ACG NZIC Culture Week 2014

On Thursday we wrapped up our school's three-day Culture Week event. We had daily quizzes (I won the second day's quiz about Asia and got a free drink voucher xD) and LOTS of fun and food! I volunteered for the fashion show (Wednesday last period) and the International Food Day, joining the Malaysian group. It was an amazing week and I experienced cultures that I never imagined I would be able to :') Be forewarned: This is a photo-heavy post. Photos were harvested by myself, from friends and school teachers. Enjoy! :D

That OCD-prone-people-unfriendly "w" though. Mr Meur printed and tried out four different fonts and sizes, only to return to the original one as nothing worked hahaha

The first day of the Culture Week, we had a Maori dance show (due to certain circumstances I ended up watching it twice; sitting in front row seat twice haha) performed by the Kahurangi Dance Group of Hastings. During their dance performance, called Taonga (meaning 'treasure'), they displayed a heartfelt, highly amusing, exciting show. I was in awe as the depicted the Maori culture in front of my eyes. It was hilarious seeing my friends and teachers attempt some moves as well xD

The next day we had storytelling, Japanese students teaching origami, Middle Eastern students doing henna tattoos (I got one with my name in Arabic xD), beautiful Arabic calligraphy, and song challenge. That day, on period 6, we had our international fashion show, and to our surprise -  a LOT more people came than we expected, because it was in period 6, so we'd expected that those who didn't have class would have just gone home, but I wouldn't have had it any other way :') This was one of the most amazing days of my time in ACG so far! I even got to try on a hijab for the first time!

Putra getting into character with his hijab xD

My friend Omayma at the Arabic calligraphy booth. She conjured up beautiful calligraphy of our Arabic names :')

My name in Arabic! On canvas (by Shahd), and on paper (by Omayma). Thita also wrote my name in upside-down Thai 555. Another Middle Eastern student did the henna on my arm - I still have it now, it's gotten darker - love it sooo much xx

The fashion show was especially fun to work in! We had students and teachers modelling for Fiji, Samoa, Malaysia, Indonesia (me lol), Korea, Oman, India, China (me again :P), Japan, Vietnam, Britain and of course, New Zealand! We even had someone walk in a kiwi bird suit! Haha xD

Keep scrolling for more photos of fashion and food! :)

Representing Indonesia with my friend Sela :)

 

 With my beautiful Omani and Fijian friends <3

Quick Review - Meet Fresh (鮮芋仙)

How's it going everyone?

So I just wanted to do a quick review of this new oriental dessert place in Meet Fresh (鮮芋仙) which has just recently opened at 6-8 Lorne Street, Auckland. And because I just got my laptop fixed today! Finally! :'D

Seems that the oriental dessert crave wave has finally hit the shores of New Zealand. Reminds me of the times in Jakarta when young people were crazy about oriental dessert. A lot of my friends had been raving about how this place was always full (it wasn't when we came, thankfully) and so my Indo pal Adeline and I decided to give it a try after our ACG Day last Friday. This will be a short review with only 2 items, and all my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Herbal Jelly No. 5 (left) and Q mochi

HERBAL JELLY NO. 5 with HONEY BEAN

Regarding portion size, I was not disappointed - rather, I was pleasantly surprised. I'd expected it to come out as an overpriced hunk of ice with some random Q-full toppings in a tiny bowl (as with many other 'exotic' food items in NZ), but this was DEE-LICIOUS and very refreshing.

They gave us a small cup of creamer separately, so lactose-intolerant people, fret not. I loved everything in this dessert - the honey bean, the brown-colored shaved ice at the bottom, the herbal jelly (cincau/grass jelly), the brown jelly (whatever it was browned with), the pearls, and the creamer just made it all come together so delectably. Loved the taste, and the size was good :) Price was just barely acceptable at $7.5, but I'm a cheapskate so don't follow my judgement on pricing too much xD

Compared to the oriental desserts in Jakarta (Hong Tang and friends), the size of this one was bigger and overall taste was not too sweet and more refreshing. But I miss the green tea ice cream scoop and QQ balls I could have with my bowl in Jakarta :9

P.S. What's with Chinese and the letter Q? It's like they just put Q on everything to make it Chinese. Somebody please enlighten me on this :S

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

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.

Chinese New Year 2013

Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it! :D

Twas a wonderful night and day, with a most wonderful night's sleep and dream slipped in between. I couldn't have asked for more. Teehee xD

So what's all the hype about Chinese New Year? We love hongbaos/angpaos, no lies there, LOL. Many people feel extra generous during CNY, whee! But another thing to look forward to during Chinese New Year gatherings? FOOD FOOD FOOD.

 

Chinese New Year Eve's Dinner Potluck xD 

Homestyle Corn Fritters

A family favourite :) We usually make this as a side dish, but it can also pass as a main dish. Preparation is simple and pretty quick (unless you're cooking for a large group of people, that is).

What you'll need:

- Flour
- Rice flour
- Egg
- Corn, already removed from cob
- Garlic and shallots (bawang merah), mixed and either blended/finely diced
- Baking soda, just a pinch
- Seasoning: Salt, pepper, sugar, etc.
- Water, as required

This one made more than ten (around 14?) medium-sized fritters.

1. Mix all the ingredients well, and season to taste. The dominating taste should be sweet, but not too much.

 

Corn kernels and an unblended mix of garlic and shallots

 

 Ingredients (clockwise from blue-topped jar): Flour, rice flour, white pepper powder (on top of green jar), baking soda (on top of green jar), corn and blended mix of garlic and shallots, salt, egg and sugar

My Christmas Eve

Hello world!

It's a bit late, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!

May good tidings come to you and all your kin!

May there be joy and peace on Earth!

I wish this was my Christmas tree, but no.

We went ice-skating on Christmas Eve <3 

We don't have snow here, but we do have ice. Everyone wanted to get in the mood though, so it was really crowded. If you plan on visiting Sky Rink at Mall Taman Anggrek, you may want to come on a weekday, not on a big holiday or on weekends. The rink is always crowded, but chances are there will be less kids falling over, and less reckless people zooming in and out. We didn't have too much trouble with the crowd though. So if you're a pro (I'm not saying that we are in any way ;P), you'll have no trouble finding your path around the ice. There's always people-free spots on the ice. Teehee!

In the morning, we went to a local beauty parlor and got manicures together. This was my first time getting a manicure. We all picked our designs from my friend's iPod. I went for tribal designs partly because I'm fangirling over a tribal video game character these days I think tribal designs are cool.



 

Simply Garlic Bread

Well, I'm back with a really simple recipe :D

I know this recipe is basically omnipresent in the Internet. But this was actually my first time, hehe. I've always been a big fan of Italian food, and garlic bread has always been one of my favourite side dishes.

We decided to buy a baguette on a sudden impulse. We haven't eaten this in ages (I mean like, a decade or so). We were skeptical about the taste after all those years, but it definitely didn't disappoint. My brother especially loved it! And my brother is one heck of a picky kid. He's one of those people blessed with an excellent metabolism; he can consume a bag of chips and as much Coke as he wants without gaining a single kilogram. He rarely exercises, must I add. Stays glued to this computer seat for hours. Okay, enough of me ranting about that. So, here's what we did:

Cadeaux de Corée et Japon :)

Hello again, world!

It still thrills me to think that I have my own little space in the humongous worldwide network of webs that is the Internet xD I feel like a person! I wonder if that actually makes sense since nobody is a real human online. Lately I've been thinking about what else to write besides random rants about my interests and life, and honestly it's a bit difficult for me to focus on just one thing. I will focus this blog on one very broad topic though - art!

Speaking of writing, I'm having a hard time right now. I just got another idea for another book, even though I still have like, six others waiting in line to be written. One of the six is the first part of my trilogy. I'm not even sure if it's a good idea for a first-timer to be attempting a trilogy. Anyway I'm on Chapter 11, and moving on to the climax pretty soon, so it's too late to turn back now. Haha! Maybe I'll write down the details of my book here, but I'm not sure. I'm purty shy :P

I've recently received a letter from a wonderful aunt (my friend's mother's friend) who lives in Japan :) My cousin just came back from Korea around a week ago, and she gave me these wonderful souvenirs. I totally wasn't expecting these, and needless to say I was oh-so-very excited upon receiving them. I've always wanted to go to Korea! Like, so so badly! One of the things I'm going to do if I go there is to go and eat the real 짜장면 (jjajangmyeon - Chinese-style noodles in black bean sauce) and see if it really does taste like the instant ones, accompanied by a nice little portion of 단무지 (danmuji - pickled radish/daikon slices). I think 단무지 is the only pickled food I like.

Japanese Meal Time: Sushi

Like any normal day, my mom and I were left to decide what to have for lunch. My dad wasn't present that afternoon, so this time, just before my brother comes down to the kitchen with an empty stomach, begging for food. Not much brainstorming was required for lunch, because we simply decided to make my favourite food - sushi! :D

It certainly hasn't been ages since we had some homemade Japanese food for a meal (hayashi rice!). But I, as an ardent Japanese food admirer, found it very hard to refuse. The fillings that we usually use for making sushi would be crabsticks, little tempura shrimps and egg. We've never made sushi with fresh raw fish at home, for various reasons like the cost and the availability. It's just not really appropriate for impromptu whipping up of meals, since it's definitely not there every single time we're in a pinch :P

 This was what went on at the kitchen:

Talking About Ribs

Okay, so yesterday I went to Tony Roma's for the first time in my life.

Some of my friends think that it's somewhat ridiculous that I've never been there.
They are big fans, after all.
One of them, who is also my lovely neighbour, claimed that I 'have not lived' if I've never tried Tony Roma's ribs. This saying had stuck to my head ever since it came out of her mouth.

Was it really that good? Was it really so delectable that I supposedly 'never lived' if I've never eaten it? I was overflowing with curiosity. In fact, I'm often so filled with curiosity that I think I'm abnormally inquisitve.

If anyone was good at advertising via word of mouth, it's my friend, the Pink Princess.
Pink Princess is my neighbour and the only girl in my 'clique' whose age is the same as me. The other three, Josie Buttercup, V-man Brain and Lady Agata are all a year younger.
Eloquent as she is, she managed to save me and my other friend, Josie Buttercup, quite a sum of money with her impressive bargaining skills. I wish I could haggle like her, but I lack the umm...persistence to do so.

Anyway, back to the topic. Here's what we ordered last night: