Moon Boots

Was walking on the street and discover these hideous gigantic boots - moon boots, it's named.

I can understand why it's call moon boots for it looks exactly like the astronaut's boots, bulky and huge.

I actually thought it is for display purpose until my friend told me she loves it when she was younger. The weather in Denmark used to be much colder so these boots are really practical when one has to walk on thick snow.

I was thinking: even if I'm freezing, I wouldn't wear such boots, be it practical, it's too ugly to put on, lol... Anyonw wants a pair?? ;)

Girls' Day Out

Sunday, sunny, went on a girls' day out with a few girl friends to watch a girlish movie - 'Happy Go Lucky' http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045670/ (another reason why I haven't update anything on Budapest :$).

It must be the day for us because parking was so easy to find in normally packed mid-town (& it's free), we're late for ticket collection but there are plenty of seats available still (well, basically also because most people don't go to cinema on Sunday noon) and the movie turns out great (from a female perspective) despite typically British.

Nice cosy café, a cup of latte mocchiato & raspberry tart makes perfect setting for an afternoon ladies talk. Discussions has been on-going about putting a kindergarten kid in a decision making team that decides which subject to be studied at school (it happens for real, I find it ridiculous) and we were debating about it, which eventually leads to the 'big talks' about liberty, and I'm really amazed with how 'liberal' Denmark can go. Good 'intellectual sparring' :)


The day continues to a very nice dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant. I've always like Vietnamese food for it's refreshing taste & diverse usage of herbs back home (not my ultimate favourite but it's definitely on top5), never thought we'd get such nice ones in Denmark and I was really overwhelmed. 'Summer roll', rice pancake with beansprout & pork wrapped in fresh leaves & Vietnamese beef flat noodle soup almost made my stomach exploded.

The girls' day out is so nice that I'm sure I'll do it again. Next nice movie? new restaurant? shopping? maybe... We just need to find some time to synchronize ;)

My Living Room (finally)

I promise to publish a picture of my small living room in my 'lonely' apartment when I get my sofa some time ago but I can't bring myself to share a picture with only a black sofa & nothing else, would have looked 'deserted', I think :$

So I went on a 'carpet & sofa table' search to enhance the look of my living room. Didn't took me long to realize IKEA is, again, the best solution provider for low cost yet reasonably reliable products.

Finally, here's how my current living room looks like:-

Any comments?? Personally, I think it looks nice (basically also because I took it from possibly the best angle, lol...)

Statistically speaking, my blogging rate has reduced as time goes by. Partly because I've been traveling quite a lot, work starts to kick in, attending Danish classes & make new 'time-demanding' friends. I just came back from latest travel - Budapest, was there with an old acquintance from my home town. Will blog more about the beautiful Budapest soon...after I consolidated the pictures =)

Best Home Cooked Dinner (to date)

I was invited home for dinner by a colleague (let's call him Mr.L) some time ago and his wife (a.k.a. Mrs.L) is well reputed among the colleagues for her excellent cooking, so I was really looking forward to it.

Mr.L has very comprehensive collection of Celine Dion's albums from all over the world. Both he & his wife are super Celine fans. They'd travel half the globe just to attend her concert three days in a row, amazing.

Anyway, here's the highlighted '3-course dinner menu' of the evening:-

1. starter: toast bread wrapped mushroom / leek. I can only say 'mmm', when I took my first bite. Had four of those with a very nice white wine, splendid :)

2. main course:- ossobuco (Italian braised veal shanks), mixed leave salad, mashed potatoes and some breads on a nicely decorated table (even with candle lights, Danes...) with yet another nice red wine.

This is my first time tasting ossobuco & it's absolutely delicious. I usually 'disect' all the animal fat / skin and don't eat them but the veil shanks are so so so so nice that I have to eat everything. In fact, double portion of what I normally do, can't resist such delicacy.

I think if Mrs.L is willing to be a chef, I'll find all possible resources to open up a restaurant & make her the ultimate restaurant chef. Looked up the recipe for ossobuco few days ago and realize apparently it took a long time & huge effort to prepare. I'm truly greatful for the dinner (on top of its superb taste).

3. Dessert: home made tiramisu with cappucino. I also took 2 pieces of the tiramisu & 2 cups of cappucino :)

After dessert, we proceed to 'junk food + beer / soft drink (for me) + talk' session. Uniquely Danish fleskesvær (pig skin crisp) is my favourite junk food to eat while drinking beer. {Note: I just have to make sure I don't talk to anyone with the bad breath (well, beer + pig skin, try to imagine) & killed them with toxic gas...} Mr.L knows my preference & bought the pig skin while they were shopping for the veil shank at butcher shop, how nice :)

We talked & laughed. Mrs.L shared some funny stories that kept me laughing unstoppable. Again, I was in 'vibrate' mode (I was laughing but made no sound so one can only see my shoulder moving up & down, my body leaning back & forth) and by the time we noticed the time, it's slightly pass midnight. Good thing is I stay near to Mr. & Mrs. L, they walked me home (no driving because we all drank wine). Again, very nice act :)

It is a truly lovely evening with couple 'L'. Food was great but what is greater is their company, it wouldn't be as nice (even with the same excellent quality food) if couple 'L' are not as witty as they are. Definitely looking forward to a 're-visit' :D

Chocolate Torte

My latest baking victory (self-proclaim, hehe) - chocolate torte. Basically the success lies in a good recipe that I found at http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateTorte.html. Just one small note: baking oven must be fan assisted. Else, simply increase the oven temperature by 15 degree Celsius for baking purpose (lesson learnt from previous failure) ;)

I have no idea what cream of tartar (one of the ingredient) is but since only a quarter teaspoon is required, so I decided it's negligible :) The Ganache is optional but I do it anyway because I have no idea how it should be when I bake it. The chocolate torte turns out to be rich, moist, chocolaty & really really nice. I love it so much (also because I'm a chocolate lover & I baked the cake!).

Baked it on Sunday night (actually it takes about 3 hours to complete, half of it was waiting time) and kept in the fridge. The cake tasted even slightly better the next day, amazing. Brought it to work on Monday & shared with my colleagues. Received good reviews, one of my colleague was asking what kind of cake I'll bake next time, lol... I'm so glad that I 'overwrite' my previous baking failure history with this one :D

Danish Language Class

I've finally attended my first week's Danish language class. Class will be helf twice a week, 2.5hrs each session. Previously my colleauges taught me some simple numbering & that's about all so my Danish proficiency level is equivalent to zero.

So, lesson 1: I learnt that in Danish, one can look at the word but most of the time will have absolutely no idea how to pronounce it. The classic Danish tougue twister makes an excellent example: rød grød med fløde http://www.speakdanish.dk/html/t_pronunciation_intro.htm. My biggest problem is with the 'R' which is so difficult to pronounce (totally different from English), couldn't seem to pronounce it right.

Numbering & clock system are another few tricky ones. I have yet to venture into the complicated numbering system but as simple as time (only 24hours, well & thousands of minutes) can give me such hard time. Half 6 is refering to half pass 5 instead of half pass 6, isn't it confusing? hmm... http://www.speakdanish.dk/html/phrases_time.htm.

Anyway, I'm only at lesson2. Long way to go before I can understand the fundamental of Danish (each module requires 6 months, 6 modules in total). Perhaps shall review my progress 6 months from now ;)

Chilled Noodle with Sesame Peanut Pork

Chilled noodle with pork - new recipe from 'Harumi's Japanese Home Cook' book, it works & was pretty easy:-



Ingredients (serves 4):-
500g boneless pork
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon dry sherry (I replaced with sake)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
100g cucumber
salt (to taste)
potato starch / cornstarch - for dusting
600g ready to cook egg noodles
groun toasted sesame seeds to garnish (optional, I skipped this)

Dressing:-
50ml soy sauce
1.5 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp rice vinegar (I use mirin instead)
1 tbsp sesame paste / unsweetened peanut butter
little granulated chicken stock powder with 2 tbsp hot water

Methods:-
1. Cut pork into 8 slices & lightly score each slice on both sides, marinate in soy sauce, sake, sesame oil & little salt (I was surprised with how little marinate sauce it was for 500g pork, but the small amount worked, trust the recipe)
2. Slice the cucumber diagonally into thin slices, remove the watery centre. Keep in the refrigerator, I like it cold :)
3. Mix dressing ingredients together. I used peanut butter because sesame paste are not that common & versatile. The peanut butter doesn't dissolve fully but tasted fine anyway ;)
4. Heat oil in pan. Dust pork slices with potato starch & fry until cooked through.
5. Cook the noodles per intruction on the package (usually there is). Plunge into icy water (I added some ice cube) to cool & then drain.
6. Serve noodles in 4 bowls. Arrange pork on top, garnish with cucumber & pour over the dressing.

The miso soup in picture was made from instant packs, so I cannot share the recipe (basically just pour 165ml hot water for a pack of content & it's done, lol...)

Simple & easy cold noodle done in 30 minutes :)

Housewarming

After few weeks of cleaning, moving in & 'filling up' my newly rented apartment, I finally throwed a small housewarming party inviting my colleagues home (before I buy carpet to minimize the after party cleaning impact, lol) where the only entertainment is from a donated 14" TV. And because I only have 4 chairs (which is the dining chair), my boss brought 6 foldable chairs so my poor guests don't have to squeeze 'intimately' on my Klippan couch.

At some point, my colleagues think I can't even boil potatoes. So, in order to prove them wrong, even though I don't cook not very good (yet), I baked a cake! My mean colleagues said I want to take them with me to death by 'poisoning' them with my cake, ishh!!!

The cake flavour (strawberry jam meringue cake) selection was inspired by my boss's baking, it tasted really nice & the recipe seems easy. My cake looked nice too but tasted very 'solid', think it didn't bake well enough but my colleagues almost finish it and have been kind with commenting. They're not really that mean afterall. Or perhaps they're grateful to be still alive after eating my cake, hence being kind? hmm...

I have analyze the root cause of my cake's failure with my mentor (a.k.a. my boss) and we figured I should bake extra 10 - 15minutes than suggested time, the online recipe isn't full proved. The oven temperature should increase to 190 degree if I'm not using fan assisted function; 170 degree if I do. I'll definitely experiment again until success is achieved!

On top of the cake, I also prepared devil's eggs, baked nachos with salso sauce n mozzarella cheese, meatballs and baked sausage with mashed potatoes. If you notice, they're all pretty 'dry'...I'm practicing best policy to prevent my place from getting too dirty :) Of course, potato chips, chocolates, peanuts & drinks are served to keep my guests munching all time :)

I believe I did a good job in cleaning the glass floor window because one of my colleague walk right into it & bang his nose, leaving behind an oily nose mark. We burst out in huge laughter when it happened. I wish I took my colleague's picture back then, he was so embarrased & was stressing it wasn't funny when everyone is laughing, lol...

Pic: taken with some of my colleagues/guests

I was asked to provide a wish list but I really can't come up with anything so I said I want to have a 42" plasma TV (just to see my colleagues' reaction). They were puzzled and then said plasma TV is not an option :) In the end, I got a nice red colour vacuum cleaner, a 17.1L microwave oven, a green plant (which I'll try to keep it alive longest possible), some authentic chinese food & a cute soft toy (it's actually the 'dust' from the cartoon Totoro)!

I'm really happy that so many of my colleauges dropped by & overwhelmed with the housewarming gifts (practical & fits my needs). I kind of expect the party to be slightly boring, never thought that putting a dozens of people, lousy cake + beers together in a small space with insufficient chairs can be fun & filled of laughter. I must definitely do this again in future (maybe another type of cake? hmmm) :)

Japanese food cooking

I am really behind my blog schedules lately (still publishing Berlin stuff even though I've been back for 2 weeks), because I'm busily engage in cooking 'experiments'. Cooking is not the really time consuming part but searching for recipe, getting the ingredient, preparing, eating plus cleaning afterwards does :)

Anyway, after the marginally pass bread trial, this time, the bar is raised & the target is set to cooking Japanese food. Finding ordinary Japanese cooking ingredient in Copenhaegn isn't difficult with a friend's guidance, (unless one is looking for sashimi quality fish, then it might be a problem) only downside is pricy.

My Japanese dinner setting is not 100% 'Japanese compliant', served in IKEA 365 cheap plates & bowls without garnish (the place mat is bamboo though :p) but the food tasted good to me since I cooked them. The menu: soba (Japanese buckwheat noodle) in mentsuyu , teriyaki chicken, chawanmushi (steam egg) and deep fried tofu + crabstick.

Here are some recipes which I think is working to share (also served as archive to myself, lol):

Chawanmushi (serves 2):-
1. Break 3 eggs (4 if small) into the bowl, gently stir the eggs well, try to minimize bubbles.
2. Add 325ml dashi stock (I bought dashi powder & dissolved it in water per instruction on the package), 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp sake, 1 tbsp light soy sauce & 1/2 tsp salt to the eggs mixture.
3. Place some thinly sliced Shiitake mushrooms (that I carried all the way from M'sia) & some shredded crabstick filament into 2 bowls and pour the egg mixture over (do not fill to the brim, leave some gap on top).
** The 'fillings' can be changed to prawns / fish cake slices etc based on personal taste
4. Steam the cups over high heat for about 10 mins. Insert a bamboo stick into the mixture: if a little clear liquid comes out, it is cooked.
**Cover the cups with lids, transparent food wrap or aluminum foil to prevent water from 'splashing' into the egg bowls (but I didn't do it :p) to keep nice egg texture

Soba Noodles in Mentsuyu (serves 1)
1. Heat 40ml of mirin and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a pot. Stop heat before it boils.
2. Add in 50ml of soy sauce and 125ml dashi stock (more or less depending on saltiness desired) and bring to boil.
3. Meanwhile, boil a pot of water, add in desired amount of dried soba noodles and cook until the noodles are firm but with no crunch. Drain and rinse well with cold water.
** If you're serving cold soba, add in some ice cubes to cool the cooked soba.

Teriyaki Chicken
1. Mix 1 tbsp sake, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin & 1 tbsp sugar in a bowl. Marinate 500g chicken in the mixture for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. Heat some oil in a frying pan, brown both sides of the chicken and leave until cokked through. 3. Pour the sauce used to marinate chicken in the pan and continue to cook until it has glazed and cover the chicken. Pour thickened sauce over the teriyaki chicken.
** easier solution is to buy ready made teriyaki sauce but since I have mirin, sake & soy sauce, I'd rather save the $$ and make the sauce myself

I was spoilt with nice abundantly available Japanese restaurants back in Penang when I craved for Japanese food back then. Not that there are no Japanese restaurants in Copenhagen but they're really pricy. Since I have the time & the kitchen, I can always 'experiment'. Never thought I'd cook any Japanese food (other than sushi) & still taste okay but I did it (giving myself a pat on the back virtually while writing this)!

Relay

I blogged about my participation in the DHL Relay 2008 previously http://roaming-alone.blogspot.com/2008/07/runchrun.html and team '4 Beast & a beauty' (which at one point nearly rename to 'fat girl & the slim boys') finally runs on 1-Sept in the relay.

This year, all participants received a turquoise colour jacket (unfortunately I have to take one that's a size bigger because they ran out of stock) and the down side is, all new hires will get turquoise colour running shirt as well, how 'great' is that?! Putting those 2 on, I feel like a walking blue LED.

This is the first time I participate in sports activities since I graduated. Some of my friends back home are shocked to discover that I really joined in the relay, lol...

There are about 20,000 participants each day for this 5 days running event. When so many people (and companies) are involved, even the running shirts turn into a 'competition' of 'who has the brightest colour shirt' and some are really bright (orange!). Despite we're not 'orange', a big bunch of people with the same turquoise jacket gathering together (which includes me, unfortunately) can be really funny to look at too!

Everyone has their running number pin on the chest but I chose to have mine on the back (I think it looks nicer, in a way & also because of some 'technical issues') and my team mates laughed at me. My team captain, Ib (whom I call 'Captain Ib') said I shall run backwards with the number pinned at my back :s

Pic: Some of my colleagues who are also in the relay. The 'beauty' of my running team is the only guy not in blue jacket (I still can't get over the fact I'm not the beauty being the only female) :p

Our company is considerate to provide lots of tit-bits (sweets, chocolates, chips) and free flow drinks throughout the event and also hired 2 chefs & setup a grill tent to provide freshly grilled meats, sausages with salad and breads as dinner after the run. Running, chatting, eating, laughing...it is fun hanging out with colleague outside work, everyone is in a more relax mode :)

Pic: The chefs in the grill tent

Actually, I didn't run all the time during the 5km relay, don't have the stamina to do it throughout the journey, was walking some (er...most) of the time. Unfortunately, Captain Ib took my walking video (& I'm the only one walking, how embarrassing), saying he now has prove to share with the group to explain why the team lost 15minutes compare to previous years' average completion time, lol...
Good thing is: I didn't break the slowest record, finished the 5km in 40minutes (10minutes away from the slowest). Nothing to be shout about though :p
Next year, even if I don't run, I'll still be there to make sure I take Ib's video when he looked like a 'dying chopstick' (his legs are so thin that he reminds me of chopstick and his face turned so red at some point that I thought he's going to be in trouble) & publish it on YouTube!
Will share the group picture of my team mates when I get it (hopefully in 2-3 weeks time) =)
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Update 8-Oct:-
Finally, my team picture. Even though my participation pulled down the team's average completion time but also make the team younger on average. They should be grateful for that :p