The Girl and her Butterfly...
Intrigued yet cautious and unafraid
"What a pretty and amazing thing with those flapping wings!"
"It likes me!"
How natural and elated is she!!! Holding on dearly to the butterfly she has managed to connect with... :)
Was clearing up my files and saw these photos which I took last year in the butterfly park at Melbourne Zoo. She's so cute and photogenic! A child's innocence is afterall most priceless they've have practically nothing to be afraid of no worries no burden.. relishing every moment whilst undiscovering the many wonders...
"The child is innocence and forgetting, a new beginning, a game, a wheel rolling on its own, a prime movement, a sacred yes." - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Labels: random
Singapore noodles..?
Haha yes "Singapore Noodles" ever heard of it before? I still remember how shocked was I when I first saw it on the menu in the restaurants in Melb How can there be such a dish which I've certainly not ever tasted before in Spore?! I ate it for my first time in a yum cha lunch during orientation last yr and my first impression of it: noodles with curry powder. The noodles were very yellow in colour and it tasted really dry..certainly didn't appeal to me. I did taste better ones at some other places (from friends' orders coz don't want to pay 10 bucks for fear of reliving the same taste :p) so maybe just that yum cha place just didn't cook it well enough. Have always wondered how it came about and what it's actually made up of. Chanced upon this
student budget recipe blog and realised that there's an entry on it!
It mentions that it's modelled after Punggol Mee Goreng. Punggol, being near the sea shore and known for its fresh seafood while Mee Goreng means fried noodles of the mamak variety. Hence, it is something like Indian-style fried noodles with seafood.
Not sure if that's accurate so tried googling it and read from another source that in fact, there's many many theories about its origin, though the main one was that "it was invented in the late seventies by Chinese restaurants in Europe whereby they combine Malaysian, Indian and Chinese aspects, making them a bomb to the palate and an overall fiery exotic dish".
"Singapore noodles, a common dish featuring fried chow mein flavoured with yellow curry powder available in some Chinese restaurants in Canada and the United States, cannot be found in Singapore."
from WikipediaSeems like having dishes named after a country but not being found in those particular countries are quite common after all :p
"Singapore noodles" exist in the same universe as do "English" muffins and "Danish" pastries-- foods named in honor of countries but which are unknown to citizens within those respective countries. Outside Singapore though, this tasty concoction is well-known and is said to be illustrative of the Lion City's multi-cultural heritage. There are Chinese, Malay and Indian culinary influences all served to you on one plate!" from The Straits Cafe
Sounds tempting? haha care to try concocting it? Here's how as extracted from Straits Cafe. I have never tried though hmm maybe I should... when the inspiration comes :)
- Makes 4 servings - 1/2 lb Rice vermicelli
SAUCE:
- 1/2 Cup Chicken stock
- 2 Tbs Oyster sauce
- 2 Tbs Soy sauce
- 1 Tbs Sugar
- 1 Tbs Sesame oil
- 1 Tbs Rice wine
- 2 tsp Corn starch
- 1/2 lb Raw shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 1 Tbs Peanut oil
- 3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 Tbs Ginger root, minced
- 3 Spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 Tbs Curry powder
- 1 Onion, cut into eighths
- 1 Carrot, grated
- 1 Red pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 tsp Crushed red pepper
- 1/4 Cup Bean sprouts, washed & trimmed
- 1/2 Cup Snow peas, trimmed
Combine the sauce ingredients (chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, rice wine & corn starch) together in a small bowl. Mix well, then set aside.Heat wok over high heat. When hot, add the peanut oil and swirl to cover bottom. Stir-fry the garlic, ginger and spring onions until fragrant-- about 30 seconds. Add the curry powder; cook until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Next add the onion wedges, grated carrot, sliced red pepper and crushed red pepper. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes, until the onions become translucent.Add the shrimp. Pour in the sauce and bring to a boil. Stir-fry for about 1-1/2 minutes, until shrimp have turned opaque and pink. Add the bean sprouts, snow peas and vermicelli. Toss to combine with the other wok ingredients. Continue cooking on high for about 2 minutes, occasionally tossing the ingredients, until everything is heated through.
Labels: food
Mt Hotham ~
our accommodation..cosy living room, tv with foxtel, a kitchen and stairs!
So up the stairs to our 2 bedrooms...
finally fully geared for some skiing and snow boarding!
outer parts of the resort where some mountains were covered with much lesser snow
saw this along the side of the road..hee a snow boy?!
our venue for beginners' lessons.. Hotham Sports School
pretty snowy tree :)
snowman!!! oh gosh I finally made one after seeing so many such scenes on tv yet never to get to do it in real life :p After the night skiing area has closed, we went up the trails slightly and realised that that particular spot had really soft, fresh and fine snow! Almost everywhere is dark already except for the small yellow lights hanging by the trees and from the houses. Somehow we had the sudden inspiration to make one though we planned to make it next morning initially :p The small one in the background was our very first one named the "husband"?! haha coz the guys insist that it's a male so be it then haha. Not satisfied with a small one up to our knees only, we decided to aim for a much bigger one..so the gigantic "wife" was built (yes the female is more powerful!) and this time round it's up to our chest level :) It was actually built in front of a house coz we wanted it to be in the light. Surprisingly, soon after finishing it, the door opened!!! Think it was one of the staff who was working there and luckily she didn't mind it :p even went into the house to take her camera and took photo of it!
making snow angels!
Amazingly, it seemed untouched and still standing strong the next morning after blazing through the cold, windy and snowy night.
haha a snow bridge made by the 2 future civil engineers who aimed to achieve a Nobel prize with the world's first ever possible snow bridge.
On the day when we were leaving at a higher temp of -4 degrees. Grey snow beside the road as it's starting to melt. So different compared to the day before when everything is all snowy white
Just went through another test yet again today ~bleh. Seriously don't know how I'll do this time round. Screw up the previous one :S after a whole wkend of skiing..oops :p The dates were fixed a long time ago and can't believe that I'm in such bad luck for it to clash with my test! Nonetheless, it was definitely worth going and all the fun plus I've finally seen snow!!! Real snow and falling heavily from the sky! But the bad thing with so much snow was that it was so windy and foggy that I couldn't see anything in front of me esp at the top of the trail. It was seriously very bad weather conditions on that particular day. I simply had no idea what kind of slope or terrain is ahead of me! All they told us was that just try to go straight and you'll reach the end of trail. In fact, there was this sudden turn to the right in the midst of the trail and it was very uphill instead. Couldn't even see that at all and the next thing I knew was that I was sent "flying off ground"! My poles and ski for one of my legs and went flying a few metres away while I ended up eating a whole mouthful of snow!!! Amazingly, I had to admit that it tasted rather refreshing and nice though. hahaz the eating part was certainly non-intentional :P
Side thought*desperate need to balance academia with social..Time to get down to organise and do proper studying!!!
Bdae celebrations seem to be endless now. Tried out some new nice eating places :) Oh yes and think I've eaten the best parma and mashed potato ever! At an extraordinary place - the breeding ground of mosquitoes in the suburbs. Haha of course not literally..coz the restaurant is called 'Mossquito' in North Fitzroy, one of the suburbs! I'm still pretty amused with the name lolz.
Intrigued yet cautious and unafraid
view from the 2 small long panel windows in the apartment at 7.20am :) the sun was way up high over the mountains already 
