Soupy dinner

Weather had been bad these few days. I guess Autumn's starting to show its dark side where you just have to temporarily scrape off your perfect impression of this romantic season.

Today especially.

The sky was covered by ominous-looking thunderclouds throughout the day. I had no choice but to walk in the rain (under my umbrella of course; even though it didn't really help much) to-and-fro twice from my house to the school building.

The crisp air when the wind blew, so cold that it seared through my chest as I breathed deeply. I just didn't feel like going out anymore but snuggle under the comfy duvet and call it a day.

清汤牛肉丸面线;  bak wuan meesua t'ng ; Rice noodles soup with meatballs

(honestly I don't know how to name it but as long as you get it..)

My first time cooking soupy meals ^^ and hot soup's really great for this especially cold fall!

Unfortunately, it wasn't boiled long enough (because I was impatient and hungry already heh) so the soup base could have been better.  In spite of that I still finished everything happily (not even one drop left) so I guess I passed my own test haha. Way way way beyond the word 'edible', really. 



Let's see if I can find cheap Chinese herbs here so that next time I can try to bo leng tong/cook herbal soup.


Till then!

U know there're still 8 months to go

I woke up this morning and the first thing that came into my mind was "it's been a month!" (that was just a blatant lie so as to make things sound dramatic)

Truth was I woke up so late this morning the first thing I did was jumping out of my bed like a ninja *hiya!*

Well, I thought I was late for lecture ;P


So it has been a month since I came to Surrey, and I still find it quite hard to believe that this is my life right now. I know it's really annoying to say something cliche in a blog post, but cliche things like 'time truly flies' really, really, really deserve to be mentioned at this point.

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Anyway, Japanese language class just started and I was so excited about it.

You might wonder why did I choose to learn Japanese in a Western country? Shouldn't I take the opportunity to learn things like French, Italian, Spanish or Russian?

I wanted to, actually.

But then this free language class doesn't just come like that. After all there's no free lunch in this world isn't it? (sometimes there could be haha) Anyway, the reason is because there are going to be exams set for the languages taken and the results will be printed on my end-of-year transcript together with my other grades.

So basically if I fail, they will really record it down to embarrass people even if you don't want to show.

That's why I don't dare to take French etc.
I  attended free French classes last time in KTJ too but I definitely had a hard time trying to pronounce the words and memorise the numbers. It's just difficult for Asian I think? Or maybe just me.

I guess people tend to perform better at things that interest them more.

Here in UK, I am still trying very hard to follow the Tokyo A/W fashion and I am always trying to cook Japanese meals. Plus my heart always melt whenever the character in the movies/anime speaks Japanese in a nostalgic tone. It's just beautiful.

Since I love Japan and everything related to Japanese, and since I know mandarin so there should be at least some advantage in learning Japanese, so why not right? ;)

Cheese baked Beef rice with Vegetables.

╰（￣▽￣）╭   World's happiest meal haha

This kind of 'rojak' dish would always appear once every week. Why?
Simply because I have to get rid of everything left in the fridge asap so that I can go for another grocery shopping.



Oh one thing I realised. I have been eating more carrots since I came UK. I don't really enjoy eating carrots to be honest. But for the sake of making my eyes pretty...heh

 Deep down in my heart, I never thought that carrots are delicious at all though. I don't understand why rabbits and hamsters love them so much.

So I decided to try and sprinkle some cheddar cheese over the vege (inspired by KTJ dining hall's menu last time hahaha) and bake them together with my beef & rice.

For a moment, the world suddenly becomes so..... heavenly.
*opens eyes widely*
AM I EATING CARROT OR CHEESEBALL?

Hah!
I will probably use this technique in the future to force  encourage my kids to eat more veges ;)



Till then, I have to study for tomorrow's lab tutorial.
(Because my TA is a cute Italian phd student \(≧▽≦)/ hehehehhe )

Why I haven't been blogging?

I give you my top 3 excuses.

1) I have discovered a new hobby.

Yeah. I just realised that I have some passion too in cooking after coming to UK. Since the accommodation type in University of Surrey is self-catered, I share a kitchen with another 4 housemates (who don't really cook much). So basically it's like I own the kitchen! *evil laughs*

So far I have been eating my own home-cooked food everyday, and I had only had meals outside in Guildford town ONCE and the other times were during the weekend when I stayed over in London.
I'm quite amazed by myself to be honest, to actually cook everyday and more importantly, wash my used pots and crockery so many times a day.

But then I remembered when I was a little girl, my favourite toys were things like.....
the typical 'masak-masak' kitchen set, food toys which I loved to death, Play Dough set of different versions: sushi, dimsum, noodle stall, food plaza etc. 

Ouuuuu. No wonder.
So actually I have been imagining myself as a good cook since young.
which I might be!

I am always experimenting different recipes and I actually join the Surrey's culinary society!

 

Most memorable and epic meal. Because it's the first of every other meals cooked in UK! :')

And then I attempted my first own version of Chinese fried rice! Note that there are no stupid frozen green peas and carrots! coz I hate those very very much >:P

I added boiled corns though. But I totally forgot to add shrimps. Aiya.

Nevertheless it was good. My fried rice is getting better and better now so I guess I can enter some rice frying tournament soon LOL.

Saw Tesco selling Salmon at reasonable price (or rather cheap! if being compared to m'sia ) so I decided to make myself Japanese style dinner. Bought Kikkoman's Teriyaki sauce to marinade the Salmon before pan frying + baking. Awesome meal.

Also made pizza! Even the pizza base is homemade. My senior taught me how to make bread so everything here is from scratch I swear!
 I know I should have added more vege :P ah well, my cheesy meaty pizza.

but most of the time I would be stir-frying because I don't need to think when I'm hungry. Just throw anything available in my fridge into the wok and then add soy sauce. Stir stir fry fry...Teppanyaki style FTW! am also getting more pro day by day. Heh.

Sorry ah these photos are a bit unglamorous because firstly, they are all the first attempts.. (which I think is worth remembering though) Secondly, I didn't use my G12 to shoot these and there's no editing & no angle..so yeah.

but see the below:

Beef Bolognese pasta. NOT BAD right I KNOW THANK YOU. haha

you know why? because I used G12 to shoot this. Praise the magic of photography.

of course it tasted good too lah, duh ;)

2) I was being academically kiasu. 

I must be kidding. It's just the first month and I am already... studying. -.-

Despite the fact that I myself couldn't really 'tahan' this so-not-grace kind of behaviour, it is the sad fact unfortunately. hah! Even though the syllabus seems pretty easy for the first semester(and probably throughout my first year), I am constantly reminding myself to not be complacent at anytime.

What to do,  I've learned my lesson the hard way. There were so many if-onlys and regrets that I would probably drown myself in life's deep ocean next time if I still don't learn how to swim properly. I don't wish to repeat any of my mistakes ever again so I have been striving really hard to change and improve my own self.

 

Whenever I am standing at the Economics section, browsing through the racks in search of my reference books, I would feel invincible, utterly alone yet genuinely happy. I could even spend hours there alone surrounded by books and silence only. I don't wish for any particular person to be there with me, nor do I feel the need to include anyone in that moment. It's my own time and space. There's no rush and everything is being pleasantly unhurried.

 :')

well, one of the reason is also because I love walking to the dark areas of the library purposely just to play with the automatic lights.. That awesome moment when the lights were suddenly on when you entered the walkway. Heh.

It feels like harry potter or something.. like magic  *snaps*

Left: 4 modules for this Autumn semester: Quantitative Methods, Introductory Economics, Economic Data Analysis, Contemporary issues in Economics.

Right: Borrowed textbooks. Such a Chinese I actually 'sapu' the highly demanded books back since the first week and plan on renewing all the way. LOL. I will buy my own books eventually when I can get a good price. It's so frustrating lo sometimes as I can't highlight or scribble on the books :/

 

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3) I was busy exploring.

Of course, I can't possibly nerd all day long right. That would be so sad.

The thing is I don't really enjoy drinking or partying so most of the time I would spend my time and money on shopping trips to the town or even worst, London. (because taking a train to London from Guildford only takes around 35 minutes!! just like from KTJ to MidValley last time)

Photos here are all from my Samsung Galaxy S3.
Please bear with me but from now onwards I will always remember to bring my G12 out so that I can post higher quality ones. Phone camera will never be better than a real camera.

  

Our very own lovely little town in Surrey, Guildford! :) Just 10 minutes walk from campus. (Yes I walk everywhere in Surrey because I wanna save bus fares for more shopping haha. Plus, it's healthier)

 There's a high street here too which is enough for me to shop even if I don't go up to London.

which reminds me of the Friary Centre's Student Shopping Night event next week. 

Oh no. I need to plan my budget!

Of one month in UK, my 2 weekends were spent in London. Heh. 

and gosh, why am I so proud of it? 

this means I'll have to allocate a certain amount of money for London shopping every month. OH GRACE GRACE CONTROL YOURSELF. 

 Oxford street and Trafalgar Square.

 M&M world in Leicester Square.

South Kesington and Hyde park.

I will upload more of these kind in my future posts don't worry. These are just teasers. heh.


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There are more excuses I can provide but all in all, I was just bullshitting coz the real reason behind is: I had been procrastinating, again.

Fret not, I am here to revive this poor little bloggie. Yay.

Shall be updating about my life pretty often from now on so, stay tuned people!