IC MALAYSIA NITE 09 - DIAMONDS

After seeing Malaysia Nite, I suddenly realise how ambitious the Ah Yum production actually is. For one thing, they took the completely different approach of slapstick comedy (UCL-bashing jokes) and random showcases of talent and culture (ie dikir, martial arts) whereas we are actually going to attempt Lion King-esque melodrama. We also write and perform most of the music - so in a sense ours will attempt to reproduce every aspect of a real musical. And there's two weeks left! no time no time.

in any case the post-show refreshments are always a welcome feature in these malaysian/singaporean productions. It was (pretty decent) nasi lemak. ahyum will supposedly provide chicken rice and tiger beer lol.

goinig to spend the whole weekend recording and mixing the soundtrack..and pretty stoked about it! haven't done this is a while..

another day, another recipe

upon dexuan's request:

FRIED CARROT CAKE (WHITE, because I haven't a clue where to get the sweet sauce for black cai tow kway and besides I think the white one is nicer)

you will need:
600g radish (it's called daikon here, get from oriental city)
500g water
350g RICE flour
one teaspoon salt
sugar

arbitrary amounts of:
cai poh (oriental city. or me, cos i have a lot)
garlic
about 5 eggs (hawker uncle always use one egg per person)
soy sauce
thai fish sauce (oriental city)

Serves 1-4, depending on who you are

THE KUEH:

1. Shred the 600g of radish and dump it into a pot. Add a bit of water and cook under medium heat for about 30min until the radish becomes nua
2. Mix the 350g rice flour and 500g water evenly, ensuring no lumps form
3. Mix in the radish with the flour water mixture to obtain a decidedly icky looking mess. don't hate me yet you will be rewarded!
4. add approx one tsp of salt and some sugar
5. add a thin film of oil into a flat-ish plate
6. pour the offensive-looking mixture into plate, making a mess of your kitchen in the process (the flour stains are still in my kitchen)
7. steam for 45 min. you know it's ready when you poke a toothpick in and no residue sticks
8. dump the kueh into the fridge for min. 5 hours, ideally overnight
(note: I've noticed that adding slightly more water gives it a softer texture..just play around)

THE FRYING:
1. heat oil in pan. note that cai tow kway is a pretty oily dish so for greater authenticity you know what to do!
2. dump the kueh in and stir fry for a bit until kueh becomes soft. use spatula to chop up into small pieces
3. add soy sauce and fish sauce and fry some more. don't be afraid to spam the fish sauce
4. push kueh aside and add more oil to fry the garlic and cai poh with. fry till fragrant
5. in a bowl crack the eggs, add soy sauce and mix well.
6. now for the coup de grace. lay the kueh out into a nice flat layer and pour the egg over evenly.
7. let it fry for a bit, chop up the layer into say 4 portions and flip each one over one by one
8. SERVE!

pictures someday. I always forget to take pictures gah.

beyond our wildest dreams

"It's a scene one barely witnesses in London: one of innocence, albeit momentary; of snow in a city that doesn't do extremes of weather; of hostile battle lines suspended and replaced - just for the day - by playful ones; of gratuitous wonders that fall from the sky and blindside you. Yesterday, London was filled with such wonders. The headline said: -5C and we're all going snowhere. Yesterday, London went on a trip to snowhere, which sounds like oblivion, but is infinitely nicer."
- article from the Guardian

So after I retreating back to my room and drying myself up I got ready to sleep. I actually changed into pyjamas and everything. Then I looked out the window and saw people frolicking in the snow in Princes Gardens, and I couldn't take it anymore. Threw on some warm clothes over my sleepwear and went out in a jiffy.

It was like a scene out of the Day After Tomorrow, if I got the movie right. The neighbourhood that we had grown to be so familiar with had, within a matter of hours, been transformed into a thing of beauty. Not that South Kensington wasn't already pretty, but the sight tonight was nothing short of breathtaking. Everything was covered in at least 5 inches of virgin snow, unspoiled for the most part so far. (since it was 12 plus am and the streets were pretty empty save for this mob of students which we avoided) The three of us (ming wang, huiqi and me) headed in the direction of Royal Albert Hall and spent most of our time in the vicinity snapping pictures, hoping to capture with each shot the flawless beauty of that night (whether or not we succeeded you might want to judge for yourself)





I woke up earlier than expected the next morning and immediately checked my email to see if school had been cancelled. No new mail - but the headlines suggested that London's transport system had been crippled. So no school right? Wrong. The bioengineering dept decided that London's biggest snowstorm in 18 years shouldn't keep them from holding classes. Well it certainly kept me from attending them.

Spent the morning snapping more pictures with Huiqi, who was clearly as big a fan of snow as I was. Then joined Shiwei and Jing Ming to go Kensington Gardens where we met up with Anne, Weizhao, Mei Hui, Bernie and many many more people to build snow sculptures. Our snowman didn't last long, with a group of destructive civil engineers nearby. (the irony)

Day 2 of London snow was charming too, for you could see the snowscape more clearly in daylight; however nothing could beat the night of 1 Feb (or the morning of 2 feb =p) when London had just been freshly painted white, when no one knew about this new world but a privileged few, when this world seemed to belong to us and us only.

alone in the snow

Came out from South Kensington station and was amazed by how heavy the snow was. It was as if time had stood still, save for the occasional car driving cautiously by. I like it when it snows at night - everything seems so still and calm and peaceful. There is no wind and the sky is red.