Ventiquattro: Expectors

No pain no gain.

There are no shortcuts to success.

The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

Inspirational quotes. They are absolutely everywhere. Some we know and take to heart, others... we know but we choose not to see it. If you are one of those friends that post inspirational quotes on Facebook or social media on a daily basis, I may well have blocked your posts from showing up on my feed. To me, they are in the same classification as "spam", even though, granted, some are actually pretty deep. 

While I won't be caught dead posting spam usually, these quotes are here because it's all related to mind strength. I've often been told that my mind is weak. Note that mind strength is actually quite different from mental endurance. Hiccups in life faze me but I won't sink too deeply into depression, pressure drives me to achieve, and my head is hardened by what is commonly known as stubbornness. Mind strength, to me, is resolution. Commitment. Most noticeably lacking when exercising and during sports. People who know me will know that I play badminton 3 times a week, but they might find it surprising that it's actually really difficult for me to motivate myself enough to go. Every. Single. Time, my mind will be a raging debate between "stuff it all, I'm tired *insert thousand excuses*" and "come on, exercise, play the sport that you love!" The former is often stronger than the latter and would have won if I didn't have friends waiting for me, expecting me to be there. 

Expectations. I hate to disappoint. 

From fooood

How to "Yum Cha"... at home

I've always been interested in reading. Guess it's the way we've been brought up- my sister and brother loves reading too, and ever since I can remember, my mum would take us to the library and pick out some books, take it home and wipe it all over with alcohol rub (because library books are filthy and you never know whose grubby hands handled them before you) before giving it to us. It was exciting to visit the library, quite unlike a lot of kids these days, who probably enjoy watching youtube and jabbing their fingers at touchscreens much more than reading a good old-fashion paperback.

Of course, some books are more interesting than others. For my brother, it's always been contemporary, philosophical, thought-provoking books, which I have learnt to enjoy as well. My sister was into crime fiction, which we all read. Me? I like fantasy, sci-fi... and cookbooks. Recently, I've been reading a lot on how to make food that you get at yum cha (previous entry started it all). After experimenting with mango pancake, I came across a dumpling recipe from Donna Hay's cookbook.

From cookkk

Having made wanton plenty of times before, I had the translucent kind of dumplings in mind- the type that har gao comes in.

Remnants of the Past

We know that everyone we meet has some kind of influence or impact on us that shapes us to be who we are presently. No matter how insignificant a conversation might have been, a passing comment, a smile, a look, a game, chance meetings, everything gets stored in some form or another. Some memories are stronger than others, and I often find myself remember snippets of conversations or experiencing the feeling of deja vu, but the full picture always eludes me. It's terrible, because more likely than not, I will remember the topic of conversation but not the person I had the conversation with.

So, I remember this particular conversation with someone about yum cha, during which I was told the dish where the restaurant owners rake in the most profit. That dish is mango pancake- cheapest to make, sold for the same price as other dishes.

From cookkk

So I made my own. I remember making this ages ago, but filling it with cream and durian. It was absolutely awesome, but unfortunately, I'm not allowed to bring durian home. I had most of the ingredients at hand already, except for one: custard powder. 

Ventitré: Classic Twists

So I haven't had time to do anything recently. Like check out cafes.

Actually, no, that's a lie. I have been to a few cafes, but I am seriously feeling the oddness of whipping out the camera and taking photos of the food and place. Funny, that, because I never used to care so much. Perhaps now I just don't care about different things. In the past, I didn't really care about what people think when I take photos of food, because I've been doing that for years- even before the stereotype came about, of Asians taking photos of their food endlessly. It was my way of documenting moments, knowing that my memory fails me often.

Now I just don't care so much about documenting less important moments. What I ate two days ago is what I define as "less important" because it certainly isn't as important as being present in that moment with my friend concentrating on the conversation at hand. Perhaps if I were alone, I would feel more relaxed about taking photos, but a camera to me now feels like a device that shouldn't be present at dining tables, much like the phone.

That aside, there is certain company which I know wouldn't mind the camera, like my cafe buddies, so unless I'm out with them, I doubt I'll blog about cafes or restaurants. Happens that I was out with the princess recently and visited:

From fooood

Revisiting my Nemesis

As someone who loves baking, cooking, and eating in general, there are a few things I avoid making. Recently, a friend asked me to make pie. My excuse NOT to make pie is that I don't actually have a pie dish. Actually, that's a lie- I have a large glass pie dish, but when you think pies, you think of individual serve small pies, and I don't have the pie tins for those. Truth is, I avoid making pastry dough. Having to rub the cold butter into the flour- annoying and you end up with cold oily fingers. Having to roll out cold dough- confirm aching arms. Smushing (my word) the rolled out dough into the tin/dish- not hard but still annoying trying to get it to fit. Then there's the whole process of blind baking (I have no pie weights), and dealing with shrinking dough (always happens), removing the weights, more baking, filling, bake again.

That whole process is not difficult, but tedious, and it's also a huge waiting game, resting the dough. Worst out of the lot? Puff pastry- because it's waiting and rolling x n number of times. When my first attempt at puff pastry ended in disaster right at the last proofing after 2 days, I went crying (not literally) to my mum and laid that recipe to rest.

From baKEE

Are you the sort of person to give up? Yep. Weighing the pros and cons, to give up or not to give up, I thought, nah it's not worth the effort and time. Then I had time today and decided to try a different sort of puff pastry- one that required less time, though the effort is still pretty much the same.