Raspberry jam, I made.. Kerabu, I ventured~

spunkz dinner of berry-berries & pancakes with spunk-made waspbewwie (oops!) raspberry jam XD

 

Buu's brekkie bento that became dinner.

(Rice, kerabu, onion omelette, raspberries & strawberies)

 

spunkz is eagerly awaiting to ferry her fridge home tonight.. or tomorrow night! Credits to Buu who sourced it from a forum. Thanks so much!

As seen in the picture, I made some raspberry jam. That jam was divine and I love the scent. The process of making it was a breeze and I've finally conquered my fear of making jams. Never knew home-made jams would taste so different from those off the racks. Lucky me bought some huge strawberries and some raspberries at a steal a few days ago, each priced at RM 8/box. Decided to make the jam as I feared the raspberries would not last long in my fridge-less home.

Here are the steps. First, tumble the berries into a saucepan. I used my non-stick pan. Heat and stir berries around. I squished some in the process and left some intact as I like to taste the flesh in my jam. When berries are half dissolved, add in sugar and continue stirring. From the recipes which I sourced, most stated 1 cup of berries to 1 cup of sugar. I didn't measure mine, and added the sugar to taste as I'm not very partial to sweet stuff. Recipes also call for lemon juice (1 tablespoon) which I omitted because I felt my berries were tart enough. Stir till you see the liquid thickening. Coat the back of a spoon with the liquid. If it sets at room temperature, it means we're done. Take pan off the hob and let cool. Sterilise a jar and fill in the jam only when it has cooled down completely. Note that this jam has seeds in it because I like the bite. If it bothers you, just sieve the mixture halfway through cooking before it thickens too much.

spunkz mama gave spunkz some unripe mangoes when she went home last weekend. Hence, spunkz made kerabu out of it with the restaurant Daddy Village's powderful kerabu in mind. Unfortunately, bunga kantan and red apple was missing. Nevertheless, it was a good attempt! Innit I added 1 thinly sliced onion, 1 shredded unripe mango, sliced green apple, sliced strawberries, some sliced Thai cili padi, fried ikan bilis (anchovies), toasted cuttlefish, toasted sesame seeds, coriander, nampla (fish sauce), lime juice and sugar. Pheww... that was a mouthful!

Notes to self: Cut the mango shreds coarser for more bite or add more mangoes. Add more cuttlefish also. (Thanks to Sister Long Legs for the suggestions! Appreciate the feedback!)

Fuh... who knew racking the brains to remember that long list of ingredients can be this tiring. lolx. But then again, it's worth it coz I love my food and I'll bet they love me too!

芭比

芭比，這小名是怎麽來的呢？嗯，其實就是從宮崎駿那部溫馨的動畫片 “龍貓”裏頭學來的。

看着， 看着。。。不知不覺就學了小梅對爸爸撒嬌的可愛模樣兒與大閙的神色以及作態了。呵呵~

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納悶。。。是爲了你的單純無知

心煩。。。也因你只活在今天

 

赤い糸 (Akai Ito) - 366天的約定 (Threads of Destiny)

We watched the special screeing of 赤い糸 at GSC 1 Utama yesterday courtesy of Jeff dear. It's a beautiful story, albeit tragic in certain parts. At the end of the story, it kind of felt incomplete. I googled and finally found out the reason why.

According to wikipedia, Akai Ito (赤い糸 ) is popular mobile phone novel written by Mei. The story is about a pair of soulmates, Mei and Atsushi, who are junior high school students. They must overcome drugs, rape and attempted suicide in order to be together. The love story was an online hit in 2006 and was later published as a series of five books which sold 1.8 million copies

I found out from a group at crunchyroll that it will have the same cast and staff working on both the big screen and small screen versions, and the two will be closely connected. Fuji TV will air the television version on December 6th 2008, with the first two episodes laying the foundation of the story. Then the movie, which is produced by Shochiku, will pick up the plot when it opens on December 20 in Japan, incorporating the novel's main storyline and adding original elements. After that, the drama will continue to develop and finish off the story.

There, mystery solved. Explains why it was left hanging in the end. Brilliant touch to entice people to follow the story. By the way, the drama itself has 11 episodes. Characters' profiles are also featured in the aforementioned group page if you're interested.

If you're keen enough to read the story, click on the link below for the Mobile Phone Novel of Akai Ito:

http://de-view.net/book/novel.php?aid=1&f=chapter&tid=1& pos=1 (It's in Japanese, you could try google translating it)

Our comments throughout the movie:

• Darn, any girl inside the movie is so good looking or cute. (Jeff)
  
  
  
• My gf also very cute! (Jeff's friend. rofl)
  
  
  
• Akkun junior is so mesmerizing! (obviously, that was me)
  
  
  
• Arrhh... even the mother is pretty..
  
  
  
• Eeek, that's sudden.
  
  
  
• Ack, why is it so violent???
  
  
  
• Ooh, shall we go to Japan together? (*excited)
  
  
  
• omg, Mei-chan's so cute in her kimono (or was that a yukata)?
  
  
  
• Look look... their handphones. so pwetty!!!!
  
  
  
• Are they twins?
  
  
  
• Do you think it's a sibling love story??
  
  
  
• Eii, I know that guy! that Taka-chan! from Hanazakari no Kimi Tachi E!
  

I like anything Japanesey with a school setting. This movie included. The beautiful and heart wrenching snow scene at the end left me clawing for more. Do go watch it if you like soppy love stories. Just don't expect too much out of it. It could be puppy love revisited for some of you too. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to hunt for the drama and the soundtracks now. Beautiful songs inside by HY, can be found in the album HeartY. (read: not Hin Yip)

366日 - HY

Mini dollar pancakes and Spaghetti

Lemme tell ya. PMS and boredom are the sickest bedfellows, ever.

I was totally pwn-ed by these j*rks yesterday night.

All in all which led me to decide that I need a lift of spirits today.

Comfort food was high on the radar, and many a thought came to mind. Warm mushroom soup or even clear Chinese soups were some of them. But then, twas quite a hassle as I am short of certain ingredients. After some deliberating, hmmm... one can't go wrong with pancakes right? Minified to dollar size, it should be just nice in portion and could probably leave me hankering for a second time. Do you know.... refined carbs are one of the reasons of bloating via sugar fermentation? So always be moderate when you're taking food from this food group.

Made the pancakes from the box of Pillsbury mix which I got myself few moons ago. It was really fun to watch the batter bubble and sizzle in the pan, not to mention simple to make. I've put off making the pancakes for eons as I did not have toppings or fillings of any sort at home except for a bottle of wild honey which tastes like alchohol. *wrinkles face* Still, I lightly drizzled the pancakes with that and happily sprinkled some 100s & 1000s and also chocolate rice atop the mini pancakes.

By golly, the colourful sprinkles appears to have a magnetic resonance to draw that little black cloud away. In addition, spunkz knows she's happy when she went:

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

With already a great start to the day, lunch did not pale in comparison and comprised of......

...... spaghetti with mushrooms, garnished with parmesan and parsley. I cheated and didn't make the sauce from scratch like I usually do. Bought a pre-mixed bottle instead. A depressed witch deserves some slack sometimes, I reckon. Haha. I made the pasta also because I wanted to trim my basil plant as they have been growing up real fast! Greens of the day was sweet peas or sugar snaps with a lone cherry tomato. I got the sugar snaps at a steal. RM 0.90/pack.

The after-lunch verdict? Talk to my satisfied tummy. :)

Potato salad

Lunch was a boiled potato cubed and thrown into a green forest of mixed salad leaves and accentuated with the lemony pepperish dill. Cherry tomatoes were thrown in for colour. The red jewels went pop in the mouth and were gratifyingly sweet and juicy. Dressing was simple ol' Kewpie mayonnaise. A no-brainer but filling meal. If your hawk eyes spotted the egg mollet, you are one darn observant salad scrutinizer. It was originally meant to be Potato and Egg Salad. But due to spunkz haste, I underboiled the egg and it became egg mollet. And hence the salad was bequeathed the honourable name of Potato Salad. Heh.

Fleeting thoughts #1 - Sleepiness

I'm afraid to feel sleepy while driving. I don't care if I die. I'm only afraid to hurt someone, and to hurt someone on the context of morbidity. It's scary to have the feeling of being not in control of my body and my reflexes, million times worst than being inebriated behind the wheel.

Sea World Bento

A backdated bento which I did for him, nuked the pictures from his blog. DSLR taken pics are so nice compared to my handphone snapped ones. I guess beggars can't be choosers, so I shall be contented with the current situation for the time being. :)

Tonkatsu (Japanese fried pork cutlet), furikake rice, stir fried baby vege, physallis and lea & perrins sauce in mini clickety click bottle

Sea World Bento

After pigging out (uhuk! pun intended) on tonkatsu, he got a healthy brekkie bento just like mine on the following day. I did a sea world themed bento for him. He had a whole army of crabs too. Slightly jealous coz mine was a no frills affair. lolx. And minus the crab army, mind you.

Tunacado & Tuvocado buns with Capt'n Penguin leading the way. The uber cute sea creature picks with a physallis fruit and a cherry tomato each. Boy, check out the green stuff. It's sweet basil harvested right outta my own balcony! I feel like a proud parent. *grins*

Meet Mr Krabs, the Klunky War General.

Mr Krabs was made by placing a cocktail sausage into the quirky wiener cutter (guys, don't cringe! :P ) which I purchased from Ipoh's 100 yen store on a recent outstation trip. I managed to swipe 2 different wiener cutters off the shelf - tulip and crab. After extracting the sausage from the cutter, you can choose to cook it through steaming, boiling or even gentle stir frying. Have fun playing in the kitchen if you have a chance to lay your hands on this toy.

Hope the love is enjoying his trip in PD. Catch a few fish yo~

tunacado vs tuvocado

I'm feeling uncannily healthy today. Brekkie is tuna+avocado mash sandwiched in whole grain bun.

I've waited rather impatiently for the avocado to ripen and decided to push it into the operating theatre today. Le avocado went under the scalpel this morning at 6.30 am. After some mishmashing and seasoning with lemon juice, salt and pepper, Mr tu-tu-tu-tu-tuNa (sung to the chip 'n dale rescue rangers chorus) joined in the fray. Popped the buns into the toaster oven after slathering them in olive oil. Once done, slap the tunacado or tuvocado mash on. Slap-dash-bang. Me likes. A fast brekkie bento.

Dear Slap-dash-bang,

I shall now knight thee as one of my royal knights in tag label land. Thou may rise now.

Comment: Avocado is tasteless basically, so unleash ur creativity in the mash. Add some chopped onions or tomatoes.

Caution: Pls wait till Miss Avo is really really really ripe for uhuk! unless you're masochistic enough to lace bitter goo on your tongue.

Collapsible lunch box which I got in Ipoh's 100 yen store

Great for sandwiches

Gotta get back to the daily grind for the time being. laters!

love, spunkz

Escape

Exhausted.
Looking for an escape.
Food. Cooking it.
But tonight, I need something more than that.

Tell me, what's your escape?

Tonkatsu~

I dreamt of Lee Hom last night. It's the second time in recent months. And I wonder why... I do like his songs but have never been a fanatic. Well, the dream was sweet nonetheless. :)

I like how momentum just picked up naturally today. The past 2 days have been sluggish. I took a random off day yesterday. Priority: to settle some niggling house problems and also for a well needed rest. Even though I was determined to get some work done at home, I wasn't catching up much on it yesterday. Bleh. Not a very tummy-friendly and head-friendly day too. I intend to veg out the whole week to recover from the sluggishness soon. Hence, I'm giving most of the social activities already lined up a miss --> 'Coming Soon' special screening tonight and Dan's gig tomorrow. Geez, sorry fellas... Heartfelt apologies to all affected.

Lunch today will be tonkatsu (pork cutlet) on a bed of rice. Rice has furikake sprinkled on for flavour. Cherry tomatoes for a cheery air :) Sides of blanched baby i-forgot-what vege and physalis. Physalis is also known as Cape gooseberry. Erm, perhaps you can go google it just like I did. By the way, this is my first time trying this fruit hence wait for my comment laters. They were going real cheap at Tesco -RM 1.50/carton. Reckon it's stock clearance before they rot. The ones in the carton I purchased were still pretty decent. So far, none unfresh or rotted ones detected.

Need to get back on the work trail now~

Gambatte, ore~

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Updated:

The physalis is yum! Sweet and sour with a firm tomato-ish texture!

Bagel cravings

Call me a glutton, but I simply can't take my mind off food.

Take this for instance, Paps was asking me what would I like as my yearly coming of age gift few days ago. I secretly thought, bagels would be nice. Warm out of the oven, plain or with poppy and sunflower seeds, spreaded with cream cheese, topped with smoked salmon or bacon with scrambled eggs or bratwursts on the side. Mmm... savoured over a cup of coffee. Black. Classic.

Of course, I didn't tell him. Yet. Heh. But when he said the day's adventure would entail pork, seafood and a sampan, I wailed like a kiddo. but I want bagels for brekkie. Haha. So typical of me. Paps, being the dear, then said we could go to KLCC for my bagel fix before the trip. And I've been comprehending.

Earlier on, I surfed for some reviews on Bagel Station at Avenue K and got some lousy feedback. sigh. Good things hardly last, huh? I remember having the first of my bagels there and they got me converted instantly, no qualms!

Other options like Vienna's Bagels do not interest me for I thought their bagels have lost the bagel-ly look and the portions have shrunk, if my memory serves me well. Or at least that's how I felt whenever I passed by their counter at 1 Utama, hoping to grab one, only to be disappointed. If looks could kill. It killed my appetite. All in the name of the price of fame. Go figure.

Question. How can I satiate my bagel fix now? I wish someone would open more bagel shops instead of doughnuts. Heard Krispy Kreme's landing on our shores soon. Pls, someone bring in more bagels. I beg you.

Aren't they divine?

(Photo from here)

 

Apart from Pap's gift (the bento accesory boxes), I've also gotten a pretty premature call from Jeff aka Chombi Chombi precisely at 12 am this morning. I missed the call because I was fast asleep. Hee. Soowwy~ But he sent me a message anyways. Happy bthday my baby. To which I replied he's 1 day in advance. That monkey. Me die die love him.

    

And also a surprise gift from me colleagues, Sister Long Legs JO and Adventure-She-Likes CIL. Thankiu you very much, ladies~   :)

I only realised the gift was on my table after CIL popped me accidentally with this. "woit.....she din realise the gift is near her phone..ahhaha.." And then she realised that the pop went to the wrong person. And then I also realised. That I got a gift. I am a noob. haha. Mum said so last night. I refused to believe her. She said I was too straight. Dunno how to cornering. (P/S: You need to be a Malaysian to understand this gibberish) Now, looks like I have to let her have the joy of shoving these words in my face - I told you so.

On a side note, my social life is no longer non-existential. I'm almost always out for at least 1 day every week. It was Shinjuku Incident's special screening courtesy of (yet another) Chombi Chombi's kindness last Tuesday. And tonight I'm meeting up with sayang at Carl's Jr along with her hubby and Papi. In my dictionary, going out more than twice a week is considered happening. Pathetic sia.. eh?

Me just realised that I'm flitting between topics today. haha. So why not throw in one last non-related picture before ending?

That's Cheesecake and Brownie coercing me to eat my fruits everyday. I ate the red apple today, so it's not in the pic.

Till the next post, happy blogging and happy Easter ye all!

Ooh.. it's April's Fool today but I d...

Ooh.. it's April's Fool today but I didn't get to play any pranks, and nor was I played on any... yet.

 

Ahh.. Happy April Fool's to all.

 

I meant to blog... but Bobo kept on talking here.. even as I'm typing, he's talking. I gotta listen to his history class.. gomen~