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01 June 2012
But then, the recipe wasn't that spot-on because I altered it myself to accommodate the pandan paste instead of the original cocoa powder. I'll be doing a printed swiss roll next time I guess, although that requires a new recipe which takes a bit more time to optimise D: |
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27 May 2012
Just a tiny update of 2 more images which i forgot to add in yesterday. I mentioned that I was attempting to make a swiss roll but failed. Well, that was the Giraffe print one. Just last week I decided to make a simpler one to make sure that my recipe didn't have anything wrong with it.
There you have it. A simpler, chocolate roll which didn't fail totally. The taste is really good as well, probably because I measured everything to the utmost accuracy with my newly-bought digital weighing scale. That said, I realised I've been buying so many stuffs that I'm scaring myself now. Let's see, I've recently bought a bag and trenchcoat from GMarket, which costs about A$80, and just yesterday I bought a pair of fold-down long boots (very similar to those that Jack Sparrow wore) for keeping my feet warm during this winter. That costs A$120. Ouch. Those things, and the burden of rent and bills. I think I really need to tighten my purse strings now. Geez, graduating from the impoverised PhD studentship seemed like such a faraway dream T^T. I need my first true salary real bad 8( The cruel facets of reality aside, a little happier event happened. As a PhD student, publishing in journals gives one a good headstart in both thesis writing and future career. Therefore, I hereby present:
I really can't be proud of seeing my name here
(because Jennifer's the main author :D)
But it's really interesting to be able to finally find my
name appearing on Google Scholar.
Next goal: A first author paper!!
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26 May 2012
It's been such a long while since I last updated, I'm pretty sure the few readers I have are giving up on this place. Fret not, for here's a new entry once again. (Probably by the time you all are reading this, it's already an entry of a distant, distant past.) There's many things to update about, and it's very difficult to make a start. For a first, there was a little farewell outing with Winnie as she was returning to Singapore/Indo last month for good :(. 
We went to Brunswick East for a Japanese lunch at Matsumoto
followed by this dainty little cafe known as the Sugardough Panificio & Patisserie.
Thereafter, we went back to the city to chill out, and by
the next few days, dear Winnie took the earliest flight back to Indo
(of course, I managed to grab her for a hug when she
showed up at my doorstep 2 hours before her flight)
~~~
And then came the Sydney trip on 28th April which
was really hectic I must say. I mean, a Sydney 24 h day-trip?
It all began when us few PhD students stuck at the student room
decided that we've had a hell of a month doing up reports and
meeting deadlines for experiments and whatnot.
Then, the trip was very haphazardly decided but
it was really fun to just let it all go
and escape elsewhere for a little breather.
(Even if it's just across one state)
I'll let the pictures do all the talking for now.
(was barely awake because I started preparing at 5 am). We only came back to life when we arrived at Marigold at Sydney's Chinatown (or near Chinatown) and had the dumplings in bamboo steamers presented to us, traditional trolley-style. The food was really good, way better than a certain C- branded yum cha in melbourne, and not to mention that it's cheaper as well. And then it's next door to Paddy's Market, which is like Queen Vic market, but less raw food and more bargain knickknacks and tourist souvenirs.
Aww the CBD was such a great shopping destination. Well maybe it's
because Melbourne's Bourke st is all too familiar to us that every shop
we saw at Sydney's George st (and other streets) just had that extra
bit of attractiveness to it. Honestly though, all the brands available are pretty
much the same in both cities.
 We walked a fair distance before reaching our next destination - The Sydney Tower Eye. As you can see, this picture above was a bird's eye view of the CBD's landscape. We were standing at about 250 m above when we did the Skywalk, a guided tour involving us talking an outdoor stroll around the Tower Eye. The pictures taken here are with Melody at the moment :D
for tourists it was more like a place to enjoy great seafood (fried, grilled or sashimi). I had my first raw oyster then; can't say I love it, but one can not deny how fresh the seafood was. We also had lobster, squid, fish etc and plenty of chips. Goodness, I'm salivating now. Probably the highlight of the day (well for me) was the visit to Adriano Zumbo's pattisierie at Star casino. Not sure if any readers here (if any!) are fans of Masterchef Australia. Well I am, and so one such as myself would find this name fairly familiar. The name Zumbo is almost synonymous with Macarons. Maybe like a Pierre Herme equivalent in Australia, only wackier perhaps?  
at about 4pm+ we made the dessert shop 鲜芋仙 our last stop (for food at least). The Azuki red bean, grass jelly and taro dessert was really tasty, and refreshing. Strangely I didn't come across these desserts when mom and I went Taiwan years ago.
 sight seeing. By then, we were soaking in the last few rays from the setting sun, with live music, a bottle of beer in hand and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the crowded harbour. We did walk around a little while after that, and then, the rest of the trip is history :) ~~~ If you're expecting any pictures from my Hell's kitchen then you'll be disappointed. I did try to make a Swiss roll (with a Giraffe print at that), but it was a 20% fail. So before I master the art of making a Swiss roll, there won't be pictures of my baking adventures here :D Why did the swiss roll fail? Well, it was all perfect until the point where I have to roll it. I kind of broke my roll into 3 parts :( Thankfully, it still tastes like heaven. |
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