Every once in a while, we lose it. It's not a good thing because once the beast is released, there are usually irreversible repercussions. Although we know this, it's not an easy thing to control. I am referring to anger.
The other day, someone on the phone made me really angry. He wanted me to help him with something, which admittedly I haven't been able to look into for him. Never mind that I was doing two person's job, never mind that we were going through a very turbulent time at work. He started being really angry on the phone which made me even angrier. And did he say he needed my help?? You gotta be kidding...
I controlled myself until the part where he said, 'I want an answer by tomorrow night.' I lost it then. I told him I'll do my best, and then without waiting for his answer, I BANGED the phone down in a fit of rage.
Time stopped for a split second. Everyone in the office stopped what they were doing. It was a very unexpected reaction coming from me. Luckily they casually brushed it off - although they were quite surprised to learn that a mouse can sometimes roar too.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
It's Spring!
September is Spring! There is definitely a change in the air - yes, the smell of manure is in the air... It is time for revitalising the garden.
The tomatoes have totally dried out from the winter frost and the strawberries are being attacked by the snails. The two stalks of coriander plant (grew out of nowhere, miraculous since the coriander seeds were sowed about a year ago) aren't doing too badly although the snails are also at it. I read somewhere that corianders are good deterrent for snails because of their smell which is somewhat true because although I see snail trails the leaves are still intact.
The only flourishing vegetation in the garden at the moment are the weeds. So sad...
The tomatoes have totally dried out from the winter frost and the strawberries are being attacked by the snails. The two stalks of coriander plant (grew out of nowhere, miraculous since the coriander seeds were sowed about a year ago) aren't doing too badly although the snails are also at it. I read somewhere that corianders are good deterrent for snails because of their smell which is somewhat true because although I see snail trails the leaves are still intact.
The only flourishing vegetation in the garden at the moment are the weeds. So sad...
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Joke
The CIA had an opening for an assasin. After all of the background checks, interviews, and testing were done, there were three finalists - two men and a woman.
For the final test, the CIA agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun. "We must know that you will follow your instructions, no matter what the circumstances. Inside this room, you will find your wife sitting in a chair. Kill her!".
The man said, "You can't be serious. I could never shoot my wife." The agent said, Then you're not the right man for this job."
The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about five minutes. Then the man came out with tears in his eyes. "I tried, but I can't kill my wife." The agent said, "You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home."
Finally, it was the woman's turn. She was given the same instructions to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard, one shot after another. They heard screaming, crashing, banging on the walls. After a few minutes all was quiet. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, and said, "This gun is loaded with blanks. I had to beat him to death with the chair."
For the final test, the CIA agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun. "We must know that you will follow your instructions, no matter what the circumstances. Inside this room, you will find your wife sitting in a chair. Kill her!".
The man said, "You can't be serious. I could never shoot my wife." The agent said, Then you're not the right man for this job."
The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about five minutes. Then the man came out with tears in his eyes. "I tried, but I can't kill my wife." The agent said, "You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home."
Finally, it was the woman's turn. She was given the same instructions to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard, one shot after another. They heard screaming, crashing, banging on the walls. After a few minutes all was quiet. The door opened slowly and there stood the woman.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, and said, "This gun is loaded with blanks. I had to beat him to death with the chair."
Libertine, Victoria St CBD
To celebrate Gaz's birthday, we went to Libertine for their degustation menu. No pictures here but we had
1. Globe artichoke, caprifeuille & toasted walnuts salad
2. Hervey Bay scallops, boudin noir & eggplant relish
3. Confit ocean trout, carrot mayo & salmon roe
4. Grilled grass-fed eye fillet, braised rib & juniper sauce
5. Whisky caramel creme, frozen banana toffee & sable
6. Rabbit & truffle tortellini in consomme
7. Palate cleanser of apple granita
8. Petite fours with coffee
Our favourite is the ocean trout confit - the fish was excellent in texture and the carrot mayo was very flavourful. It was something interesting and new to me as I've never even thought of making mayo with carrots. And of course... salmon roe always appeals to me.
The scallop dish was another favourite, not so much for the scallop but for the boudin noir (blood pudding).
Honourable mention to the rabbit tortellini - although we can't detect much of the truffle the rabbit meat was delicious. I've never had bunnies before.
The one dish I didn't like, and this is not a surprise since I'm not a big fan of sweets is the whisky caramel creme and frozen banana toffee which was a little bitter. The caramel creme was smooth with the whisky but overall the dish didn't appeal to me.
Degustation as degustation meant we waited for about 15 mins between each course. We only took about 5 mins to finish each dish! Sure, we talked and enjoyed each other's company while waiting but for us who are used to completing a full meal under an hour, being at the restaurant for nearly 3 hours is a drag! Although, I did enjoy the degustations we had at Hajime and Shira Nui because of the chef interaction and 'live action' as they prepare our food while we waited.
Update: This restaurant is now closed.
1. Globe artichoke, caprifeuille & toasted walnuts salad
2. Hervey Bay scallops, boudin noir & eggplant relish
3. Confit ocean trout, carrot mayo & salmon roe
4. Grilled grass-fed eye fillet, braised rib & juniper sauce
5. Whisky caramel creme, frozen banana toffee & sable
6. Rabbit & truffle tortellini in consomme
7. Palate cleanser of apple granita
8. Petite fours with coffee
Our favourite is the ocean trout confit - the fish was excellent in texture and the carrot mayo was very flavourful. It was something interesting and new to me as I've never even thought of making mayo with carrots. And of course... salmon roe always appeals to me.
The scallop dish was another favourite, not so much for the scallop but for the boudin noir (blood pudding).
Honourable mention to the rabbit tortellini - although we can't detect much of the truffle the rabbit meat was delicious. I've never had bunnies before.
The one dish I didn't like, and this is not a surprise since I'm not a big fan of sweets is the whisky caramel creme and frozen banana toffee which was a little bitter. The caramel creme was smooth with the whisky but overall the dish didn't appeal to me.
Degustation as degustation meant we waited for about 15 mins between each course. We only took about 5 mins to finish each dish! Sure, we talked and enjoyed each other's company while waiting but for us who are used to completing a full meal under an hour, being at the restaurant for nearly 3 hours is a drag! Although, I did enjoy the degustations we had at Hajime and Shira Nui because of the chef interaction and 'live action' as they prepare our food while we waited.
Update: This restaurant is now closed.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Lazy Dinner
With the crazy hours I've been putting in lately at work, nothing appeals more to me than a lazy dinner with minimal fuss. Ironically, I've been put off frozen meals lately. I used to cook a huge batch of food during the weekend, freezing and progressively thawing as and when required for dinners and lunches. Now I prefer to prepare meals fresh for the night's dinner despite having just worked 11 hours for the day.
This was one such meal I prepared recently, I just love the wannabe status of the meal. It's an imitation of a Vietnamese rice vermicelli salad with prawn spring rolls but I've replaced some ingredients with what I have in the fridge and with what I like to eat.
Basically there's the boiled rice vermicelli in the bowl, topped with fried SPAM (yum... lurve SPAM!), fried prawns, poached chicken shredded to small pieces, and torn pieces of mint. Omitted from this picture was the sauce, which we poured over the dish just before we ate it. The sauce I made from combining fish sauce, chilli sauce, and sugar.
This was one such meal I prepared recently, I just love the wannabe status of the meal. It's an imitation of a Vietnamese rice vermicelli salad with prawn spring rolls but I've replaced some ingredients with what I have in the fridge and with what I like to eat.
Basically there's the boiled rice vermicelli in the bowl, topped with fried SPAM (yum... lurve SPAM!), fried prawns, poached chicken shredded to small pieces, and torn pieces of mint. Omitted from this picture was the sauce, which we poured over the dish just before we ate it. The sauce I made from combining fish sauce, chilli sauce, and sugar.
Taste of Melbourne 2010
Seeing the wonderful culinary experience we had last year at Taste of Melbourne, we decided to go back this year. It seems like the food last year was much better. These were what we had:
Organic slow braised pork cheek, white polenta, raisins and marsala sauce from Mezzo Bar & Grill $8. Pork cheek was quite stringy, but I liked the creamy texture of the polenta.
Oyster tempura with local condiments, dressing and dipping sauces from Esposito. Ermm.... what local condiments?? I think I like the oyster tempura Gaz makes better! $10 for one.
Esposito's Italian skewer of seafood with seasonal produce. A compilation of salmon, onion, pork, and other seasonal vegetables, chargrilled and wrapped in a flaky bread pastry, a typical Sardinian taste. That was the official description on the menu but.... what flaky bread?? It was more like papadums!
I also didn't like the salmon, it was quite fishy. $12
Seven hour braised leg of lamb with a mushroom and potato pave and glazed baby carrots from Koots $12. The leg of lamb was quite good, and the pave was very mushroomy. This was probably one of the best paid dishes we had that night.
Free entree sponsored by Tassal salmon, served during an interview with the executive chef from Stokehouse during a Chef's Table session. As we walked into the Exhibition Hall, wafts of fishy smell reached our nostrils. Not surprising since Tassal was one of the major sponsors of the show.
We wanted to get a wagyu burger from The Palace but Gaz was turned off by the loooong queue for it. When we queued up for real the second time round, it was sold out. So we got a Salted western plains pork & prawn sweet roll with pickled vegetables from Longrain $10.
The crackling was nice and crispy, but there wasn't much pork nor prawn. I think I can get a better roll from the local Vietnamese shop. Though it wouldn't be labeled as gourmet, at least it would have more flavour and filling!
Calabrian prawn sausage, pickled cucumber salad from Sarti $8. This one was quite good, we enjoyed it. The prawn sausage is similar to what the local Chinese r'ant does when one orders kai lan fried with prawn cakes.
And the winner dish of the night was.... free! Barilla's creamy canneloni, so good we went for thirds. There was Ben & Jerry's ice cream for free too, and I just loved their chocolate flavour. Made with dark chocolate it was rich and delicious!
I probably would not be going to any of the restaurants whose food we had sampled that night, just because none of the dishes really jumped out. Moreover, I don't feel they were really worth the price we would have paid if we had gone to the restaurant and ordered as mains.
Organic slow braised pork cheek, white polenta, raisins and marsala sauce from Mezzo Bar & Grill $8. Pork cheek was quite stringy, but I liked the creamy texture of the polenta.
Oyster tempura with local condiments, dressing and dipping sauces from Esposito. Ermm.... what local condiments?? I think I like the oyster tempura Gaz makes better! $10 for one.
Esposito's Italian skewer of seafood with seasonal produce. A compilation of salmon, onion, pork, and other seasonal vegetables, chargrilled and wrapped in a flaky bread pastry, a typical Sardinian taste. That was the official description on the menu but.... what flaky bread?? It was more like papadums!
I also didn't like the salmon, it was quite fishy. $12
Seven hour braised leg of lamb with a mushroom and potato pave and glazed baby carrots from Koots $12. The leg of lamb was quite good, and the pave was very mushroomy. This was probably one of the best paid dishes we had that night.
Free entree sponsored by Tassal salmon, served during an interview with the executive chef from Stokehouse during a Chef's Table session. As we walked into the Exhibition Hall, wafts of fishy smell reached our nostrils. Not surprising since Tassal was one of the major sponsors of the show.
We wanted to get a wagyu burger from The Palace but Gaz was turned off by the loooong queue for it. When we queued up for real the second time round, it was sold out. So we got a Salted western plains pork & prawn sweet roll with pickled vegetables from Longrain $10.The crackling was nice and crispy, but there wasn't much pork nor prawn. I think I can get a better roll from the local Vietnamese shop. Though it wouldn't be labeled as gourmet, at least it would have more flavour and filling!
Calabrian prawn sausage, pickled cucumber salad from Sarti $8. This one was quite good, we enjoyed it. The prawn sausage is similar to what the local Chinese r'ant does when one orders kai lan fried with prawn cakes.
And the winner dish of the night was.... free! Barilla's creamy canneloni, so good we went for thirds. There was Ben & Jerry's ice cream for free too, and I just loved their chocolate flavour. Made with dark chocolate it was rich and delicious!
I probably would not be going to any of the restaurants whose food we had sampled that night, just because none of the dishes really jumped out. Moreover, I don't feel they were really worth the price we would have paid if we had gone to the restaurant and ordered as mains.
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