My First Photo Competition: Update!

I've received the packet from Canon Photo5 Competition! Look forward to taking some good shots on each of those five little objects. :)

Initial post at: a chatterbox's pensieve: My First Photo Competition!.

Rapeseed Oil? and Cheddar Cheese...

Yes - rapeseed oil! It is not a typo for grapeseed oil.

The recipe that I decided to try last Sunday, Chef Jeenas food recipes: Restaurant Style Chicken Curry Recipe called for Rapeseed Oil as part of the ingredients list. I went to a few shops in the Prahran Market; they all corrected me with suggestion of "grapeseed oil?" instead. Luckily - they didn't have any in stock - so I didn't buy any.

I came home, did a little bit of Googleing and found out through Wikipedia (of course!) that the famous rapeseed oil, is another name for canola oil!!! Geez - what's with this different names for ingredients between countries. First, cilantro (i.e. coriander), now canola oil.

Anyway - happy to learn something new. :) Thought I'd share the information.

On another note, (still food though), my mind has been thinking about this special grated cheddar cheese cake that we used to buy in Jakarta. It looks like this...
(Image credit: About Lala ! - Bolu Keju.)

I'll see if I can squeeze in some time to make this. I'm really craving the taste of that grated Kraft (yes, Kraft! :P) cheddar cheese combined with the sweetness of the caster sugar sprinkles in between.

I could also do with baked grated cheddar cheese pasta of some sort.. I can't find the right recipe though. Actually - I just crave the creamy taste of that cute small swirls of cheddar cheese. Yummmmm... :)

Ciaooooooooooooo....

SOLD!

The Pixar Blog: Programmable WALL-E toy coming!!!

Where can I get oneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee????

Wall-E Robot Toy In Action - Gizmodo Australia

Can I justify spending $190 USD on this? I think so!

Image Credit: FedBlog

Turning 26!

Image credit: HWTM.

More than ever, I'm grateful for the people in my life; my loving-plus-super-understanding fiancé that I super love, my most-of-the-times-endearing-fun-and-at-times-confusing siblings, my awesome-and-very-cool parents, my best-friends who makes this world a much more beautiful place and other people around me who constantly entertained, challenged and improved me.

One very happy and grateful twenty-six-years-old lady.

I Pleaded Guilty...

"My dear mini ginger bread man,

I'm sorry... Please don't hate me. It was your super delicious cinnamon smell that lure me down the trap of the first bite. Once I started, it was impossible to stop. I can't let you live with missing limbs. That'd be cruel.

Please know that I have really enjoyed your company for the three days that you lasted.

As a token of apology, I have gone and rescue one of your brother from the pool of ginger bread men pool. Nothing would ever replace you in my heart though. This one with the small mole (right next to the mouth - see below picture) will just act as your shrine of remembrance.

I hope you rest in peace in my belly.

Lots of Love,
Shelvia."

The Meaning of Life

Shanon introduced me to Steve Pavlina's writing a while ago. I've talked about him too previously in this post, "a chatterbox's pensieve: Steve Pavlina's Interesting Thoughts", that I wrote in Oct 2007. Since then, I've been meaning to complete reading his series of posts, "The Meaning of Life":
* The Meaning of Life: Intro (Jun 2005)
* The Meaning of Life: How Shall We Live? (Jun 2005)
* The Meaning of Life: Discover Your Purpose (Jun 2005)
* The Meaning of Life: From Purpose to Action (Jun 2005)
* The Meaning of Life: Transitioning (Jun 2005)
* The Meaning of Life: Conscious Evolution (Jun 2005)

Today I finally did. Gladly did.

The below paragraph written in his final post of the series is circling around in my head at the moment.

"Consider something as simple as diet. The environmental consequences of the Standard American Diet are severe — to say it wastes resources and pollutes the environment is a gross understatement. The U.S. government subsidizes most of it, which hides the true costs. It takes 18 times as much land to grow the food for someone eating the SAD diet compared to someone eating a vegan-plant based diet. If someone eating the SAD diet were to eat vegan for just one day, they’d save more water than they would by not showering for a year. Your decision to eat a burger for dinner is not merely a health choice — it’s an environmental and political one as well. In fact, virtually anything you might do environmentally or politically in your lifetime is irrelevant compared to the simple decision of what to eat each day. You could devote your entire life to Greenpeace, and it will only amount to a puny fraction of what you’d accomplish by living as a resource-guzzling playboy who happens to be vegetarian."
Note: SAD = Standard American Diet

That is NEWS to me. Seriously.

I know that some people are choosing to be a vegetarian/vegan, but the argument that I've heard has always been the animal loving thing. I totally did not know that it has that massive impact to the environment. I'm not saying that I will now stop eating meat because I know of this environmental impact, but I definitely will consider that option more.

The other thing that it does, is that it makes me realise that there are so many things that I can learn about and then help do to improve the quality of life (for me, for others and for the next generation). If I could think that way, and act accordingly, and then help influence other people to realise these facts; it would make a difference. Wouldn't it?

Anyway - I will give this and my own meaning of life more thought.

Individual Casserole Dish

Image credit: Maxwell & Williams - T.E.L. Import Ltd.

I bought two of these really really cute small Maxwell & Williams White Basics Provence Mini Round Casserole (400ML) at the NAB Staff Shop yesterday. They were on special BIG time! I paid ten bucks for the two (with the lids!!!)! :P

Can't wait to use them! Let's think... What should I cook in them? Mmm... :) Perhaps will try Chef Jeenas food recipes: Easy Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe or perhaps I'll cook Jamie Oliver Tasty Fish Bake again which was so yummy the first time I cooked them.

As a side note, I found this food blog (another one), called Best recipes, foods, travel, photo blog which posts remind me of the sweet old times in Penang (with the cheap yet super yummy food). One of the post reminds me of this annoying thing that I found running around in my apartment when I got back from my holiday Indonesia early this year! Weevils!!! The post is How to get rid of weevils in rice? | Best recipes, foods and travel. It has close up looking pictures of weevils! Ickkk!!! Even the memory of it makes me itchy!!! Grrrrrrrr!!!!

A Good Example ...

... why it's important to have camera on you at all times.
-- Picture taken on corner of Elizabeth St and Collins St. He's promoting Burger Monster which is hidden in the alley way along with the yummy Rich Maha.

How else will you be able to show non-Melbournian what they're missing out on? :P

I'm Definitely Not The Only One!

There is a massive community of people who love both food and photography out there.. Hmm I wonder why? :P

Check out this delicious website - Photograzing: Share Your Favorite Food Photos and Find Inspiration!I like! BIG TIME!

My Perfect Day...

Inspired by "5 Ways to Get Your Spark Back | Dumb Little Man" post - Steve Errey.

... starts with me waking up feeling fresh and excited. Then I brush my teeth, wash my face and I get change to go out. I'll grab my backpack (which has been packed properly the night before with stuffs for Yoga), dash out the door to be greeted by a bright soft sunshine with nice breeze and walk down to my Bikram Yoga class. When I get there, I'll have enough time to lie down for 5-10 minutes before the class started and then I'll do a complete and rewarding practice session, finish with another lie down - relaxing before showering. Then, I'll walk home and have Uncle Toby's creamy honey oatmeal for breakfast, accompanied with a cup of tea with one packet of Equal.

Now, firm and refresh, I'm ready to face my day. On this perfect day of mine, Shanon has arranged a short trip to the park or the beach for a picnic. Once we get there, we'll have a short stroll while chattering and enjoying the peaceful scenery. Then I'll unpack my camera and starts shooting away, while Shanon skimming through his paper. Not long after, we unpack out scrumptious and prettily prepared food, which I'll then take pictures of as well. After fulfilling our hunger, we'll take another short stroll, only to find this really cosy li'l book shop which also sells mini red velvet cupcake and creamy hot chocolate with very small amount of calorie. Of course we have to stop by and enjoy them! We hang around and read a few books while enjoying our snacks. We then walk back home with a satisfied but not too full belly. Just comfortable.

I will then do a bit of work on sorting the pictures, when I find this really good inspiring post to talk about which goes well with these really nice pictures that I just took today.

Next, I'll go down to the market, find some really cheap and fresh quality ingredients to cook dinner with. On the way back, I found this unique boutique I've never seen before and I bought a very pretty and flattering sundress for next to nothing. There is this person who was giving out fresh creamy white and soft pink roses on the way home. Then, there is this really really good masseuse who's giving out free awesome hour long massage with reflexology (let's pretend it's not a scam - it's MY perfect day after all!). I arrive in my sparkling and neat home with no errands to run, unpack my groceries and then relax on the couch with this good book that I just borrowed from the library.

Feeling all fresh and relax, I started to prepare dinner for us. We had a lovely meal while catching up with my siblings on fun and interesting things that are happening amongst us. We all clean up together and then have a few bites of luscious cakes for dessert. Then, we'll say our goodbyes and I'll cuddled up on the couch with Shanon to watch a DVD (surely a short sweet romantic comedy :P) before going to bed...

Mmmm... What a day... I wish everyday is like this. :D Too much to ask for I guess, considering that if everyday is like this, how am I going to eat?

Updated on 16th September 2008:
Come to think of it, I'm missing one very essential part of a perfect day in this story. Productivity. Sure, I've blogged a little and it does generally gives me a sense of accomplishment, but I think I want something more than that. I'm still working out what it is I want to do though. I'm interested in doing nursing, photography, Interior Design, blogging full time, game programming, or even baking perhaps? (Nope, not baking, I don't think I have the patience and meticulousness!) For now, I just want my perfect day to include an hour or two of me learning something new, growing. :) Perhaps before the visit to the market.