese dough sticks)
2-3 taupok (fried bean curds) (It's ok if dun have this)

Dressing
2 heaped tbs black bean paste(I used sweet black/seafood sauce to replace it)
Hot water to soften(It's ok if dun have this)
2-3 red chilli, pounded (or use 1 tbs bottled sambal olek)(It's ok if dun have this)
1-2 tbs sugar or to taste
Assam (tamarind) water using 1 tbs tamarind paste and ¼ cup water
Juice from 1 lime/lemon
½ cup roasted peanuts, chopped finely
Tip of a bunga kantan (pink ginger bud), grated finely(It's ok if dun have this)

Method
In a bowl, soften the black prawn paste first with a few spoonful of hot water. Add chilli, assam water, sugar and lime juice to the softened prawn paste, stirring all the while to blend into a thick sauce. Finally, add the chopped nuts and bunga kantan, Taste to adjust seasoning. There should be a balance of salty, sour and sweet.

Cut the cucumber, pineapple and bangkwang into bite-sized wedges. Blanch the bean sprouts and kangkong in a pot of boiling water or microwave then on high for two minutes. Place yu tiao and taupok in an oven on low 100 ° C heat for 10 minutes to make them crispy. (I roasted my youtiao over the stove) Cut into small pieces.

Assemble the salad by placing the vegetables into a bowl, followed by the pei tan and ju her. Top with crispy yu tiao and taupok. Dress with peanut and black bean paste, mix well and serve.

Taken from cookbook titled “Singapore Heritage Food” by Sylvia Tan

yw, hope this helps (:

Fried fish soup! Yumms!;D

Inspired by my success with rojak and the leftovers from the overly salty fried fish snack i ate in the afternoon... i made Fried Fish Soup! OMG. still cant believe i managed to do that! ^_______^ Remember I dreamt about eating a very expensive $10 fried fish soup one day.. but even then it was worth it. ever since, i had that craving. Just wished I had shaoxing jiu, XO and ginger with me. (:

LAYS Paprika is evil.

3 giant packets in 3 days.. not a good sign.


surely this will lead to my downfall

Lentepositivo: Spring induced positive vibes!

12 March
Zonneschijn (Sunshine)- Thanks to Spring - must have done some magic on us because the group all decided to abandon our laptops and go outdoors to do some reading. Sun, glorious, sun. We found some other groups sitting on the grass to do their group discussion.


Marc finding little flowers and a dry spot to sit

Marc stringed these in a bunch..hey yanwei i tink its the same flower u saw!(:

My 3 Hunky groupmates. lol. Auke, Jeffery, Marc (Front to Back)
We were uncomfortable on the benches, couldnt find a dry spot on the grass, so we went to sit on a bridge across a little river instead.


P.s/Lentepositivo: Spring induced positive vibes! was something i kop from Dom.. i love the way it sounds! (:

So far so goede

its been a while since i updated anything - unstable net at home is rather a put off.

1 month and a half into living in nl.. life is getting better.

so this is what i have been doing...

#1 Went clubbing again to see how isit really like(the time i went during carnaval doesnt count)
#2 Ate at neighbour's house enjoying her yummy instant lasagna and garlic bread(i made green bean soup!)
#3 Shopping(again) in city centre at H& M, Zara and other shops after school by myself. Bought new clothes there and at my local street.
#4 got myself a school sports centre card at 44 euros..which entitles me to join any lessons (tink california fitness but more range)..so far went for salsa..its alright cuz its alot of ppl in a big gym class..so u can look silly.. next im so gonna try out capoeira..
#5 Tried to learn some simple dutch(i can count 1 to 8) and said "He's a dick." in dutch.(Got tricked by evil groupmates)
#6 Went for international students' potluck dinner where we had to make our traditional dishes


i made rojak! im surprised and proud of myself! i found youtiao!!!

...eating...

some waffle thing i found n i peng in my hsemate's toaster, almost tastes like those waffle u find in sg cake shops, usually packed for teatime snack for school

giant salads for weekend brunches


Group dinners on saturday nights(usually something sinful-its instant pizza this time round)

Nightmare on Steenstraat

11 March 2007
Tonight, Noah's Ark made 3 Steenstraaters crazy. lol.

What's the President cookin'?

My typical dinner (when its not potato chips or bread)

Rice + Soya Sauce chicken + Broccoli + Mushrooms


Fried rice! Look ma, all food groups covered! Rice (Carbo), Mushroom(Vegg!), Canned sausages(Protein!), Egg(Protein!), Apple juice(vitamins)


Unhealthy instant soups made instantly healthy with real veggie + canned sausages.

Yes, I believe i can cook. ^________^



OOps. Hard boiled eggs gone wrong. Resulting in an oddly shaped egg.

A sign that spring is coming?

Building our little shed

5MArch
Sometime around 3ish pm during project meeting, Marc went crazy about our inconducive project environment and began to do something about it. The noise, random laughing , people walking in and out is getting to him. rounded up Auke and Jeffery and me to..

..grab cardboards. Jackets hanging thing. Tables. Duct Tape. anything that can form a barrier around us. Basically create an anti-social environment for a group who's working on a socially interactive product for autistic children. Yeah, right.

Aint we proud of the little roof we made for our area?


Our Bob the Builder(Marc) is working hard.

BAKED RICE!

4March A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

The deliciously delicious (FATTENING!) baked rice me (Assistant Chef) and chengwei (Head Chef)attempted. Umit was the Oven Chef for the day. Nver mind our baked rice look like pasta in disguise! Its Sinfully Right! :D Thank goodness for the microwave some previous tenants left behind!

Bottom most layer--Rice
2nd layer -- potatoes
3rd layer --Chicken Tonight Tomato/Mushroom sauce with real mushrooms and brocoli and canned sausages!
4th layer -- Cheese (the kind tt came in a pie shape!)
+
Some power instant champoeign soep with real champoeigns(mushrooms) (i dunno if i spelt correctly)


Joyce The Potato Chef came along for dinner (:

Uh Oh, You're in Trouble!

Thank goodness im in netherlands and just given a warning. if its back home, I better be ready to part with $10K or smt.

Phew!

More on the Barcelona trip...
23 Feb: The Cathedral

OOps, smt wrong with the colour in photoshop but quite an interesting effect(:


Regretted not filming longer of this amazing lady selling her music at the entrance of The Cathedral. Angmoh playing yang qin! Almost wanted to part with 15euros for her cd. hai mayb shld haf bot it.

24-25 Feb
The largest grandest construction site -- La Sagrada Familia


Poor tortoise has been supporting the weight of la sagrada. Here comes I…and Kitty! As if its not tortured enough. Lol.


Why are there cracks in the walls of La sagrada Familia?

Looks like someone has been chewing on them! Ahhh, so that's how La Sagrada Familia taste like.




How can anyone look THIS happy walking down 275 steps of spiral staircase? The elevator only goes up but not down at la sagrada haha.

Lovely 10.30 buffet lunch(Mayb not really lovely but we took all we can anyway!) Desserts not in photos yet thou haha. Those going La sagrada familia--jus check out this shop its by the left side of the building.


25 Feb: Parc Guell
This one's for you, drey.. (: Lovely jazz/bossanova(?) music at parc guell..really romantic..


more of parc guell laters(:

3 March
Tonight I was very lucky to witness two phenomenons at the same time, namely the moon eclipse which does not occur that regularly (the last was 2 and a half yrs ago)... …


*The giraffe in South-east of Netherlands felt cheated that it was taking place so slowly resembling just like a permanent dark cloud cover.. Somewhere 10min away from the giraffe, a royalty is sipping her sparkling mineral water and looking out of her Marconilaan window. A lamb just a little north of Denmark went out in the cold to seek Mr moon but sadly it was covered by the stubborn clouds.


The frog (and maybe the bear too) was determined to seek out Mr Moon in somewhere North-west of Netherlands.

And the other phenomenon was…...

my housemate Umit cooking. and valiantly without armed with oil, garlic, onions, pepper. (for the first time! And maybe the last! Rare sight in a hundred years! AHAH)



Tomatoes, Brinjals and Chicken! It’s interesting to note Turkish cooking sprinkle abit of oil at the top of the contents the last, unlike Chinese cooking when it is added the first.



P.s/ Note the laptop in the kitchen corner. He was voipstunting his mother on the recipe and how to work in a kitchen without causing an explosion. Boys never know how to turn on the stove properly; they ignore the little graphic which tells you which button to which stove – in fact chengwei thought they were little ‘pattern designs’ on the stove, while Umit randomly turn on the gas and aiming fire to the wrong stove! Pengs.)

But I suppose Mums know best cuz it smells good (had to simmer for 30min acc to Mother Umit) and I almost felt hungry again.

However, we started to smell something not very optimistic.


Me and chengwei were worried that the burnt outcome would scar Umit for life and put him forever on a beer and kebab diet so we decided to advise him on how to wash a badly burnt pot (: