Monthly Archive
Browsing entries posted on October 2007
Cooking Adventures Ep. 3
Sundays are cooking days, because there’s all of Saturday to go grocery shopping, and Sundays are relaxed days when we can take 2 hours to cook lunch. This edition: ABC Soup! Also known more prosaically as Onions, Carrots, Tomatoes and Potatoes Soup.
Ingredients:
Large red onions, sliced
Tomatoes, cut into wedges
Potatoes, cut into quarters
Carrots, cut into wedges
Pork on the bone (I used loin ribs, but spare ribs would have been better)
Large dried ikan bilis
Maggi Chicken Stock Granules (yes, cheating!)
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
Brown rice
Instructions:
Wash rice and put in rice cooker. Switch on and let cook. However, I used the saucepan for the rice and the mini rice-cooker for the soup, so I had 2 pots going simultaneously.
Put water in pot, let boil. Chuck in garlic, ikan bilis and stock granules, then carrots and potatoes.
When carrots and potatoes have softened up (after ~1 hour), add onions, tomatoes and meat.
When carrots, potatoes and onions have reached desired levels of cooked-ness, remove from heat. Eat with rice.
The final product:
Rated a great success, although time-consuming. My mother would be so proud.
Lots of pictures this time, although they were taken with a mobile phone so quality is a bit lower than usual.
The pots
Washing rice
Cutting the meat - I wouldn’t have had to do this if I’d bought spare ribs instead.
Cooking the rice, old-school style!
The water’s steaming. Bathtime, veggies!
Onions, tomatoes and meat like to soak in carrot-and-potato-flavoured water.
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.
Lunch!
DS Lite shopping spree!
I’m giggling like a schoolgirl. A schoolgirl with a debit card and an internet connection.
My shipments of DS Lite accessories from Play-Asia arrived today, after an age of waiting (for one shipment) and a week (for the other). I love shopping at Play-Asia because they have free shipping to Singapore, and they don’t skimp on the packaging. My orders came in 2 boxes, and the larger box was packed with styrofoam peanuts. Now that’s service.
I ordered a Moritoys Stretch Touch Pen, which is almost the Holy Grail of DS Lite styli. I just happened to catch the pre-order announcement, so I was lucky. These things never go on sale properly - their pre-order is announced, everyone rushes to buy one, and it’s out of stock before the stock even arrives. I actually placed the order in late September, and it didn’t ship until October 16th. Presumably they were waiting for the stock to come in from Japan. Yes, it’s in Metallic Rose and doesn’t match my white set, but all that goes out the window because it’s a Moritoys stylus!
Along with the stylus, I ordered my regular screenguard replacement from Capdase. The Taku screenguard is much better than the Hori one, and so much smoother. Application is a breeze too, and that means a lot coming from a klutz like me. Buying online is much cheaper than getting the same thing from Funan Mall - I know because I asked the price. How much more? Can you say 50% markup? Anyway you can also buy them online - some dude is bringing them in from Play-Asia at a narrow profit margin of maybe 50 cents.
My 2nd shipment consisted of in-stock items, so it shipped within a couple of days. I got the Hori Stationery Style Set because I wanted a nice pouch that could accommodate my armoured DS Lite. Also, Gamescore didn’t have the item in stock. Most pouches and leather book-type covers in the market are made for the “naked” DS Lite. As it is, my polycarbonate-shell-wearing DS Lite just fits snugly into the pouch, which has a soft plush interior to prevent scratches. Why do I want a pouch when I already have a shell, you might ask. Because I want 100% protection! My hinge developed a hairline crack a month ago, and on Friday it became a fracture. Incidents like that are why bundling up your precious baby DS makes good sense. I thumb my nose at those who scoff at pouches and screen protectors as “overkill”. Yeah, let’s see you get that scratch out of your screen, buddy!
The other item in the 2nd shipment was a USB charging cable from a 3rd party supplier. I don’t foresee myself using this an awful lot since I spend a lot of time in my room, within easy reach of a charger, but this is for travelling. I probably won’t travel to anywhere that doesn’t have internet cafes anyway, so finding a USB port isn’t a problem. Staying there for 4 hours while the DS charges, is. Most probably this will be pressed into use during exam season when I pack myself off to the library or the student lounge with my laptop, so my DS can just suck juice from the PC while the PC sucks juice from the power socket. It’s the circle of life!
I considered getting a battery pack or something - this won’t work on a plane - but universal chargers are a problem. I think the only real solution to a battery pack or power supply that works everywhere in the world, even on planes, is a solar-powered pack, but those are still prohibitively expensive.
And now for a picture of my DS Lite with its new friends.
The pencil and ‘eraser’ are part of the Stationery Set (Play-Asia misspells it as ’stationary’). Now I have 4 styli - 2 metal stretch ones, a plastic pencil, and the original white plastic one. Isn’t that always the case.
The ‘eraser’ is a screen cleaner on a bungee cord. That’s a brilliant idea - that way, it can ACTUALLY reach both screens while not being tethered to a ridiculously long cord. *shuffles feet* This brings my total of screen cleaners to 3, since Capdase includes one with every pack of screen protectors. But theirs come on a silly short cord that would fit my mobile phone better.
And finally, you can see the USB charging cable, and a rainbow of scratches on the polycarbonate shell of my DS Lite. Whatever, I can always buy a new one now that I have a pouch to protect it from scratches.
Now THAT’S overkill of consumerism.
Bargain Shopping For Holidays
*Paid Post*
The huge new trend now, with regards to going on vacation, is to build your own package of flights, hotels and tours, instead of sticking to a fixed tour. The comparison shopping for bargain holidays can be quite daunting, which is where large sites like Holiday Hypermarket come in.
The site collates information from numerous travel agencies, so the range of destinations, hotels and flights is extremely wide. As they are based in the UK, there’s an emphasis on the Mediterranean region, as well as exotic places like Egypt and Lapland. However, tours to Asia can be found under the ‘Far East’ category.
If you choose to mix and match your own package deal, arrangements are made with the airlines and hotels separately. This makes it possible to scrimp on the air ticket and splurge on a 5-star resort hotel instead, if that’s what you like.
Holidays built around specific activities can also be booked through the site. If you fancy hitting the slopes, you can book ski holidays in places as diverse as Norway and Andorra. Another popular holiday activity is to go on a cruise. Holiday Hypermarket offers cruises from major cruise lines such as P&O Cruises and Cunard, for a wonderful holiday experience.
If you’re given to the occasional urge to just run away from the world for a while, the site also offers last-minute holidays. Their advantage in this sector lies in the fact that they are an all-in-one solution with offers from many agencies, so the comparison shopping is easier and the chances of booking a desired holiday are greater. The last thing you need in the process of booking a stress-busting holiday is more stress.
Now we know why Dumbledore likes purple.
Caution: Harry Potter spoilers ahead.
J. K. Rowling went to New York’s Carnegie Hall as part of a book tour, and had a little question-and-answer session that will go down in Potter history.
The biggest bombshell that she dropped during the session was the explicit statement that Dumbledore was gay (he’s dead, therefore past tense). I suppose I missed the implied closeness of the youthful Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but you don’t really expect any depictions or allusions to homosexuality in a Harry Potter book.
The full chat transcript can be found here, courtesy of The Leaky Cauldron, with some additional reporting from the BBC available here. Some comments on the BBC reporting: A gay rights campaigner is quoted as being disappointed that Dumbledore’s sexuality wasn’t made more explicit. Well I think he’s being a tad foolish - adult sexuality in general wasn’t explored in huge detail in the books, because the focus was on teenage sexuality and early exploration. Sure, Snape is shown to have a heart capable of love, and Hagrid tries to date (check the transcript to see how that turned out) but by and large, the series has a childish/adolescent slant because that’s the reality for the protagonist. It’s not so much that she sidelined Dumbledore’s homosexuality, it’s that she’s sidelined adult sexuality. Minority campaigners really need to look at the bigger picture every once in a while.
Personally I don’t think Dumbledore’s being gay is a big deal. It’s great that he now stands as a positive role model, and I salute Ms Rowling for having the courage to say that about a main character, because I’m sure the condemnations will start coming in. Again. As they have for the last 10 years, because these books are of the Devil and will tempt our children away from a righteous path, bla bla bla. It’s quite possible she’s inured to all that rubbish by now, so the implications of such a revelation don’t really bother her.
As for how it’s going to affect the children who read the books, I’ll just say this: it didn’t occur to me that there was something funny going on, and it probably won’t occur to the children either. She’s not writing a wizarding Brokeback Mountain, see. Was the revelation unnecessary? Well, a question was asked and she answered it. It doesn’t change my understanding or enjoyment of the books, because it really doesn’t matter one way or the other which team Dumbly-dorr is batting for. I’d still recommend the books to my cousins and assorted younger relatives, without worrying that their parents will come after me for exposing them to nefarious elements.
Anyway, the rest of the chat contains interesting little nuggets as well, both concerning the past and future of the timeline of the books. We find out what happened prior to Harry’s being orphaned, and who ends up marrying who that wasn’t mentioned in the epilogue. And she takes more questions concerning Aberforth and his goats, and Snape. The man remains an enigma even in death. And finally she mentions the biggest catfight in the series, that I can’t think of without saying the relevant line of dialogue: Molly vs Bellatrix, w00t!
Cooking Adventures Ep. 2
Once more with the macaroni and cheese, but this time I had a lot more than just 3 ingredients (as Agagooga pointed out). Oh wait, spices don’t count as an ingredient, do they? Either way, the chicken cheese macaroni had a more complex flavour than the previous corned beef casserole.
Cheddar cheese melted over macaroni and chicken.
Everything is yellow because I used Kraft Extra Sharp Cheddar which is a sunny orange colour. The more orange it is, the more aged it is, apparently. I decided that Emmenthal would be a strange addition and thus decided not to get too creative.
Ingredients:
Macaroni elbows
Chicken fillet
Cheddar cheese
All-purpose seasoning
Garlic Salt
Butter
Oil
Instructions:
Marinate chicken in salt and seasoning.
Cook macaroni. Drain.
Heat up oil.
Cook chicken.
Throw in macaroni, and butter.
Add cheese. Keep stirring to melt cheese into gooey goodness.
The final product: My co-tester said the chicken was a bit salty and tough. I admit to overcooking my meat because of a combination of a sensitive stomach and squeamishness towards raw meat. Also, the dish is terribly oily and probably qualifies for the “Heart Attack On A Plate” medal. On the other hand, it’s hard to go wrong with mac and cheese. And at least my version isn’t the insane self-tanner orange of the box dinner kind, despite the cheese coming from the same manufacturer as those neon meals.
70 Years Of Pleasing People
*Paid Post*
Abt Electronics is a retailer of electric and electronic appliances and gadgets. Their tagline is “Pleasing People… Since 1936″ so they’ve been around for quite some time. Besides their physical store in Chicago, they’ve also branched out into online retailing, which allows them to reach a wider market.
As they carry a wide range of products, from the usual televisions to kitchen appliances such as bread making machines and even GPS navigation systems for your car, their website is a good place to get all your electronics shopping done.
If you live in the continental United States, Abt Electronics also offers free shipping on certain items such as their big-screen and plasma televisions, and on items from selected brands such as Apple, Bose and Yamaha.
Finally, you can purchase from them without any worries, as they are the authorized retailers for most major brands, and thus are well-placed to give the best information concerning a product, as the sales staff have been trained by the manufacturer. After-sales care is also taken care of, because items purchased from an authorized dealer are covered under the manufacturer’s warranty.
When you kill time, the blood is on your hands.
Yes, the title is a clumsy mashup of 2 idioms. No matter, because it’s true. When you waste time, you have no one to blame but yourself. I should know, I’m a mass murderer of temporality.
Sitting in my room while the rain pours down outside, I ponder what I’ve done with my time since I effectively withdrew from active hall life. A sophomore asked me why I quit the band, and the simple reason is I just didn’t feel like it. I don’t actually spend any more time studying than I used to do, but I sure spend a lot of time doing what I want to do, instead of what my commitments dictate.
By doing a year-on-year comparison, I estimate I’ve reclaimed about 9 hours a week by cutting out hall activities. That’s not really a lot, but that’s a very conservative estimate based on: 3 hours of volunteer work, 1 hour of DnD work, 2 hours of choir practice and 3 hours of band practice.
The thing about cutting out all my commitments is that I am solely responsible for how I spend my time. If I don’t do my readings before class, I have only myself to blame, and I can’t justify it by saying I spent all evening at band or choir and thus had no time to study. Freedom is a double-edged sword, and the other side sometimes cuts deeper - because when you’re your own worst critic, disappointing yourself can be harder to swallow than letting others down.
A drawback of cutting out hall activities is that I also reduce opportunities for social contact. Days have gone by when I don’t speak to another human being beyond cursory greetings. Heck, I think my Harvest Moon farmer speaks to more people per game-day than I do in 24 real-time hours. Considering that he lives in a village of less than 30 people and I live in a hall with 500 residents, that’s a bit pathetic. I am a living geek stereotype: holed up in my room all day long with my electronic gadgets and not getting much sun.
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