Sick & Satays

Dear jumjum...

  It's the sick season- every lecture is filled with coughs and sniffles. Last weekend I had planned to stay in and catch up on my studying but my initial sore throat had escalated into a fever and then flu. My weekend was wasted in bed =S How I wished Mummy could fly over to baby me! Mika was really nice, checking up on me all the time and offered me food, meds and even went to TST to pick up the satay for me for the hall dinner!

  Finally gave in and went to see the doctor on Monday:

  

How I went to church.

  Oh yes my poor roommate came back untimely on Sunday night and had to put up with my snorting and coughing fits all night long and now she's sick too...

  Last week I discovered a microwave Minute Muffin recipe on BlogilatesTV and decided to try it out: oats, honey, an egg and blueberries. It's not too bad for such a simple recipe. When my friends found out they wanted to try too so we had a mini muffin party in the common room.

HJ's weird one...

  Hall XIII and IX organised an International Cultural Dinner for two nights. I volunteered to represent Malaysia. The easiest dish to serve? Satay! Went to TST with my friends two weeks ago just to sample the satay from a popular Malaysian restaurant. It didn't taste very authentic but it was not bad. Ordered 50 chicken and 50 beef satays for each night and they were all finished rather quickly! =D 

  There were Patricia and her Netherlands mini pancakes, liqourice and cookies; HJ and her Korean rice cakes; Rika and Japanese omelettes; Indonesian, Indian, Mexican, French, HK, and Canadian booths. Reeked of satay by the end of the night but I had quite a lot of fun and most importantly free food for two nights!!

*atm*

Chap Goh May & Valentine's Day

  Dear jumjum...

  

  I believe this is my first year not having the 15th day of CNY dinner with the family... Well, at least we have Whatsapp I guess. Today was also 'Single Awareness Day', as Melody so aptly put it. The 6 of us single ladies headed down to Jordan for dinner and a food fest, lead by YP who did prior research on popular desserts in that area. She had a whole list on her notebook but in the end we only managed to go to 3 places, plus a stopover for scones and another for fried chicken.

                                              ↑ Sesame tang yuen in ginger soup

↑Australia Dairy Company! Heard of this place countless of times. Steamed milk with egg white

 Ayam goreng craving satisfied!

 Felt like a big barrel after all that, not gonna lie. Looking forward to bringing my siblings and bunny woman there and the next food fest!

  Also, I took Patricia's advice on using a hair dryer to warm up the bed under the blankets before getting in because it's too chilly to wait for your body heat to warm it up. There's nothing like sinking into a warm bed!!! Although you have to try and fall asleep fast before the heat is lost...

↑Wrote this upon HJ's request during our hall orientation a few nights ago. Now hanging above her bed xD

*atm*

First Week of Spring Term

Dear jumjum...

  Honestly it feels like I've come back for much longer than just a week...and I'm still in my 'add/drop period honeymoon' mode. No hard core studying yet- but I really should start soon. Am planning to join a competition this November, and so I'll be busy all year, staying through summer as well. But I think it'll be a good experience and very rewarding. Hopefully I'll manage to complete it while maintaining my grades without burning out.

  Lionel and Yee Shiun stopped by on their way back to Xiamen. Good to see them! 

   Bought a rice cooker last weekend. My old cooker heats unevenly and it annoyed me to no end...and this rice cooker can cook more than rice! I chose the worst time to buy it though- had just been to my aunt's and she gave me a lot of stuff to bring back, so in one hand I had her care package (including a soft soft fleece blanket that I'm loving!!) and the rice cooker box in the other. And I took a wrong exit and got lost, and it was raining so I was struggling with my phone GPS and an umbrella. Now everything I cook smells and tastes AMAZING.

  You know, CNY is partly about celebrating the arrival of spring right?? Then how come the weather here is even colder than in December?! I came across this coat on sale and went back the next day to get it after everyone's approval. Just in time, too. The very next day and the days following it have been around 6°C, plus wind and rain. It's in my favourite colour too!

  It was Z's birthday last weekend and I was kinda sad that  for the first time in 15 years I wasn't there to celebrate it =(

*atm*

CNY 2014

Dear jumjum...

  This year I only had two days to celebrate CNY before heading back to HK. The days leading up to CNY was the usual frenzy of cleaning and cookie making...Oh yes! I discovered and baked my most 销 cake ever! Lemon Pound Cake Made it first for David's potluck dinner then again for sa chap may, both finished within two days. I used to look for elaborate recipes, thinking the cakes would be fancier but they always turn out weird. Suki says the simpler the recipe, the better.

  Mum and I were on a hunt for a pair of lanterns to hang in the porch this year. Found one we liked on sale in Parkson but there were defects. The nice sales assistant went around the different floors of Parkson with us in our hunt for the perfect pair (they were part of the CNY decor), brought her ladder and took it down for us. We put Dad straight to work once he landed. One worker, three supervisors:

White or yellow???

  Parents were up since 4.30am for  sa chap may dinner and it was all hands on deck all day. Two of the aunties including the one from HK and her family joined us. Some of the 12 dishes in total:

  After washing up, the three musketeers went over to aunt's place to play with Meg and Mark. Had a crazy fun time with pillows and stuffed owls. 

Mark the acrobat!

Z being Mark's horseeee.

Nearing 12am these two decided to walk back to our house like this: one with a lion costume, the other on drums!

Chu yi:

Chu er:

  Had a nice dinner with V& Z and NKK, then last minute packing with V and parents helping. Was a little eager to go back and start studying cause I was getting bored in Kuching, but then leaving in the middle of CNY celebrations is no fun!

Chu san ='( :

  Guess what I forgot to bring back? Retainers! GAH!

  Chu si! HJ, Patricia and I decided to fulfill one of the must-visits on our list before classes started. Ocean Park! Craaaaaazy load of people around. Got very annoyed at a Chinese woman pushing against me from behind. I don't understand why someone would want to push their boobs into the person in front. Almost elbowed her or scold her in mandarin! P was like, water off a duck's back, Jacq! But overall had quite a lot of fun. Thank goodness I didn't lose them- phone not working and there was absolutely no chance of finding them in that crowd. When the crowds thinned out by nighttime, we returned to our favourite roller coaster and rode it again twice. They wouldn't let us go on again without going through the entrance once more so we were running through the lanes for queuing like madwomen! Had a nice late dinner of mock shark fin soup from Old Hong Kong before heading back.

*atm*