Vanessa's Food & Photography Journal

Awesome Violin Concerto

2012-01-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

I wrote this in my draft ages ago. So here it is:

Erm, I have some inspiration to try giving some commentary on a classical piece by Tchaikovsky. I hope this post won't be a boring topic. I will try my best to make it very interesting haha...

So, here it is: Violin Concerto in D Major opus 35 by P.I. Tchaikovsky, my favorite violin concerto of all time.

I have been trying to capture Tchaikovsky's feeling in this piece since ages. I knew that Tchaikovsky wrote this composition to describe his marriage. After listening to this piece for like maybe hundred times or more I guess, I still couldn't capture Tchaikovsky's love inside the piece. That made me curious and wanted to listen to more and more. Instead of love, what I could feel is unstable state, pathetique phase and some kind of bursting emotion.

As a result of my curiousity, I tried to do some research about Tchaikovsky and this piece particularly. Soon, I found out that he was a homosexual and married to a woman. He felt trapped in his marriage. That's the reason he wrote this epic piece. This concerto is written in 3 movements. My favorite movement is the 3rd movement. I love it when the piece reaches its peak.

This piece has been played by many world famous violinists. My favorite violinist's interpretation of this piece Maxim Vengerov (My all time fav violinist). I listened to almost all violinists' interpretation such as Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell and Itzhak Perlman but so far, I think Maxim interprets the piece the best. Joshua Bell has a good musical interpretation as well, but the notes and slurs being played not as smooth as Maxim.

So yeahh,I am really looking forward to watch this concerto live some days!!

vanessaloh.com

2012-01-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

Yup, Vanessa has just had her own domain name now! In this new blog, I am merging most of my blog posts since 2008 when I was still an innnocent uni student (still innocent now btw). Feel free to flip through my old (kinda childish) posts for fun sake!

For future posts, I will be mainly posting about food review (like usual), photography, classical music (piano & violin mostly) and occasional random posts.

Hope you all enjoy! :)

toothbrush

2011-12-05T00:59:00.000-08:00

Not sure if you have noticed this before. Take a look at toothbrushes at your family toilet and you may notice that there are two types of toothbrush :-P

The first type, is the in-the-line-toothbrush, in which the brush is perfectly in line no matter how many times peeps brush their teeth.

and...the other type, is the out-of-the-line-toothbrush, in which even the peep only use that toothbrush once, the brush just basically goes in every directions.

Confused?

See below pic and hopefully u know what I meant :D

So which toothbrush are you? :)

:) :) :)

2011-05-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

Receiving this epic packets from my best bud, "Tempe" few weeks ago.

As always, never given up on making me gaining weight! :-P Thx for the lovely snacks and cute messages for the past two weeks!!! make my day more interesting :) <3

OZ VS Indo

2011-03-25T04:13:00.000-07:00

Hmm since I've been living in Syd for few years now, let me compare my lifestyle between OZ and Indo :-P

*Clothes
Here in Australia, noone cares what you are wearing. You can literally walk in the street dressing up like a hippie, barbie, etc... as long as you put some clothes on, you are good :-P So yeah I have been living in tongs as my day-to-day footwear :-P Things are different in Indo. Peeps are more self conscious about what they wear. Most peeps are dressed up as if they are going to a party or something with all those matching bags and shoes, accessories here and there and oh, not forgetting a bit of curl in the hair :-P Also, beware! they scan you from top to toe as well. So yeah, I seriously look disgrace with my tongs, shorts and tees there. But meh, can't be bothered to dress up like that.lol.

*Transport
In Indo, I have been lucky enough to get peeps driving and picking me up here and there. Hence, never really experienced public transport except last year, when I did my intern :-P Unlike here, I've been living of buses to work and I walk..a lot :-D

*Food
Yeah nothing much here I reckon, noone cooks for me sadly lol..It's not too bad but sometimes when ur like super tired from work, it would be awesome to have food ready at home :-P Back in Indo, plenty of food always ready to be eaten obviously :-D

*Peeps
Hmm in terms of the weirdness, noone can beat the peeps here. Seriously, weird people everywhere, from drunk peeps chatting you up to a lady stealing my potato right from my plate!!

*Phone
It is a fact that indo peeps are blackberry freak. Everyone has one. Even my 9 years old sister. Wth man :-P Australia is more towards iphone freak :-D and if you spotted peeps here with blackberry, more probably they are Indo..kidding :-D it's true though. :-P

*Shower
Most peeps here shower once a day. Unlike in Indo, since little, been taught in school that one needs to shower twice a day at least :-P

k..k.. I started to get super random. Time to sleep!!! 6 house inspections to go tomorrow!! yay..wishmeluck :-P Have a great weekend everyone!! and yeah I have enabled comment on my blog due to request from my one and only loyal reader (you-know-who) :-P

Lent

2011-02-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

Lent is just around the corner. For those who are not familiar with lent, lent is a period where catholic is required to give up something they really like..until easter..The purpose of this is so called to tame our "flesh" and spend our time doing something more "holy" like helping peeps, praying, reading bible, etc.

As usual!!, just started to ponder on what to fast this year. What I have always done in the past is to fast from the internet. Hmmm..Not totally though as I still need to check my emails and msn to communicate with peeps. So, I'm just off from browsing useless stuff like facebook and stuff like that.

For this year, I feel like fasting something different but still not sure..Some options:
*Meat
This will be really hard.I'm a big meat eater! hahah..but still, I guess internet will still be harder as I think I can survive with fish or other kind of seafood as substitute. Maybe I should be a vegetarian for the whole lent which means..I think I will..die.. :-P

*Dessert
Which means no eggtarts, easyway, chatime, crepes, chocolate....aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

*Tea
I have no idea since when but I am currently addicted with tea. One cup before work, two more cups at work and sometimes one cup after work.Kinda need it to survive the day I reckon..lol

Hmmmm I have no idea whatelse since I don't smoke, drink and stuff like that. Well, I guess most probably I will still go with the internet again as I find it as the most challenging fast eva haha. Yeah, will delete my facebook & twitter apps from my iphone next Wednesday to remark the beginning of lent period!!!

Cya Peeps!

Sydney CBD in The Eye of My D90!!

2011-02-20T23:37:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I have never been exploring my camera that much but here are some piccas I took around OZ..:-P and to all my buddies who have been leaving Australia for good..hopefully these pics are tempting enough to make them visit lonely me here :-P I know you miss Australiaaa...*wink wink*

*Darling Harbour

*Darling Harbour - Night View

*Random Seagull @ Darling Harbour

*Harbour Bridge Long Exposure

*Pitt Street

*Market City

*Opera House

Tempting enough guys?? :-D
Cheerioooo...

Happy CNY!

2011-02-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year Peeps!!

CNY always used to be the only celebration in a year I always waited for. Not because of the red pocket thingo we collected :-P but more towards the gathering with the loved ones back at home and awesome food as always! :-D

Unfortunately, CNY simply means nothing now. Even no public holiday here in Aus. Awh wells...still..Giong Hi!!!

Max Brenner

2010-06-21T05:44:00.000-07:00

No other words to describe Max Brenner or commonly called "MaxB" besides chocolate, chocolate and chocolate. Whether or not you are a big fan of chocolate, if you visit Australia, please drop by to experience the chocolatey goodness.

Some highlights of MaxB that I have tried:

*Chocolate Pizza

This pizza is to die for: thin and crunchy crusts topped with a splash of milk chocolate, fresh bananas, mini marshmallows and some sweet chocolate rice crunch. It is just nice and comforting and owh yeah, in fact, I ate half a pan of it previously. Awesomeness.

Rate: 4/5

*Belgian Waffles

Their waffles are one of my favorite desserts. Unlike usual waffles, their waffles are just moist and really flavoursome. It is drizzled with chocolate too! Heaven!

Rate: 4.5/6

*Chocolate Souffle

This is indeed a heavy and dry dessert. The oozing chocolate is just so rich and thick. You definitely need vanilla ice cream to quench it down or else, you would end up nauseated with too much chocolate. Anyway, not a bad dessert overall but I won't order it again.

Rate: 3/5

*Dark Chocolate Suckao

When you order suckao, you will be served with a hot milk, small chocolate buttons (choose between white, milk chocolate or dark chocolate) and a cute melting pot with candle at the bottom. Being a big fan of dark chocolate, I opted for the dark chocolate. I expected this to be a pure bliss. However, I don't really get much chocolate satisfaction from it. It just tasted like a normal hot chocolate to me and not special at all in terms of the taste. On the other hand, the presentation side is kinda unique. We could choose ourselves how much consistency of the chocolate you want in the milk and stuff. Kinda fun to play with.

Rate: 2.5/5

Restaurant Details:

Locations & Opening Hours: http://www.maxbrenner.com.au/locations/
Average $ Spent/pax: drink only - AUD$6.00 ++ , with desserts - AUD$12.00++

Happy trying peeps!

Things I did Under Stress

2010-05-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

I am not someone who easily get stress and frustrated. Yes, I am actually a cyborg!

However, at some particular time, there are just heaps of things need to be done at the same time and could cause head "explosion". Sorry, I am exaggerating a bit here =P

I am actually in that state currently: pile of assignments with close deadline, part-time work, PR application administrative stuffs and follows by final exam one week straight after last assignment submission. All-in-one. It just makes me an anti-social peep temporarily =(

Anyway, these are things I find "helpful" to cope with this:

* Plugging my ear with either classical or metal hard rock music in maximum volume. Close my eyes and soon I will be in different world

* Finishing a large pack of potato chips in one shot (Pls don't follow this, you will suffer from sore throat and a sudden mild dizziness and nausea attack)

* Flipping through my bible and reading inspirational verses that I highlighted in the past

* Strumming guitar and find any song chords that pops into my head while singing on my mind as I don't want my housemates to hear my crappy voice

* The ultimate effective method: talking or chatting to besties =)

Yeah, that's basically what I did. Perhaps you could try, except for the potato chips part!

Oh wells. This madness will soon be over. Can't wait! So at the moment, just be HAPPY =)

Athenian Greek Restaurant, Martin Place

2010-05-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

Couple of months back, the night before waving good bye to Alice and Laura, we have our "last supper" at this Greek restaurant. This is indeed my first Greek dining experience.
We opted for the following dishes:

*Grilled Haloumi Cheese

This is a really delish slices of cheese. A nice entree to warm up your taste buds. A heavenly entree for cheese-eater and hell for those who hates cheese or suffered from lactose intolerant.

Rate:4.5/5

*Grilled Chicken Souvlaki with Hand Cut Chips & Garden Salad

I selected chicken souvlaki for my main. The chicken was tender and cut in such a way that not much knife jobs required. In the aspects of taste, nothing special with the dish. Just slightly above "edible" rate for me. Furthermore, I left my salad untouched due to lack of dressings. Well, basically, I am just literaly not a veggie person =P

Rate: 3/5

*Moussaka

This lasagna-kind-of dish was ordered by Alice. The beef has smooth texture and yeap, it did tasted like lasagna but better representation.

Rate: 3/5

*Roasted Greek Lamb with Eggplant

This is one of the most popular mains in the restaurant. Not so sure about the taste as I didn't have a bite on this but it seemed that Laura and Jeremy enjoyed it. So yeah must be good! and it's under the chef's recommendation if not mistaken.

Rate: n/a

Overall, if you are looking for nice semi fine dining restaurant to eat in, this might be a good and strategic place. Great service and food is not bad.

Restaurant Details:

Location

Opening Hours: www.athenian.com.au
Average $ Spent/pax: AUD30.00++ or AUD40.00++ (with wine)

Happy trying peeps! Kali Orexi!

Sushi Tengoku, Kenshington

2010-05-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Looking for ultimate satisfaction for sushi? This place will definitely fulfill your sushi cravings! Indeed, this is my recent favorite sushi restaurant. Because of the super tiny place, it is recommended that you place a booking prior to the dinner or you will end up waiting for hours in the queue.

These are what I have tried so far:

*Salmon Roll

This delicate sushi rice rolled with fresh salmon and creamy avocado plus homemade mayo is definitely not to be missed. Perfect for big fan of salmon. Simple, nice and most importantly, healthy.

Rate: 4.5/5

*Softshell Crab Roll

Crunchy and flavorsome softshell crabs rolled in rice, tobiko (salmon roe) and cucumber dressed with mayo is indeed another guilty sushi pleasure . Worth to order for sure!

Rate: 4.5/5

*Tempura Roll

I think this is not so special as compared to the salmon and crab roll. Not so much flavor hits I reckon but it is not bad at all. Maybe I am just not a big fan of tempura. Similar to Softshell crab roll, the tempura is rolled together with tobiko, cucumber and mayo.

Rate: 3/5

*Unagi Nigiri

A mound of sushi rice topped with huge and freshly cooked eel. Yummy.

Rate: 4/5

*Aburi Sushi

Clock-wise:Tuna Aburi, Unagi Aburi and Scallop Aburi. In this restaurant, you could ask for any nigiri you want, such as the 'unagi nigiri' above, to be grilled. It absolutely turns the sushi to a whole new dimension of satisfaction.However, it is not stated on the menu, so basically, you have to request it directly to the waiter.

Rate: 4.5/5

Besides sushi, their green tea deserves a big thumb up. Unlike the usual green tea served in other Japanese restaurant, they add roasted rice into the green tea which makes the tea more authentic and the aroma just pops out.

Restaurant Details

Location

Opening Hours: Tue - Sun from 5pm to 10pm
Approximate Avg $ Spent/pax: AUD$15.00++

Happy trying peeps! Itadakimasu!

Banned Food Stuff!!

2010-05-16T02:18:00.000-07:00

Although I am not picky with food I have eaten, there are several foodies that are just unacceptable in my mouth whatsoever.

* Strawberry
No matter whether it is fresh strawberries, ice cream, cheesecake, candies, etc., I won't touch them. Benefits for those who have been sharing cakes with me: extra strawberries for you!! The smell of strawberries for me is just intolerable on my tongue. Unexplainable. So yeah, whenever I am eating desserts with my friends, they won't order anything strawberry-ish. Sorry =(

* Durian
Despite being raised in a country who produces tons of superb durian, I despise them. Unlike usual durian-haters, I could still bear the smells if you are eating it besides me but I won't eat it. Everytime my family went to a hawker durian stall for a fleshy and "yummy" durian, I would just wait for them to finish eating in the car. Also, few years back, we celebrated our friend's birthday with Durian Cake from Secret Recipe, heaven for durian lovers. Hence, no cake for me!

*Gardenia Chocolate Muffins
No doubt, this is a good chocolate muffin indeed but I swear to all creatures of this earth, I won't eat it ever again. 4 years ago when I was still studying in Malaysia, I got my first chicken pox and I need to take 6 tablets per day which requires me to eat something before eating the tablets. Due to lack of eating appetite and impossibility to take 6 meals/day, I loaded myself with a lot of gardenia's muffins for like 5 days! Yummy muffins are turned into disaster!

*Banana Milk
I like banana in general and fine with banana desserts though not really my top preferences. However, this yellowish drink is just bleaaghh. Full stop.

What about yours? =D

Truths About Indonesian Language

2010-04-23T04:40:00.000-07:00

Being a "true" Indonesian, there are some true facts I have gathered on how majority of Indonesian really speaks in which can be derived that what we have studied at school are pretty much useless due to the facts that:

* Around 80% (estimated) of our oral communication is consisted of slank
It is no doubt that Indonesians are really creative in inventing new words which you won't be able find in Indonesian dictionary. If you happen to take Indonesian conversation class, don't expect that you are ready to speak to Indo. They will mostly laugh or at least hold their laugh if you speak in a formal way to them.

E.g.
"I am so tired and I want to sleep."
Indonesian formal way: "Saya capai sekali. Saya ingin tidur."
Indonesian slank: "Gua capek banget. Gua pengen bobok."

See what I mean. From the above sentences, it can be identified that Indonesian slank is 100% different from the formal way of speaking. This is just a measure of how "creative" we are. Whether this is good or bad, I have no comment.

*We use damn a lot of abbreviation in text message, facebook post, etc.
If you are non-Indo and thinking of stalking on Indo convos on facebook wall by copying and pasting the sentences on google translator or any other kind of translator, you will definitely have no luck. Besides using slanks, we use short forms in writing our messages too! How cool is that! 2 layers of security! =P

E.g.
"How are you? It's been a really long time since I the last time saw you. I miss you"
Indonesian formal way of speaking: "Apa kabar? Sudah lama sekali ya kita tidak bertemu. Saya kangen kamu."
Indonesian slank - oral: "Pa kabar loe? Udah lama banget ya kita ga ketemu. Gua kangen sama loe"
Indonesian slank - written: "Pa kbr loe? Udh lm bgt y kt ga ktm. Gw kgn am loe"

Overall, I just want to wish you good luck in learning Indonesian language! =P

2904

2010-03-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

Receiving email from Laura earlier today makes me to reminisce back our days living in World Tower. Although our apartment can be said totally not well-equipped and sort of messy, there are just a lot of memorable stuff upon living in there =)

Some stuffs I miss:

Called or being called: "Anyone want to buy bread? I'm in Coles. There is buy one free one for Wonder White, Tiptop, etc..."
Eating dinner together on the floor while watching TV
ABC or Ibu Jari Chilli sauce scattered on the floor
Laura's sms: "Do you want rice?"
The shocking sound of intercom
Our lovely turtle speed internet connection: "buncis"
Late night visit to Coles =)
Dryer! Need this badly now..
Our weird 2nd hand washing machine
3 pieces of papers sticking with our names on the sunny room glasses stating money we have owed to each other
My roomates =)

Although I do get more spaces and privacy at my current living place, indeed I love living in 2904 more!

Scrumptious Food in Medan

2010-03-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

My 3 months trip back home to Indonesia is a total awesomeness (except the working part =p), especially in the aspect of getting myself fatten up though I still lose weight in the end. During my stay in Indo, I visited both Jakarta and Medan (my hometown) and of course the type of cuisine is different from each other due to cultural divergent I suppose. In Medan, the food fusion is mainly dominated with Chinese style of cooking and culinary in Medan can be considered a top notch in Indonesia.

Here are some famous local food in Medan:

Mie Tiongsim

Mie tiongsim is a bowl of handmade noodle served with BBQ pork and wonton. As per your request, you could also add some fried pork fat to top the noodle. This noodle stall has been established ages ago way before I was born indeed and the demand and popularity for people to eat this bowl of fantastic noodle has remained unchanged or even increasing throughout the year. The noodle taste is simply unique and you may never find any other noodle stall around the world that serves noodle with similar taste. The wonton is superb and when you pop it into your mouth, you will feel the "pork satisfaction" you get from it. Therefore, this is the best wonton noodle I have ever tasted yet! However, it is better to eat at the outlet instead of buying it as a takeaway as it reduces the quality of the noodle taste.

Rate: 4.5/5

Tabona Beehoon Curry

This small restaurant is always full with crowds. Although I don't really fancy this restaurant so much, this bowl of creamy curry is worth to try and I am sure you will just love it. The curry does not has strong Indian flavor but still rich in its spices. You could opt for vermicelli or rice as companion.

Rate: 3.5/5

Black Pepper Crabs @ Hawii

Crabs served in this outlet can be considered really fresh. You could actually choose you own still-alive-crab before they process it into scrumptious dishes. We opt for 2 pieces of female crabs weighted at 500grams each. I personally prefer the female one as I enjoy the delicacy of the egg. Besides of its good quality crabs, they also serve really pleasant-tasting sauce. Worth to try!

Rate: 4/5
I hope this post will make you hungry! =)

Summer Hols Plan

2009-10-30T04:04:00.000-07:00

Haluuu fellas,

As usual, before the final exam actually started I always post about my hols plan as a MOTIVATION to study. Unlike last year, I will be spending my hols in Indo and I could avoid getting roasted and baked in Sydney. Although Indo is a tropical country but Sydney during summer is totally a big no no.

So here they go my plan for hols:

*Internship!
Yeah, after few months of waiting and waiting frustration, I am finally accepted into the internship program at audit division in one of the company I dream to enter :)) Excited and can't wait to start soon!!Wooo...

*Eat
What else you do in Indo other than fulfilling your cravings of scrumptious food. Can't wait also for succulent chasiew and friends.

*Piano
I really need to practice, my fingers are not as flexible as it's used to :-( Though I would only spend a while in Medan, but I am wishing to catch up in few days. Will try to master 'all of me' songs by John Schmidt! and thinking to bring my violin along too but will see..

*Cut-My-Hair
Seriously, it is hard for me to find a suitable hairdresser. Well, I have find one actually here, the one who cut my hair from long to super short but it costs a bomb and eat up huge portion of my salary :( My hair is already in a mess now, something like combination between cauliflower and helmet. Still thinking on whether to keep it long or cut it short again. Any suggestion? :)

Well, I think that's it for now my plan for hols outside catching up with fams and besties :) Bloody exam will start on 11th and gonna end on 20th and for the first time in uni, I will have 2 exams in one day + another exam in the next morning which equals to 3 exams in 48 hours. Halleluya zoom zoommm...

Oh yeah forget one more thing that I might need to revise previous sem audit lecture notes as I forgot most of them and don't want to embarrass myself if they ask me audit term during the intern that I don't know how to answer.

Good luck for exams peeps!

Aria Restaurant Sydney

2009-10-26T03:15:00.000-07:00

I must to admit that the intention to try the food at Aria Restaurant is due to my recent obsession with Masterchef Australia and finding that Matt Moran is one of the best chef in oz makes me more interested in dining it to this restaurant.

We are required to place 48hours in advance booking before stepping in to the restaurant but we have placed the booking a week earlier to guarantee a spot and opt for the pre-theater dinner as it is more affordable as compared to the dinner itself but with lesser menu selections.

As elite as it is deemed to be, the restaurant is located just right across the view of harbour bridge and opera house. We were warmly welcomed by the staffs and seated at the view of harbour bridge (not a good one honestly). The staffs are really polite though gave the impression of cold and cocky except the "wine guy" but what I like the most is that they are not intrusive.

Surfing through the menu, me and Wei Lik opt for rabbit entree with beef as a main while Jeremy select pork belly as entree with also beef as a main. For starters, as usual, they serve as with some bread and a shot of greenish puree with some ham crunches. I don't really fancy the bread, hard to chew for serious but the "green shot" is good and refreshing.

We didn't have to wait for long for the entree to come and gap between entree and main is not long either. Therefore, the waiting time is reasonable there.

Here are the food:
Ballotine of rabbit, foie gras and capocollo with ginger bread, pumpkin and a pomegranate dressing

This is my first time eating rabbit. It tastes similar like chicken. Well, nothing really special with this though but the taste is quite alright and fresh in such a way. Ironically enough, ballotine means boneless, but I could find a small piece of rabbit bone on my plate. By mistake I suppose? The capocollo tastes great, combination of both savoury and sweet from the ginger bread crumbs.

Rate: 3.5/5

Kurobuta sweet pork belly with pork croquette, paradise pears and pear chutney

Tried a bite of pork belly. It tasted much more special than the rabbit dishes I guess. It contains thin and crispy skin with moist fatty juicy pork. The sweet sauce is really a good match to this dish. I heard that this is the most famous entree in Aria so, must not be missed next time.

Rate: 4.5/5

Chargrilled sirloin with field mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and chimmichurri sauce

The steak is served well and juicy but I find the sauce is rather weird as I have never eaten any steak with sour sauce but not too bad. Well, for me the highlight for this dish is the tomatoes instead of the beef. The tomato is damn good, it is sweet, fresh and pop in your mouth seriously. The best tomatoes I have ever eaten.

Rate: 3.5/5

Not forgetting a complementary finger dessert they serve us :)

It consists of chocolate truffles, peanut something and turkish delight. Nothing really special but the presentation is just cute.

Overall, Aria is a great place to dine it. They serve great food and great service with relaxing environment. Although the food is not really extremely special for me but it is worth to try. Most importantly, the food will make you super full although it is a fine dining which I always think that they serve super tiny mini food.

Check it out: www.ariarestaurant.com

Next food destination target: Quay Restaurant (rated as one of the best restaurants in the world)

Btw, Aria is ranked no. 14 in Australia if not mistaken.

Happy trying and have a great day :)

Cheers,

Van

Mixed Stories

2009-09-10T02:30:00.000-07:00

Nothing fun this week as I'm not having a perfect mood. Either something wrong with me that I'm easily get fed up or that certain someone is extraordinarily hyper annoying. Oh well, at least not anymore now...

Here are few "interesting" (for me not guarantee for you) things this week:

Threatening Chair @ UTS Build 10 Tuts Room
Pls be careful fellow IT student, watch your back before you seat. This is what I found:

Lucky that it's stuck on my cardigan instead of poking my back or arm.Freaky! Maybe the picture doesn't look scary but everyone who saw it think it's so scary and guess what? I found similar chair in other room too! Should we sue UTS under duty of care? haha

STQM Crazy Assignment
This is another round of sleepless night but didn't feel as crazy as previous PMP assignment in which I spent the night @ stinky build 10. Did the assignment from morning until the next day at 7.30am. Before taking a short nap, I set up my alarm @ 8.30 so that I could go to uni early to print out the assignment before it's due. Too bad, the alarm didn't sound loud enough wake me up and I'm technically sleep like a corpse as didn't feel a thing. Lucky enough, one of my friend called me and I didn't really know what I was talking as I was still a bit "unconscious" oh well! but was shocked when I saw the time and rushed to uni to print out the assignment. Anyway, really thankful with the call or else I guess I will stay asleep until..nobody knows..

Tchaikovsky
I'm always in love with Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major. One of the best classical music I could hear over and over, especially the movement no.3. Anyway, just happen to know that Vadim Repin will come and play this song with London Philharmonic orchestra. How awesome is that! Too bad it's not Maxim Vengerov who came instead, in which I'm definitely not gonna miss it!! but I'm sure Vadim Repin is a really awesome player too as he learned violin with Zakhar Bron, which is Maxim's teacher too..A world class violinist for sure.

Toodles! have to do another assignment (sigh-ing)

Tea Time at Guylian

2009-08-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

Looking for quiet and cozy place to relax and enjoy assorted selections of dessert? Guylian might be a perfect place to visit.

Due to super-long-5-hours uni break, me and my friend went to circular quay to "waste" the spacious time and decided to try this Belgium originated chocolate cafe and were warm welcomed by the tall pretty waitress (I sound "L").

After surfing through the menu, we ordered:

Dark Chocolate Shakes

The shakes consist of Dark Chocolate Ice Cream blended together with Guylian dark chocolate and sprinkled with some shredded dark chocolate as topping. The shake came with complimentary Guylian Chocolate Candies. After taking a sip, it could be concluded that I LOVE IT! The chocolate is rich and not really sweet as compared to Max Brenner and Lindt. The best shake so far I have ever tasted. Lovely!

Price: $9.00

Rate: 4.5/5

While checking out the assorted pieces of cakes, me and my friend were tempted to try them. I ordered lemon meringue and he ordered coffee eclairs.

Lemon Meringue

Spot the pretty decoration on the lemon meringue, this is why it takes so long for them to serve it.I thought they forgot about my lemon meringue. The decorate it with lemoney sauce and and the red polkadots, as my friend testified, it's strawberry sauce. I didn't touch the red sauce because of the high probability that it's strawberry sauce. The lemon meringue is very normal. Not that I have tried a lemon meringue before, but it is just no so special whatsoever. Honestly, it tasted quite similar to 'lemon meringue' cupcake on Pitt but big ++ with the deco.

Price: $6.50 dine in and $5.00 takeaway

Rate: 3/5

Coffee Eclairs

Only tried a bit of this so couldn't give a rate but what can I said is that the coffee is not that strong but I guess it's more special than my lemon meringue though..hmm after second thought, now I feel that this is kinda the sama like a custard puff haha

Price: Same with the lemon meringue

Here is everything:

Overall, a nice dessert place to enjoy the noon,might come back next time!
Happy trying peeps!

Cheers,

Van

Top Reasons of Why I choose Not to Put Music on My Blog

2009-07-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Couple of times back, I was thinking to upload one of my favorite classical piece on my blog to create classy image on my blog *blah*

Thinking through, I chose not to, the main reason is: I DISLIKE BLOG WITH MUSIC!!!

Several supporting reasons:
*Hate the music
Yes, my music taste is very specific. I don't listen to current pop song and only listen to those classical pieces or other hardcores or maybe only few easy-listening pop. Most of bloggers put ear destructive music (for me) to their blogs and yes, I believe, if I put one of my fav classical piece to my blog, I believe it would damage reader's ear too.

*Shocking
In the middle of the night, nice and comfortable on your bed, browsing through interesting blogs. Suddenly, a loud music is playing in the middle of nowhere and literaly makes you jump from your bed. Guess what, 90% of the cases are always from someone's blog. Rush my adrenaline seriously.

*Embarassing
Waiting on the computer labs between class break, browsing through blogs again without noticing that the computer sound hasn't been muted yet. As a result, a loud music suddenly blasted in the quiet lab. Where should I put my face??? Haha

With these main reasons, I choose not to, as the golden rule said "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you". No offence peeps, there's nothing wrong putting music on your blogs, it is just personal preferences and I'm just those exceptions :) I have found ways to avoid those issues, which is to mute the computer or laptop while browsing through blogs.

Things I Want to Do This Hols

2009-06-17T21:23:00.000-07:00

Bloody bored...

I have 3 more exams to go:
19/06 18.00PM Project Management Professionals
20/06 14.00PM Web Systems
23/06 09.30AM Financial Statement Analysis

Oh nouuuuuuuuuuuu.....I'm bloody dead without blood.

Anyway, if you want to ask me out during holidays (which of course won't be any, except the usual peeps hehe), here is the list of places I want to go (mostly food places):
* Ribs and Rumps for steak and ribs *duh*
* Max Brenner for chocolate pizza, I kinda banning the drink there, too sweet >.<
* Guylian for anything nice
* Bondi Beach for spaghetti marinara with cream sauce and deep fried mars bars
* Newtown for food at Thai Pothong and wandering around along the street
* IKEA, buy small stuff for my new future room
* Myers for new quilt, I need a really warm one and hunting cheap classical discounted CDs
* Apple center for nothing.. just looking around
* Sydney tower lunch buffet coz it's cheaper during lunch hohoho
* Sydney Fish Market
* Anywhere nice to shop
* Places I have never been: Maroubra beach, cogee beach, paramatta shopping centre, etc..

I guess thats it for now, any other suggestions??
Arghh can't wait for holidays!!!! except the working part :(

Have to get back to study again T____T

Enjoy your holiday guys for some of you! :)

Red Hot Chilli Sze Chuan

2009-06-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm extremely bored stuffing my brain with Information System Development Methodologies materials for final exam tomorrow. It's a boring subject but it's pretty useful I guess to be applied in IT work environment. Yes people, my final exam is tomorrow yet I still spare my precious limited time contributing to this super lame blog.

I'm hungry atm and always been hungry since Sydney weather's turning colder and colder. No good but loving the weather anyway. Because of my hungriness, I feel like posting a food review now and the food reviewed today is.....Sze Chuan!

Not really fancying this restaurant anyway but I ate there quite frequently these days so I think it's good to give some in-depth review.

Here they are, the highlight of the restaurant:

Pork Ribs

This is not bad. However, there's one ingredient that makes the dish turns your mouth into disaster. It's kinda looks like a seed or something and it straight away turns your whole mouth numb! Only certain people such as ------ loves it so much and treat it like a drug or something haha..weird!

Rate: 2.5/5

Green Beans with Minced Pork

This one of the dishes under chef recommendation. I think so far it's the best dish in the restaurant. We never missed out this thing ever whenever we came. The taste is standard but it is so chinese...

Rate: 3.5/5

Deep Fried Whole Baramundi with Minced Pork

My favorite of all. The fish is huge and fresh. The meat is white (*duh) and full of rich flavors accompanied with my favorite spices ever, CORIANDER!!! Too bad the numb thing is inside this dish too. Is it kind of like a signature dish for sze chuan to have this numb ingredient?I have no idea..

Rate: 4/5

Too lazy to do in-depth analysis. The restaurant name is Red Hot Chilli Sze Chuan located at China Town, Haymarket. Easily visible if you pass through China Town. If you're craving for really authentic chinese dishes, come and try this restaurant. The taste is pretty standard but the price is quite cheap for chinese food.

Anyway, I wrote this blog yesterday but I post it today haha.The exam has over now,it's not too bad I think, pretty straightforward question. Just wait for the results and now 3 more exams to go..Oh no!

Good luck everyone for the exams and after that maybe you can have party at Red Hot Chilli Sze Chuan?

Cheers,

Van

From Port Stephen to Newtown

2009-04-26T03:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekends, me and couple of my friends: Lao, Clement and abang went for a road trip to Port Stephen. So yeah here the fairy tale goes.

Being international students, we were deemed to not really familiar with the road or traffic rule whatsoever but we were still renting a car anyway as it might be easier for us to travel here and there. So here we go, with the assistant of Karen (gals voice on the GPS), we finally arrived at the apartment: Shoal Bay Beach Club and even stopping by at Port Stephen winery on the way there but too bad all the grapes were dried so nothing interesting. After settling down and changing for sort of beach clothing (not bikini by the way), we headed off to play Sand Dunes! and went to the place cited on the brochures. Unfortunately, it was not the exact place to play and we were redirected to Anna Bay. After 10min driving, we could see the beach but were wondering where were the sands?? However, the doubt won't stay long, soon, a large area of sand hill or called dune suddenly appeared on our sights just beside the beach and some of us (not me), screamed in thrilled.

First View of Anna Bay

Then, we straight away looked for the car with Sand Dunes 4WD tours and signed up to play. Before boarding the bus in which will take us to the site, we were asked to signed a declaration stating that they are not liable for any blablablabla..you know what..creepy but we were still excited to play.

Pre-Playing Declaration

In front of the mini bus

Soon, we arrived on the top of the hills and were greeted by the pain on our feet as the wind was blowing the sands so hard and hurt our feet. It is heaps painful seriously! The guide was then directed us on how to play and stuff. So here we go, each one of us started to slide down the hill with a board. Me, being such a loser, slide the last, even after abang hiked to the top of the hill after he slided down, I still haven't slided down >< .So yeah, when the guide was pushing me down, it was pretty scary and I kept using my hand to brake the slide and as I went further down, I was moving faster and faster. Quite thrilling but not as thrilling as roller coaster. After that, we hiked up to the hills again. It's damn tiring to climb up to the top of the hill again. Then, we slided again without the guide assistance this time and stopped for photos session at the bottom lol. After the third slide and while climbing up to the top of the hills again, suddenly rain came and it started to rain cats and dogs and me, as the first person arrive at the top was approached by the guide asking whether I wanted to stay away from the rain and waited at the car, and me as desperate as I am (seriously I looked like a dying almost-fainted person arrive at the top of Mount Everest) said yes with kinda whispering sound due to losing my breath! I quickly grabbed Lao's and mine's bag but forgot about everyone slippers. So, when Lao and Clement arrived at the top I asked them to quickly grabbed our slippers. What a day but we were still having fun though eventhough kinda soaked in the rain.

The sliding site

Me and Lao on the board

Weirdly, the rain only happened on top of the hill, so, we head off to the parking space but before that, we took pictures with some camels. There were mixed feelings between being in Egypt and mars lol.

After that, we drive to Nelson Bay but nothing much there, only have some drinks + awesome chips! Then, we went back to apartment to have some showers and rest. Played PS2 in the apartment though no interesting games at all except the old gran turismo, dynasty warriors and crash banditcot.

Next destination is finding place for dinner. We finally dined in at the famous Hogs Breath Cafe and 3 of us ordered their so called famous 18hours slow cook steak while Lao ordered their not-so-famous lamb shank. Unfortunately, the steak was not as good as expected and Lao's lamb shank was the best. Won't go into further details with the food. Then, we went back to apartment and played some games + watching the stupidest french short movie eva and sleep.

Menu and Tissue

Steak with Mushrooms & Mash Potato & Salad

We checked out the next morning and headed off to central coast to see the light house. Again, freaking wind greeted us and broke my dear umbrella!!! It remains a memory now :( Enjoy a nice view there and then, we had lunch at Thai Restaurant somewhere around and drove back to city and stopping by at DFO for an hour or so.

Reaching city, me and lao went back home to put our stuff and we drove again to Kingsford to have some authentic Indo dinner there. Having Ayam Bakar, kangkung, pepes ikan teri and cumi-cumi there. Not too bad but yet not too delicious. Then, the night ended as we went to Newtown and have a drink there. Me as usual, get a cup of hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was so far the best I have ever drank in city even better from max B as max B is too sweet and thick. Might go back again some time maybe. Then, we ate some mud chocolate cakes too and it tasted great :)

Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow

So yeah, we went back home after that and back to our own reality :( haha..
In conclusion, this trip deserves a distinction probably I think and I have a really good time there and the moment we spent together is priceless :)

Itadakimasu

2009-03-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Konnichiwaaaa!!!

Ermm…today's post is special because I’m back again with the food review! YAY!! I’m excited and gonna make this post as tempted as possible *evil laugh*.

Today’s review will be focusing on Japanese Food so I’m going to cover few Jap restaurant all in one post.

Lets start and as usual, don't drop your salivaaaa...

KURA

Beef Udon

Gyu Tan Don (Beef Tongue)

Chicken Karaage

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Beef Udon: a bowl of thick noodle soup with sliced beef, Gyu Tan Don: sliced beef tongue with rice and some spinach & Chicken Karaage: Deep Fried Chicken with rice+mayonaise.

Where can it be found?
At 'Kura'. I guess you might spot it on the way to Darling Harbour. I'm sorry I'm really bad with map :-( If you wanna eat there, I could just bring you there hehehehe..

How much is it?
Beef Udon: Around $8.5
Gyu Tan Don: Around $10.5
Chicken Karaage: Around $9.5

Do you think this is yummy?
I don't really like the beef udon because it is not 'moo' (a term to describe how "beefy" the soup taste like lol) enough. I'm banning the udon. However, the Gyu Tan Don is good. They serves such a heaps portion of sliced tongue. It's eaten best with chilli powder. Yummmm...it is so tender.I want a bowl now (ed-I just had it yesterday :q) The chicken Karaage tastes normal though. Prefer the one in other restaurant.

Other Comment
They serve such a good miso soup :d

Rate:
Beef Udon: 2.5/5
Gyu Tan Don: 4.5/5
Chicken Karaage: 3/5

TAKERU

Chicken Namban

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
A plate of big portion of deep fried chicken&mayo + rice + miso soup.

Where can it be found?
At 'Takeru', I'm sorry, again I'm bad with mapping the location :( Ask me personally!

How much is it?
$11.5 but it's cheaper without rice and miso soup.

Do you think this is yummy?
Yeap, I think so far, they serve the best deep fried chicken I have ever eaten in Sydney. The mayo is a spot on! I think it's the mayo which made the chicken taste so good! What a perfect combination with a deep fried succulent chicken.

Other Comment
If you are damn hungry, this restaurant is highly recommended as everything served there is damn hugee..

Rate:
4.5/5

MAKOTO

Beef Udon

Sushi

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Beef Udon: a bowl of thick noodle soup with sliced beef and Sushi with Salmon and Sundried Tomato+Avocado

Where can it be found?
At 'Makoto'.It's just few feet away my apartment! It's on Liverpool Street near World Square.

How much is it?
Beef Udon: Around $8.5
Sushi:Around $6.6

Do you think this is yummy?
The best beef udon I have ever tasted is here. The noodle is so chewy plus the soup is good. So 'moo' but watch out it's really hot when they serve it. I burn my tongue! No doubt the sushi is also good. It's fresh but don't really fancy the sundried tomato and avocado though but still the salmon is good!

Other Comment
The price range for the sushi is from $3.00-$6.60. I have tried other sushi as well but forgot to take pic. They taste good anyway. So yeah, so far this is the best sushi restaurant I have ever eaten. The fishes are fresh!

Rate:
Beef Udon: 4.5/5
Sushi: 4/5

Happy tryinggg :)

Cooking Mama

2009-02-05T01:04:00.000-08:00

I'm back with some food post as usual. However, I didn't make any outside food review this time as my freezer is full with these food below:

"Woku" Pork Belly (Babi Woku)

This dish is originated from Manado Island. One of my favorite too as you may know that I'm such a big fan of juicy pork fat. Most oftenly, my mom uses fish instead of pork rash back in Indo.

Fried Chicken (Ayam Goreng)

This is not an ordinary fried chicken which you usually find in KFC. This is Indonesian fried chicken, marinated with certain spices until tender in which after that, the chicken will be ready to be deep fried. The chicken in the picture is kinda burnt. Oh well, I'm such a bad cook.

Something-to-do-with-corn-I-don't-know-the-name (Perkedel Jagung)

The main ingredient is fresh sweet corn. The corn is being blended with secret recipe.Nah, kidding..I don't know what my mom puts inside lol.

Potato Croquette (Kroket Kentang)

To produce this scrumptious piece of food, the potato is being mashed and mixed with some i-dunno-what spices, milk and parmesan cheese. Also, not forgetting some sauteed beef with vegies will be mixed with the potato which then is ready to be fry with some bread crumbs. 3 pieces of these stuffs will make you really full for lunch or dinner.

Fried Vermicelli (Bihun Goreng)

Cooked with fresh prawn,some pork and blended chilly with spices.

There are still many more food but too lazy to upload the pics. So yeah, there it is, few homemade food often be found in Tamie residence lol..

Trying to copy my mom's recipe, I come up with:

Fried Hokkian Noodle (Hokkian Mie)

Despite the photogenic look in the picture, this turns out to be a perfect disaster. Instead of just putting one table spoon of blended chilli, I put half-of the blended chilli from the container. Really hopeless in finishing the food. Could only eat the prawn. Stupid enough for me, one day later, attempted the same recipe and failed terribly due to the same mistake. This result in making my stomach upset.

Well, soon after that, I stick to a "safe" cooking for a while.

Turkish Bread with Bacon and Cheddar Cheese

This is really nice. Buy some fat-free turkish bread, put some butter along with bacon, cheese and some thousand island and put in the oven. Perfect recipe if you are lazy to cook.

神戸ビーフ

2009-01-20T04:30:00.000-08:00

The title above refers to Kobe beef! Kobe beef is taken from wagyu cattle type and very famous for its quality, tenderness and fattiness. Wagyu cattle only eats the best quality food and even the breeder gives massage to the cow. I don't want to explain more as it might bore you and could tell you the wrong info as I'm not a beef expert. What I know is that for a fat lover like me, the taste is like heaven on kitchen.

Anyways, lets move on from the boring topic ---> how it tastes like?

Wagyu beef is considered a very very expensive dishes and I guess it's considered as luxurious stuff? If you want to try and looking for not-so-killing prices, buy it in David Jones. They provide various range of Kobe Wagyu beef from the affordable one to the super-expensive-oh-my-goodness price. I bought one of their beef some time ago and it's quite cheap around $26.00 for 800grams. You could make 3 portion of steak with it. The price is basically depending on the beef type and quantity per gram. The most expensive wagyu beef there I think is priced at $59/slice. Looking at the fat pattern, the quality looks undoubtable. Hmmm eventhough it's still raw, they already looks georgeous haha..

Well, my mom made steak from the beef we bought. We didn't really season the beef with lots of ketchup or whatever it is, we just made some gravy and the taste is WOWWW!! The best beef I have ever taste in my whole life. It's tender and really really juicy. Must try! I wonder how the $59 will taste like..It must be 100X more fantastic than the one I ate.

The Magnificent Beef

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Kobe Wagyu Round Steak Beef

Where can it be found?
At David Jones in city ground floor

How much is it?
$26.00 for 800grams

Do you think this is yummy?
Hell yeahh! It is so tender and juicy. If you love beef dishes, no doubt this will give an eating satisfaction. It's like few times better than normal beef in the market.

Other Comment
If you are willing to spend lots of money on food, try the most expensive one. Must be a mouth explosion! Yummmmmmmmm.......

Rate: 4/5

Hmmm...the pic makes me hungry now. Yay! I still have one more piece on the fridge. Too bad it's 12.14am now, will be weird if I cook steak at this time. Have to sleep now though has yet sleepy as boring work wait me tommorow. Have a beefy week! :)

X'mas

2008-12-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

I'm bored...waiting for my flight in about an hour..

Christmas..

My family doesn't really celebrate christmas nowadays eventhough my whole family is catholic. It seems that chinese new year is being celebrated more extravagant but well, I still have christmas tree at home. Few days before christmas, my dad and sister will keep bugging me to decorate the tree. Back in my childhood, I see christmas eve as en exciting day because of.....christmas gift! :P

On the chistmas eve, me and brother will put lots of shoes with grass (they said it's for the deer) and in the morning,lots of gift were there believing the existence of Santa clause. I think I just realize the Santa Clause who put the gift up there, is actually my family during 1st year in Secondary school. Blame my dad!! He never admitted that he is the one who puts the gift. He asked me and my brother to pray to God so that Santa will give more presents. He even lead the prayer!! Then, we went to the living room and saw more gifts. What a perfect plan.

The other occasion I remember is when I spent my hols in my grandparents house during christmas. I put lots of shoes and grass. In the morning, heaps of presents were there and the most exciting is that there is christmas card with long letter pretending it was Santa. I know it is my grandfather :)

As time goes and I was getting older, gradually no more toys as a present from 'Santa'. As I remember, the last gift from 'santa' is english dictionary!!! After that, no more shoes putting before the christmas eve.

Now, I see christmas more towards as the birth of Christ, my saviour, which should be cherished more in my life as compared to Chinese new year.

Anyways, have to board soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS...

'Fish House' at Bondi Beach

2008-11-04T03:33:00.000-08:00

Here it is, another food review of the month. This particular restaurant or bar is located at the Bondi Beach. No shirt, no shoes = no service. Make sure to put on some shirts on top of your bikini or whatever it is. Also, if you are still under 18, don't ever think to dine in here, they do check your ID because they serve alcohol. *sigh* I only drank tap water, what for they need to check my ID..hopeless..

Anyway, here is the food:

Fish and Chips

It comes with chips,tar tar sauce and some greenies.

Hawaiian Pizza

Pizza with some ham and slices of pineapples.

Spaghetti Marinara

Served in creamy sauce with fresh seafoods

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Some food I ate last Sunday.

Where can it be found?
At 'Fish House' in Bondi Beach. The restaurant looks pretty obvious I suppose. Just walk through the stalls across the beach. For sure you would find it.

How much is it?
Fish and Chips - $16
Hawaiian Pizza(L) - $13
Spaghetti Marinara - $16

Do you think this is yummy?
In terms of the fish and chip, it tastes pretty normal and honestly, it's bellow average as compared to fish and chips I have ever eaten in my life. The tar tar sauce is terrible. I guess they are using the ready-to-serve tar tar sauce instead of making it in their own kitchen. Also, for the pizza, it is nothing comparing with pizza hut or dominoes. Lastly, I love the spaghetti the best. It tastes simple yet scrumptious. The combination of its creamy sauce and fresh seafood is perfect. I think I might come back to this place for the spaghetti.

Other Comment
Prepare ID and make sure you put some clothes on and shoes too!

Rate:
Fish and Chips - 2.5/5
Hawaiian Pizza - 2/5
Spaghetti Marinara - 4/5

Vanessa's Kitchen

2008-10-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

Talking about food, I guess I have never introduced my own cooked dishes :D
Yes everyone, Vanessa cooks! I'm even afraid of turning on a stove when I was back then in Indo and Malaysia. However, I am forced to cook here concerning the super-duper-expensive food. So yeah,enjoy my meal..I mean the photos..

Pork Chop with Green Beans and Rice

Cut and wash green beans. Chop some garlic and onion. Meanwhile, marinate porkchop with some garlic, onion, salt,pepper and sweet soy sauce. Saute garlic and onion with some oil until fragrance, then add green beans and some fish sauce. Stir until it's cooked. Serve it on the plates. Melt butter, add pork chop. After it's cooked, serve with green beans and rice.

Beef Fried Rice

This is an easy dish to prepare. Buy spicy fried rice paste. I use 'Kokita', fried rice spices paste from Indo. Dice some beef and heat some oil then, add beef, some salt and pepper. Saute until the beef is quite cooked. Then, add rice and paste. It's done!

Chinese Cabbage with Beef

One of my favorite menu. Dice some beef, marinate with black pepper and salt. Meanwhile, cut some cabbage,put aside.Then, heat some oil, add minced garlic. After awhile, add beef, cooked until the beef juice comes out. Add cabbage, powdered chicken stock, fish sauce and some salt. Stir until it's cooked.Damn fantastic.

Bee-Hoon Soup

Buy instant bee-hoon noodle soup. I recommend the thailand bee-hoon soup. Boil water with ground minced pork with low heat for about 20 minutes. Add in smooth tofu and the instant seasoning from the bee-hoon packet. Put egg. After that, add in the bee-hoon. Done!

Carbonara

Looks hard but super easy to serve. Well, if you buy ready to serve sauce like me... Tee Hee ^^ Fried some slices of salami. Set aside. Melt butter, add in ready carbonara sauce, usually available in bottle. Put in cooked pasta or spaghetti. Serve salami on top of the pasta. Yahoooooooo...

Curry Laksa

Boil one piece of chicken drumstick with low heat for 20-30min. Save stock and debone chicken, put aside. Heat some oil, add in laksa paste, stir until fragrance, put some coconut milk, chicken stock and stir until it's boiled. Put some fried tofu. Serve it with shredded chicken and egg noodle or rice noodle.

Spaghetti

This is my all-time favorite in the whole world. I was always get excited whenever my mom cooked this recipe. I never get bored eating this stuff. So, I tried to cook it some time ago. The result was not disappointing though my mom's is still better but the taste is almost getting there. To cook it, boil some spaghetti. Then for sauce, melt butter, saute chopped garlic and onion (put tonz of onion ---damn good) until fragrance, add lots of minced beef, put some salt. After the beef is half-cooked, put quarter/half bottle of tomato sauce,depending how much sauce you need. Put some salt, sugar,black pepper, corn flour to thicken the sauce and the most important ingredient: oregano! Without it, it's crap. Top with cheese. MammaMia!!

Cheers,

Van

Abang Gitar

2008-10-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

I have got a new companion at home aka. classical guitar!! I just picked him up few days ago and bought him with a very very very cheap price, 32 bucks!!! A bit worry about the sound quality before I bought it, but I decided to risk $32 to get him. At the first impression, he looks very ugly almost similar to guitar that is usually played by "abang-abang" on the streets, however,it has well enough sound quality to play for fun surprisingly so I didn't regret getting him as I'm so desperate wanting to play guitar. I was expecting my old guitar to come over but my mom has decided not to bring him over during her visit this upcoming Dec :-(

Well, I guess my Bach will be kinda abandoned for a while :D
Trying to catch up what I have missed and to bond with the new guitar. Then, learning some classical pieces I guess?? Gonna be hopeless... I'm super sucks at classical guitar. It's damn way too hard for me T______T
Wish me luck..

Profile

Name:Abang Gitar

Place of making:RRC :D :D :D

Sound Character:Sweet but a bit squeaky and not really clean

What I love from this instrument: not-to-bad sound quality for cheap guitar

What I dislike from this instrument:: ugly outlook and the strings easily out of tune even after few seconds after I tune it

Memorable Food and Dessert in Melbourne

2008-10-16T02:34:00.000-07:00

Finally,my camera USB cable has arrived gracefully and landed on my post box :)

Last mid-sem hols, I visit melbourne for 3 days in which I kinda regret because my assignment is abandoned.Oh well.However, of course I have some good time there,especially eating! :d

Here it is my in depth analysis in regard to some memorable food and desserts I have eaten:

Gyu Tan Don

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
It is a scrumptious dishes made of thin slice cow tounge and served with rice.

Where can it be found?
You could find it at bottom level of Melbourne Central or can also be found at the foodcourt upstairs. Personally, I prefer the upper level.

How much is it?
I think it is around $9.4

Do you think this is yummy?
It was good but not damn fantastic but I am willing to go back there and eat it. It is a yummy and simple dish. Worth to try!

Other Comment
Put lots of chilly powder to make it more fantastic.

Rate:
3.5/5

Next food is....

Steak and Mushroom Pie

Outside

Inside

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Crunchy outer layer pie with hot and juicy minced beef and mushroom for fillings.

Where can it be found?
Not sure, around city in Melbourne in front of McDonalds near Victoria Market?

How much is it?
Around $3.8

Do you think this is yummy?
Yeap Yeap.I'm craving for it now. In my opinion, the beef is not really flavored, could have been better if they put more ingredients inside while cooking the fillings. Overall, I like it.

Other Comment
Eat while it's still hot.

Rate:
4/5

Sushi Rolls In front of Target in Melbourne aka. Laura's most favorite sushi in the world?!

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Teriyaki Chicken Rolls and Salmon Rolls.

Where can it be found?
In front of Target, I'm not sure.Ask Laura :D

How much is it?
$6 for 4 sushi rolls (during closing time,it's more expensive when they are not about to close)

Do you think this is yummy?
Well, just alright,better than sushi rolls in Sydney but I'm not a fan of sushi. The teriyaki chicken roll is unique as they deep fry the chicken which is rather different from the one in Sydney.

Other Comment
Because of this sushi, I'm bloathed with sushi now and won't eat any sushi until my stomach allows me to.

Rate:
3/5

Lets move on to dessert...

Il Docce Freddo Ice Cream

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
3 flavors ice cream which include tiramissu, ferrero roche and freddo surprise.

Where can it be found?

How much is it?
Around $7.6 for 3 flavors and should be cheaper for lesser scoops.

Do you think this is yummy?
I don't like the tiramissu, at the first bite, it tastes like lemon and follows by its strong coffee fragrance. For the freddo surprise, I couldn't recall the taste,but it was alright. Finally, the best is ferrero roche,it feels like eating frozen ferrero roche chocolate.Yum Yum. I want more.

Other Comment
It is cheaper to buy the ice cream with most scoops and share it with your friends. Also, u could try many different flavors instead of trying one flavor.

Rate:
Ferrero Roche - 4.5/5
Freddo Surpris - 3.5/5
Tiramissu - 2.5/5

I think thats all foods I find memorable in melbourne. Because of lack of time, I couldn't taste many food but at least I have tried what is quite good around there.
Enjoy the review and don't drop your saliva.

Cheers,

Van

Random Post

2008-10-09T02:22:00.000-07:00

The main reason of why I rarely post up new writing on my blog currently is because I lost my digital camera USB cable so I couldn't use the photos to support my arguments about food and other stuff :'(
I'm waiting for the new USB cable to be sent by one of the e-bay sellers now as the price of the USB cable available in retailers is damn expensive AUD69.9!!! What a money-sucking creature! I could eat 7 plates of Pad Thai or equivalent to 34 packets of cheesy doritos!!!

Anyway, this week has been a hectic week for me. A pile of assignments are waiting for me to be finished. Even worse, this issue is supported by lack of some of my group member's capabilities to cooperate in the assignments which result in my day to become more miserable as I have to finish their parts.OMG.

To entertain myself, I did various of stupid thing today from watching Saddam Hussein being executed on youtube to make recording of Canon in D with my violin and play along with my own super crappy recording. I miss playing Canon in D with Yenty, my violin tutor and other university music student in my hometown :) I haven't got a chance yet to play Bach Double Violin Concerto with them! Arghhhh....

Sorry for my enthusiasm in music XP

Well, see ya till I receive my USB cable.

Black Listed Restaurant

2008-08-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I posted something on my blog. These few months, I have always talked about good food most of the time. So, this time, I am interested in creating a list of our banned restaurant/cafe.

1. Chu Mama
Having a craving for porridge and chinese food, we stepped in to an always-crowded chinese restaurant in china town. Some of us ordered porridge which is super tasteless and they have to so called "cook" it again with some chilly,pepper and salt. For myself, I ordered taufu hua (I don't know how to spell it!) which is also damn tasteless. Besides that, we ordered "xiao lung bao" and some dumplings. The weird thing about "xiao lung bao" is that it is so dry,absolutely not juicy.

2. Tony Roma's
It is not that I think the food is bad, it's just not as nice as what they have in other tony roma's. The ribs are alright but taste very normal. I prefer "hurricane" definitely. For the mash potato, I think it's the worst mash potato I have ever tasted in sydney. Same with the pasta, it just tasted super normal, lack of seasoning I guess. Last but not least, I don't really like the service. The waitress was really blur,maybe she was new but still shouldn't they gave her a proper training?

3. French Riviera
This is when dream ice cream turn out to be our nightmare. It is by far, the worst ice cream I have ever eaten on my whole life. Excited to try out the famous big-and-tall size ice cream, we ordered that dream ice cream. When the ice cream was served, we were stunt by the fantastic size of the ice cream which's damn huge. It consisted of 20++ scoop of ice cream. So, on average, each of us ate 5++ scoop of ice cream. There were many variety of flavors, from the normal flavor like chocolate,vanilla,rum and raisin until the exotic flavor such as lemon,passion fruit,yoghurt until "longkang" haha. Eating it felt like having Harry Potter's Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, we did not what it is until it reaches our mouth. Having lots of fun eating it but sorry, absolutely I won't go back there for the rest of my life (touch wood).

In conclusion, here they are the black list food of the year. Feel free to add more restaurant haha

Cheers,

Van

World Youth Day 2008 Sydney

2008-07-22T01:35:00.000-07:00

It is a blessing that World Youth Day 2008 was held during my uni year in Sydney :) Previously, when I was still in Malaysia, I was not really looking forward for the event as I thought that nothing special there, instead of a bunch of youth shouting like crazy. After taking some time to descern, I decided to join the event with the purpose of:deeping my faith in God, knowing more about Him, experiencing God presence and last but not least meeting His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Before the event began, me and couple of my friends checked out some World Youth Day's merchandise sold at St. Mary Cathedral. I did not intend to buy anything there in the first place. However, after unxpected bump with Guy Sebastian, I just grapped his album and asked for his autograph and took a good snap. I am not a fan of him but why not, it is once in a life time situation in which he is just few meters from me.

The next day, our adventure as pilgrims began!
Well, I attended a lot of events scattered around Sydney. However, I won't bore you with my long story. I will just share some events that struck me.

Opening Mass @ Barangaroo
Trying to reach the mass venue felt like trying to survive on war. There was oceans of people getting to the same destination.

The mass was celebrated by Cardinal Pell and even Prime Minister of Australia gave few words before the mass started. The mass was simply beautiful with sopranos, live orchestra and of course God presence surrounds us that made the mass really awesome! :) After the mass ended, we have dinner in which the menu never changed almost until the end of world youth day. I don't want to remember the taste anymore. Soon after dinner, there was concert held at the same venue. The concert was rock, some famous singers such as Guy Sebastian, Paulini, etc performed in this concert. The event for that day was ended with awesome fireworks.

Praise and Worship With Matt Maher @ Sydney Entertainment Centre
The P&W session was really great. I love the spirit from both Matt Maher with bands along with audiences. I love Matt Maher! I can really feel God presence in this session. After the P&W, there was adoration being held. The adoration was for us to open our hearts and minds in receiving the power of the holy spirit. AWESOME!
After, than also unexpectedly, Matt Maher just showed up in front of our rows, so again...click click click..

Pilgrimage Walk from North Sydney to Randwick
This walk had definitely broken my record of walking distance. We walked for like about 4/5 hours to the closing mass venue. It was really a good experience. Fortunately, I did not really feel tired during the pilgrimage walk. Praise God! I have expected to be fainted in the middle of walk but I was not.. WOHOOO!!!
After reaching there, we tried to find our allocated venue for the mass and soon found out that it was already full. What the?! So, we went to another venue in which I think much better then our allocated venue as the grass was covered with carpet. Then, we put out our sleeping bags for the sleep out that night.

Absolutely did not have a good night sleep that night due to the coldness and of course my back really hurts but nevermind, at least I have experienced how it felt like to be a homeless. I just slept for one night outdoor and have complained, imagine how much suffering they have gone through!

Closing Mass @ Randwick
I really thank God for this incredible experience as a pilgrim. I saw Pope from approximately 5 meters away. It was really really unexpected that Pope will pass through in front of me. *speecless* I could not see him this close during his first arrival on previous day, I could just see a glimpse of red and white moving on the stage. Here is the video footage I took.

I don't know why, I feel really tired during the mass. I guess this is because of the crowds. Almost fainted but I wasn't hopefully.

Besides those events, of course there were still lots of event I have been through such as Station of The Cross, Receive the Power Concerts, Morning Catechists, Testimonees by Ex-Gangster,etc. Also, by joining World Youth Day, we were able to meet with lots of other pilgrims aorund the world.

After World Youth Day officially ended and Spain was announced as the next place for World Youth Day for the next 3 years, I was excited to go back home ASAP to get some rest and bath. However, guess what?! we had to walk again, from Randwick to home. Oh well, it became a pligrimage walk back home. Really tired! Precious experience though.

Anyway,by joining the World Youth Day, indeed I feel closer to God and maybe one step closer to not being afraid of receiving the power of holy spirit as the World Youth Day theme said:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)

Yes, I should not be afraid, don't be afraid to say yes to Jesus. I want to be God's witness and spread His words like His disciples did.

Post-WYD
Nothing much really happening after WYD until:

haha..Enjoying Hurricane's takeaway pork ribs at home which is so called 'the best pork ribs in the world'. Taste alright and juicy but I have no idea why it is the best in the world. Weird.

To conclude, World Youth Day has been an awesome experience in which I would not forget for the rest of my life and last but not least it feels so great to catch up with many lifeliners from Malaysia :)

Sydney Fish Market

2008-07-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

During this winter holiday, I have explored ~~many~~ some interesting places around Sydney. One of them is 'Sydney Fish Market', which is considered as a popular place to enjoy seafood.

After taking a tram in the front of 'Market City', we finally arrived and were welcomed with the fishy smell.

Outside View

Laura,me and Jeremy

Ah, here it is the main reason we went here:

Fresh Oyster with Lemon

Seafood Platter (deep fried crabstick, fish cocktail, prawn and calamari,scallops with some reddish sauce, and 2 oysters: bacon oyster and baked cheese oyster) + rice

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Fresh oyster and seafood platter being served at fish market.

Where can it be found?
At Sydney Fish Market.

How much is it?
$21 for one and a half dozen of fresh oyster and $28.5 for the seafood platter.

Do you think this is yummy?
I like the oyster the best although some still-alive-worms can be found on the plate which make me lose a bit of my appetite. The oyster is very fresh and rich in its so called "sea-taste". In the other hand, the seafood platter is nothing special. I think "fish manhattan" in Malaysia serve better seafood platter.

Other Comment
Beside the oyster and seafood platter, I also tried some smoke salmon, a bite of lobster and some fried calamari. All of them taste great.

Rate:
Oyster - 4.5/5
Seafood Platter - 2.5/5

He has arrived!

2008-07-05T00:25:00.000-07:00

Finally, after a long period of waiting and travelling from medan-jakarta, jakarta-malaysia, malaysia-sydney as well as going through trouble occured while shipping this instrument, he has arrived safely in Sydney. Although the bridge and strings need a lot of adjustment, the overall condition is very healthy. Thanks to Yuli for bringing my violin over :-)

in the case

front view

back view

Profile

Name:Bach

Place of making:Germany

Sound Character:Dark

What I love from this instrument: his dark character and dull&pale color.

What I dislike from this instrument:: the slipping pegs, need a lot of patience while tuning it.

Enjoying Thai Cuisine At Chilli Cha Cha

2008-06-30T00:39:00.000-07:00

Eventhough we are in Sydney, it seems that Asian restaurant is always be the best choice of eating place. I just realise that I always post up Asian food on my blog instead of OZ's speciality such as Kangaroo steak or some good burgers or pizzas. Well oh well, I am a trully Asian and love Asian food.

Here they are, some scrumptious Thai dishes,tempting enough to be eaten:

Fish Cakes With Its Sauce

Stir Fry Seafood With Ginger Sauce

Green Curry With Chicken

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
Some delicious Thai cuisine served, good company for steam rice.

Where can it be found?
At 'Chilli Cha Cha', Haymarket, Sydney.

How much is it?
I really forgot how much exactly each dish pricing is, except for the fish cake which cost around $2.5 and the bill is totalled around $27 including steam rice for two people.

Do you think this is yummy?
For the fish cake, it is really savory with perfect combination of its sauce which I think include some zest of lemon or orange and a splash of vinegar. Also, the seafood is really fresh and satifying. However, the ginger sauce is lack of ginger fragrance. In terms of the green curry, it is considered as a mild curry, nothing spicy inside. Instead, I could taste some sweet flavor there. Not bad though!

Comment
Although they serve good food, I don't really like the service, but not too bad as I have been to a place with worse service.

Rate: 3.5/5

Cheers,

Van

Lindt Cafe

2008-06-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have some tempting photos to be uploaded here to analyze some chocolatey desserts. So, Grace, this is my review specially for you haha.Make sure you try 'Lindt' if you pay a visit to Sydney ya =)

I have been to Lindt Cafe twice within these two months despite the cold weather. The ambience of the cafe is cozy and pleasant with some easy-listening music airing at the background.

First time we went there, I share one cup of two scoops ice cream with Laura.

Someone(guess who?) with her ice cream

Today, instead of getting another cup of ice cream, I ordered Lindt's ice milk chocolate and the other 'Pakcik' ordered the famous Lindt's hot milk chocolate, in which the milk and chocolate are served in two separate cups and we have to mix it ourselves,unique,huh?! Watch the video below for clearer idea haha

Ice chocolate and hot chocolate

How to serve the hot chocolate- by 'Pakcik' Jeremy Too

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
A cup of two flavour ice cream: lindt dark chocolate and cookies and cream, Lindt Ice Milk Chocolate and Lindt Hot Milk Chocolate.

Where can it be found?
At Darling Harbour.

How much is it?
$6.5 for two scoops ice cream ($5 for one scoop) and $6 for each ice and hot chocolate .

Do you think this is yummy?
Yeapp.I like the dark chocolate ice cream the best! It is really chocolatey and not too milky for a chocolate ice cream. The ice chocolate is not too bad though, very refreshing.

Other Comment
I think I should order the Lindt's ice dark chocolate on my next visit because in my opinion, it is not really chocolatey.

Rate: 4/5

Cheers,

Van

Korean Hot Pot

2008-06-10T05:11:00.000-07:00

Winter is coming soon and as the weather is getting colder and colder each day, my stomach seems becoming bottomless.Arghhh...I desperately need to measure my weight to be in control but I don't have a weight scale..What to do what to do *sigh*.

Today, our special menu is: HOT POT!

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
It is i-forgot-the-name korean hot pot: mushy rice cakes, tofu, noodles, korean sausages, bacons, vegies and super duper few slices of roasted pork serves with reddish-but-not-spicy soup.

Where can it be found?
At 'Seoul Ria', quite a famous korean restaurant in town located at George Street.

How much is it?
$39 including the free korean appetizer like kimchi and friends and 4 bowl of rice.

Do you think this is yummy?
Not bad as the food suits the weather.

Other Comment
Add more roasted pork, perhaps?haha...I am a big fan of pork fat :-P

Rate: 3/5

Cheers,

Van

Chicken Karaage Ramen

2008-05-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

Since arriving in Sydney, we suddenly become a ramen freak and try every ramen we could find in town. Last week, we eat at one of the famous japanese restaurants which as far as many people can testify, they serve the best ramen. After putting our name in waiting list and waiting for a while, we are ready to dig in!!

Chicken Karaage Ramen

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
A bowl of chicken karage ramen with soya sauce soup.

Where can it be found?
At 'ichiban boshi' in Galeries Victoria Level 2.

How much is it?
$10.9

Do you think this is yummy?
Yeappp, I like it, so far it is the best ramen served in town for me. I like the noodle texture,not too hard, not to soft.

Other Comment
The soup is too salty :(

Rate: 4/5

Cheers,

Van

'Gelatisimmo' Ice Cream and Gelato

2008-05-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...actually I am thinking of posting my review about lindt's ice cream but the picture looks really unappetising! Therefore, now, I will write something good about another ice cream.

Here it is:

Chocolate Hazelnuts + White Chocolate + Lemon Gelato

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
It is a cup of 3 flavors ice-cream.

Where can it be found?
At 'Gelatissimo' in Darling Harbour.

How much is it?
$6.5

Do you think this is yummy?
I like the chocolate hazelnuts the best though it tastes a bit like nutella. The white chocolate is nothing special and the lemon gelato is refreshing and taste like frozen 'solo' lemonade. Well, overall, quite good!

Other Comment
I like the lindt ice cream better than this.Will post up the reviews till I pay another visit to lindt and capture a tempting picture.

Rate: 3/5

'Bakmie Komplit'

2008-05-12T05:34:00.000-07:00

Craving of having noodle for dinner, we step to a quite well-known Indonesian restaurant in Sydney. I order:

Bakmie Komplit

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
It is a bowl of noodle with meatball, green veggies, minced chicken, fried dumpling and accompanied with soup.

Where can it be found?
At 'Joy', a small Indonesian restaurant at Haymarket.

How much is it?
$8.5

Do you think this is yummy?
Just okay, not so fabulous but if you miss Indonesian noodles, go for this!

Other Comment
Put a lot of chilly sauce while eating it.Mamamiaaaaa....

Rate: 3.5/5

Dessert at 'Passionflower'

2008-05-04T05:22:00.000-07:00

Here it is, our next food hunting.'Passionflower' is one of the most popular place for dessert in town. Therefore,when you pay a visit to Sydney, don't forget to miss this guilty indulgence.

Tiramisu - moist cream with a scent of alcohol

Green Tea - thick bitter cream

Chocolate crepes - chocolate crepes with banana and chocolate cream filling + chocolate topping

Pancakes - fragrance pancake with whipped cream and berries

Ice Cream - red bean, coconut and yam flavour accompanied with few mushy rice balls topped with sesame seeds+ waffle cone

Here is everything

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
It is a plate of dessert called 'masterpiece'.

Where can it be found?
In any 'passionflower' stall. We eat it in Capitol building in George Street. I think there are some other branches of 'passionflower' but I am not sure where it is. Google it!

How much is it?
$25 + GST $2.5 = $27.5

Do you think this is yummy?
Just okay. Overall, I like the pancake and the tiramisu the best. The rest is so-so.Nothing special.

Other Comment
I have no idea why 'passionflower' can be so well-know around here as I think the taste is just normal, nothing extravagant. Can it be because we have chosen the wrong dessert? Hmmmm...but it's still worth to try as at least I have tried one of the most popular stuffs in town haha..

Rate: 2.5/5

A Unique Way of Serving Chocolate Bars

2008-05-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

Finally,I have a unique and scrumptious finger food worth to be posted here. So, here it is Kiat Chui, my first food review in OZ haha..

from outside

from inside-after a bite

In-Depth Analysis

What is it?
It is a small fried mars bars! Besides mars bars, you could choose other types of chocolate to be fried at the stall.

Where can it be found?
In bondi beach, looks for a small stall selling fish and chips. It is at the same lane as McDonalds and New Zealand Natural.

How much is it?
Small chocolate:$1.5 | Big mars:$3

Do you think this is yummy?
At the first impression, it really did not appealing to me. Few seconds later, after taking a bite, I could tell that it is delicious and unique. I simply love the mixture between the outside layer crunciness with almost melted chocolate and nougat fillings. It is a perfect companion for brunch.

Other Comment
In some other time, I will surely go for the big mars as consuming a fried small mars bars does not satisfy my stomach.

Rate: 4/5

Indonesian Young Musician Performance

2008-04-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

Em.. so this is my first post here.. I’ve promised Vanessa to send a blog, hehe, =)
thx a bunch to Vanessa who has invited me to join as the author in this blog (even i’m not that active.. hehe)
Readers, she’s so dedicated to violin and classical music.. Big applause for her...

I’m afraid I don’t have much to share here.. so, i’ll start by writing about the Indonesian Young Musician Performance 2007 which was just recently held in AryaDuta Hotel in Medan city, on 13th April 2008.

This IYMP was held by Staccato Music Education Magazine and it was a marathon concert in the cities in Indonesia (Malang-Surabaya-Yogyakarta-Semarang-Jakarta-Bandung-Makassar-Medan). The show was supported by Boston piano, which the pianists used in the concert, and also by Melodi Music Studio.

It’s divided into 3 sessions, I was in the first session, so I felt very very dissapointed for not being able to watch the other two sessions.
It was categorized by age, category A, B, C for under-12-year-old students, category D for students ranged from 12 to 15 years old, and category E for above 15. So, ya I was definitely in the category E.

The performances in the first three categories (A, B, and C in session I) was adoring with lots of young players playing piano and violin.
Some of them played so well that I was impressed that they have such big talents in their young ages.. their parents must be so proud of them!

The show was heating up after the Intermission as there were more talented musicians playing the world greatest classical pieces in the category D and E.
There were some great performances I could remember quite well.
First would be my teacher’s performance. She played a duet violin, F.Mazas op 38 No.2. She seems to enjoy it a lot and that affected her performance. What a lovely piece with beautiful notes!
Then I remember how the audiences were surprised as they heard different version of Frederick Chopin’s ‘Fantaise Impromptu op 66’ played,
first played by a girl named Noviabella and second by Felix. Which’s better?
Em.. Both of them are brilliant and talented but, I have to say that I was really impressed with the beautiful Thai-looked girl’s performance, she played it with such a deep emotion and just on the plate (if simon says.. hehe), and later I found out that she had performed in lots of International events, hem... =),
but the boy was awesome as well, just a bit ‘over’, but he’s talented.
My own performance? I played Sonata No.3 (G.F.Handel). Quite well actually.. just a tiny mistake in the notes, what can I say.. hehe

The closing maybe was the most waited as there was a special guest, Ananda Sukarlan (famous pianist in Indonesia), gave his performances.
He started by playing ‘Dalam Sakit’ (English : in pain) which is popular as Ananda’s Aids song and the lyrics was taken from an old poem.
But I love the ‘Rhapsody Nusantara’ more, because it’s just so rich in melody and there’s a special feeling and emotion when listening to this piece. It was actually a piece that he produced to represent Indonesia generally but since the Jakarta’s governor asked this song to promote Jakarta, there were some parts in this piece which sound like ‘Jali-Jali’ with beautiful improvements (u’ll understand what I mean when u listen to it).

After all, the first session was quite interesting.. even some pieces bored the audiences, hehe
But yet this is a very good chance for young performers to show their talents and to raise up their confidence when they face a bigger event next time..

Hope can perform again next year.. together, with vanessa.. okay,sis? =)

Stupid Electrical Shut Down in Medan

2008-04-14T06:38:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a few years since Medan has its stupid electrical shut down routine. It is usually happened twice a year and unfortunately for me, it has always happened during my holidays in Medan which is cr*p!

I have planned what I wanted to do during holidays but everything was ruined just because of that stupid goverment who never care about their citizens wellfare. Also, the reason of this stupid thing is because of corruption and "PLN" (government institution in electrical field) in Medan is having a shortage of electric supply!
To make this matter worse, they did not shut the electrical for 2 or 3 hours which was still acceptable, but sometimes they shut it for about 8 freaking hours!

I could not fulfill my desire to watch my lovely "discovery travel and livings". "PLN" did not know how I have suffered of not having TV in Malaysia and this is the only chance I could watch TV!

Hmmm...does it sounds so bad? but hey, I have worse things to share. During the electrical shut down, me and my family( at car) passed by a restaurant in which a wedding was held at that particular time and yeahhh the restaurant was black out and the generator was not working at that moment. I felt really really really really 100X sorry for the couple. If I were them I should be very sad and dissapointed. How were they supposed to held a wedding reception in darkness? but the good news is when I passed the restaurant again while heading home, thanks God the generator was fixed and they could continue the reception.

Well, regarding this issue I could only hope and pray that Indonesia, especially Medan government institutions could be more concerned, honest (no corruption!) and responsible. Remember that we pay taxes to you, we supposed to get your best services, right?

Malaysia!!!

2008-04-07T04:17:00.000-07:00

I have spent almost 13.1579% (2.5 years divided by 19) of my life living in Malaysia, more specifically in Subang Jaya. After transferring my studies over to Sydney, I just realize that there are lots of things I miss in Malaysia!!!

I miss:
* CKK Lifeliners
Being in lifeline is one of the greatest gift God has given to me. Without lifeline, I am sure that I wouldn't grow my faith in God and still being the "old" Vanessa who is lazy to go to church haha...Also, I have met a lot of inspiring people whom I wouldn't forget for the rest of my life. It is really really really hard to find a community like lifeline. Miss you guys!!!

*Mamak Stall
I really miss mamak and its "roti canai", "roti milo", "teh ais", "limau ais"...The cheapest mamak food I can get here in Sydney is just a plain naan which cost about $1.5 which equals to around 5 plates of roti canai. Even in Malaysia they serve it with curry. Unfortunately, here, if you want to add curry, you have to pay for around $3.5. Damn!!

*Yuliana Halim aka. Yuliiiii
Miss her screaming because of lizards and her weird laugh haha..*peace yul. Anyway, miss our good times together in Malaysia!

Of course there are still many things that I have missed in Malaysia but it is impossible for me to mention all of them as I am too lazy.

Cheers,

Van

Few tips on choosing a violin

2008-03-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

Many of you are probably still confused while looking for a new violin. Before looking for a new violin, I did some researches and also asked some experienced violinists on how to find an instrument that suits you. Here are some points you might need to ponder:

1).Budget
First of all,before starting to find your violin, it is good to decide on how much you are willing to spend on your violin and of course the more budget you put, the more choices you will get.

2).Character
After that, you might need to think of what sort of characters you look for in a violin. Some violinists love a darker characters and some are more comfortable with a rather sweet characters. If you love a dark and deep characters, a German violin will suit you the best.Furthermore, if you like a softer, brighter or sweeter tone, an Italian or perhaps a Chinese violin will be good. Chinese violin will of course be cheaper than a German or Italian violin. However, eventhough a German or Italian violin might be more expensive, more oftenly a good cheaper Chinese violin will sound better. Also, if you want a mellow tone, you should consider getting a French or English violin.

3).Comfort
It is suggested that a violinist should try his/her future violin before purchasing it. You could try playing scales, playing in higher position or perhaps playing a piece and see how the violin will respond to you.

There some questions you might need to ask yourselves:
a.Do you need a shoulder rest?
Each violins is different in its thickness. If you are currently not using any shoulder rest, you might need it sometimes when you change your violin. I am not using one currently but during my last holiday,when I was asked to try playing on an old German violin, I think I do need one to play on it. The violin is slipped all the time when I tried playing on it but yet its the best sounding violin I have ever played with :)

b.Can you bow a string without touching the other strings?
If it i hard for you to bow the string without touching the others, this means that the violin is not properly set up and you should consider choosing the other violin or you could fix it by taking it to nearest luthier to have it fixed.

c.Does it produce a strong tone while playing in higher position?
This is considered an important factor for an intermediate violinist at the time you begin playing in a higher position. Last time, before I change my violin to a better violin, when I played in a higher position it really sounds awfull! It is driving me mad. I thought that I am really suck in playing in a higher position but after getting a new violin, I am really comfortable playing in higher position.It sounds much better.

This is some important tips you should watchout when getting your future beloved buddy! However, the most important matter is that you have to feel really comfortable and connected to your violin. Do look for your violin as if you are looking for your life partners!

Happy practising :-)

Vanessa

How to tune a violin?

2008-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

For a beginner, tuning a violin can be quite challenging. I though so when I started tuning my own violin rather than having my teacher tuning it for me. It is really scary to the fact that the string can be broken at any time if we are not pay an extra caution. I did breaking my violin stings few times and there is one time a broke a string while tuning my NEW violin!! It is really a stupid mistake. I intend to tune my A string but instead of turning the A string's pegs,I turned the E string! It is silly,huh?

So, lets look at the steps of how to tune your violin:
1). You should know that there are four strings in a violin: G-D-A-E, G string is the thickest string which creates the lowest tones on violin and the thinest strings are the E string.

2). You could tune your violin based on:
a). This thing below is called a violin pitch pipe. This is really easy to use.What you need to do is to blow it and tune your violin according to the pitch pipe tones.

b). Besides pitchpipe, if you own a piano, you could use it as well but of course you have to make sure that your piano is in tune. Look at the picture below of how to use the piano as a tuner.

c).You can open this link and tune your violin based on this online tuner !
http://www.get-tuned.com/violin_tuner.php

d).Among all of the alternatives, the simplest is just to think of an A in your mind and then tunes the rest to the fifth.

e). Of course there are many other ways to tune your violin such as an electronic violin tuner, tuning fork, and etc. Every person has his own choice.

3). After choosing which tuner you would want to use, what you need to do is to bow or pluck each one of your string. It is good to start with the A string. At the same time, play an A on piano or blow an A on your pitch pipe and see whether there is an adjustment needed to your string. If there is any, you can tune it with your fine tuners or pegs. Remember that if there are a lot of adjustment needed, you have to use your pegs.Turned your pegs slightly (clock-wise) and begin to bow or pluck the string until it is in tune.After that,pushed the side of the pegs to the hole until it's firmed.However, if there is only a small adjustment needed, you could use your fine tuners by turning it in a clock-wise.

Tips: For a quick tuning, after you tune your A string, you could tune the other strings by playing the first few notes from "twinkle twinkle little star". Most people have done this. In example, to tune the E string you could play " A A E E F# F# E " I am sure that you will know whether the E string is out of tune or not.
For intermediate or advance violinist, they usually do double stops in tuning the violin.

Here is my few tips of how to tune a violin. Hope that it is useful.
Any supportive comment or if you have other ways to tune your violin you would like to share, you are most welcomed.

Happy practising :-)

Vanessa

The Violin and Bow Anatomy

2008-03-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hi fellow violinist or probably violin fans,

Ever wondered what is your each part of your violin being called? Well, like a human-being, violin has an anatomy. Therefore, first of all, lets look at our violin's outer part before we discover the inner part of the violin in other post.

Violin is made of wood and the interesting fact is that violin actually contains 70 separate pieces of wood! What a shocking fact isn't it?!Besides wood, there are some other materials that formed a violin but lets talk about this in other post and lets look at the picture below.

Besides violin, it is good to know about violin's best friend which is bow. Bow is made of wood and horse hair! Similar to violin, bow is also formed with different parts.

So, are you familiar with your violin and bow outer part now?

See ya in some other posts!

Happy practising :-)

Vanessa

Why Symphony?

2008-01-30T07:15:00.000-08:00

In music world, as far as I know, symphony is considered as a piece of music, usually is played in an orchestra, which is consisted of few movements and each movement is different in terms of their character which usually expresses composer's happiness or sadness.

I'm not trying to be so called a 'musically inclined' person here by the way, but the word 'symphony' is just suddenly appeared in my mind in the process of creating a title for this blog.

Hmmm..So,why I choose symphony as my blog title?

Thinking deeply inside, I think our life is almost similar as a symphony. The movements in a symphony is just like our life story-line.However, in this case the composer is not Beethoven, Mozart or Tchaikovsky but God and the conductor is of course ourselves not someone graduated from the conservatory of music!

We have to conduct our life given by God according to His will.Similar to a conductor, he/she (yes..I believe there are women conductor exist in this world! hehe) should lead the orchestra according to the feeling conveyed by the composer to achieve an excellent orchestration arrangement. Unfortunately, life is not always going on monotonously smooth. There are of course up and down moments happened in our life which and if we gather every situations we have faced in our life, we are just forming a symphony of life!