Ticket America

Was browsing around wondering which country sell performances tickets the cheapest and ended up in Ticket America.

For someone who love arts, the first category I look for is definitely the Theaters series. Gosh Nutcracker, Mary Poppins, Les Miserables.. all the famous classics which are my favourite.. ok I have not watched Mary Poppins but is something I always wanted to watch too I guess. And Mary Poppins is showing in Melbourne right now too. So tempted!

Then I saw one of my favourite singer - Carrie Underwood having a concert too in USA for these 3 months. Nice!

Lastly having been in Melbourne for a month, I think I have taken some interest in sports too and was seeing the NFL tickets and Basketball tickets in their Sports section. I wonder how enthusiastic are the fans in USA as compared to the fans in Melbourne.

Interesting website worth to browse when one is bored!

Top Gear (UK)

Top Gear - UK version is highly hilarious. I remember watching it the first time with Thai gal and the invited guest was so humourous. For the second picture, I did not had the chance to watch that episode but reading it was just as interesting. It had Stig looking incredulous annoyed while the team took out everything (unnecessary in their definition including Stig too) just to make the car as light as possible. Imagine sitting on a plastic chair instead of a leather chair just to lessen the weight. Haha. And for a guy like Stig that is covered up from head to toe, being able to emit emotions via his posture was something I find remarkable. I certainly prefer Stig to Mr. Bean 100 times better.

The third picture is on Maserati. I remember seeing my first Maserati in SG at my ISS mate's wedding. And I did not know what was a Maserati then. Just that the car really stood out. And I thought it was his wedding car (sadly no). Then the guys with me keep saying, Maserati.. and I was like, what's that. Haha. I don't think I took a good photo of it though as it was nighttime and I did not bring my camera then either.

I still don't know how good a Maserati is. I just know I like it when I first saw it and I will never be able to afford it so I can forget about it haha.

Sigh I'm going to miss the UK version as starting this week, it is replaced by the OZ version (no surprise since this is where I am now.. hmm can I switch place with CL?? hahahahha)

Fake cigarettes

Katherine Heigl has tried everything to quit smoking, especially since becoming a mom last year, but had little success until she discovered the Smoke Stik.

The SmokeStik is an electronic cigarette that enables the user to absorb nicotine into their body but is free of carbon monoxide, tar, and the chemical carcinogens found in cigarettes and cigars.

"You blow out water vapor so you're not harming anyone around you and you're not harming yourself," Heigl, 31, told David Letterman Sept. 27, 2010. "I'm essentially humidifying the space."

Source:
Examiner.com

And yupz I happen to catch that show on TV too on one of those late nights where I stayed up stoning. I do that sometimes haha. Maybe I was doing the laundry, cannot remember. But I remember how fascinated David Letterman was on the SmokeStik too.

Image source: SmokeStik Online Shop

After that, I did not bother to do any research till French lady emailed me and mentioned that she is quitting smoking. Hurray! I do worry for her health as I was only with her for a short period in Manila but I saw her puffing way too much. She said her health is cleared for now but she is having difficulty in trying to quit completely still. I wonder if SmokeStik could help that.

Which reminds me of my ex-colleague W. He's going to be a father of 4, but since day 1 when I knew him, even before he is a father, he has not managed to quit smoking. Sometimes I really hope someone can ban smoking in the world. But I know it is impossible so I sincerely wonder, if maybe a new product like SmokeStik could at least lessen the impact on this environment?

Dedicated to all my smoker friends.

Faulpelz Cooking - Make pasta soup

I did a lazy way to cook my pasta.

I used the instant cream of chicken as my soup base so that I do not need to figure out the seasonings. Ok I know people complain MSG is high in such instant stuff but eh.. it used to be my staple in SSPL days too haha. At least this time round, I bother to put in pastas and chicken meat. I forgot to put in my carrots though haha.

Faulpelz Cooking - Make hollandaise sauce

Actually I have no idea what is Hollandaise sauce. I just wanted to eat my asparagus. From wiki, it says

Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk and butter, usually seasoned with lemon juice, salt, and a little white pepper or cayenne pepper. In appearance it is light yellow and opaque, smooth and creamy. The flavor is rich and buttery, with a mild tang added by the seasonings, yet not so strong as to overpower mildly-flavored foods.
Source: Wiki

So I tried to make something that I have no idea at all.. and well I failed haha. It wasn't creamy enough.. too watery. I don't feel like replicating it again though because too much egg and butter (I used margarine by the way) is in the ingredient list. I have to watch my weight as I am quite lazy to go gym at times.. especially when the weather is cold and I don't wish to go gym cos gym can be too boring for me.

I still wonder though, how does hollandaise sauce taste like? Hmm.. maybe I should try to order an eggs benedict the next time to find out how the hollandaise sauce really taste.

Faulpelz Cooking - Make Tang Yuan Dessert

I was missing tang yuan badly after visiting so many asian supermarkets and kept seeing tang yuan. Plus I might miss the Winter Solstice if I am coming back here Melbourne again. So when I first visited my now all-time favourite Asian supermarket - Laguna with Chef K, and she suggested tang yuan for dessert, I nodded without a moment's hesitation.

So how did we made our tang yuan dessert?
1. Buy microwaveable quick meal dumplings dessert.

2. Buy a packet of ginko.
3. Pour the contents and the ginkgo into microwaveable bowl.
4. Make hot.
5. Serve.

Haha. Simple right? Is faulpelz cooking afterall.
But I might try a more elaborate way of cooking the next round with ginger drink minus the ginkgo as it can be quite bitter if not chosen correctly.

Faulpelz Cooking - Make Poached Egg

A poached egg is an egg that has been cooked by poaching, that is, in water. No oil or fat is used in its preparation. Perfect for a lazy person like me.

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. The water should be at least five or six inches deep (the deeper the better).
2. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
3. When the water boils, add about a tbsp. vinegar for every pint or so of water. Taste to make sure the level is right. The vinegar should be barely noticeable.
4. Carefully crack one egg into a teacup or large ladle.
5. Twirl the water with your spoon as fast as you can to make a whirlpool.
6. Lower the teacup or ladle into the water and pour the egg into the eye of the whirlpool.
7. The egg white will coagulate in the water and turn white. Most eggs will take between two and three minutes for the white to cook but leave the yolk still runny. Remove the egg at this point with a slotted spoon or strainer.

Poached eggs are used in Eggs Benedict (a dish that consists of a half of an English muffin, topped with bacon or ham, poached eggs, and hollandaise sauce). Or you can just topped it on toast.

Acknowledgments:  Thanks to Thai gal for her guidance.

A Slice of Life - Creating Beauty

I like this article very much. Creating a beauty that you self-appreciated.
Lately xL was saying cooking is troublesome when you cook for more than one person and need to cater for that person's tastebuds. Which I totally agree that it is easier to just cook for yourself and whether it is nice or not nice, you will just dump it into your stomach. So that is self-appreciated beauty.

I'm currently quite moody as I cannot believed 45 days have passed and my Thai lady has flew back to Thailand. Sigh I miss her.. and her cooking.. and her touring.. :(
But oh well, I know it is time for her to go back and visit her mum too. 2 more weeks and I'm back too!

p/s: memories of her apartment etched in my memory...

BBQ in Spring time

Spring time is best for BBQ session!

And the yummiest stuff to BBQ in Melbourne spring is none other than Asparagus! Just wash it clean, remove the bottom, placed nicely on the BBQ pit, sprinkle some authentic Italian sea salt, grilled it till it has that BBQ texture and voila, it is ready for your taste buds!

BBQ session also include ready made salad like the tomato salad shown here made of the most delicious dressing comprising of olive oil, red wine, balsamic vinegar and a list of other ingredients that I cannot rattle any longer haha.

Daylight Savings Time

Many years ago, Doc tried to explain to me about DST too as she adjusted the clock. At that time, though I was curious why would people need to manually adjust the clock, I did not do any research.

But now that I'm in Melbourne and this is going to affect me, I start wondering how does this impacts me. My initial response was, that means I'm now 3 hours ahead of SG. Gosh... that suddenly sounds even further.

Then a friend said I get to sleep an hour more. But I kept thinking the logic, if I'm adding an hour, aren't I losing a hour instead. So I should sleep now right instead of blog. Cos I'm seriously lack of sleep already and am now suffering from a runny nose.

And then CL tells me that she is not affected. Then I realized DST affects not only specific countries but at different dates and times too. Oh and I asked her a stupid question on GMT and then remembered we visited Greenwich together and her GMT should be zero hahah.

And while reading http://www.webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/g.html, I found out a list of countries affected and how even the same country could implement DST on different time. Interesting...

p/s: Many days later, I realised the good thing about DST... I finally could leave office in daylight and slot in an evening jog, admiring the beautiful sunset along the way...