Christmas cookies

An adorable toddler walked around the coffee table to hand me this, wrapped up, ribbons and all, imagine the surprise to find... 

sweetness  

Tis the season to be jolly, tra la la la la la la la la...

And so I have found something I love to make: desserts! Week 51: Sticky date pudding for the Christmas eve dinner (recipe downloaded from www.taste.com.au - with rave reviews no less!)

The ingredients, er, obviously the novice in me realised mid-way that I was supposed to fold the flour in AFTER mixing the butter and sugar, almost turned the kitchen into a snowfield. 

Loading the mix into the oven (hrumphz, still had doubts whether this was edible)

While waiting, I had this! 

medium-done steak and baked salmon

chilled prawns from randwick

salad tossed in lemon juice, pepper, olive oil, sugar, okay it doesn't look very colourful because the zucchini and the cherry tomatoes are hiding beneath the greens

50 mins later, and 50 x of piercing through with a skewer to check if it's done... 

fresh from the oven, literally...

And like a new born I had to turn it upside down and give it a smack in the butt

Alas, the top crust stuck to the plate when i turned it upright and the pudding was exposed in full glory, but well, it was after all about pudding, pokolbin semillon and ice-cream

Slices for the christmas lunch tomorrow

Packed to go, and I am happy. 

Next week will be a break when I head down to Melbourne for more indoor culinary adventures. I still cannot believe how domesticated I am now. 

Australia

For all the reviews and bashings, I loved the show. 

The main character that stood out was not Sarah Ashley, the Drover or Nullah, it was King George. The grandfather who was always looking out for the grandson, waiting to bring him for a walkabout, to learn about his culture, to grow knowing where he came from, who he is, what he can become.

The show started off very moulin rouge, speed shots, quirky facial expressions, over the top banter and that kangaroo scene was a killer (no pun intended). I went in without any expectations but was captured by the storyline (whether it was historically correct or not was beside the point) and enthralled by the landscape (although I'm still very much a city girl). 

And today ends my christmas tree hunting and so I present these trees within 2 blocks of each other:

The 3-storeyed tree enclosed in the Queen Victoria Building

No. 1 tree at Martin Place

The townhall tree

Christmas Tree Hunting

The obsession with Christmas tree hunting started out on Friday when during a Japanese dinner, a friend remarked how she dread walking pass this ugliest tree on Darling Harbour on her way to work everyday. And then we found ourselves walking towards Lindt cafe for a cuppa and there it was standing in all its glory: 

I decided then to start the hunt for Christmas trees and earmarked key locations in the CBD ( Hyde Park, Martin Place, QVB, Townhall and Circular Quay).

Hyde Park was captured after apartment hunting, Saturday in the 10 min window I had before the next bus came. 

I stumbled into the Eastgardens tree enroute to the bank (so this was more an accidental capture).

The hunt continues tomorrow...

winter solstice festival

after an unsuccessful attempt at making glutinous rice balls, I was back on track first thing in the morning, this time adding hot water one scoop at a time. and well, it is pretty much exciting when it went from this last night: 

wet, slimy starchy mix to...

The very first ball!

a smattering of balls, that grew to...

a conglomerate of balls

 

balls heading towards the vanishing point

the king pin 

and finally, my very first bowl of tang yuen (glutinous rice balls) 

in pandan and ginger syrup no less. 

happy dong zhi!

(*Far out, I feel so domesticated here in sydney...)

Traffic, Macquarie Park and other thoughts

New term learnt in class: Car sewers, I love that term and yes the term does have negative connoctations, but while, I have never thought of it that way, the power of language. 

globalisation and other random thoughts

You know that globalisation has hit a high note when in the midst of eating kimchi offered by the landlords, you remember that they are indonesians, and they went out of their way to buy a whole big bag of kimchi. 

I marvel at such acts of embracing and respecting other cultures, and I try, as much as I can, while recently very trying, to see beyond black and white. 

Perhaps it is such randomness, or the bus driver waiting for the elderly to be seated before driving off from the bus stop that remind me little things do matter. 

the city loop

I self-checked out my groceries today at Woolsworth Bondi Junction, fascinating, and it's been implemented for months already, how could I have missed it?? 

And of course the excitement of the new CBD bus loop, which is FREE! Runs from Circular Quay through George Street to Central and back to the wharves, I am impressed by the green bus! 

And the discovery of the woolloomooloo wharves. 

My friend from Sing visited and it was just great just chatting over coffee at the Rocks and then just people watching by the quay, and having gelati, and discovering so many new things from our friendship. She's one of my oldest friend from Primary 2, and I can even remember my first encounter with her, wow. 

Objectivity

In response to my concerns on how a person can effectively plan for a city without being emotionally invested (aka caring for a place), my friend from Singapore offered this solution: You can have the objectivity to plan for a place based on rational thoughts on what is best for the place.

And today at class, the Professor spoke of the rational approach to urban design that evolved from the modern movement in US and being one part of the influences in Sydney, and the subsequent considerations of human-space relations.

There is perhaps no one right/wrong answer.