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Remember those "Pick A Haircut" posters at Indian barbershops?When my hairdresser and I decided to "break" my pudding bowl six weeks ago, we actually only "shattered" half of it.
"The Dingo Ate My Baby!"If you look at it from the right, it's still a "Lindy Chamberlain" (modelled here by Meryl Streep).
Did he also do her heart-shaped tuft down there?From the left, it's a "Mary Quant" by Vidal Sassoon (the man himself, not the chain).I get to look like two different persons with just one haircut that combines two helmet-y styles that I've been alternating between for a few years now. My darling hairdresser's take on value-for-money in these gloomy cash-strapped times? Anyway, I wasn't sure about it then because I'm now old and boring, my days of "adventurous" hairdos left back in the 80s along with my cassettes of A Flock Of Seagulls and other haircut bands from that era.However, it grew (pun not intended) on me. It really wasn't as "what-the-fuck" as I thought it'd be...my hairdresser's "morphing" of the Lindy into the Mary, all happening at the back of the head, was really subtle. I went in for my scheduled appointment yesterday and left, again, feeling like two brand new girls.
I've been deflowered by a high school girl! I'm a blog award-virgin no more courtesy of AusStyle, a spunky pocket-rocket from Melbourne who I admire for having boundless energy for school, her blog, her amazing 'zine and life. Thank you!
She was given the Lemonade Award for blogs which show attitude and/or gratitude (well-deserved!) and has graciously passed it on to me.The Lemonade Award1. Put the logo on your blog or post2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog (Do I have to?! Can I email instead?)5. Nominate your favorites and link to this postThere is not much accompanying wordage to the award except for the rules so I'm going to assume that AusStyle's nominated me because she likes how I turn the sour lemons that life's dished out into tasty lemonade which is not too difficult since this blog is all about pwetty things. Working on that assumption, I'm passing the cute Lemonade Stand on to:4Gervorama - Some anonymous sour comment-leavers on Ms G's blog say it's so "me, me me!" but it's her blog - her vehicle for the expression of gratitude for the good life, friends and family that she's been blessed with.4Green Laundry - She doesn't know I exist (yes, call me a lurker, if you want) but she's such a joy to read. Most people in Singapore whinge, from time to time, about having to live there but this girl just goes about living her life and appreciating every little nice thing that crosses her path.4 Jafabrit - She gives great street art back to the lovely town that she lives in for having her.4Jin - She makes me laugh hard with her occasional whinge about things but most of the time, she's thankful for all the lemons.4one two three BAM! - Ms Q and Ms A are always grateful for their great thrift-store finds which they share in their various online stores. They are very funny too.4Skylark & Son - Skye takes the you-wouldn't-give-them-a-second-glance lemons that the op-shops give her and turns them into the most amazing of outfits but I think her favourite lemonade in the world is her I-want-to-pinch-his-cheeks little dude.4Urple - Katlin really appreciates the good things in her island-life especially food.4Wee Birdy - Australian Top Bird pays tribute to her adopted city of London by compiling a shopping/eating/playing guide that's so informative yet personal. It's so good that it's been nominated in the "Best-Kept Secret Blog" category at the 2009 Weblog Awards. Go vote for her! Now!4Wendy Brandes - This lady sure has attitude! And gratitute - I don't know how she does it but she replies to nearly every comment left on her posts and she has many! Plus she reciprocates by commenting on her readers' blogs. Just so you know, Ms B, I read you daily but have stopped leaving comments so you have one less to reply to.There! Done! Thank you again, AusStyle, you little cherry-popper. Now, I have to go do the dreaded thing of leaving comments on the nominated blogs...
...but not before I share my favourite recipe for a kickass lemonade. From real lemons, of course.Lemonade500ml freshly-squeezed lemon juice850g sugar1 lemon (sliced)Sparkling mineral water~ Boil juice and sugar and pour over sliced lemon. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey! And lemon-y syrup can be stored for ages in the fridge.To serve: Add one part syrup to three parts sparkling mineral water. You HAVE to use the bubbly water! It makes the drink.I like a splash or two of vodka or limoncello in it for added kick. Chin-chin!
The official Chinese New Year colour.
My current favourite dwess, flocked Melissa Ultragirls and smalls with red bows
Handpainted-in-India tray, mandarins and ang pows
Not at my grandma's table!
It's the most important meal of the year for the Chinese where the whole clan travel from all over to congregate, usually at the patriach's home, on Chinese New Year's Eve for a huge eat-fest. Very much like the Christmas lunch. Drunk uncle with wandering hands sometimes included.No traditional steamboat party at ours this year for our adopted Australian "clan" because I can't be arsed slaving in the kitchen to make my special prawn stock and prep mountains of food. The boyfriend and I had a very quiet one, just the two of us with a quick and easy but not-very-traditional meal of chicken tacos which we are glad we did because we were "re-united" with our darling Eli Stone for nine episodes in the second season of the series.
What was Angelina Jolie thinking?!
Sadly, last night might be the last that we'll see of him. The studio has canned the series. Why, oh, why after two brilliant seasons?! And if that's not bad enough, they are holding back the final four episodes that are broadcast-ready. Come on, you suits! I need closure.
Milk knows its her year and thinks she has first dip on my basket of "good luck" mandarins. Not so fast, you gweedy cow! Let me swap some for little red packets of money from the relatives first.Gong Hey Fatt Choy! It's the first day of the Year of the Ox on the Lunar calendar. Milk's having a chew on some native eucalyptus leaves. She's been spending too much time with her koala pals.It's also Australia Day today, a day of backyard barbies and tinnies of local brews. Have a good one, Aussie mates!We're off now for a day of festive feasting at my aunt's.
These Peking Duck sausages look vulgar raw but when cooked are some of the tastiest encased minced meat ever. We first discovered them at our cute little neighbourhood butcher last year and they've since become a dinner time favourite.
We like them in salads and this is how we've been eating them since the mango season started in Australia - my take on the classic pairing of duck with orange. The tartness and texture of the mango works so much better with the fowl than the citrus fruit, I think.For this easy-peasy salad for two, you'll need:~ 4 Peking Duck sausages (but if you don't have an adventurous butcher like ours, go to Chinatown, buy half a Peking Duck and shred it up, crispy skin and all)~ 2 firm mangoes (buy the not-so-sweet variety)~ your favourite salad greens (I've used a mesclun mix here but baby spinach works just as well)
4I bung the sausages into the oven at about 190°C, on a tray lined with baking paper. Once the top is browned and crispy, I flip them over to do the same to the other side. Of course you can fry them in a pan but splattering grease puts me off. If we have a barbie on our balcony, that would be my preferred way to cook them.4Allow the sausages to cool and thinly slice them.4Thinly slice or cube the mangoes.4Wash and spin dry salad greens.4Make dressing - an orange vinaigrette (thought I'd add a tiny touch of the classic orange and duck combo)~Whisk 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard and 5 teaspoons of freshly-squeezed orange juice in a bowl. Slowly drizzle in about 5 teaspoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil, whisking as you add. Season with salt and cracked black pepper.4Give everything a good toss in a bowl and serve - It's Summer here so I serve everything cold but if you're making this in the colder months, cook sausages last (or, if using Peking Duck, heat the duck up before shredding) for a warm salad.Simply The Best ButcheryShop 14 417 Bourke StreetSurry HillsPh: (02) 8021 0159
The bill
The Foundry Stage where most of the magic - Laughing Clowns, The Saints and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds -happened.
Japanese girly noise-merchants, Afrirampo, all sedate and chill in pretty frocks at soundcheck
Afrirampo ten minutes later, in stage make-up and costumes, blowing our brains out with their crazy set. It's amazing how much (good) noise two tiny girls and their drums, guitar, fuzzboxes and made-in-Africa magic sticks can make. Our favourite act of the day!
Dead Meadow - Good but only in small doses.
Robert Forster. The remaining half of The Go-Betweens. Enough said.
The first time I heard Rowland S. Howard was on a 12" single he recorded with Lydia Lunch, a cover of Lee Hazelwood's "Some Velvet Morning". It was not an easy-to-forget version of the classic tune. I loved it and still own it so watching him play, many years later, in front of the oldest building on Cockatoo Island, on a windswept hill and sitting on the lawn, was super-special.
The highlight of our day was, of course, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds! Also the curators of the event. "The Ship Song" made what had already been a perfect day for me complete.It's been two days since but I am still reeling from the once-in-a-lifetime supersonic experience, with a line-up that might never be repeated again, at one of my favourite places in Sydney. I have so much more to say about the breezy blue-sky day, the other bands that we saw but didn't photo-document, the loveliest crowd at a festival ever...but it's really one of those you-have-to-be-there events where no amount of words or pictures can truly describe its sheer magnitude.
Ever listened to Shonen Knife? I love them. Everytime I see a product using an animal for branding, I think of Shonen Knife's very cute short song Tortoise Brand Pot Scrubbing Cleaner's Theme..."Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner...Specially selected pot cleaner...The best pot cleaner in the world is...Specially selected Tortoise Brand".
I like Lin Lin Panda Brand XO Sauce not because it's got a cute little animal stamped on it even though, it might seem, a lot of my purchase decisions are based on cuteness of branding or packaging. Lin Lin is a truly good sauce. I know because we have tried many including those expensive ones in ornate tiny bottles. Lin Lin's just got the right mix, how I like my XO sauce.
Last night's dinner - a stir-fry with steamed rice. You'll need:~ 5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)~ 1 eschalot (finely chopped)~ a handful of dried shrimps and a handful of dried scallops (cover with water to rehydrate - they are not really necessary because the sauce already contains them but I like boosting the flavour)~ Panda Brand XO Sauce~ 1 bunch of snakebeans (cut into 4cm pieces)
~ a dozen king prawns (lightly salted and peppered)To cook:4Heat some oil in a pan. Throw in garlic and eschalot and cook till soft.4Squeeze excess water out of dried shrimps and scallops and add to pan. Save soaking liquid.4Add 3 heaped tablespoons of XO sauce. Mix well.4Add snakebeans. Give everything in the pan a good stir. Add maybe 3 tablespoons of soaking liquid. Put pan lid on for 5 minutes.4Remove lid. Beans should now be cooked but not soft.4Add prawns. Give everything another good stir. Add more soaking liquid if you like it saucier. 4Check seasoning - add some soy if it's not salty enough. Remove from heat when prawns are cooked.4Serve over steamed rice.Until the next homecooked meal...
Yes, I'm still on a food kick. These are items from the larder that I have mentioned and used in the last few posts. And will be using a lot more of if I continue on the same edibles tangent.
K - Kewpie MayoMade in Japan. Very delicious. And cute, of course. I like it compared to other mayos because it's got a very good tang. My Kewpie dolls like hanging out with it too.See their pals starring in a very hilarious (but also a little creepy, to some) commercial for another food product here. The whole series has provided my pals and I hours of silly laughs on YouTube-viewing drunken nights. Watch it.
M - Murray River Salt Flakes
An Australian product. I like them because they are a pretty colour. There is also a less shallow reason why I buy them.
The "shoes", in this case, are these smoked trout. The fish shop at the Chinatown market that we frequent doesn't always stock them so we get really excited on days that that we find them. We like making them the stars of the meal, using other less flavoursome but still flavoursome ingredients that won't steal their smoky limelight.
This is how we ate them for dinner on Wednesday - in a salad. I'm so happy I don't have to make up a "recipe" with weights and measures for this meal seeing how I made a complete botch of the last one.
You'll need:~ 2 smoked trout (remove the skin and flake the flesh into chunks)~ 2 potatoes (peeled, cubed and boiled in salted water)~ 2 eggs (hardboiled)~ 2 bunches of baby asparagus (blanched in salted water and quickly dunked into a bowl of iced water)~ half a Spanish onion (fine brunoise)~ good quality mayo (we always use Kewpie because it is cute and tasty)To assemble:4Chuck everything except the eggs into a mixing bowl.4Add a generous dollop of mayo, salt flakes and white pepper. Mix well.4Break eggs into chunks with fingers over salad. Serve.Badabing badaboom! Thirty minutes or less from prep bench to dining table.
The phrase was first recorded in 1672 while Keen & Sons decided to make the yellow condiment that is "celebrated for its unequalled flavour" their family business in 1742. I've always thought it was the other way round. I guess the Keens lucked out in the name game.
Anyway, to continue with this special request, here's what I made for dinner on Tuesday - honey and mustard chicken wings. Keen's powdered stuff is the key here. I tried making them before with the posh Dijon one but the sharpness of the mustard never came through. You'll need to start prepping a day prior with these:~ 8 whole chicken wings (separate the drumlette from the wing tip by cutting at the joint)Now comes the hard part. I usually cook by feel so the following quantities are what I thought I put in. If you ever make this and it sucks the first time, adjust the ingredients to your liking the next time. ~ 6 tablespoons of honey~ 2 tablespoons of Keen's mustard~ 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce~ 2 tablespoons of salt (*Edit-to-add: Mommy Noi-noi just texted to ask if that's too much salt. Maybe. I really don't measure things. However, if you feel it's too much, cut down but salt makes the skin crispy so I would add more salt to this than I usually would to other things. Hope it all makes sense.) ~ a few generous cracks of black pepper~ a dash of olive oil4Put chicken wings into a big bowl. 4In a another smaller bowl, mix the the rest of the ingredients into a paste. Pour over wings, toss well and make sure that wings are evenly coated. Cover the big bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate until ready to use the next day.4To cook: Preheat oven to 190°C. 4While oven is heating up, line baking tray with baking paper (or you'll be cursing and swearing when you try to scrub off the hardened and burnt marinade dripping later). 4Place a baking rack on the lined tray and arrange wings and drumlettes on rack with as much space between them as possible (Chicken wings are tasty but so full of fat - the rack allows the grease to drip onto the tray below while cooking). Oh, and save the marinade that's left in the bowl.4Place tray into oven when it's at the right temperature. Baste the top side of wings with the marinade every 5 minutes and allow to cook until they're golden. Then turn the wings over and do the same. There, done.I love a good coleslaw so any excuse to whip one up, I would. Plus its chilled crunchiness is great company for the warm and sticky chicken. Again, it's simple to make and it keeps well for a day or two. Julienne cabbage (red or white, or both), carrots and green apples (I love them in my 'shlaw) and toss in a good quality mayo (I use the Japanese Kewpie) and a generous dusting of ground white pepper. Sprinkle with salt flakes just before serving.
...what is known in this household as "sprinkly bits" but its official title is "rice seasoning".Not content with the current content of this blog (one that was started for her viewing pleasure!), the nosy Poochie, my dear pal/"personal shopper"/runner of silly errands back in Singapore, has put in a request for posts on what I make for dinner daily. I love to cook and I try to make ourselves a wholesome meal everyday but some days, I seriously can't be bothered after a long day at work. Plus the convenience of our favourite take-aways in the neighbourhood is too huge a lure. If I do cook, it's usually something very simple that I throw together with an imaginary recipe that exists only in my head but Poochie wanted cookbook-style step-by-step photos and instructions...the works. Down, girl, down! That "something very simple" that takes maybe half-an-hour from fridge/stove/oven to table might take me twice the time if I was to stop at every juncture to take photos! So, Poochie, you can't have everything.
Now, back to the task at hand. Here's what we ate on Monday - chirashi sushi. It's an old photo ("instructions" included) from here - one of my first attempts to document what I cook which I have since given up upon and now am reviving and hopefully will be diligent with. The boyfriend and I love this cold sushi salad, especially in the Summer, so I make it pretty often. It's fast and easy to make - you only need to cook the rice and the eggs. It doesn't really matter, what you put on the vinegared sushi rice, but it HAS to have the "sprinkly bits". Tossed through the rice, before you pile on your choice of toppings, it makes the dish complete. It adds flavour, texture (crunchy!) and a whole new dimension to the rice - it's so tasty I can eat plain sushi rice balls coated with the stuff. Be generous when using it. Available in a lot of different flavours at Asian supermarkets and Japanese grocers.
The Instant Digital Camera from the Polaroid PoGo range of products. Available Spring (Northern Hemisphere) 2009. A digital camera with an integrated printer. A personal portable Neo Print Photo Booth. Like in the good old days. Instant gratification! What fun, I thought. Until I read this in the product description, "...the Instant Digital Camera is full of features to perfect any photo."That line had me thinking...the imperfection of the prints that spit out of my old Polaroid camera is precisely why I love them. The grainy-ness and the never-true-to-life colours always made everything seem more beautiful than when viewed with the naked eye. Or shot with a smart digital camera. So while the Pogo is a novel idea, I'm not going to run out to buy one. Not until they make one that has the ability to print photos with the same "flaws" as the classic models.
The first two times were during the week between Christmas and NewYear. We thought, being a relatively new business, they might want to milk it and not take the week-long break but we were wrong. They were opened last Sunday but we couldn't find a parking spot. Yesterday, we were in the vicinity of Newtown again and after making rounds in the neighbourhood of narrow streets, the boyfriend decided to illegal-park and we finally got a taste of Black Star.
In the bags (clockwise from top left): sausage roll, mushroom quiche, raspberry galette, cannelé, lemon curd biscuit, saffron shortbreadA zippy dash into the cute little shop and a very quick but not easy we'll-have-one-of-this-this-and-this later, our lunch was sorted. We would have loved to have eaten there instead of taking away (in case we wanted more and we did!) but all the seating available - a love seat in front of the counter and two tiny tables on the sidewalk - were occupied and besides, the car was on someone's private property. We couldn't wait to get home to devour the lot. It was the longest 15-minute drive home ever. The beautiful smell of pastry permeating the whole car didn't help.Everything that we bought were fantastic except for the cannelé which was the one thing that I was looking so forward to!~ Sausage roll - The boyfriend's pick as I don't eat the meat off the back of anything with four legs but I did try a bit of the pastry off the side. Perfectly flaky and buttery! After his first bite, he said that the flavour of the pork mince within reminded him of ngoh hiang (five-spice meat roll) from back home. Oooh, different, I thought and cut myself a tiny chunk to taste and spit out (Disgusting, I know. But that's how I taste meat when I have to cook them). It was indeed tasty.~ Mushroom quiche - My lunch. I wanted a mushroom pie but they've sold out of them so the very friendly and chirpy girl behind the counter recommended the quiche. "Allan's personal favourite," she said, pointing to her colleague. I didn't need very much persuasion. Eggs and mushrooms? I'm in! The chopped herbs on top added not only colour but a complemetary flavour to the 'shrooms and the pastry was thin and flaky and it scored more points for having a non-soggy bottom.~ Raspberry galette - The tartness of the berries and the sweetness of the shortcrust pastry was a good combo but I think it needed maybe just a tiny dollop of pastry cream beneath the berries for added moisture and a touch of creamy-ness?~ Cannelé - Places that sell them in Sydney are rare so imagine my silent squeals when I saw them on Black Star's counter! But no loud squeals when I got home and bit into them. The caramelised crust was crunchy, alright, but the centre, meant to be slightly chewy, was too doughy-chewy. And slightly heavy on the bitter almond flavour. Disappointing.~ Lemon curd biscuit - Such a cute idea when almost everyone is serving their citrus curd in tartlets. One bite and the biscuit is gone. Very more-ish. And the curd is as good as the one I make.~ Saffron shortbread - A finger of shortbread smeared with a saffron-flavoured cream and topped with strips of candied dried mango (I think it was). Another great combo of flavours and textures. Also very more-ish.In a city where a chef's "pedigree" is more important than the actual work he/she produces when it comes to drawing in the crowd, I have to say that Black Star's Chris Thé's baked goods tastes as good as his resume (stints at Claude's, Yellow, Victoire...) looks.We are definitely going back to Black Star to work our way down their menu of pies and sausage rolls and across their counter. And for a spot of illegal parking.Black Star Pastry277 Australia St NewtownPh: (02) 9557 8656
We went to your much-touted free Festival First Night last evening and boy, I hope the events that we have tickets to are not as abysmally badly-organised and a threat to our lives as last night's! 
We arrived just a little before the 30-minute Santogold performance on the closed-for-the-event College Street where her tent was but instead of being allowed to walk along the pavement to the front of the stage, we were diverted into Hyde Park by crowd control personnels and chest-high metal barricades. We spent the next half-hour, time that we could have spent having fun watching Santagold, being crushed by the hundreds of people forced to follow the garden paths, again blocked in by those metal barricades. It's a festival! In a park, for fuck's sake! People should be allowed to wander from stage to stage without being herded like animals to the slaughter. The whole time we spent getting packed in like sardines in a can, the only thought in my head was, "Please don't let anyone fall over. All it takes is one person and the domino effect would be deadly." 
Forty minutes later, we got out of the crush at the other end of the park. Grace Jones, the only other act we wanted to see besides Santagold, was next on the bill but across the road on another stage at the Domain. We didn't want to risk our lives again so we decided to walk home from the quieter side of the park which took us only fifteen minutes.So, Sydney Festival 2009, thanks for a very cosy evening. You estimated a turn-out of a quarter of a million, a number that you so proudly splashed all over the press but you weren't prepared for that even in the slightest. Now we're wondering if we should get rid of our tickets to see Nick Cave on Cockatoo Island. I mean, if you can't get your act together on land, how are we to know if the ferries that you have chartered to take us across to the island are not going to sink from overcrowding in the middle of the busy Sydney Harbour?Signed,A very angry Likkle Girl*Edit-to-add: Just found others who are not too impressed too. Read comments here.
Remember those "Pick A Haircut" posters at Indian barbershops?
"The Dingo Ate My Baby!"
Did he also do her heart-shaped tuft down there?
