Sheez, it had been a long, afternoon affair making wantons and soup!

Had it not for the fact that I was relatively free today, I’d have made a mess out of the kitchen. The preparation of the pork broth for wanton soup was truly therapeutic in the aromatic sense. The ingredients of the broth include pork bones, dried shrimps (hei bi), onion and garlic. Ahh, the taste of the homemade broth after 3 hours of simmering was simply delicious! It was a real pity that I had to dilute the broth to increase its volume as it turned out to be insufficient for submerging the cooked wantons later.  Next time, I’d know better.

I wanted the prawns to have that signature succulent bite of har gau (shrimp dumplings - dim sum version). I remembered that my ex-colleague once casually mentioned about the method. After confirming the method from various sources on the Internet, I soaked the peeled and de-veined prawns in salt solution for 10 minutes. Well, I think the prawns did become plumber and had more crunch. However, something seemed to be amiss. May be the prawn taste was too strong?

The wrapping of the wantons was fun but time-consuming for the first-timer me. I tore a few wanton wrappers and tried to seal the tear by nipping the skin with my index finger and thumb. I took care to remove as much air as possible from the wantons during wrapping so as to minimise any ugly ballooning later. Being paranoid that water will not glue the wanton skin together, I really pressed them as firmly as possible. No wonder I felt exhausted after that!

The verdict? With my tender, loving squeeze, the wontons didn’t ‘explode’ (spill their contents) when cooked. Yay. :D Yang and I each ate a big bowl of wonton soup with chilli padi in light soy sauce as a side condiment. I’ll say it was, er, passable. 3 out of 5? Yang wasn’t excited about the dish at all. At least, he didn’t give any negative comment. I don’t think I’ll make this dish again unless I chance upon a better recipe or someone’s in the mood to throw a wonton party :P Wouldn’t it be fun to wrap wontons with a group of friends as a form of social gathering?

If the theme in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro was about the marital infidelity of men, his companion opera buffa, Così fan tutte, is about the infidelity of women.:)

Così fan tutte, which loosely translated means “All women are alike”, is one of Mozart’s four most widely performed and recorded operas, though funnily I never really got round to listening to the composition proper until several years into my listening and acquiring classic music. My induction to Mozart’s operas started with Don Giovanni (a key scene of which was in Amadeus), then Le Nozze di Figaro, then Die Zauberflöte and finally Così fan tutte.

What’s the story in Così? Well two fellows who’re madly in love with their fiancees, two sisters, make a bet with a wizened and experienced gentleman who insists that all women are fickle. As the bet goes, the two fiances insist that their lovers will remain true, but will be required to test their lovers by pretending to leave to go to war, yet return disguised as mustachioed Albanians and attempt to lead the two sisters astray into new marriages.

(Photo from http://www.yalimariewilliams.com/photos_prods.htm)

Like Figaro, this is a comedic opera; there’s a happy ending and no one dies. Yep, nothing like Puccini’s stuff where you’d be lucky to spot any of the key characters still standing by the end. As to whether the two sisters remain true to their their fiances, well, you’ll have to listen to the opera to find out, or if not, check out the entry on Wikipedia haha.

The nearly 3 hour long composition comprises recitatives, arias, and a very large number of duets / trios / quartets / quintets. If fact, as I remember it, the number of group pieces outnumber those in Mozart’s other operas, which make for very interesting scenes where a lot of things are going on at the same time.

Unlike Figaro though I haven’t acquired nearly as many recordings of Così, as I enjoy the music in the former more than the latter. Still, I recently picked up an English recording of Così under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras and have been enjoying it thoroughly in nightly listenings.:)

Truth to tell, one of the ongoing discussions that gives me the laughs is the Apples vs PCs’war’.:)

Now, that in itself has a bit of a history, and like a few of my other stories here, there was a girl in it! I was an active participant of the online forums in NTU 16 years ago, and in my final year, there was a bit of a online fight between a Mac-fan and myself.

Here’s the thing; I’m neither a Mac or a Windows fan. My first computer in 1984 was an Apple, and I wrote my first game in BASIC 3 months later. For me, it’s always about the most appropriate tool for the job. And appropriate for me isn’t merely about functionality and looks, but encompasses a host of other factors including affordability, accessibility, support (especially), amount of published and user-generated literature in it, and quality of content.

In any case, there was this fellow who was in a different faculty heaping scorn on PC users. So I took up on him, and before long things got a little too hot. And only got worse when he got his girlfriend who was in the same faculty into the thread too. So there I was facing off this (very) rude fellow and his girlfriend in a Apple vs PC debate.

How did it end? Well, a certain Associate Professor who knew me in person—at that juncture in 1994 I was a semi-well-known debater—stepped in and broke up the fight, saying, as I recall it, it was regrettable that persons such as myself were arguing over something like this.

Now after things cooled off, one thing led to another, and the girl in this story and I became friends. No it didn’t get anywhere—how was it to—and it was a pretty sad story on how it ended: my heart got broken, and I wrote my most cherished song in memory of our friendship. And here’s the funniest part: whenever I see another Apples vs PC/Windows debate, this is the story I remember.:)

Anyway, just to make sure this entry’s still somewhat On Topic, Microsoft is coming up with its own stylistically clever advertisments to fend off years of Apple bashing on Windows. It’s cute, sort of.:)

After an unsuccessful attempt at beef stew (I added too much red wine! Sobs!), I was determined to do it right. But this time, I chose something easier - chicken stew.

I went on a recipe hunt on the Internet again and found a well-reviewed and tested recipe on Recipezaar. Initially, I was skeptical over the reviews as the ingredients were too simple to be true. Nevertheless, I went ahead to give the recipe a shot and it turned out to be simply delicious! The soup was bursting with aromatic and delectable flavours. I believe the vegetables did it together with the chicken broth. Tomatoes, potatoes and carrots: they make up the terrific trio in the soup. They blend so well. Why, my mother also used this combo before but with water instead of chicken broth. The result was still irresistable. I remember sitting at my family home’s kitchen table sipping at her home-made soup with such contentment.

There’s another wonderful ingredient which Yang and I love to include in almost all of our home-cooked dishes. Fresh mushrooms, of course! Yang favours the white buttons while I enjoy a greater range of fungi. Anything from white/brown button mushrooms to shiitake, golden mushrooms, padi mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and portobellos. And do you know where to get the cheapest mushrooms? Not Cold Storage or NTUC. It is Sheng Siong supermarket. But it is a pity that the take-up rate of fresh mushrooms at Sheng Siong is poor. I feel so sad whenever I see those mushrooms ‘withering’ in their containers on the shelves. Yo people, start eating fresh mushrooms leh. They are good for you; high in fibre, protein, minerals and antioxidants (prevents cancer!) and low in fat. :)

Ling can be quite fun to be around, if only because she’s (what I jokingly call) highly “teasable”. Yesterday evening we were driving back home from work for the Wednesday Hari Raya Puasa public holiday. I was having a craving for Old Chang Kee curry puffs, but decided to tease her a little.:)

I screwed up my most worried face, turned to her and said in a very anxious voice:

“Darling… I have a confession to make…”

Ling went right through the roof! She immediately wailed,

“DARLING!!!! Don’t tell me you went out with another girl!!!! :( :( :(”

I couldn’t stop laughing! I told her I was just teasing to see her reaction, and it was exactly as I thought it’d be. I replied how can I possibly see anyone when I spend all my day hours at work and night time with her around. I told her the confession was supposed to be “I have a craving for OCK curry puffs” LOL.:)

The funniest part though is that before meeting her, I was never a prankster. In fact, just during a staff meeting yesterday afternoon while we were talking about student grades, a couple of colleagues said I’m the incorruptible, dead-serious, “Justice Bao Qingtian” character in the department haha.

This entry’s just for memory’s keepsake.:)

I’m quite determined to look for the best laksa in Singapore. Conditions apply though: 1) The stall shouldn’t be too far away from my home, e.g. Tuas, 2) The rating is based on my preference. Hee hee :)

The laksa stall I’m blogging about today claimed to be the original Katong laksa. It has re-located to Bedok North already. I read about this stall on a local food blog and decided to give it a shot. This stall was mend by an uncle and another helper uncle (who brings you the laksa). It is situated in an old coffee shop of a HDB block which behind the Bedok Stadium and beside the SPC petrol kiosk. The stall name says ‘Marine Parade Laksa’ in English but ‘Katong laksa’ in Mandarin.

When I ordered a bowl of $3 laksa, I noticed that chopsticks were given. Hey, I though Katong laksa is well known for using only the soup spoon to eat from? Hmm, never mind. The laksa was served in the old-fashioned Chinese soup bowl with fresh laksa leaves garnishing. At first glance, the soup looked less milky and not as thick and viscous as 328 laksa. Hmm, okay. Now the taste. This soup has more complexity than 328’s. Good recipe. I continued slurping at the thick rice noodles and drinking the soup. Ah, it is homely and satisfying without the guilty notion that one is consuming too much unhealthy coconut milk. However, if you want the kick, then 328 will deliver it right to your face.

Next stop, the laksa at Roxy Square. :P

This is one of those rare weekends where my mind is in the care-free mode.

I’ve finished marking, returning and discussing my students’ work and now they are all busy with their final preparations for the examination tomorrow. In the meanwhile, they didn’t know that their teacher is having a great time :)

I called Doreen, my best friend of 20 years, to find out whether she was free to do some catching up. We managed to squeeze out a common time yesterday afternoon to do some cooking, chit-chatting and watching BBC’s Pride and Prejudice together. Since I had been keen on trying out a Ratatouille recipe taken from the Internet, and darling dearest doesn’t like eggplant, this was a perfect opportunity to cook and eat with my best friend who is adventurous in food. :)

The list of ingredients and steps for the dish looked daunting enough for me but the actual dish turned out to be surprisingly easy without a messy kitchen Yang had expected. Hee hee. *victory sign* “D The only thing about preparing this French dish is having the patience for the eggplant to release its juices during the simmering process.

We ate Ratatouille with slices of baguette and oh, it was so healthy and satisfying. We ate it warm but it was also good after it had cooled down to room temperature. :) The recipe I used had an unconventional ingredient, i.e. button mushrooms. In addition, the recipe I chose seemed to be easier to manage than others available on the Internet. :)

I found out that Doreen had been going through house-keeping training in her mission study course too! She used to take her own sweet time (me too!) to wash the dishes but yesterday changed my perception of her. Oh you should see how fast she was in helping to clean the dishes. I’m impressed. She’s definitely good for being a missionary and also a home-maker. Hee hee. :D

My book!

One of my (secret) dreams after I started teaching and lecturing 12 years ago has been to publish something. I’m not quite sure where that came from, but it was sort of at the back of my mind. Oh, I had other dreams, like singing the role of Figaro, or performing one of Mozart’s piano concertos in a concert hall. But of all these wants, this one about publishing seemed to be the least fanciful and possessing that tiny glimmer of possibility. After all, my throat croaks and my fingers are as nimble as Matt’s are he eats 6 roti pratas (!), so singing and performing are all out.

Things picked up substantially when I started the Ph.D. It’s not necessary to publish when doing a Ph.D program. In fact, a couple of fellows at my research office didn’t publish at all as they just don’t have the time for it. I did, so in a sense, my very first ‘publication’ ever was a paper for an international conference that NUS was hosting in June 2004. Never mind that I thought my paper was pretty crappy, but hey it was peer reviewed, accepted, and my name’s in a Proceedings now. But the Proceedings are only available for conference delegates who show up and pay their fees, or in online databases - and those require subscription too. So yeah it’s a publication, but not the one that I’d ultimately been hoping for.

Many papers later, and 4 years since I first had a paper in the proceedings, I’m thrilled to say here that I’ve finally published a book proper! The type that people can pay good money, buy and read my trashy writing! But seriously, it’s really my doctoral thesis published by VDM Verlag, a German-based publisher of academic literature and theses.

This isn’t a big thing by any measure in academic circles by the way, since this publisher actively solicits academics for theses and works in areas they’re interested in, so it’s not as though they invited my thesis publication because I wrote something that qualifies for a Nobel prize.

Moreover, publishing a book hasn’t been without its trauma. Specifically, given that this book is commercially available and can now be scrutinized by anyone who decides to fork out good money for it, I’ve suddenly become more than a little nervous that someone who reads it thoroughly will send me an email asking about the bloop in Chapter 7. Or the one in Chapter 2. Or the two in the References section. That’s not even considering any one of those game publishers who may decide to sue me off all my pocket money for saying all those things about their games!

And the book’s a whopping USD124 on Amazon.com! I wouldn’t buy my own book at that price. But seriously, I do get an author’s discount, so if anyone is in a mood to spend money, I’ll help you buy one with the discount.:)

All that said, it’s a milestone reached and what lies beyond is in equal parts scary and exciting. Most of all, it’s a dream that’s finally come true, and I should be allowed by 2 seconds of glory before I find myself a hiding hole and hope the wolves don’t find me haha.:)

I’m sincerely serious about this.

I was at NTUC (Hougang Mall) to buy fruits today and deliberately steered clear of China Fuji apples and China yellow pears. I bought Ipoh’s Tambun pomelo (this is sweeter than the Thailand varieties), Australia’s navel oranges and Australia’s strawberries.

I’m a happy woman! :p

Yang has acquired some of my preferences for food after we have been married for about 22 months. *victory sign* :P That means we have more things in common and can enjoy the same things together.

When we started going out, he was a tea drinker. Earl grey + sugar + milk = Yang’s favourite hot beverage. Of late, he started to take a liking for white coffee too. Probably becos’ it keeps him perked up in the early morning at office. In any case, he started making coffee for both of us to bring to work every morning. It definitely tastes better than my usual 3-in-1. I’m the benefactor :)

He was not a big fan of laksa but the thing grew on him. After the latest sampling of the famous 328 Katong Laksa, he is a believer :) It wasn’t easy to convince him to go to Katong just to have that bowl of laksa. So I have to ‘ta bao’ (take away) for him. Hee hee.

Now this one is really a winner. Yang has been asking for Old Chang Kee curry puffs as snacks. He found them good when they were still warm. He is not as objectionable about eating them as before although I must add that he still thinks tip top curry puff is the best!

Well, the above leaves us with many different food preferences still. For example, Yang dislikes the aubergines and cauliflower but I simply love them, especially brinjal in green curries. He does not eat raw tomatoes of any varieties too. As for spices, ginger is not tolerated - hence, teh halia is one teh tarik he would never order. Oh ya, one other thing too, Yang doesn’t drink and his body has low tolerance for alcohol. :)

Still, it is nice to have him on my side a bit more now. Hee hee :P