scaring yourself can be scary

So after falling sick a few posts back I developed this horrendous cough, exacerbated after eating plates after plates of fried hokkien mee. (see previous posts) The good thing was that I'd developed a pretty solid hokkien mee recipe, the bad thing was that I also developed something else- this horrendous horrendous cough that still hasn't completely gone away.

Things started to get really hairy last Tuesday when I discovered I'd lost 7kg, and was coughing up blood. Realising that these were the same symptoms of pneumonia/tuberculosis, I decided to lay off the hokkien mee. Bought cough syrup, lemon ginger ginseng infusion tea and manuka honey and attacked the cough with guns blazing. it's actually getting better now, and it helps to know that I actually lost 4kg not 7. And that the blood probably came from my nose somewhere.

But there was some fun to be had in the process-including the trip to Brugge. Which wasn't all that fun considering we spent all of 4 hours in the city and 1 hour in this French hypermart. The highlight, it must be said, was this meal Jared and I had that totalled up to something like 60 euros. Pricey, but hearty. Belgian waffles don't appear to be Belgium's specialty as much as Belgian chocolate and..french fries! The potato just melts in your mouth. Bless the Belgians for them's fries!

As for the French hypermart, all I can say is that it looked just like a hypermart with everything in French.

another day, another post

it's guy fawkes day so I hear lots of explosions outside the window! Used to read about guy fawkes in enid blyton. Also who doesnt know v for vendetta.
earlier in the day we visited Westfield, europe's largest shopping mall. It's like Vivocity, only ten times bigger and spans 3 Tube stations. I dunno if the latter is true, but I couldn't see the end of it, so it must be true.
Went to (their equivalent of) a food court and had SINGAPORE FRIED NOODLES. This dish has been sighted in every single place that sells chinese/asian cuisine so far. Curiosity got the better of me. It's actualy really economy bee hoon fried with curry powder with sprinklings of meat.

good food in london (without torching a hole in your pocket)

Okay so it's been a month since we touched down googly-eyed at Heathrow. And getting good, affordable food is still a problem. Besides a 1.99 pound Sub of the Day or a 1.90 sandwich from the Sandwich Shop, there's really no way you can get a decent meal around here for less than 2 pounds. Unless you prepare it yourself. Which brings us to...

3 SIMPLE RECIPES FOR A HAPPY DAY IN LONDON

1. GLORIFIED INSTANT NOODLES

Everyone loves their instant noodles. You can get a packet of this wonderful stuff from Oriental City for 25-45p. However, you're not going to get away with just eating flour and MSG every day, so you gotta add a little nutrition..

Chicken onion flavoured Indomie with egg and garlic ham!

This one's a little more balanced. Shin Ramyun with egg, iceberg lettuce, bacon and cherry tomatoes. This was particularly awesome.

2. ANNE'S BACON & EGG BURGER

I don't know whether this is more sheer genius or sheer bliss. Maybe its sheer gliss. Whatever the case, this recipe is courtesy of Anne, and can be achieved in the time it takes for you to fry bacon, egg, and wrap it all up in a muffin with a slice of cheese. The crucial step here is to microwave it such that the cheese, sandwiched in the middle, melts over the bacon and egg, really making a statement. It also helps to make the bun more fluffy.

JUST CHECK OUT THAT BEAUTY.

3. HOKKIEN MEE

My latest obsession. Fried a batch of it on Anne's birthday that took us back zillions of kilometres to Singapore. Before leaving, I even made it a point to watch the uncle at Niu Ji Prawn Noodle Stall fry his hokkien mee and take notes. And so when you prepare this dish you have to summon all your Singaporean-ness and put as much soul into it as the time-honoured recipe deserves. Eating this in London has been one of the most touching experiences here so far. This one's a bit more complex and time consuming though so...now for the recipe!

Ingredients
Stock
- lots of raw shell-on prawns. I used 11 for 4 people
- Knorr's chicken stock. Uncle uses pork rib soup but the pork here seriously blows so I'll stick to chicken stock for now.
- Pepper, salt, soya sauce

Main
- Yellow oil noodles
- Bee hoon
- lots of garlic
- pork (yes I've mentioned that pork sucks but the Sainsbury stir fry pork isnt bad. Chicken's good for this too actually)
- egg

1. Mix 1 part chicken stock, 1 part water and bring to boil
2. Cook prawns in the stock, deshell
3. Fry the shells in oil till fragrant, throw the whole thing with the oil into the stock
4. Spam salt, pepper and soya sauce
5. Go do your tutorials, come back in an hour
6. Immerse bee hoon in water
7. replenish water in stock in case its dried up
8. do more tutorials
9. now for the frying. fry garlic till golden brown
10. throw in the pork/chicken and fry till cooked
11. throw in the noodles and bee hoon
12. fry suitably long til arms tired. aim is to make strands loose and fluffy
13. add soya sauce and salt
14. pour in the prawn stock, cover and let simmer
15. remove cover, dump in egg and fry a bit longer
16. throw in peeled cooked prawns and serve

hope that helped. squeeze lime, add chilli, sotong and lard for greater authenticity!

ICSS Fright Night

So on Friday I attended my first Halloween party! Ok so in the end it wasn't so much of a Halloween party as a costume party..but great photo-taking fun nonetheless. Anne Daniel and I went to this party shop along Portobello Road and managed to get two packs of clown face paint at 2.99 each, since I was going to go as the Joker and Anne this korean horror movie child with an umbrella. Daniel revealed his affinity for toilet paper as he went as a mummy. Everyone said I was convincing but...you judge.

White face paint is enough to look freaky

Final product

girls at halloween parties just wanna look glam

..but not these two. meet mrs joker

Sheer genius. There's a note on the fridge that says "Sir, I put your dinner in the freezer. Ah Boy was very naughty today."

awesome scarecrow. could have been be freakier though

cooking group!

more cooking group!

and even more cooking group...

and now for the coup de grace