Overindulgance
POSTED AT 11:22 PM

2 buffets within the span of a week - a little overkill perhaps, but extremely enjoyable nonetheless. And of course, very draining on the wallet.

The first - Brazilian meat buffet at Sixth Avenue. I didn't really know what to expect of this one - I mean, what exactly is Brazilian cuisine, I don't really know - but at $40+ a pop it had high expectations to live up to.

And thankfully it didn't disappoint - the waiters made sure that my plate was hardly ever empty with a neverending supply of barbeque skewers stocked with chicken franks, beef, lamb, fish, chicken hearts, and even pineapples to wash down the protein and fat overdose at the end. Unfortuntely, there's only so much space you have inside you, and we weren't able to sustain our carnivorous streak for too long.

The second - Japanese buffet at Kuishin Bo. An old favourite which has proved irresistable again and again. I don't know why there is a sudden interest amongst my friends in buffets, but I do know better than to turn down such an invitation. We delighted in a repeat opportunity to stuff ourselves silly, and promptly went ahead to do just that, polishing off a huge serving of dessert while we were at it.

So now I'm broke and stuffed. A bad combination. On the bright side, pay day is only a week or so away!

Tempting Holidays
POSTED AT 11:28 PM

It's the middle of a pretty kind two weeks - Labour Day and Vesak Day cutting the week short by 20%, making it seem oh so much faster. It's a great feeling to be rid of the long, draggy work week, even if only momentarily.

Too bad that work is really starting to heat up now. NDP is drawing closer and closer, and that can only mean more and more work for us. It's becoming increasingly difficult to balance the two competing needs of NDP and operational training. Somewhere, something has to give, but at least we're trying our best to maximise both as long as we can.

My friend's made the best of the proliferation of public holidays to take a holiday; I'm sure he's now having a blast in Philadelphia on the other side of the world. How I wish I could afford to do something like this as well, but of course I could never get away for so long, and my leave is really too valuable to blow all on one overseas trip.

Last Friday saw the arrival of a letter from a long lost friend; it certainly was a pleasant surprise to come home to find the letter waiting for me from somebody whom I haven't spoken to in a really long time. It's nice that we're all trying to maintain contact in whatever way we can, and it really makes me happy to think about the old time we spent together in the past.

I've been trying to decorate my office for some time now, trying to add a more personal touch to my desk to make it more welcoming and homely. The obvious option would be to decorate it with photos, but I've been looking through my collection of photos and can't really find anything that I would want to put up. I don't really know what that means - perhaps nothing really holds much value to me anymore.

A couple of us were wandering around Clarke Quay yesterday looking for a suitable watering hole. In the end we settled ourselves in a chic place with great music, only to be told that there was a minimum order of 2 drinks/person. And my friends were already halfway through the cracker basket.

In the end it was decided that a quick getaway was in order, with a initial feint to the toilet. Totally embarrassing, simply ungracious and very rude but at $15 a pop, the drinks weren't tempting enough. So after that we settled down at Coffee Bean instead for their version of overpriced drinks.

A four day week awaits me; I await the weekend eagerly and desperately.

With or Without You
POSTED AT 12:26 AM

I am proud to report on the success of my baking escapade!

As we all know (or some, ignore), Mother's Day is just around the corner! And since it concided nicely with Vesak Day, I decided that my Mom was in need of a nice present from me to cheer her up. And what better way to express myself than a delicious chocolate cake - a homemade one at that!

So, after my intial plans were dashed by some last minute cancellations, I manage to find some other like-minded friends who were willing to join me on my baking adventure, and we set about baking pastries, pies and cakes for our individual purposes.

After a long day of hard toil, on the back of reassuring advice from Jas and Clara, and encouraging moral support from Ian, I present to you the fruit of my labour:





OK maybe it doesn't look like much, but I can assure you that it is really super scrumptious and the whole homemade look only adds to the authenticity of the sincerity! It also got a little squashed on the MRT ride back, for reasons which I will explain later.

In case you think it is as good an idea as I did, here's your chance to emulate my success:

(Source: A tearout from Women's Weekly and edited for my purposes)

1) Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease a 20cm baking pan and line it with baking paper.

2) Mix 200g of chocolate, 2 cups of castor sugar, 250g of butter and 1 cup of hot water in a saucepan and mix over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Let it cool for 20min.

2.5) (Don't bother to wash the saucepan at this stage, as much as this contradicts your natural tendency for cleanliness and hygiene. You will need it again in step 7. If other people kindly wash it for you, be prepared to feel bad about it.)

3) Sift out 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/4 cups of self-raising flour.

4) Whisk in the flour, 1/2 cups of cocoa powder into the mixture, followed by two lightly beaten eggs.

5) Pour the mixture into the baking pan and put into the oven.

6) Bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour, check back regularly until its done with the toothpick test.

7) Meanwhile, prepare the topping. Mix (another) 200g of chocolate and 1/2 cup of thickened cream into the saucepan over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Cool and throw into the fridge.

8) When the cake is done, take it out from the oven. Cool it for half an hour or so before removing it from the pan.

9) Take out the cooled topping and spread over the top of the cake. Prepare to enjoy.

10) Enjoy the fruit of your labour by giving it to someone you care about!

This is all written from memory, so I hope I didn't miss out anything.

Someone special is going to get a very delicious plum meringue pie for her birthday. Happy Birthday to you!

In other news, I gave up my seat on the MRT today to a most ungrateful recipient. Should have stayed put to protect the cake from external abuse.

The Left Path
POSTED AT 10:01 PM

There is something distinctly disatisfactory about everything at the moment. No matter how much I try to bury myself in FA Cup Football, work commitments, musical hobbies, Mother's Day celebrations, that nagging feeling doesn't go away; it leaves a bitter aftertaste that refuses to dissipate.

The computer system at my work place has packed it in; it's been shut down for whoever knows how long. I've come to realise just how technologically dependent we are. Without the computer we're really crippled - email's down, so that's a major form of communication gone awry; simple reports which were once a matter of printing out from a template have now become a major chore; all my documents, notes and other junk are locked away deep inside the heap of silicon which no longer serves an purpose anymore.

Hopefully it comes back online soon, because without it we really can't do work at all. Everything's at a standstill and I can only imagine the huge backlog of work slowly but surely building up in the background, waiting to pounce like a ruthless predator when everything finally comes back.

At least there's the Champion's League Final next week to look forward to. I'm living week by week now.

Hoo!!!!
POSTED AT 05:52 PM

This is funnier than Ask A Ninja! I didn't think it would be possible.

Favourite
POSTED AT 06:13 PM

(From Mark)

Some of my favourite albums.

Create your own Music List @ HotFreeLayouts!

Road Trip
POSTED AT 06:53 PM

A friend of mine is leaving today for a month-long backpacking sojourn to Europe and I can't help but feel envious. I really love travelling so this would be the ultimate adventure, but of course it's my friend that's going, not me.

Actually, on further thought, I realise that I'm not so envious about the trip that he is making than the opportunity that he has to actually go through with something so big that he wants to do - from planning all the way to actual execution. I don't know if I have the time, the nerve and the courage to actually put a dream like this into action, turning a concept idea into reality. Not now, at least. Hopefully that will change.