My cooking exploration 1

April 2010

Carrot Cake

I really like carrot cake so much. But I am always lazy to make something with powder. If I really want to make it, most probably I would do it at hometown, with my dad assisting me as I really hate cutting carrots.

Nan yu stew mixed vegetables

One of my favourite dish because of the glass noodles, fu zuk and "wan yee".
Soya bean mee shua

I ate soya bean pan mee once at puchong and I actually found it quite interesting and tasty. Of course, it is not sweet. I made it using sugar-free soya bean and put some salt at the end.

Mashed Potato sandwich

This one took a lot of effort and time. As you know, potatoes are hard. I first boiled the potatoes, mashed them, put some seasoning and added in hotdog, egg + butter before baking it in oven.

Bitter guard

This was a mixture of bitter guard, dried bean curd, carrots, "za cai" and mushroom.


"Six taste" sweet soup

I do not really like this as it tasted bit sour. Probably because of the barley.

Piano Video

March 2010

When the leaves fall

A piece of music that I learnt a few years ago but only recorded it today

Thanksgiving

It is a very touching music, give me a kind of feeling that is indescribable. It isn't an easy piece. I have been putting it aside for years before I decided to learn this piece.

Kirara

A piece from my favourite musicians, SENS. Their music are always touching.

My memory of UK

26 Feb and 28 Feb 2010

I have been missing the time I had in UK so much. I miss the weather (though I suffered from rashes), the people, the English, the buildings, the environment, the culture and etc.

All these refreshed my mind and I could imagine myself was back to UK again. There was an event that even reminded me more of the UK memories - LJMU Alumni Dinner. It was a day to allow me to meet some people that I met and something that I saw in UK.

It was another dinner I had with LJMU since the farewell dinner held in Aldelphi Hotel towards the end of the course last year. But this time, the food, the environemnt, the table layout were all different this time.

Similarity: Western style food
Difference:
alumni dnner vs farewell dinner
round table vs long square table
buffet vs 3-course meal
less crowded vs crowded
with previous batch students vs only 2009 batch students
held in Malaysia vs UK

It was a shame that I did not meet anyone from my europe trip coach.

pic: Head of division(left) and newly met lecturer(right) who sat next to me during the dinner

pic: All computing students, including previous batches too

pic: Top 10 finalist for Photography Competition. Theme: My memory of Liverpool. Two of our photos were in.

pic: Time to get our food

pic: There was lion dance this year
pic: The hotel ballroom environment

pic: My friend, Shu Mei

pic: One of us get the first prize, win some face.

Right after two days, it was my LJMU convocation ceremony. I have been counting the days since November.

Well, it costed me quite a lot. We normally only pay less than hundred in local universities/colleges. But this costed me 75 pounds, inclusive of buffet lunch for three persons.

It was a long long day. Graduans were required to report from 8am and get their gown on the spot before having group photos accordingly to faculties.

The actual ceremony started at 11.30am and ended at 2.00pm. The convocations in UK normally take place at church/cathedral with classical organ playing during the beginning of the ceremony. Can you imagine the environment? It is just like Harry Potter's movie. How I wish to have my convocation there.

Well, the KL convocation is not bad too. It took place in a ballroom at klcc. It is like a orchestra theater. Not bad.

pic: Woke up in early morning when the sky was still dark

pic: Nice theather


pic: Buffet lunch is provided

Malaysia: Putra Jaya Hot Balloon Festival

21 March 2010

Putra Jaya Hot Balloon Festival

That was my first time going to Putra Jaya. With the help of GPS, which I think is a brilliant invention by human, we started our journey at around 8.30 in the morning. Though with the assistance of GPS, I made a few wrong turn still. However, I saw some nice buildings on the sides. Thank to the wrong turns that lead me to see such nice view. One of them was Golden Horse Palace. It is actually a hotel.

pic: Golden Horse Palace

After some time, we finally reach the destination. It was so crowded but surprisingly I saw some people leaving as well. I told my wonders to my friend sitting next to me. Another big surprise was we only saw three balloons. "What is going on? Are we at the right place?", we asked each other. The balloons did not captivate much of my attention, but the buidlings around there did. I like the environment there so much. The road was clean, the padestrian walkway was decorated nicely, and the buildings was special. By reading the label on the building, we realized that most of them were governmental building

pic: Perbendaharaan Malaysia

pic: Kementerian Perdagangan dalam Negeri

pic: Jabatan Pendaftaraan Negara

pic: First time i saw such portable fast food in Malaysia

pic: Putrajaya bridge

pic: Menara alaf baru

pic: Bangunan Perdana Putra

pic: Putrajaya Mosque

pic: the only three balloons i could see. I only realized that there were schedule for the balloons performance two days later. We just missed that. sigh

pic: Soya bean pan mee at puchong. Unique and nice

Europe Country 7 Switzerland

20-21 Sept 2010

Lake Lugano

Lake Lugano is a glacial lake in the south-east of Switzerland, at the border between Switzerland and Italy. The lake is full of fish. Apart from a few protected areas, fishing is allowed anywhere, although according to various regulations.

pic: On the way back to hotel at Luzern. We can see nice scenary everywhere

Mountain Titlis

Mountain Titlis is famous as the site of the world's first revolving cable car. The cable car system connects Engelberg to the summit of Klein Titlist (3,028m). The last part of cable car way leads above the glacier. Glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years.

The summit of the Titlis is located above the snow line, thus it has a cold, snowy climate with permanent snow cover and freezing temparatures.

pic: cable car

pic: Nice view from cable carpic: Glacier

pic:We were so high that we were like standing above the clouds

pic: My first time making a snow man, would there be another chance?

pic: Don't be surprised. It was not that cold actually if you did not touch the snow

pic: The weather became so bad when we were about to leave.

Lion Monument

The Lion Monument in Lucerne is a giant dying lion carved out of a wall of sandstone rock above a pond at the east end of the medieval town. It was designed as a memorial for the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland who lost their lives while serving the French king Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

The Lion Monument was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1884), a classicist Danish sculptor in 1819 while he stayed in Rome, Italy.

Lucas Ahorn (1789-1856), a stone-mason from Constance (southern Germany) actually carved it out of the sandstone rock in 1820/1821.

The giant sculpture is 6 m [20 ft] high and 10 m [33 ft] long. The upright wall of rock is the remains of a quarry exploited over centuries to build the town.

pic: with our driver, Peter

pic: its face look so sourpic: the outer layer looks like a pig

Our hotel at Lucern was great, facing mountains and lakes. The only problem was the railway, which gave out noice continuously throughout the night. But it was unavoidable. Railway is so common in Switzerland that it is at every corner.

pic: Simple and warm

pic: My first ever public performance

pic: scenary around the hotel

pic: railway at behind
pic: Many mistakes.