Super Easy Uiro Mochi 【ういろう作ってみた】

Yesterday I tried making uirou （ういろう）which is a Japanese traditional sweet, or wagashi （和菓子）. Uirou, a specialty of Nagoya, is a mochi-like confection that is firmer than mochi (it holds the shape of its mold better), and has been said to be somewhat similar in texture to konnyaku.

The recipe was ridiculously simple - mix and microwave. It was so simple that I was convinced it would turn out to be a fabulously troublesome monstrosity of goo, but no. It actually did become what I believe it was supposed to become. Boy was I fascinated when I took my wobbly Ditto out from its mold :3

My uirou may be pink but don't be fooled - it's vanilla-ish flavoured. I added pink food colouring on a whim. Here's what my uirou looked like, all cut up and ready to serve ↓

The ingredients I used were as follows:

★ 80g of all-purpose flour (you can also use rice flour)
★ 60g of sugar
★ 250ml of water
★ A pinch of salt
★ 1/2 a tablespoon of a flavouring of your choice (I used vanilla xD)
★ Pink food colouring just for fun.

1. Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl, then gradually mix in water while whisking. Mix until all lumps are gone.

2. Strain the mixture into a heat-proof container (I used a round Pyrex container). I think it's better to use a square one if you have it. Make sure the liquid sits a few inches away from the top of the container.

3. Cover the top of the container with plastic wrap (leave some parts unwrapped on any two sides of the container) and pop it in the microwave. Mine was cooked in 6 minutes using a 700W microwave.

4. Let sit to cool completely then refrigerate, and you're done! :)

To make these, I took reference from these two recipes:
http://lunulata.tumblr.com/post/54725914806/uiro-an-easy-delicious-japanese-confection-you-can
https://en.cookpad.com/recipe/189420

It's a really simple recipe, and really fun to make and eat. You can try it out with all sorts of flavourings - matcha, strawberry, chocolate, red beans, etc. I wish I had matcha powder on hand! This would have been perfect xD

昨日「ういろう」作ってみました！
意外と作り方は簡単すぎて、上手く出てくるのかなって不安がありました。笑
見た目は微妙ですが味とテクスチャーはよく出てきました（＾＾）
材料はシンプルで、簡単に電子レンジで作れます！

詳しいレシピはこちらです↓
http://cookpad.com/recipe/189420

作るのは簡単で楽しいんで、みんなさんも作ってみてください♬

アリシア

Now listening: I Swear - All 4 One

My Top 7 Songs of the Month

Hi all!

Welcome to the end of March 2014. Time really does fly.

Within this month I've encountered and rediscovered quite a lot of amazing songs, and so I thought I'd list seven (because it's my favourite number) of them here to share with you. So without further ado, here are the songs I have been in love with this past month, in no particular order!

1. Top of the World - Carpenters



I'd never listened to the Carpenters before I heard of this song, but I realized it was somewhat familiar as I listened to it. The modest yet charming intro pulled me in immediately, and Karen's voice had a lovely twang to it that made me enjoy the song even more. I've listened to this so many times, yet I'm still not tired of it. Never had I been so exasperated because a song was only three minutes long.

2. To Zanarkand - Final Fantasy X



Ugh. Beautiful and touching. Why oh why hadn't I discovered this song earlier?

3. Tong Poo (東風) - Yellow Magic Orchestra



That intro. That bass line. That piano. That chorus. Too groovy, and I just had to dance. Absolutely love, love, love it x)

The English name made me laugh for a second, but only that one second. Tong Poo is another one of Ryuichi Sakamoto's compositions. The piano version is the epitome of cool, I highly recommend that you look it up :) I'd never heard anything quite like it - it was its own genre.

*Edit: I had to replace the old video with this new one because the other one got take down due to copyright issues. The sound quality and video aesthetics in this one is not as good, but I hope you still enjoy the song nontheless!


4. Eurodancer - DJ Mangoo



My brother told me about this song one afternoon, and I was hooked by the first listen! Apparently this is what quality techno sounds like.

Bought a Guitar + Words of Gratitude

Hello everyone!

Last week my family and I (on an impulse, you might say) bought a classical guitar :D

So yeah, there she is. Our first ever guitar. I have yet to give her a name. What do you think would be suitable? Leave your suggestions in the comments :)

So far I have managed to play the first few chords of Canon in D (just enough that one can tell what song it is xD), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (kinda), Happy Birthday (kinda), and some basic major chords. Painful blue nooby fingers aside, progress has been rather stagnant, but I plan to watch more tutorials and fool around a bit more with the notes. Hopefully I'll be able to learn some more songs before I have to leave this baby at home when I depart for NZ :')

Also, I just wanted to say a big, big thank you to everyone who's read and commented on my blog!!
I know I haven't been able to post much (purely because I often find myself lacking the topics that would be of interest to you all), but I will definitely try to update more often after I leave for NZ (end of April!). I'll give myself some corporal punishment if I don't.
My blog isn't much at all, but I'm always grateful, elated, and honoured that you're here. 
As always, thank you for visiting and reading! Come back soon! :) 


今まで私のブログを読んでくれてるみんなさん♪
本当にありがとうございました！
これからも頑張って色々投稿して行きますので
また遊びに来てくださいね～　(*´・ω・｀*) ノシ

アリシア

Now listening: Top of the World - Carpenters

Singapore Once More!

Hi! How's everyone doing?

My family and I flew to Singapore to attend my cousin's wedding last week :) To say the least, it was an exciting four nights and four days for me, which included meeting up twice with one of my best friends studying there, roaming around a bright bustling city, indulging in amazing food - once at sinful hours, and so much more.

First off I'll start with some pictures of the infinity pool on the 57th floor of Marina Bay Sands, where I stayed for the first two nights. The hotel was crowded with tourists as it is all-year round, a big percentage coming from countries like China, Japan, and Korea.

Night view

The first night I was there, I decided to bring my phone with me to the pool after seeing other people do the same (i.e. risking their fancy iPhones' fragile little lives). Silly idea, but yolo, I thought.

I didn't know the pool was shallow enough for me to just walk across it, so I swam my way to the edge of the pool, holding my phone above my head with one hand, the other submerged under water to paddle. I didn't want to soil the leather-like casing either. I got some pics, but due to the darkness none of the pictures came out presentable. In the end I splashed some water inside the cable port, but thank goodness my phone was still alive :X

To top it off, they kicked me out literally right after I made my way to the edge of the pool because it was closing time. No regrets though.

The next day, I decided to bring my phone into the pool once more, clutching it high above my head with two hands as I walked carefully across the pool. Having figured out this critical information from experience the other night proved to be of contribution to my rather silly yet rewarding decision. I still ended up dropping one of my hands in the water though, so it was another one-handed picture-taking sesh. Yet this time I produced much better results - accredited to sufficient daylight ↓


Spoiler/destroyer of visual illusions and fantasies: The infinity pool actually has an edge D:

Here are some photos I took from the Skypark! Lesson learned, btw: Always wear pants under your skirt in Singapore. The winds will show no mercy! Apparently it's bad enough on sea level (as I found out while walking along Orchard Road), but the wind did not spare me the trouble of having to repeatedly pull my skirt down whilst attempting to walk around at 57 storeys above ground level.

Also I managed to meet up with one of my best buds, Lala, now a JC student in Singapore. We had a lot of fun just walking around, loitering in arcades, eating, and talking about school, life, and other nonsense.

We'd come across a food fair at Tampines Mall during our first meet-up, and among one of the stalls that were there, one was advertising brownies. We tasted the samples and they tasted great! Maybe a little too sweet for my taste, but still delicious anyway. The attendant proceeded to tell us that their main branch offers message writing services on brownies, that could be done in minutes depending on size. That's when the lady said to stop by for our next birthdays, so she literally spoke an idea to my head. LL's birthday's coming up (it's in two days!), so our visiting that stall was like fate xD

So the next day we were to meet, I made my way to the branch at Dhoby Ghaut and later surprised her with a personalized "Happy Birthday" brownie. It turned out much lovelier than I'd expected :D

 Birthday celebration in advance <3

Then I moved on to Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa for the last two nights, where the wedding took place. The resort was beautiful! They had monkeys and peacocks roaming around as well. I never actually saw any monkeys, but my aunt had heard their chattering one morning. I did see two peahens, though. One had chicks trailing behind her :3

Family Weekend in Bali

Helloooo!

Last weekend I had been blessed with the opportunity to travel to Bali! :D We left on Valentine's Day night and stayed there until the night of the 16th. It was a short yet indelible one spent with my maternal extended family :)

We stayed at a beautiful villa called Villa Coraffan in Cangguh. I'd never even heard of the area before, and it was quite far from..well, everywhere. However the views were spectacular! We arrived in the darkness and I was so excited to see that we were surrounded by a paddy field even though it . I couldn't wait to see what it was like in the day, so I went and took pictures after munching down some breakfast prepared by the in-house chef, Mr. Putu.

So without further ado, here are the photos of the paddy fields surrounding our stunning villa!

Next are some photos of our villa! I adored the pool, it was beyond cool. The whole place kind of reminded me of where the cast of ANTM Cycle 20 stayed at while they were shooting in Bali. I thought it was insane!

Welcoming the Year of the Horse

To everyone who celebrates, happy Chinese new year! May the Year of the Horse bring joy, good fortune and health to us all :)

Although somewhat losing in terms of celebrants and "grandness" of festivity compared to the solar new year, virtually every Chindo* family celebrates Chinese new year (lunar new year). It's the one event where us Chindos become more "Chinese" and "in touch with our roots". No sarcasm there. I'm all for cultural things. And anything that comes in a red (or any colour within that spectrum, etc) paper packet ;)

My CNY was celebrated in the same way as previous years, with the CNY Eve spent at my grandma's house, and the other day spent spreading kionghi's and receiving hong bao's (or angpao as we call it) at my other grandma's house.

One thing I am always excited about CNY (other than the angpao's) is the food :D

 

Above is the picture of the awesome potluck that is dimensions apart from the Chinese food of Panda Express and the like. Okay so maybe not every single one of the dishes were of Chinese origin, but yeah. Any attempts of dieting during Sincia (the Chindo name of CNY) is bound to fail.

「日本語」 日本語で初ポスト

皆さん、こんにちは！アリシアです。

日本語で投稿したことありませんので、今回は初めてです(*^▽^*)
前から日本語でポストを書きたかったのですが、自信がなくて今さらやってきました。
ミスも 結構あるはずですが、これからも日本語をもっと勉強したいと思います！
いつかペラペラになりたいです～

最近雨は少しずつ止んできました。今日も晴れでした！
今日は二人の友達と美術センターのスタジオでダンスの練習をしてみました。
ある大学のダンス部のメンバーの友達はモダンダンスが大好きで、彼女から教えてもらっていました。
その友達のかっこいいダンスを見てて、ずっと感動していました！
私は他の友達と二人でダンサーの友達を必死に従ってみてて・・・ちょっと情けないでした。笑 
いっぱい練習しないと体が堅くなっちゃうのでいけないって聞くと、ダンサーって大変だなぁと思ってました。
疲れていますが、楽しかったです♪

あと、もうすぐ旧正月なんですよ(^０^)
親戚と再会して一緒に旧正月をお祝いすることを凄く楽しみにしています！
美味しい食品もたくさん食べられます。もちろん全部手作りですね～
今年もレッドパケットいっぱい貰ってくれるのかなー？笑っ

今回はここまでです。
短くてつまらない投稿でしたが、読んでくれてありがとうございました！！
そのうちまた、日本語で投稿していきたいと思いますから
またこのブログに来てくださると嬉しいです！\(≧∇≦)/

アリシア

聴く中： めぐり逢い - アンドレ・ギャニオン (素敵な曲ですなぁ！）

Throwback Photoblog: Malaysia 2013

Japanese Sweet Potato Cake

I tried making this sweet potato cake the other day and it turned out deliciously. It's a very easy, no-frills recipe that anyone can make, so I hope you have fun trying it out!

Ingredients:

• 300ml of milk
• 150g Japanese sweet potato (steamed or baked)
• 80g of sugar
• 50g of hotcake mix (I used all-purpose flour with some baking powder)
• 50g margarine (or butter)
• 2 eggs

1. Mix all the ingredients in a blender or electric mixer.
2. Pour the mixture inside a round pan or oven-safe bowl lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake at 180°C for 40-50 minutes. Leave it in the oven and bake with the remaining heat for an additional 5 minutes if required.

Mine turned out like this :)

Pigging Out in Singapore Twenty-Thirteen

"The only time we're not eating is when we're on the move somewhere." 
- Clarita, my loyal travel companion and local guide in Singapore

Last week (November 14-17), I went on a weekend trip to Singapore to visit my good friends who are studying there (and to eat, duh).

I stayed at my friend's friends' acquaintance's place. They had wi-fi. The place was close to the MRT station. But being the filthy rich EZ-Link cardholders/lazy peeps that we were, we would take the bus (only to get off at the next station) more often than not. We got bread for breakfast and had access to powdered drinks. It was even better because my long-time best friend was staying out with me. When you put two best friends, some air-conditioning, and the almighty Internet in one room, needless to say, sleepless nights were inevitable.

 And selfies too (size has been diminished to ensure readers' sanity).

If I learned something from trying to wake up at a somewhat reasonable hour after staying up so late, NEVER use your favourite song at the time as an alarm. Chances are you won't ever be able to see it the same way again.

If I were to sum up my trip to Singapore, it would look something like this: 65% FOOD, 25% friends, 6% sightseeing, and 4% shopping. Of course I actually ate every single thing with my best friend so that actually makes the "friends" part 99%.

Among the many delicacies we indulged in during those four days of awesomeness were the infamous one-dollar ice cream, Garrett popcorn, Ladurée macarons, Lao Ban bean curd, IKEA's Swedish meatballs (35 meatballs plus two chicken wings), Tip Top curry puffs, and A LOT of Japanese food (curry, mostly).

Collage-Making for Perfectionists

Hey everyone!

Today I'll be sharing some tips for collage-making. I'm not a pro or anything, just here to share some of the lessons I learned (the hard way) while making picture collages of my friends and I.

(I know it's not the best example, but here's the one I made most recently)

1. You can't use one type of glue for everything.

Yes, clueless as I was, I so naïvely thought I could use that almighty UHU glue for everything, bearing in my mind the thought that I "just gotta make 'em stick together!" Bad way of thinking. 

Random Rant #1: Pronunciation of My Name?

Hey there!

A while ago I was surfing the web and out of the blue, thought to search for the meaning behind my name. But I was dumbfounded when the other Alicia's who commented on the page said that they HATED it when their names were read the way I've always read my name.

Just in case you haven't already seen the profile on the right side and read the first paragraph up there, my name is Alicia.

I've always pronounced it "A-LEE-SHEE-AH", with the "SH" sound clearly emphasized. But according to said website and other Alicia's around the globe, it's pronounced "A-LEE-SEE-AH".

So does this mean that all my life, I've been pronouncing my own name wrongly?

I've never had a problem with the "SH" pronunciation. In fact, people rarely ever call me by my real name cause I go by a variety of nicknames. Even my own mom switches back and forth between the two pronunciations when she decides to call me by my name (which is a rare occasion). I've also had my fair share of spelling mishaps.

Although indeed, thinking about the phonics of where I live, it's easier for people to call me by the "A-LEE-SEE-AH" pronunciation. I wouldn't have doubts about it if my name was Alisia and not Alicia.

Now I am faced with the fact that this seemingly foreign pronunciation might be the correct way to read my name. The possibility that to the countless relatives and people that I've met, I may have, every single time, introduced myself incorrectly. Am I really someone who can't pronounce her name right? And it's not even that weird a name.

I don't know anything anymore. I won't blame you if you fail to see how dire of a situation this is, but I will definitely appreciate your opinion! How would you pronounce my name? Help me! Comment!

アリシア ← Even this is read A-REE-SHEE-AH

Now listening: Yasashisa no Riyuu (優しさの理由) - ChouCho

Picture source: http://twiinklex.com/tag/meme/

Recap of Summer 2013 - My Favourite Places

Hey!

Finally I'm back! I was very busy taking care of school and other matters. Plus I had some problems with my pictures and weren't able to upload them on the site :(

This post will also be dedicated to my summer trip, although I know it's long over. Within the course of 31 days, my family and I went to Canada, Florida, and Seoul :)
The title is self-explanatory. Here's a list of my most favorite places during the trip, in no particular order:

1. Walt Disney World Epcot, Orlando

What looks like the world's biggest golf ball is actually Spaceship Earth, the symbol of Epcot.

Actually I really loved all the parks in WDW. I'm a big Disney girl. I grew up watching the Disney classics, my favourite being "Mulan". I spent my birthday in Epcot, and although at first I was a little doubtful of whether it was the right place to go to that day, I swallowed up all my hesitation as soon as I saw the world showcase across the lake.

If I had to rank the ones I visited, it would be: Epcot, with Magic Kingdom a close second, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios.

My favorite Epcot pavilion? Japan. (Yes I'm partly biased) I also loved France!! It was so beautiful :D

However, biased as I am, it is not without reason. Let me tell you why!

Miyuki Sugimori, also known as Candy Miyuki, a candy artist. She's the only female candy artist in existence. We were marveling at her skilled hands sculpting a white taffy dough into various animals, each done in less than a minute. I requested a purple unicorn. See the picture below :)

In addition, the staff at one of the Japanese restaurants we ate at sang to me and gave me a slice of cake with a candle on top, plus a pink origami ring which was really cute. I also got to see the 4th of July fireworks display. Left me speechless.

2. Horseshoe Falls, Niagara Falls City

I was presented with a most wonderful sight when I arrived at Horseshoe Falls. I was in awe at the sight of it roaring its way down, crashing down at the water below. Simply one of the most wonderful things I'd ever seen. We bought the full adventure pack and experienced everything Niagara: Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, White Water Walk, and Niagara's Fury.

Later in the day, a full rainbow appeared, and our cameras were snapping away despite the struggle of the attacking mist.

For more Niagara Falls pictures, please check out Summer 2013: Niagara Falls

3. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Universal's Islands of Adventure, Orlando

So far my favorite land of the park. I adored the way it was made. I felt like I was really in a snow-capped town in winter even though it was a burning hot summer day. It's also home to one of the best rides I'd ever been on - Harry Potter the Forbidden Journey. Totally awesome!! We were lucky enough to be able to ride it twice!

I LOVED the Butterbeer there (you should definitely try it). It's pretty sweet, but not sweet enough that you it would make you sick. I'm not that big on sweet stuff myself, but I just had to buy another one because I loved it so much. I personally preferred the frozen one over the regular one :)

For all Harry Potter fans (and non-fans all the same), this is a must-visit place!

Summer 2013: Niagara Falls

Hey there!

Seeing Niagara Falls in person was breathtaking. A lot of people have said that the views from the Canadian side is better, although I can't exactly attest to that because I haven't seen the falls from the American side. Tell me what it's like in the comments if you've been here or the American side!

We were blessed to see a full rainbow over the falls in the afternoon. Truly, it was a wonder and a sight that we would never forget.

The beautiful Horseshoe Falls and all the spectators. 

Summer 2013: Toronto

Hi!

In this post I'll be sharing more about my trip to Canada. Now on to the capital, Toronto! 

Toronto was a awesome place to be in. It lived up to its title, and was bustling with people. Although there were some traffic jams every now and then, they're definitely nothing like the ones in Jakarta :P

Here are some pictures from our trip :)

Toronto Zoo! This zoo was HUGE and had a lot of animals from various parts of the world. Though we walked out with tired feet (like we did every day during the whole trip), it was definitely worth it. A few of the animals we saw were gorillas, cool reptiles, penguins, rhinos, and a Komodo dragon. We also saw a wombat. I love marsupials! They're so fluffy I'm gonna diee!! XD There were also a few peacocks (I believe we saw three that day) that popped out in random places throughout the zoo, and it was fun to see them strutting their (sadly closed) tails, blending with the humans like it's nobody's business :D We got to see some white lions, which was a quite the rare sight :)

At the queue (yes, there is a queue) for the Giant Panda Experience. The zoo has just recently revealed to the public their two newly-arrived pandas Da Mao and Er Shun, the latter being the female. Both are on loan until 2018.

BUT. Both were sleeping! :-/ Well, pandas sleep more often than not anyway. Smaller than I thought they would be, but still adorable :3

Wise-looking orangutan. It was so playful, and I stood there for a while just admiring its strong arms. Another one was sitting near the window, having a staring contest with a kid :)

Ontario Science Centre :) A lot of interesting and informative exhibits. There's also a rainforest-like enclosure with some colorful venomous frogs on display.

 Toronto's CN Tower :D

The view from a point on the observation deck. There was a game about to go on in that stadium there, and it was filling up pretty quickly. It looks empty here, but after we explored the area some more and came back to this point, the stadium was pretty much full already.

The glass floor. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a teeny bit scared :P

Casa Loma! Former home of Sir Henry Pellatt. Due to financial misfortune, he was forced to abandon this mansion. Among my favorite parts of the mansion were the room with Chinoiserie, Lady Pellatt's room, and surprisingly, the underground tunnels.