Did I ever mention how much I love food?

At the moment (well for a few years already :P) my top two favourite food choices while eating out would be Korean & Vietnamese food! At home (in Ackl), I usually cook south east asian food or salads/western- love mostly spicy stuff though! I absolutely LOVE sambal! I have at least 3 different kinds in my kitchen and use it in my cooking.. sambal belacan (prawn/anchovies variation depending on my mood- usually buy the anchovies one coz my other sambal bottle has prawn already), sambal ulek (oelek), and this crispy dry sambal thing can't remember what type it is exactly- use it with dry noodles & mixing with other sambals..

I use my sambals as a condiment also of course... One awesome combination is sambal belacan with kicap manis (sweet soy sauce)- this is so yum.. when I have dumplings I love dipping them in this sauce! :) I also love eating dried cuttlefish with sambal! Haha sounds so kampung I know! I love that man! It's kinda funny like back when I was in Brunei, I hardly ever ate random asiany stuff like cuttlefish & sambal, beef tongue, tripe... even raw cabbage? Now I love stuff that I never really ate back home before going away... e.g. raw cabbage, coriander, beetroot, pea shoots, alfafa sprouts... oh gosh I know what I use alot in my cooking as well- GARLIC! I think I overuse it haha I love garlic.. I can survive with not using onions/shallots in my cooking unless needed in the dish but garlic- oh man I just use it for almost everything haha... I remember S commenting so many times when she watches me cook like "That's alot of garlic! or Are you using all that garlic for just one dish? or Whoa you really love garlic don't you?.."
You get the picture.. :P

I must say I do enjoy cooking eventhough I think I have alot to learn still.. I think K is a good chef/cook and my cooking & alot of recipes are his or S or my mum's. I LOVE reading cook books and food related blogs/websites! I was inspired to write this post today after searching online for recipes for Bánh cuốn and 순두부찌개/ Sundubu jjigae! I love Bánh Cuốn- I actually just found out what it was called in vietnamese coz in Ackl at the viet restaurant- Just try it out, you can order it when you say one kway tew kat please- I think maybe that's the cambodian name for it? No idea haha.. so there I was searching for it online just now then finally found out what it's called! I love love love it :) Actually I'm not 100% sure that it is called Bánh Cuốn and not Bánh Ướt.. they are very similar anyway I think?

All the pics below I borrowed from various online websites:

Yummy Bánh Cuốn :)

Next, korean rice dessert drink 식혜 / Sikhye, that I really like!

Besides my all time favourite korean dish- 육개장 / Yukgaejang,
I also love 순두부 찌개 / Sundubu jjigae

I miss Hansan (popular viet restaurant in Auckland and 1 of the places that I go to often) and all the many different korean restaurants in Ackl!!!

There are no vietnamese restaurants here in Brunei- not that I know of.. but there are 3 korean restaurants.. tried 1 of them ages ago, so this time I plan to try 3 of them :)

I know that not everyone likes Korean or Vietnamese food, if you haven't tried any though, please do! There are heaps of different types of korean & vietnamese food... I'll need a few posts or more for each cuisine!

xX

Greetings from the desert...

(*Note: Pics for this post are crazily all over the place haha I don't know how to make them all aligned etc.)

I'm back home in Brunei at the moment and it is SUPER hot & humid!!! It's like 34-35 degrees everyday?!? I usually take about a week to adjust then I'm ok.. this time around it's week 3 and I still am not fully adjusted to the weather & get headaches if I don't drink heaps of water- (gallons) and stay mostly in air conditioned places! Some people just say I'm such a weakling.. true to an extent I guess :P

Snowflakes & clouds :)

Anyway how are you all? I hope everyone is doing fine! I miss all my Auckland friends & my car- Baby girl (BG) :P Driving around Brunei in the OG (Old girl) is alright but I definitely notice the differences! What have I been doing lately? Well.... I've just been bumming mostly, catching up on gossip girl :).. going out with friends, going out with family, baking, going to gym, eatinggggg, watching dvds... holidaying I guess :D




Bunch of car related pics ;)
I miss my panda air freshener! :P

Baking triple choc cookies :)

On another baking day... pineapple tarts/balls

For those of you who don't know, I'm on a break now and have gone back home to Brunei til Sept. L & S's wedding is in Aug so I wanted to come back anyway. I initially was going to go travelling next month but due to the swine flu stuff, its too mafan- troublesome.. definitely not good time to travel to faraway places :P

So next month (most probably) I'll be on attachment at the OT department in the hospital here for the whole of June. Excited! Also feeling nervous... like I can't even remember anything anymore haha... scaryyyy... Should be an awesome experience as I have no clue at all how OT is like in Brunei so it will be a new experience definitely. Hoping that I will remember some malay words at least though! I can't even say elbow in malay... gosh :P

Alright that's my update for the time being :)

xX

Race? What is race?

While surfing, came across these.. don't know how to post them like how other people do in their blogs but click the link!

Tan Hong Ming and Race :D

So adorable!!! I love Tan Hong Ming's expression on his face at the end! In the other clip I love the chinese boy's accent haha race car? LOL. Cutsieeeee!

They are malaysian adverts about racism- the 2 clips both show kids of Chinese & Malay ethnicity. My mum's Malaysian- from Ipoh and we have been going there at least once every year since we were young. I love Ipoh!

Kind of a sensitive topic here but... definitely in my opinion, there is some segregation to an extent... between the "races"- in Malaysia, as in Brunei. For example, growing up I got the vibe that as a Chinese girl it would be frowned upon by the chinese community (and perhaps your family too) if you were to go out with a Malay guy. I remember my cousins in Malaysia commented on that too as we were growing up. Nowadays though, I do think that there are so many interracial couples everywhere that it really doesn't matter as much as it did growing up.

Depending what kind of background you come from e.g. which school, which neighbourhood you lived in, your family upbringing, exposure to other cultures, etc.. we've all had friends from different races I'm sure and still do til today? The thing I'm interested to know is... are we affected by colour..? As in.. yea sure your friends might be of different ethnicities but do you all look similar? That's like the whole big thing about culture & race like...I have alot of friends who are asian looking BUT they might not have grown up in an asian country so they identify with the culture that they grew up in.. good example is W (hiiii I know you're reading this), people look at him and go yup asian dude & you then expect him to be "asian".. lo & behold he's african? Haha... speaks creole? Hmm... or another friend L comes to mind, he grew up in Russia & all his friends are russian, he identifies himself as a russian BUT he's of korean ethnicity! When he hangs out with the "asians", obviously to an outsider you would just presume that he is "asian".

Anyway I don't know what point I'm trying to make anymore haha... I think I meant to say like colour does play a big part somehow... I'm happy that my culture is south-east asian, not so much chinese coz it's so different! I used to get so annoyed when in my 1st year people would be like hey you're from china right? or soooo you're from... china? or where are you from..? Asia? Haha urmmmm.... Oh is it just me here in Auckland who has experienced this? Alot of kiwis assume Brunei is in Saudi area somehow... no idea why...? Oil & gas? This happened to me few times, one time was at the university cashier place in my 1st year or 2nd year...

Lady: Oh you know not many International Students have such good English! Did you learn English in school where you're from? Where are you from anyway my dear?
Me: *Slightly embarrassed* Oh English is my 1st language that's why.. I can't really speak anything else as fluently.. I'm from Brunei.. (was going to say something like- it's in southeast asia after that) BUT...
Lady interrupts: *Looks excited & tone of voice becomes higher* Oh wow I'm going to Dubai next week! It's very close to Brunei isn't it? Oh you're so lucky to have come from such an exotic place!
Me: *Amused but don't want to make the nice lady embarrassed* Yea people often tell me Brunei seems pretty exotic! Well you have a fabulous trip to Dubai, thank you, have a good day!

-___-

Some people I correct, some I don't. I also get alot of people thinking Brunei=Burma.. or this year hehe T thought I was from Burundi for some reason & even told someone who was from there that he could introduce me and the person was really excited to meet someone else from there!

T: Guess what I met a lady from Burundi today, told her about you ay... she really wants to meet you!
Me: *Bit confused* Huh? Oh ok cool... what is she studying? Does she do OT as well?
T: Nope she's doing ------(forgotten now sorry!)---- , she isn't asian like you though, are there many different ethnicity types in Burundi?
Me: *Thinking what is he going on about??? Then clicking....* Omg I'm not from Burundi! I'm from Brunei? *Start to giggle but feel bad for T*
T: *Mortified expression* Oh what?....

Hehe sorry T for using that as an example in my blog! T's really an awesome guy everyone.. 1st year OT! Go OTs! :D

Hmmm I just typed a whole paragraph going on & on about what race people think I am & stuff like that.... but deleted it... haha... Coz I realised that I sounded majorly bimbo-ish and was starting to sound pretty vain & self absorbed as well.. haha SO....that shall be the end of my entry today! I am who I am & I love myself but I will spare you all from having to read more of my ramblings :p

Have a great weeeeeeek! xX

Spray painted...

Since I'm free-er now... felt like editing & posting some pics...

however think I realize now that the hearts just ruined the perfectly beautiful pic to begin with!

haha oh well still kinda cute i reckon :P

=)

Have a beautiful week everyone! xX

Celebration time!

So last weekend was Easter & my birthday! :)

Lots of things happened, won't go into too much detail but yea good & bad stuff... typical drama!

Celebrated my birthday with A- she stays in the halls as well. She has the exact same bday as me yay how cool is that! Apparently her dad has the same bday too..

Super cute birthday cake :)

Birthday girls

Easter sunday was fantastic. Went to church & felt that the sermon was very meaningful & different from the usual typical Easter message. Pastor reminded everyone how sometimes we emphasize that Jesus died for us on the cross but yet we should be stressing also about how he is risen! He even joked that instead of wearing crosses as pendants we should be wearing empty coffins to show that Christ has risen! Haha.. that was funny.. Imagine that..
I've been going to Harbourside Church since I first arrived in Auckland and I am definitely feeling more connected to church & Auckland as time passes.

There was more to the sermon than just that but yea it was good. Will update again soon about what I found was pretty captivating from church & what has been on my heart lately.

Hmm what else... oh I caught up with some friends last week too, was fun... oh man I've been eating so much lately! This week onwards its just full speed ahead to finishing my assignment. Easter hols are always study breaks really!

Alright that's it for now, thanks for dropping by & having a chat with me ;)

Have a good weekend! xX

Relax...

Had a nice relaxed day so far, woke up later than usual... did some uni work. Been eating so much chocolate!!!

Choc bunnies for my housemates...

Got a kinder surprise from S, the toy inside so cute- you press the head down & his eyes change as shown! Hehe lovestruck schoolboy aaaw so cute...