Kung Hei Fat Choy!
For everyone unfamiliar, this is Happy Chinese New Year. This year I have decided to find myself tikoy which is a traditional filipino chinese snack made from something sweet that none of us can identify. Last Friday I met up with Kat, Rob and Caleb and we went to the Chinese New Year opening of official celebrations at Belmore park next to Central. After eating horrible fried chicken pieces and yummy Japanese pancakes (yes, Okonomiyaki for those of you that have seen Ranma) we wandered among the stalls in Dixon street, in the heart of Chinatown looking at things - and for tikoy.
I ended up with custard tarts - basically made of pancake dough with custard smacked into the middle - and no tikoy. Sunday I went with my uni friend Michelle (the other pinay at Sydney Uni after me & Andee, which brings the total to five overall!) her fiance, Jon and their extended network of family friends and cousins, all pinoy, of course back to Chinatown after church. They took me to their church, which is christian and known to the world as Hillsong. I had no idea that they were christian when we made arrangements to go to church together but it turned out to be a fun and interesting experience. The sermon was one of the liveliest I've ever been to. I still miss my staid old catholic church though, so I'll be back next Sunday.
We had dinner at the Market City food court which had some pretty decent pork chops and beef steak, which I didn't have (I had katsudon). Again, we headed over to the fair but were unable to find tikoy as the grocery stores were closed. I ended up eating Mango Crepe instead.
Yesterday, Monday I went back to the grocery and grabbed two small round plastic containers of tikoy, which were labeled "Year Cake". Kat had told me that they were called New Year Cake in this country, so I figured, this is probably it. So I took them home and attempted to cook them. The resulting conversations with my cousin and Kat below, pretty much tell you what happened.
Lars: I found TIkoy!!!
salingkat: haha - where?
Lars: in some chinese grocery in chinatown
Lars: it said "year cake" so i figured
Lars: eto na yon
salingkat: excellent.
Lars: i will find out for sure after i cook it hahaha
Lars: so how do i cook this tikoy again? just cut slice and fry in egg right
salingkat: i dunno about the egg but the one we had was just sliced and fried - thick slice for soft and gooey, thin slice for crispy
Lars: i think i got the wrong thing tho
Lars: its kinda brown
Lars: and i dont see it frying very much
Lars: oh well we'll see! hehehe
salingkat: yeh, ours was brown
Lars: really? okay!
salingkat: don't fry it on a teflon pan cos i won't crisp
Lars: i dont think we have anything thats not tef
Lars: but ive used a medyo worn out pan
salingkat: ah...then i dunno if you can get it crispy
salingkat: *LOL* you might end up eating some teflon
salingkat: that's what happened with our first, cheap rice cooker. the rice at the bottom had silver bits from the teflon coating coming off
Lars: dude its getting sticky lang
Lars: its not getting crisp
salingkat: hay. teka muna, i'll ask my mum
salingkat:
Lars: ill give you the other one tomorrow
Lars: and then you can tell me if i got the right one
salingkat: ok, mum said don't put too much mantika
salingkat: use cooking oil spray
Lars: i did!
salingkat: mum said it should be the same colour as a brown kutsinta (not the orange one)
Lars: oh okay but it was brown to start with
salingkat: is it on medium heat?
Lars: was it supposed to be brown or did i buy the wrong thing
salingkat: yes, that brown when it starts
salingkat: should take about 2-3 mins to get crisp
Lars: okay. i try again!
salingkat: sabi ni mama, ang laki daw ng problema mo! haha
salingkat: take a photo of the package and send it to me. i'll send it to mum and ask her...
salingkat: bobo talaga ko sa filo food. all i know is taho.
Lars: i took pictures wait! ill send them to you!
salingkat: hahaha...okay
salingkat: baka naman ibang tikoy ang pinaguusapan nating dalawa
salingkat: is it like this? http://desarapen.blogspot.com/2005/02/tikoy.html
Lars: success!
salingkat: woohoo...crispy na?
Lars: noooo but it tastes like tikoy
Lars: hahahaha
Lars: its a gloopy mess
Lars: with some egg
salingkat: *LOL*
Lars: yes! thats it! how come mine doesnt look like that
Lars: how do i make it like that
salingkat: ewan, ours was like that. maybe slice thinner?
salingkat: or turn the heat up a little bit
mazzv: hello
mazzv: i got ur sms... did the tikoy taste the same as in mla?
Lars: noooooooooo
Lars: i cant cook tikoy to save my life
Lars: i dont even know i f i bought the right thing
Lars: the first batch turned into a glutinous mess
mazzv: diba u just dip it in egg then fry it in a bit of oil
Lars: the second batch well.
Lars: first of all, malay ko ba kung tama yung binili ko diba
Lars: its not like you can say tikoy
Lars: and get the right thing
mazzv: hahaha
mazzv: baka u dont cook it na?
Lars: then that would make it kalamay
mazzv: ahhhhh
Lars: wait! the second batch of tikoy turned out decent
Lars: even if it is a gelatinous mush
mazzv: eeeww
mazzv: is it edible?
Lars: yes!
mazzv: does it taste like tikoy?
Lars: but i have to try again
Lars: and yes it tastes like tikoy
mazzv: good
Okay. I made a third batch of tikoy, had to run upstairs and get something and came back to find it gloopy. So I've given up. I'm taking the second pack to Miel's (my cousin) house and letting her figure it out. I'm not wasting anymore tikoy. Also I'm having my mom send some with my uncle when he comes in February!
Also...no pictures of the tikoy...I'm still going to eat it but i dont think anyone else wants to see a glutinous mess, even if it does taste the way its supposed to...
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Thursday, January 26, 2006
My Birthday!
The night before my birthday, I decided (after work!) that I needed to celebrate my last hours of being 26 so I dragged Lisa to the Marley Bar in Newtown, which is about a 15 minute walk from our house. I ordered a chocolatey cocktail concoction and she had something fruity. Then we hung out in this soft cushiony corner (see pic below) that Lisa wanted to recreate somehow in our house because of its plush cocoon like setting. I made it back home in time for my birthday at midnight, where we took pictures (of course) and Sacha brought out the cake she baked for me, which was a wonderfully chocolatey goo of happiness decorated with smarties.
The next day I decided to do whatever I wanted because well, it was the one day in the year that I can justify being the centre of the universe. So I stayed online and chatted and updated things and then I rushed of to kickboxing - which turned out to not be on again till the next week so I ended up boxing at home with Lisa.
Then off we went for dinner at Bills. I went with Sacha, Lisa, Kartini, Scott (her boyfriend) and we met up with Rey, who arrived on time (we were like, five minutes late). Kat & Rob arrived later on, then Andee, Raymond and finally Rose who had to walk all the way from Oxford street. We had a spectacular dinner - someday I will figure out how to make Bill's special mashed potatoes (my cousin gave me his recipe book for Christmas) - and I topped it off with chocolate souffle for dessert.
Rey gave me Bill Clinton's autobiography as a present. Sacha gave me a wonderfully nerdy history book on the middle east crisis. I love how everyone gave me nerdy books! Rose gave me a cute pink wallet and a picture frame (because you're always taking pictures), Kartini made me a bag which I keep getting compliments on wherever I take it and Lisa got me Batman Begins on DVD.
We ended the night just hanging out at home, with me and Andee attempting to take the perfect "Birthday Girl" picture since it was both our birthday!
The next day I decided to do whatever I wanted because well, it was the one day in the year that I can justify being the centre of the universe. So I stayed online and chatted and updated things and then I rushed of to kickboxing - which turned out to not be on again till the next week so I ended up boxing at home with Lisa.
Then off we went for dinner at Bills. I went with Sacha, Lisa, Kartini, Scott (her boyfriend) and we met up with Rey, who arrived on time (we were like, five minutes late). Kat & Rob arrived later on, then Andee, Raymond and finally Rose who had to walk all the way from Oxford street. We had a spectacular dinner - someday I will figure out how to make Bill's special mashed potatoes (my cousin gave me his recipe book for Christmas) - and I topped it off with chocolate souffle for dessert.
Rey gave me Bill Clinton's autobiography as a present. Sacha gave me a wonderfully nerdy history book on the middle east crisis. I love how everyone gave me nerdy books! Rose gave me a cute pink wallet and a picture frame (because you're always taking pictures), Kartini made me a bag which I keep getting compliments on wherever I take it and Lisa got me Batman Begins on DVD.
We ended the night just hanging out at home, with me and Andee attempting to take the perfect "Birthday Girl" picture since it was both our birthday!
New Year's Eve & New Year's Day
On New Year's Eve I had work. I finished at around 7 and rushed home to get dressed for the NYE celebration. We were determined to see the fireworks over the harbour bridge, as none of us had ever seen it before. Sacha and Lisa went ahead and scored a spot at Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, a prime viewing spot full of people - mostly backpackers & families - which on ordinary days gives a great view of the bridge and the opera house and is a primary tourist destination.
I arrived just as the first set of fireworks went off, at around 8. I scored a giant hotdog while waiting and spent most of the three hours before the actual fireworks sprawled on the picnic blanket taking a nap - there was nothing to do anyway.
At midnight the firework extravaganza commenced and it was spectacular - I have 15MB video, if anyone is interested, which I will someday figure out how to upload and link to this, in the meantime i will send the 500KB 3 second version around via email. The bridge was all lit up and the surrounding harbor had fireworks going off in different locations. It was awesome.
New Year's Day, Sacha and I set off to see Kat and her family in their house in Leumeah, which is outside Campbelltown in the westieland. Okay, the southwest, where everything is 5 degrees hotter. Which is why it was 44 degrees that day. We took an hour long non-airconditioned train and we were practically the only ones on it, sweltering and sweating all over the place.
We met a nice South African (white) guy, who was on vacation having just finished law school. Law over there is apparently based on Dutch civil law, and the British only added stuff where there were gaps when they took over. He had just finished his culminating exam after 5 years, then he had a two year internship and another exam. He had never been outside the country before - much less on a train - and had spent the entire morning trying to get the right train to liverpool. Because he spoke Afrikaans, he and Sacha had a nice conversation. It was pretty interesting to hear about what South Africa was like.
When we finally got out of the train, about five stops after his, we had left imprints of ourselves on the seat. It was intensely hot.
When we got there I immediately attacked the appetizers, while Sacha played the piano. She and Rob, Kat's husband alternated playing so it was like having live classical music throughout the entire afternoon. In the middle of the afternoon the temperature dropped a bit so we all headed off to the pool. Kat blew up Caleb's salbabida floater, while her brother Kon attempted to blow up this giant man sized floating thing, with varying degrees of success. Kon and his wife Jane took their baby Mac who is about 8 months old into the pool. He had a lot of fun though he kept spitting water out a lot. Once Kon got the giant float thing going all the guys started fighting over the right to lounge on it, which lead to attempts to tip it over. Kit, Kat's younger brother was particularly successful in tipping over Kon with Rob's help. Kon tried to tip me over but slammed his head right on my butt bone and hurt himself instead. Rob tried to do the butterfly but succeeded in making large splashy sloshy motions instead of cutting through the water.
Sacha got out early, and while she was hanging around on the side Kat's dad tried to throw her in the pool, so I had to get out and join the battle to chuck him in. It was hard, because he's pretty tall for a philo and kinda heavy so we weren't able to do it, but we did provide an amusing show for the rest of the grown ups who ran inside to grab the video camera.
Dinner was great philo fare, inihaw na liempo, lumpiang shanghai and malagkit for dessert. There was of course, ham and macaroni which had cheese, much to Sacha's despair. We ate a whole lot. This was accompanied by the videoke machine (go magic mike!) running in the background with various members of the older generation belting out everything from the backstreet boys to frank sinatra. I sang Britney Spears, of course. (ceres are you reading this?)
We left late in the night and we got dropped off in parramatta where we took a late night train home, complete with goodie bags of leftovers, that little did we know would feed us for quite a few more weeks...
I arrived just as the first set of fireworks went off, at around 8. I scored a giant hotdog while waiting and spent most of the three hours before the actual fireworks sprawled on the picnic blanket taking a nap - there was nothing to do anyway.
At midnight the firework extravaganza commenced and it was spectacular - I have 15MB video, if anyone is interested, which I will someday figure out how to upload and link to this, in the meantime i will send the 500KB 3 second version around via email. The bridge was all lit up and the surrounding harbor had fireworks going off in different locations. It was awesome.
New Year's Day, Sacha and I set off to see Kat and her family in their house in Leumeah, which is outside Campbelltown in the westieland. Okay, the southwest, where everything is 5 degrees hotter. Which is why it was 44 degrees that day. We took an hour long non-airconditioned train and we were practically the only ones on it, sweltering and sweating all over the place.
We met a nice South African (white) guy, who was on vacation having just finished law school. Law over there is apparently based on Dutch civil law, and the British only added stuff where there were gaps when they took over. He had just finished his culminating exam after 5 years, then he had a two year internship and another exam. He had never been outside the country before - much less on a train - and had spent the entire morning trying to get the right train to liverpool. Because he spoke Afrikaans, he and Sacha had a nice conversation. It was pretty interesting to hear about what South Africa was like.
When we finally got out of the train, about five stops after his, we had left imprints of ourselves on the seat. It was intensely hot.
When we got there I immediately attacked the appetizers, while Sacha played the piano. She and Rob, Kat's husband alternated playing so it was like having live classical music throughout the entire afternoon. In the middle of the afternoon the temperature dropped a bit so we all headed off to the pool. Kat blew up Caleb's salbabida floater, while her brother Kon attempted to blow up this giant man sized floating thing, with varying degrees of success. Kon and his wife Jane took their baby Mac who is about 8 months old into the pool. He had a lot of fun though he kept spitting water out a lot. Once Kon got the giant float thing going all the guys started fighting over the right to lounge on it, which lead to attempts to tip it over. Kit, Kat's younger brother was particularly successful in tipping over Kon with Rob's help. Kon tried to tip me over but slammed his head right on my butt bone and hurt himself instead. Rob tried to do the butterfly but succeeded in making large splashy sloshy motions instead of cutting through the water.
Sacha got out early, and while she was hanging around on the side Kat's dad tried to throw her in the pool, so I had to get out and join the battle to chuck him in. It was hard, because he's pretty tall for a philo and kinda heavy so we weren't able to do it, but we did provide an amusing show for the rest of the grown ups who ran inside to grab the video camera.
Dinner was great philo fare, inihaw na liempo, lumpiang shanghai and malagkit for dessert. There was of course, ham and macaroni which had cheese, much to Sacha's despair. We ate a whole lot. This was accompanied by the videoke machine (go magic mike!) running in the background with various members of the older generation belting out everything from the backstreet boys to frank sinatra. I sang Britney Spears, of course. (ceres are you reading this?)
We left late in the night and we got dropped off in parramatta where we took a late night train home, complete with goodie bags of leftovers, that little did we know would feed us for quite a few more weeks...
Monday, January 09, 2006
Ice Skating
This is a picture montage from when we went Ice Skating on the 29th of December. Macquarie Centre in North Ryde (Near Macquarie Uni and Epping, even) has an ice skating rink. We went just for kicks and skated for an hour before getting bored and hitting the shops (My end result - my first pair of shoes since winter boots and an electric fan! Go Me!). Went with Rose, Sacha and Rose's friend Carla who joined us from Baulkham Hills. She is generally quiet but very sweet and teaches art to kids as well as being an artist herself.
Sacha was in search of speed skates but they didn't have any. I had to get a second pair of skates because the first one wouldn't lock. Rose was a bit of a new skater. Carla was very graceful but of course Sacha was the expert. They actually have ice skating tours in Holland and when the canals freeze over there is a special group (that one of her friends belongs to) that do these special races across these canals. Its like cross-country skating and you have to be specially selected out of a lottery to be chosen to participate.
Skating was fun, and it reminded me of the days when we would save our allowances to go to Megamall to skate, and how I saw "the cutting edge" the movie that single handedly inspired the Manila ice skating craze 4 times or something. I bought icebitch the vcd or was it the dvd and I remember watching it at the house, and all of us (boys included) could quote all the lines. Someone should tell Moira Kelly, now of One Tree Hill how she and DB Sweeney inspired an entire country to ice skate. I think we even had some champion figure skaters, too.
Sacha was in search of speed skates but they didn't have any. I had to get a second pair of skates because the first one wouldn't lock. Rose was a bit of a new skater. Carla was very graceful but of course Sacha was the expert. They actually have ice skating tours in Holland and when the canals freeze over there is a special group (that one of her friends belongs to) that do these special races across these canals. Its like cross-country skating and you have to be specially selected out of a lottery to be chosen to participate.
Skating was fun, and it reminded me of the days when we would save our allowances to go to Megamall to skate, and how I saw "the cutting edge" the movie that single handedly inspired the Manila ice skating craze 4 times or something. I bought icebitch the vcd or was it the dvd and I remember watching it at the house, and all of us (boys included) could quote all the lines. Someone should tell Moira Kelly, now of One Tree Hill how she and DB Sweeney inspired an entire country to ice skate. I think we even had some champion figure skaters, too.
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