The bright side

I've been neglecting the garden the last few weeks. I guess other things just crept up, like rediscovering good reruns on the telly. I've been watching The Walking Dead and Once Upon A Time, and parallel worlds and late-night zombies are pretty fun, especially when you're tired and in need of a little escapism.

Some of my herbs are thriving from the lack of attention, while some others are looking a little rough around the edges. The basil and rosemary fall into the first category. The Thai basil, on the other hand... let's just say that not all flowers are good, hey?

Apparently flowers are an indication that your herbs are gonna start deteriorating soon (or so the many articles I've read online claim). I get distracted for a couple of weeks and the Thai basil is sprouting purple, lavender-like spikes and white flowers! The articles advise snipping off these blooms, which is precisely what I did. *snip snip snip!*

The blooms were actually quite pretty though, and I didn't wanna toss them out just like that. I grabbed the old tin the basil came in, and it still had some potting mix (is that what it is? it looks more synthetic than natural, actually) so I stuck the blooms in.

The old tin can is sitting outside on the little outdoor table, and I think it looks quite quaint. Now I'll know what to do if I neglect the herbs and send them all to flower. Not that that's a good thing of course, but look on the bright side and all that, hey?

Logos Hope

Logos Hope was in Kuching for a couple of weeks in early August. I visited the ship a couple of times, browsed the shelves, got some books and souvenirs, had the ice-cream, even managed to catch the volunteer farewell session because some friends who had volunteered had tickets but weren't in town, and and and and at the end, for refreshments, there was lemonade and chocolate cake!

Brings back good memories of my own volunteer week all the way back in 2009; cleaning toilets and folding laundry and scrubbing floors till the skin of your knuckles peeled. Good laughs, good food, good times. That was a great experience.

Out of space

As of this instant, there is only 678 MB of storage space on my lappie. 678 MB, out of a total 283 GB. Why?

This is why:

I take pictures. Multiple pictures of the same thing, just at a slightly different angle. This is what it looks like, where all that space goes.

I need to stop taking clone shots. That, or I just need more space.

Fish fodder

How did the weather get this hot and humid? I understand we're right smack on the equatorial line, and our choice of temperature is always going to be between hot and not-as-hot, but really, was it always this sweaty and sweltering?

You can't hide from the heat. Even when you stay indoors, under the air-conditioning, with the lights off, and with a cool drink beside you. Think cool thoughts, think cool thoughts. Does not work. The heat will get you. I can't sleep. I miss the cold. I miss sweatshirt weather. My sweatshirt, the gray one, the one that's been with me for ages - it's shoved, all squidged up amongst the pillows, looking lonely for lack of use.

I miss the cold.

P.S. This is a shot taken at a fish spa last week, with my mobile phone. I'm running out of storage space, only 1.56 GB left on my laptop, both portable drives flat out of space. End of P.S.

P.P.S. Please excuse the rambling. No continuity of ideas. Not organized. I know. Brain fried. Too hot. End of P.P.S.

Garden updates: 1st week of April

Don't have much time to blog (wanna read a little bit before bedtime), but still wanted to do a quick update on the garden. Some of the little seaweed-like shrubs (?) that I trimmed and transplanted are doing really well. I was very pleasantly surprised to see pink and orange blooms amongst the new transplants. It was just a matter of sticking bits and pieces into a pot and to be honest, I didn't think they'd do this well:

The garlic shoots are doing well. You'd notice the use of the plural, because there are more of them now! This picture was taken a few days ago, and there are even more shoots right now! Happiness!

Since the garlic is doing great, figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some shallots in the garden as well. Chose a few good-looking bulbs and planted them. It's been raining lots this past weekend, so I'm hoping to see some bright green shoots soon.

Some friends have also kindly donated some new plants, and it's been many days of finding them new homes. Like my new banana tree, which I'm really excited about because they'll eventually bear gigantic purple bananas! You read that right: PURPLE bananas! Banana Tree is now in his little plot of land just outside the gate, guarded by tall palms, a hedge of ixora, and a drain.

Then I've got these strange herbs, also from a friend:

I call them strange because I don't know what they are. If you've stumbled upon this blog and you're reading this and you know what these are, please leave me a comment!

And this last picture below is my newest herb, peppermint!

I've planted trimmings in a few pots, and I'm hoping they take root and grow well. Planning to try brewing some fresh peppermint tea, and maybe even dry some to use as seasoning. Heard and read that they're quite aggressive though, and I've decided to plant them in pots of their own rather than straight in the garden, just in case they get out of hand. Peppermint is good, but peppermint gone all crazy alien invasion we-want-to-take-over-your-garden is bad.

And that's it! Bye bye for now, it's time to read some Austen! Cheers!

Superhero

I've suspected for quite some time now that I might be a superhero and not even know it. I have superpowers. Quite a few, actually.

Superpower #1 is heightened hearing. Don't whisper from across the room; I can hear you. Don't play out of tune; I can hear you. Superpower #2 is heightened sense of smell. I don't wanna elaborate on this point, but I have been known to detect the presence of leaked gas from a bunsen burner or stove a good few minutes before everyone else. Superpower #3 is sensitive tastebuds. Put a new spice in my food and I will ask you what it is. I might even tell you what it is.

And this is evidence of Superpower #4...

... speed. 

All unidentified flying objects that choose to buzz close enough, do so at your own risk.

Beware the speeding hand of this reluctant superhero. Rawr.

The garlic groweths!

The other day I noticed a strange-looking stalk peeking through the mound of earth where I'd planted my garlic. I didn't think much of it, and figured if it was my garlic growing, there would be a whole bunch of 'em strange-looking stalks, rather than just one lonely stalk. Besides, I read somewhere online that it takes quite a few weeks for garlic shoots to appear.

It kept coming back to my thoughts though, this little enigma of a plant/weed/whatever. It bugged me to such a point, I decided to dig it up a couple of days ago. And this is what greeted me:

My garlic has sprouted!!!!

Fine, I know it's strange that there are like seven or eight other cloves of garlic in the ground and this is the only one that's sprouted (and really quickly too), but I don't care, it's cute, and I'm happy. I'm rooting for this weird one, pun intended. I just can't help wondering why the other garlic cloves refuse to sprout. Or maybe this particular clove is just really brave and impatient to see the real world. I also read that it's usually the bigger cloves/bulbs that will sprout/grow more, and it's ironic that this one (the one that's sprouted way before his peers) is actually one of the smaller ones.

You go, weird lonely impatient kiasu* garlic clove! I'm happy to see you in my garden!

*kiasu = scared of losing out to others (Hokkien, slang)

Blindsided

"I come through the window

I'm crippled and slow

For the agony I'd rather know

'Cause blinded

I am blindsided."

Bon Iver, Blindsided

Wontons with The Girls

One of the little conversations that popped up the other day while we were hanging out was how our hang-outs usually involve food. As we grew up, we started making food too, rather than just consuming them. We've made several batches of pasta over the years. So much pasta in fact, that we got sick of it and decided to try cooking different things. So far we've made pancakes. Last weekend, we decided to make wontons.

We minced pork and shrimp and green onions and seasoned the mixture with salt, pepper, chicken stock, and a few sprinklings of chilli flakes. We sat on the table and played origami fold-up with the wantan wrappers. Four different personalities, four different wantan wrapping styles. Here's what mine looked like:

It was supposed to be wantan soup, and The Girls had even brought out the fancy steamboat machinery, complete with vegetables and all those little extras that make a steamboat a steamboat.

The soup was great, but we ended up frying most of the wantans. They tasted better that way, all golden brown and crispy and crunchy and unhealthy. We made junk food out of healthy wantans.

And that's just the way we like it.

Growing garlic

Four days ago, I found some extra garlic lying around and decided to see what would happen if I stuck the bulbs into the ground and watered them each day. I found a little patch (a really little patch) in the garden for my garlic, just next to the little curb and in between some weeds I thought were too pretty to rip out:

I like garlic, and like lots of it in pasta, but I'm not expecting to see bulbs of garlic growing in my garden (wrong climate methinks). I don't remember eating garlic shoots often, and I seem to remember not liking the taste. Why am I growing garlic then?

I guess I'm just excited to see their bright green spear-like leaves pushing through the damp muddy earth, little soldiers in green suits defying gravity, the scorching sun, and hungry earthworms. Although really I could be mistaking garlic shoots for shallot shoots.

Maybe I should try planting some shallots. Just in case.

Busy... gardening?

It's been a while since I last blogged, and saying I've been busy might seem like a cliché, but really, I've been busy. With what, you might ask.

Well, with gardening, for one.

I've been in the garden quite a lot lately. Mostly in the evenings. Pulling out weeds is a lot harder than you might imagine. Then there's the pruning and pinching and trimming of leaves and twigs. And I'm trying to propagate the herbs that are already in the garden, so there's the transplanting and rooting and watering. 

I sound like some garden expert, but more often than not, the plants stick out their obstinate little tongues at me and wilt away. Like Pet Potato. Remember him? I kinda neglected forgot about him for a while (especially with the arrival of slow-walking-and-snap-hissing Tortilla the Emo Turtle), and one day I remembered, and I went out into the garden, and he wasn't there anymore. Pet Potato's place in that pot had been taken over by some other plants. I felt quite hostile towards those plants. I still feel quite hostile towards those plants. *heartbreak*

I think herbs are better. More hardy, more fragrant, and more suited to our weather. They grow really fast too, and it's really as simple as sticking twigs into the ground and waiting for them to sprout. And hey, if you can't stand the sight of them, you can always rip them out and have them for dinner.

Pet Potato: Day 129

Pet Potato turned 129 days old on Saturday. He's not doing too well, as you can see from the following pictures:

There were a couple of days this last week where the rain poured pretty heavily, and Pet Potato gave me quite a shock after one of these storms. He wasn't standing upright anymore, but was pretty much bent in half, collapsed after the wind and water, and leaning his head miserably against his humble pot.

I had to dig Pet Potato up.

You can see that, beneath the surface of the earth, Pet Potato was actually doing quite well. Remember the measly half that was replanted after the alien invasion? Well, that's all gone now. What's left is two little potato sproutlings!!!! Wait. Sproutlings. Is there even such a word?

It took me a tiny while to think it through, but I thought Pet Potato had come too far to just throw him out with the kitchen trash. Ended up changing the earth in his pot and placing him deeper in so he has more stability (and won't get bullied by the rough rain!), and crammed in enough earth to reach the brim of the pot. Watered him. I might trim Pet Potato's shoots a bit eventually, just to remove the yellow rotten bits and maybe prune him a little shorter so he's not so fragile and gangly.

And in case you were wondering about Apple and Rambutan, they're doing great. Bright green leaves and everything. Check them out (first pic is Apple, second is Rambutan):

Will keep you all updated on Pet Potato's progress! Onwards, Pet Potato! Rawr!

Tortilla the Emo Turtle

Have you met our new friend?

We found him on Friday, sitting morosely by the side of a rather large-ish drain. He didn't seem to put up much of a fight when we brought him to his new home, and I've been very happy to have a real pet, i.e. an actual creature that can walk (or waddle, in this particular case) and talk (I do most of the talking, actually).

We decided to call our new friend Tortilla. I added the "Emo Turtle" part because he's precisely that; one emo turtle. You should see him. He can just sit there gloomily and stare off into space for hours on end.

Tortilla likes bananas. And papayas. And I don't know what else, because it's only been a couple of days and we haven't gotten around to feeding him more stuff.

Actually, we're still not sure if Tortilla's a terrapin or a tortoise. So I'm not sure if it should be Tortilla the Emo Tortoise or Tortilla the Emo Terrapin. I figured Tortilla the Emo Turtle sounds cool just the way it is.

I'm glad we found Tortilla the Emo Turtle. I'm looking forward to many beautiful emo days with him.*

*P.S. Or is Tortilla a her? We have no idea. End of P.S.

2012 in miniature

We're barely into the new year, and I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little more looking back, but this time in pictures. All these pictures were taken with my mobile phone, and processed with the help of a variety of photo apps. So here goes, my 2012 in miniature pictures:

1: One of my first few shots on Instagram.
2: My trusty sidekick, all fixed up and ready to go.
3: Plenty of ground + shoe shots, this one's of the pond in the garden.
4. Plenty of sky shots this year too, all part of the Upwards series.
5. Started styling some of my food. Pretty fun stuff.
6. This was late April, hot weather!
7. One of my faves, from the Upwards series.
8. Mid-May, pretty flower in the metal wok cum water feature.
9. This year, driving around seemed to have gotten harder; so much traffic!
10. Taiwanese spicy noodles for lunch.
11. Many shopping malls popping up in Kuching.
12. I call them my ugly shoes, but I like them very much.
13. Many photowalks this year, this one was in late July.
14. Sometimes you need to celebrate doing nothing.
15. Pizza!
16. Instagram encourages you to take better pictures of your food.
17. Experimented lots with food this year, this was my grilled cheese sandwich.
18. The makings of a good guacamole.
19. Late October, prepping for the movie by re-reading the book.
20. I made bagels! From scratch!!!!
21. New ride. Very comfy. Great sound system.
22. I made coffee cake! From scratch!!!!
23. One of my specialties: penne with cheese and garlic.
24. Don't think my sneakers can hold out for much longer.
25. Upwards: birds of a feather.
26. Mid-November, barbeque with friends.
27. Have you met Pet Potato?
28. DIY packaging for friends' birthday presents.
29. The last of the Twilight movies.
30. I made ginger cookies! From scratch!!!!
31. Sneak peek: fuyu cake for Christmas.
32. My birthday. Domo was really excited.
33. My real birthday dinner, this is the Ultimate Burger.
34. DIY wrapping + Christmas presents for friends.
35. Christmas Eve dinner: the McChicken, my new burger of choice.
36. Kickstarting the Monthly Mamak Meetups with friends.

... and here's to many more pictures to come! Cheers, people!

Goodbye 2012! Hello 2013!

A few years back, I used to end the old year and bring in the new with a summary of the past year's events. Here are the links to 2009 and 2007 and even *gasp* 2006! I'm not sure what happened to the other years though. I think I forgot/was lazy/depressed/busy/choose one. Anyway, before I procrastinate and it gets too late in the month to be appropriate, I decided I should do one for 2012. Looking back (and trying to exercise my memory banks), here's my 2012 in a glance:


In 2012, I discovered...

• that I can eat rice with just sesame oil and seasoning
• that I can really be a worrywart
• that I don't read enough books
• that Domo-kun still makes me smile
• that I actually have a thing for dystopian fiction
• that the child within is still strong
• that learning a new language isn't difficult
• Pinterest
• that it takes a lot of guts to chop off your hair
• that I don't have the guts to chop off my hair
• that I don't have green thumbs
• that baking a cake in a rice cooker is possible
• Instagram
• that you can't judge a K-actor from his looks or clothes
• that homemade bagels rock
• that homemade anything rocks
• that I really shouldn't perm my hair anymore
• mushi pan
• that maybe I should have become a chef
• Lee Hongki
• FT Island
• that potatoes make very cute pets
• Cha Seung Won
• the end of the Twilight series
• the beginning of The Hobbit movies
• that you're never too old to make new friends
• that some of the most fun events emerge from last-minute plans
• that your back muscles are very important
• K-drama Withdrawal Syndrome
• Easy Drink Easy Go milk tea
• that I might have a morning coffee addiction
• that I'm one of those who can be happy doing nothing
• that doing nothing is doing something
• that I still enjoy writing
• that fairweather friends are not friends after all
• the joy of 'sidewalk cafes'
• the McChicken burger
• Tumblr
• the Year of Me
• that I'm capable of screaming at the cinema screen
• that I like zombie movies
• that sheer determination will get you through a boring k-drama
• that persimmon is good when you make it into a cake
• Bon Iver
• Qu Wanting
• that I might be a closet hipster
• that it's possible to play the guitar until your fingers turn purple
• that people will always talk
• that the trick to keeping your room clean is to not mess it up
• that I still wanna learn the double bass
• that certain food items are meant to be eaten with your hands
• that 애교 can be really endearing
• that Secret Garden can make me cry buckets
• John Park
• curry fried rice
• that some people still think I'm 23 years old
• that age shouldn't be an issue
• the fishtail braid
• that my sweatshirt is still the most comfy item in my closet

And that's it. It's been a great year, but it's time to say goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013. Goodbye 2012! Hello 2013! And happy new year, people!

Pet Potato: Day 100

100 days! Imagine that! Pet Potato is 100 days old today! And to commemorate this significant milestone, let me show you just how far tall he's come:

Doesn't he look grand? I gave him a little walking stick a couple of weeks back so he can have something to lean on. Also, he's just a friendly chap, and he likes the company, even though it's really just a dead branch that fell off some nearby tree, but don't tell him that. Pet Potato's got many many many many leaves now, and they're growing baby leaves of their own.

So pleased to see Pet Potato and his little troop of leaves.

That being said, it's a sad day for Olive. You know those people, the ones with green thumbs, and they can just chuck some random seeds into a pot and the next thing you know they've got some exotic beauty of a bonsai in their garden? Well, I'm not one of those people. Olive got her seeds eaten by ants, and I watched as one by one they disappeared. Here, let me show you what I mean:

Olive's gone. The ants didn't leave a single one to sprout. They left the husks though. Maybe I shouldn't have made it easier for them by cracking open the shells and exposing the sweet treasures within. But nevermind. We've got a substitute for Olive. And he's tough and scary, this next one. Let me introduce you to Rambutan.

They're the red furry fruits (the green ones are Apple's older siblings, all grown up). They're tropical fruits, very sweet, reminiscent of lychees, and no, I didn't pop them into the ground whole like that. You've got to split the skin open, eat the flesh, and then you've got the seeds, like this:

I planted them in Olive's old place, and watered them a bit. Rambutan's more hardy than Olive (at least I think he is), so I'm hoping he takes root and grows grows grows! Better still if he develops mutant arms to wreak havoc and vengeance on those ants that nibbled away at poor little Olive.

And then there's Apple. Unfortunately, only half survived decided to grow, so the other two were discarded. But Apple seems to be doing fine; thick roots that grip the earth real tight (I know, because I had to dig them up to reposition them in the pot), thick stems and leaves all curled and furled.

That's it for this little update. Will be back soon with more news, if any! Cheers, people!

My real birthday dinner!

My birthday was on Friday, and I celebrated by staying at home and cleaning my room and scorching my finger while cooking up curry fried rice for my dinner.

Don't feel too bad for me. The pain went away the next day, and I cook really good curry fried rice. And then yesterday evening, we went to Gourmet Sausage for my real birthday dinner.

This is the Ultimate Burger. It's a huge burger made by layering a thick beef patty, cheese, turkey ham, bacon, fried egg, onions, tomatoes, and lettuce in a sesame seed bun, and comes with a side of chips. I drowned my chips in plenty of mustard and Tabasco. This is the first I've tried the burger, as I usually end up having the other items on the menu. But this burger is good and it's messy and the sauce dribbles down your chin and you need both hands to eat it. Just the way a real burger should be.

The next time we go back, I'm planning to have the same gooey burger, but with the pork patty!

Happy rawr!!!!

Cleaning my room

Most people would see house-cleaning as a chore. Some would try to put it off as much as possible. Me? I decided to clean my room in celebration of my birthday. Strange, I know. But I was more efficient this time around; I tried not to mess the place up since the last clean-up (that took a few days!), and this time around it only took slightly more than a day (I started yesterday morning and finished this afternoon). That's improvement for you.

This time I even managed to tidy up the few areas I neglected the last time. Re-arranged books, re-packaged bags upon bags of junk, threw out unnecessary items, and wiped down surfaces. Not all though, just the most visible areas. I stumbled upon quite a few interesting (and forgotten) things, too!

Like socks.

FOUR pairs of socks, mind you. Got these in Sydney during my graduation trip.

And the batch of earrings I thought were gone. They had apparently fallen off my table and into the aforementioned bags upon bags of junk. I like these earrings not because they were expensive (they weren't), but because the cupcakes are really cute and the white roses are really pretty and girly.

Also found a book which I used when I was much younger to scribble down ideas and inspirations for stories and essays (uh-huh, I was one of those girls who thought creative writing was a hobby, not homework).

At the end of it all, I took out some of my Christmas toys and decorated little sections of the room. It's quite festive now. And Christmas is only 10 days away!

Cheers, people!

27

Happy birthday, me!

Pet Potato: Day 86

Wow. Day 86. Have that many days passed since Pet Potato first came to be? I still remember when Pet Potato was still just a... well, potato.

I dug the Pet Companions up the other day and disappointment greeted me. Durian had split its hard exterior and was spewing the contents of its rotten innards. And no, I did not take any pictures of that because it's just plain gross. Olive, on the other hand, was so shy she refused to come out of her shell. Literally. This meant two things: one, I would have to throw Durian out (rotten!) and two, I would have to help Olive along (shy!).

Remember Pet Potato's new playmate from a few days ago? He seems to be doing well, like really really well, so he's taking over Durian's home, and I'm calling him Apple because he's a seedling from a tree in our garden that bears what looks like miniature apples or something like that. I managed to locate quite a few other similar seedlings as well, so Apple the new Pet Companion has some pet companions of his own.

Olive is still Olive, but I replaced those old seeds with fresher ones, and cracked them open with the help of a mortar and pestle. That should help with the sprouting, no?

Pet Potato's doing amazing, in case you're wondering. Taller, bigger leaves, sprouting more branches left and right, sending his roots all over the place.

Pet Potato's a friendly chap, and I'm sure he'll get along just fine with his new old friends.

Stay happy and green, Pet Potato!