Chwee Kweh 万岁！

Yes. I finally had the courage to attempt again after my first failure at making chwee kweh few months back. The end product then was like muah chee. But this time.....it's a different story altogether.

Special thanks: My mum-in-law for getting us the moulds. She went to get those for us when I complaint about my first failed attempt. The moulds made everything so much easier. (:

Kweh

Mix 180g of rice flour with 25g of corn flour. Then add 300 ml of water. Mix well into a batter. Heat up another 700 ml of water and add 2 tbps of oil and 1 tsps of salt. When the water starts to boil, remove from heat and pour in the batter. Mix until it forms a smooth, gluey mixture. It will get lumpy at first...persevere in the stirring and it will turn out ok.

Scoop the mixture into the moulds (greased with oil) and steam for 10-12 minutes. Take out the chwee kweh using a little butter knife. It'll be easier to take out if you let the chwee kweh cool for 2-3 minutes first.

Chai Poh

Mince a packet of chai poh (use a blender faster) and prepare some chopped garlic. Heat up about 5 tbps of oil (the chai poh cooks and tastes better with more oil. but for the health conscious, can moderate the use of oil according to your own taste). Slowly cook the garlic until fragrant, then add in the chai poh. Add sugar to suit your taste. Cook until the chai poh is fragrant and turns brownish. Can add in some sesame seeds if desired. I didn't, and it tastes just as nice.

How to eat a Tim Tam

How to eat a Tim Tam, you say?

Step 1

Buy a packet of Tim Tam. The one in the picture..you won't find it in Singapore I guess. It's MUCH better than the normal Tim Tam. Tons of chocolate. Beg me, and maybe I will buy some home. (:

(and it comes in packs of 9. in the picture, only 2 were left because my group-mates ate the rest in class last night)

Step 2

Make a cup of coffee.

Step 3

Bite off the 2 diagonal sides of the selected Tim Tam. (i didn't do it very nicely. you aren't supposed to take such a big bite)

Step 4

Dip one end of the Tim Tam into the coffee and suck up the drink...using the Tim Tam as a straw.

The taste of coffee and chocolate just blends in heavenly harmony within your mouth. But alas, it only lasts for 1 sip. The Tim Tam gets all soggy and soft after your first draw..and you have to quickly put the remaining mess into your mouth before it gets on your clothes. By now, your hands should be covered in coffee and chocolate already.

There. Try it....in the safety of your home. My advice is, don't ever try it at a coffee joint. Unless you want to draw some attention to yourself.

Welcome Autumn!

You know Autumn's here when you step out of the shower and your knees start to wobble in the cold.

Bye bye Summer! See you in 9 months time!

God, Give Me Another Job

I'm at the edge of my nerves.

They call almost every half an hour.

They tell me to do things, and tell the same things to other receptionists. Results? Duplicate work.

They repeat instructions again, and again, and again, and again, and again.......

They want receptionists to follow the manual to the word, but expect flexibility and creativity to bring in more business.

They think it's the receptionists' fault that business is not good.

They are my bosses.

Hypotheticals

We learnt about "Hypotheticals" as a form of communication yesterday.

What are hypotheticals? They are scenarios with YOU in it and allows you to think what you will do in those scenarios. For example, we talked about cloning and designer babies yesterday. Logically and ethically, you might reject cloning and advocate that this is against the laws of nature. But what if you have a loved one (parent, husband, wife or child) suffering from an illness and you know the ONLY way to save their lives is through cloning? Will you then agree to this procedure?

Hypotheticals puts us in situations that could come true, and forces us to somewhat make a decision now and predict what we will do IF these situations do happen. It's interesting that people could make decisions based on different parameters - ethics, religion, emotions...

Do you remember seeing an ad that works on this principle? A car advert or a condo advert that says "Imagine driving in a luxury car...", "Imagine living in the middle of the city"...these are hypotheticals at work too...putting people in made-up situations and take away and logical arguments for or against purchasing that product. It plays on consumers' desires and emotions.

Think of a hypothetical: And ask yourself what you would do.

Nose Block

Dunno why there's a tinge of haze since yesterday. It smells exactly like the time when Singapore was affected by the fires in Indonesia.

But there's no weather reports on any haze! My poor nose suffers.

Glue Rice?

Hehe...another of my cooking adventure.

To enjoy a plate of nuo mi fan, have to first soak the rice over-night, then stir-fry all the ingredients, then steam for another 30 minutes. Sigh...nothing beats the convenience of being able to just walk 5 minutes to the nearest market and get a ready-made packet. So all of you back home, be very grateful that you have nice FOOD at your door-step. Don't ever complain again at the foodcourt that you have nothing to eat. (:

Hweeyan - Thanks for the recipe. I finally did it. And it tastes nice. Hee....

Nicely cooked nuo mi fan in the steam tray...like a cake hor??

The good stuff within - peanuts, mushrooms, dried shrimps, chinese sausages (lup cheong)

2+1 = 3

Once upon a time, there lived 2 happy tiggers, just moved from Singapore to Brisbane.

There's a new addition to the family today.

And there will continue to be more.

New Semester

Finally settled my courses for this semester. And now $6,300 poorer in the bank account after paying my school fees today.

Last semester was all about the cheem cheem theories. Even my lecturers were from the academic side - means they talk in cheemology language.

This semester is very different. All 3 courses involve alot of practical work. For 1, we will be doing lots of negotiation. Even negotiating our assignment due dates and their weightage.(serious!) The other 1, we will be going to companies to learn about their organisational change processes. For my group, we are going to look at the merger of 2 schools. The last 1 is most interesting. It's a small class of 11 (including me) and at the end of the semester, we need to organise an event to communicate a science topic to the public. Any science topic under the sun can be our topic. Previous events include shows on earthquakes, debate on recycled water in a pub...the whole objective is to make science more approachable...coz science is about everyday life...and not all science is cheem-talk. And we will be visiting science centres, museums and critique on the way they present their science topics.

Hee....so fun.