Whore's Pasta

AKA Pasta Puttanesca ("Puttana" = prostitute in Italian)
















Ingredients:

1/2 pack linguine or spaghetti
1/2 bulb garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 habenero pepper or 5 thai red chillis
8-10 anchovy fillets (not talking ikan bilis here--they're sold in tins/jars; you'll find them in the italian food section)
3/4 cup black olives, chopped roughly (I use kalamatas)
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
Either 1 1/2 pounds fresh roma tomatoes or 1 large tin peeled tomatoes (tinned tomatoes are better here because they make a richer sauce)
fresh parsley, chopped roughly

Directions

1. Bring water for pasta to boil. Add oil. Add pasta. Do NOT add salt to the pasta water--the sauce is very salty, so you want the pasta to be bland.

While cooking pasta:

2. In a sizable saucepan, fry garlic, onions, chillis, and anchovies in olive oil. Stir frequently and anchovies should break down.

3. When onions and garlic are thoroughly cooked, add tomatoes (either fresh or from the tin). Simmer for about 20 minutes until tomatoes break down into a fairly thick sauce.

4. Add olives and capers. Note: do NOT mince olives as that will produce a purple sauce. Make sure that olives are in largish chunks. Simmer for another 4-5 minutes (or until pasta is ready).

5. Drain pasta when cooked. In a large mixing bowl, add sauce to the pasta, plus fresh parsley. Mix thoroughly and serve.

Preparation + Cooking time: 1/2 hour
Serves 2

/J

Sepet

Has anyone seen Yasmin Ahmad's 2004 Sepet, a film about an inter-racial love story between a Malay girl who likes HK kung-fu flicks and a Chinese boy who sells pirated VCDs?

It showed at Cornell Cinema yesterday, as part of our International Film series. Like a dutiful Malaysian, I went to see it.

All I can say is that I want my 4 dollars back.

And someone kill the scriptwriter.

/J

Blue & Green

Introducing Blue and Green... the two new addition to the family. Right now, they are listening to Michael Buble with me and making alot of noise... and hopping around as if they are doing the waltz.

We got them mostly for my aunt.... who had an unusual and depressing experience nursing a baby hummingbird - who died of a fall when it was learning how to fly. Aunt was devastated. So, we got Blue and Green two weeks ago. (very original names, huh?) We think that Blue might be a little girl and Green a boy - coz he's a big chicken.

For Jian. :)

~Al

my work space

Ok. I admit, I have nothing to blog... but this. This is my office workspace. I share a huge room with another chic who is forced to hear whatever music I play and all my whining and sometimes bad words when I'm stressed. Yeap. Work space is pretty messy... It's always like that... cause i never do filing. Oh yeah.. that's my mum gossiping with Romey.

So there, Suan. I blogged! :) hehehe.

~Al 

B&J's on a Friday Night

I have never truly appreciated how a tub of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie can really be a source of comfort until tonight. Lame isn't it? Had what must have been the worst couple of days by far at work - on top of suffering from insomnia as a result of which I completely lost my voice. But does that stop people from asking stupid questions at work? Clearly not! And the icing on the cake? Receiving the most disrespectful and inconsiderate email from a client person telling me that I do not how to do my job right! Things are still not all perfect but being able to vent to a sympathetic listening ear, a sushi dinner and B&J to end it off does help a lil...
Hope things are better with you fellow biatches.. ~Jian~

biatchybiatchybiatchybiatches!!!!!

I do go out with you lot - just not enough!!!!!!



Looking really pale next to sun-kissed Val...



I like this photo of Al & Jian - they seemed so happy!!!

My dear fellow biatches,

Judging from the ‘inactivity’ from the half of you lot (lara, stephie,esther & val), but who’s naming names, I gather you must be ultra ultra ultra busy. I know what that feels like – worked my arse off during the last few weeks and didn’t have a proper break during Easter because of (guess it!) work! I’m off to KL tomorrow morning – I’m going to be back for about 2 & a half weeks – most of the time will be spent with my mom who will be recuperating from her operation…It’s not that serious, so hopefully I’ll have teeny weeny pockets of time to see the KL gang – would love to catch up this time around as it was a rather failed attempt the last time to have proper girlie chit chat sessions due to CNY (my mates regard me an ‘anti-social’or ‘recluse’ or even worse, a‘snob’, unfortunately due to my various family commitments). Give me a chance ok – I sneak out whenever I can, it’s not like I secretly like hanging around people who are twice my age.

Anyway long story cut short (I still have THAT stupid report to write, and NO, accountants cannot go on strike because we’re apparently white collar employees – whatever, talk to the hand!), I may not be connected to the internet in the next 2.5 weeks or so – it’s not because I’m abandoning you lot but because I live in a house which still uses dial up (FARK THAT!) and it takes half an hour to connect, another half to open ANY website page and probably an hour to load pics up! BUT I will try my best to sneak off to the nearest Starbucks or any place offering wireless broadband to catch up on stories in the biatchybunch circle. I love all your stories/pics/comments! Haha. And also the fact that we’re keeping in touch this way!

Right – I’ve got to get back to work now – wish me luck – report goes out in 6 hours or so, and I’ve got maybe, half of it to write (BOREDOM!).

Adios muchachos. Buenos diaz.

Keep the stories coming!

X suannie

Kill me now

Because I have to grade this stack of papers by Friday.
















/J

Schmuck Case #000001

Presenting schmuck case#000001



R2D2?!

This is so inspiring that I will be souping-up my Accord to Batmobile as soon as I get my tax returns.

~Al

SCHMUCK!!!!!!

A store sign on Bahnhofstrasse (a shopping street in Zurich) which I found particularly interesting...

SCHMUCK - what does it REALLY mean??

Slang of the Week: schmuck (noun) obnoxious person or fool
Example: Not only was I late for the movie, but some schmuck had parked his Corvette diagonally across the last two parking spaces. I'll bet it was the same guy who answered his cell phone during the love scene.

Celebrity quote: "I see it more as a silent comedy in the style of Buster Keaton, the kind of film where you see a poor schmuck trying to go with his life despite all the humilations and disappointments that come with it."-Jack Nicholson on the movie About Schnmidt
My charming colleague Michele recently took a trip to Austria, where she was shocked to see "schmuck" stores. After asking a friend, she discovered that they don't sell schmucks there (at least not the American kind) - they were jewelry stores. But both of these meanings come from the same root.

Originally, schmuck meant decoration or ornament in German. It's easy to see how that would become a word for jewelry, but what about the other meaning? In Yiddish (a language related to German, spoken primarily by European Jews), schmuck means penis, and you can still use it this way, though it's less usual than the first meaning. Apparently at one time, a man's schmuck was considered decorative. This is similar to the slang expression family jewels (testicles.)

Many Yiddish speakers moved to the United States, and we adopted a lot of their slang. Eventually, like other "dangerous" body parts (ass, dick, etc.) schmuck became an insult for people. Of course, because of it's Yiddish meaning, it is considered offensive by some people (though not very.) If you're concerned, you can always use the more polite variation schmo (also schmoe) instead for fool.

SO, would you want to name your store 'Schmuck'?? I'd think again, mate....

x suannie

Zurich - private banking capital of the world?

Pic 1 (top): Chagall stained glass at the Fraumunster cathedral
Pic 2 (bottom): Dwarfed - Liz & midget suannie (the pic is quite deceiving - I'm MUCH SHORTER!!!) @ Limmat River

Guten tag my fellow biatches! I’m back from Zurich – nice, relaxing holiday but I had to work some, which was a pain in the ar*e. I went with my mate Liz (I know now, what a dwarf feels like – check out the pic) whom I hadn’t really seen in the last year since she started working for a bank (bankers!!! What are they like – I bet you worst than accountants!). We had good fun touring the rather small city – it’s basically divided into two – the north of Limmat River (which is the old part of the town, ie the ‘soul’ of the city) and the south of the Limmat River (which is basically the financial district, ie the ‘engine’ of the city). The Limmat River runs into Lake Zurich, which apparently is the third largest in Switzerland, or Europe ( I didn’t pay much attention during the tour!).



Cafe Odeon -Legendary Bohemian landmark that's had countless eccentric artists and intellectuals in its red leather banquettes - not to mention the odd fascist. Mussolini apparently knocked them back in here before the Second World War. (And Lenin did before the first.) It's a cosy, classy, intimate café that does great lunches and fine cocktails Style is turn-of-the century art nouveau; there are cute banquettes to sit in; a curved wooden bar to order at, and pavement tables outside for summer sun.


Shopping in the old part of the town - cobblestoned pavements and all...

The city is small, and with that comes less pollution, better air to breathe and drink-able water from taps. We thought we got quite a bargain – 4 days for £300 inclusive of flight & accommodation, BUT we didn’t factor in the cost of living there – 0.5 litre of Evian bottled water costs CHF3.40 which is c.£1.60 which is around US$2.80 which is around RM10.30. On average, our meals cost about £30 (US$54/RM 200) per person (fuh fuh fuh CRAZY!!!!) All the translations are for the benefit of you lot who are all over the place. Sorry I didn’t include Aussie dollars or HK dollars – too much maths for me!!! (Hey J, are you still working on the suduko puzzles??? Let me know when you’ve run out & I’ll get you more! Eheheee)


Fresh water from the Alps....

All in all, we had a great time – money well spent. We got our relaxing girly-girl holiday, and the freshest air to breathe for 4 whole days!!! No rich old men/private bankers in sight (they were pretty discreet if they were there!!), but then again, it was the Easter weekend - they must be splurging in Milan or NY or some exciting place. So no nice catches for both Liz and I. Sigh. Maybe another time.

x suannie

My new mug

So, I went to Josh Ritter's concert a few days ago at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY and all the tickets sold had numbers on them because they were going to conduct a raffle, and they actually called my number. It's the first time I've actually won a raffle (or anything, for that matter), so I'm very proud of my new mug:





My new mug in front of a nut roll (is it a Jewish dessert? I think it's for Passover).

Isn't it lu-ver-ly?


/J

Yummy-Greasy-Gooey-Hit-the-Spot-FrieEEeedd-Oysters

Check in Al



Firstly, Happy Easter Sunday everyone. It's also the Pope's birthday.. so Happy Birthday to him too. :) Wish i was in Rome to celebrate it with him. :P

Anyway, the upcoming week is gonna be one heck of a week. Meetings, datelines and datelines. I foresee overtime galore. So, what better to prepare oneself for a new week of work, work, work and work. with a nice hit-the-spot plate of FRiiieeedddd Oysters. Yumms. I wanna say that it's Penang style (thats the only style i know btw), but it's not. For one thing.. the oysters we get here are bigger then my head. Hehe. I know i know, i was suppose to bake the chocolate ganache cupcakes. Instead, atr some cocoa puff to soothe my chocolate cravings and decided on Oysters! I don't understand why some "people" don't like oysters. OYSTERS, ok! It's sexy, one of a kind and has such depth of flavor...!! (Not crazy on oyster shots though.)

Hope you guys are all well.... (I think the Malaysian biatches are too bz eating good food to blog, whilst all of us have to make it ourselves..!)

Ok, so here's the recipe. FYI to everyone, I cook based on the "agak-agak" theory. So.. use ur measurements to taste!!

Ingredients:
Oysters, Eggs, Starch, Spring Onions, Oil, Garlic, Fish Sauce (or salt) and white pepper

Preparation:
Oysters - rinse and drain oysters. Cut them if necessary. Oysters should be the size of ur thumb. Sprinkle a tablespoon of starch powder to oyster and mix. (The starch helps the oysters to stick to the eggs)
Starch Water - Add more starch and mix it with water, spring onions (chopped), fish sauce (if you dont use/have fish sauce use salt. Try not to use soy sauce. Since its a seafood dish, fish sauce makes alot of difference) and white papper and put aside. The starch water should be runny. A cup of water to a large tablespoon of starch or so.
Eggs: Beat Eggs (Use about 1.5 eggs per serving), add some fish sauce/salt and white pepper to taste.

Cooking:
Heat oil in a large flat skillet. Add garlic (Yes, Suan, more the better). Add one cup of starch water. Take the skillet handle and move/spread the starch water around. Let it cook for a minute. It will bubble bubble a little.. Do not touch it, ok. Add oysters - spread it individually all over the starch on the pan. Let it cook. Then, if you like it crunchy.. let it cook longer till the bottom browns. If you like it runny and gooey, immediately add eggs. (this is entirely optional, but, my brother adds Tabasco sauce right here with the eggs. Sounds weird, but i swear, its really extra yummy) Let it cook another minute. Now you can take ur wok chan and move things around. When eggs are cooked (maybe even a little brown), its ready. Voila. For garnish, sprinkle chopped spring onions on top.

Voila!! Yummy-Greasy-Gooey-Hit-the-Spot-FrieEEeedd-Oysters...!

Enjoy! 

my little incident

check in : Al

So. This isn't even funny. Things like these only become funny after the fact. And, i should point out, it was only 75% my fault (the 25% being my brother).

Last Sunday, was in my car getting ready to go out to the market with mum, when i realized something amiss - that being the key to the stering lock/club was missing. dang. (Before i go on, i should tell you that i had already misplaced the spare key when i first bought it in 99) And so, ran back to the house in a panic.... couldnt find the dang key of course (Used the Maxima to go out instead - with my brothers beady eyes staring down at me of course). So, spent a couple of days trying to look for the dumb key. A couple of days being 5 days that is. We wouldnt give in to the the FACT that the key is gone. Asked the TWO office janitor and the security guy (who looks like the guy from Green Mile btw) and the garage guy. Brother even posted up posters. All to look for the dumb key. Finally, we gave in on Wednesday. I called AAA asked them to come to fix this dumb problem. Of course AAA thought i had problems with my ignition and such - the usual car couldnt start problems. But nope, my problem was far stupider. (In the meantime, had a collegue from the office asking me to drive over the his house and he can somehow magically pry it open. HELLO! Stering lock!?!?! Gosh. Like i didnt have enough stress.)

And so, AAA came.. i should say the "special" locksmith guy came in his little AAA van, backed up near my car, whipped his AAA electric cutter thing out..asked for a wet towel to cover the stering from the sparks... starts zipping through the lock. In 30 seconds he's done. My stering lock is in two. Ask for the $20 payment (AAA pays $60 - Imagine, if i didnt have AAA, i'd have to pay $80 for 30 seconds work. !@#!!!!! What a rip off) and zips out. And that it.

Moral of the story. If you loose the spare key.. replace the dang stering lock. If still in the unlikely event become as dumb as me, REMEMBER, you need a wet towel to protect the seat too! (Have a little black mark on my seat now from the sparks. Luckily it's just the Accord. If it was the Maxima, i would have been skinned alive like those frogs i see in the Chinese supermarket.)

Of course, since my Honda got broken into once (some stupid cow tried to steal my car. Broke my ignition and everything.. but the stupid cow was not successful at it. Left a BIG mess for me to enjoy when i came back from KL last yeaR), my beloved brother insisted i get another stering lock immediately. Now I have a new $30 stering lock that is heavier then an anvil from Road Runner, summore got blinking red LED lights to stimulate a car alarm system. Heheheh. Are theives really that dumb? hehehehe..

Ok. Talk to u biatches later.

My AAA guy zipping through the lock.


My stering lock in two after 30 seconds. Makeme think.. does these things really work????
 

FTS!!!!!!!! I want to go on STRIKE!!!

Check in: A very bored accountant git

Can accountants go on strike??? Anyway, my fellow biatches, it's close to the end of the day, and I have SO MUCH MORE WORK TO DO but I don't want to do it.

This is how I feel at the moment:

up your big fat ar&e!!!


Feck this shit (FTS) - our office motto.

I don't think I can take this any longer. My report is WAY overdue and I just want to go home & sleep. HELP. I'm going to do a bit of research about accountants going on strike.

x suannie 

Bored at work....

CHECK IN: SUAnNie

Oi, biatchy lot, WHERE THE *BEEP* ARE THE REST OF YOU???????

Am so very bored at work at the moment (again, AL, I DO NOT SECRETLY LIKE MY JOB!) and since I’m going to be in Zurich during the Easter hols, thought of a short contribution before I get back to writing this report that was due yesterday (ack!!!!!!!).

Here are some pics of my workmates & I, after a particularly heavy night of drinking...sorry, no pics of us dancing the electric bugaloooooooooo...ahahaah

SLOSHED #1
SLOSHED #2

My very very sloshed mates and I…absolute funny ass people when they are drunk out of their wits. However, ability to be hilarious is near NIL when at work. Boring accountant gits. (Check Mary out -she's the girl in black).

And finally...

Check out al's lovely legs (don't play play, she won the 'miss hiao por international' OK?) -We were both back in KL for Chinese New Year, and coincidentally, Austin (al’s luvva boy) is a Lotus car owner, AND jamie (who’s now in the car industry and learning to love cars like a typical boy’s obsession) both had invitations to some ‘meet the Lotus car owners’ club at the Sepang F1 circuit. Obviously that was TOO good an opportunity to pass, and I went along with Jaims (like a scrub, but at least I'm admitting it OK) and met up with Al & Austin there….check out our BEST modelling shot of the DAY.

OK - Suan’s on the food blog bandwagon! All on board???

my fellow biatches...how are you lot? i am working like a mad-ass dawg here, but i thought this was too good to miss - i'm so craving for some now!!!!

Alvin’s yummy hokkien fried mee (slurp slurp)

Ingredients (don’t worry too much about the weight etc, I just put what I feel like, so this may not be 100% accurate):
· 6-7 cloves of garlic (depending on how you love garlic – I absolutely LOVE it)
· 500g fat yellow noodles (tai lok meen – you can use Udon as a replacement, they’re good too! Remember to boil them in hot water first and then soak in cold water so that they retain their shape/form)
· 150g meat (pork or chicken)
· 150g medium prawns, shelled (leave tails intact)
· Optional - 100g other seafood, like squid
· 200g choi sum ( you may want to pre-fry with garlic & oil if your wok is not big enough – that’s what I do)
· 100g pork fat, cut into cubes and fried till crispy (keep the oil) – if you don’t like this, you can leave it out, otherwise, it does give the taste an EXTRA ZING!!!!

Seasoning:
· 1 tsp light soy sauce
· 1 tsp dark soy sauce (it has to be the Cheong Chan brand – the one with the orange label, you can’t miss it – Jan, that’s the one Stephie brought over for you)
· Salt to taste
· 1 tbsp oyster sauce
· 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine

Method
1) Marinade the meat in the seasoning above, and for the prawns, use a little bit of rice wine & pinch of sugar & soy sauce.
2) Use half of the lard (from frying the pork fat) & a bit of the garlic to fry the meat and prawns. Take out of wok & leave.
3) You can then clean the wok if you want to, but I don’t bother – all the juices are stuck onto it now, so it’ll make the noodles extra yummy!
4) Use other half of lard & garlic to fry the noodles. Add dark soy sauce (thick & goo-ey) – I usually pour the bottle around the noodles twice (you see-lar how black your want your noodles to be). Add cooked meat & prawns & pre-cooked veggies into the wok, and GORENG!!!! You can add some oyster sauce if you like, but the secret from the Ah Kau from Petaling Street, is a small lil pinch of sugar after you’re through with frying the noodles.

VOILA!!!!! Cooking DONE!!!! Add the crispy lard cubes before dishing up the noodles.
HOW easy is that????? It’s so yummy though. Definitely my FAVE of FAVES!!!! OH and remember the cut red chillis/scotch bonnets/whatever spicy thing you can get your hands on & soy sauce. Better yet, if you have the 'lat chiu yau' (chilli oil), it goes best with this!!

- NO PICS YET OK? I’m sure you all can imagine what it looks like – for those ppl NOT in KL, I’m sure you can even TASTE it now…

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

Check in : Al

Okay.. Janice is a genius.... hence, i think she deserves a nobel prize. And, no offence Jan, but, i didnt you could cook so so well. Your pasta looked EXTRA yummy (especially when i only had a piece of toast this morning. Oh shoot. Which reminds me, i have my multivitamin in my coat pocket. Was rushing this morning.. didnt have time to eat right.) So, back to Jan, just looking at the yummy pasta (and yes, Habanero is one killer ingredient. We grow them on my balcony. Also grow curry leaves - very essential stuff, tomatoes, thai chilles, spring onions, basil leaves and attempting to grow rosemary) Oh yeah.. the yummy Pasta... it's really enticing me to come visit you! :) YUMS!!!!! And yeah, it's really all about food with me. A true true wai-sek-gwai.

Today is the 15th of the month - chinese calendar.... so, got to eat vegetarian... So, dinner tonight would either be some taufu dish or some loh-hon-chai dish. Which is all good with me. As for lunch, we have a kitchen in my office. It's also a pretty private kitchen - only about 5 of us use it. But, i use it the most and try to make the most of it. I eat in everyday (only the occasional extra thick and yummy chocolate milkshake from jack-in-the-box, which i should also write a blog about "Milkshakes at Fast food joints".) So, lunch is usually a supped-up ramen. Since we don't get Maggi here, only Nissin ramen ok! No cheap ramens for me..! And don't anyone dare say eating too much ramen ain't good for u... because my ramen meal will also include some sort of protein in the ramen (chunks of chicken breasts or egg) and definately lots of veggies. Sometimes as a treat, some enoki mushrooms. YUMSSSS :) But today, lunch menu is pesto and artichoke pasta with garlic bread. (I make one helluva garlic bread) Will try to get a picture and post it.. if i remember that is.

Anyway, since Janice posted one heck of a pasta recipe (which i till try VERY soon, thank you very much), I saw this recipe on TV last night. It looked extra good and I know Suan will definately enjoy it. I will probably try it this weekend (coz baking takes a little more effort.. we don't usually have baking ingredients like heavy cream at hand). But, I'm posting it for anyone else to try. It's a recipe for Chocolate Ganache cupcakes. It's from a lovely lady on Food Network and her name is Ina Garten and her show's name is Barefoot Contessa. (Janice, don't know if you have cable, but Food Network is one heck of a channel) So here it is. Enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
1/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup (recommended: Hershey's)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the ganache: 1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
Candied violets, for decoration, optional

Line muffin pans with 12 paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cupcakes will be tough. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let the cupcakes cool thoroughly in the pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Dip the top of each cupcake in the ganache. Decorate with candied violets, if desired. Do not refrigerate.

Today's dinner

Why don't we turn this into a food blog, since Al likes food so much, and Val only posts about food or alcohol, and Suan and Jian take photos of their lunch? Maybe more will jump on the bandwagon then.

Linguine in White Clam Sauce:



6 table spoons extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic bulb
1 habenero pepper or five thai green chillis (Yes, one of these is equivalent to five chili padis. Super potent stuff)
1 bunch parsley
1.5-2 cups white wine (I use a cooking chablis, which is already salted)
3/4 pound clams (you're really supposed to use little neck clams for vongole, but I used steamers and they turned out fine)
1/2 pound mussels
6 plum roma tomatoes
1 packet linguine

1. Mince garlic and chilli. Fry thoroughly in olive oil on medium heat (make sure garlic doesn't burn).
2. Throw in diced roma tomatoes.
3. Add white wine.
4. Add clams and mussels (make sure you've cleaned them, or you'll be eating sand. To clean: soak for an hour in cold water and lift them up carefully. Sand will have dropped to the bottom of the bowl.)
5. Add half bunch of the parsley (chopped roughly). Close lid of wok/pot and wait until clams and mussels fully cook. (They're fully cooked when opened. If any don't open, chuck them--they were dead before the cooking began.)

While doing step (1) of above, put large pot of water on boil. Add plenty of salt and some oil. When boiling, add one packet linguine. Boil till al dente.

Ideally, clams and mussels should finish cooking at the exact time when pasta turns al dente.

6. Drain pasta, reserving half-cup of pasta water.
7. Chuck drained pasta into the wok with clams. Add the rest of the chopped parsley. Mix thoroughly.
8. Taste broth--if not salty enough, add pasta water.
9. Serve with plenty of fresh black pepper.

Serves 4
Preparation + Cooking time: 45 minutes

/J

Slowly jumping on the blogging bandwagon?

Check in: Suan

Another week passes and more sh*t happens at work, but what can I say? Life as an accountant is as boring & uneventful and I’m not going to bore you guys with that crap so I’m not going to go on about my job now!!! A good mate at work was leaving (on to greener pastures, perhaps?) so we reserved a whole floor of a club/bar last Thursday and had a great time silly dancing to really cheesy music. We had to BEG the DJ to play cheesy pop – apparently they “don’t play that type of music in this bar because it seemed ‘uncool’” yea, whatever…a little coaxing and ‘sweet talking’ and 10 minutes later, a bunch of boring accountant gits were dancing to madonna’s ‘Hung Up’…I had a great time dancing the electric bugaloo, moon walking, disco & robot dancing (you would have thought I was so drunk out of my wits, but really, I wasn’t) I was just being goofy (yes, I haven’t changed at all!)… Went to a few comedy gigs this weekend – went to see ‘Raw – American Comedy Uncut’ at the UCL Bloomsbury & Margaret Cho at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Raw was bloody amusing. There were 4 stand up comedians who were just absolutely hilarious, Alvin and I were pissing ourselves silly. I like the fact that I grew up to American TV and am working in London right now – you sort of get the best of both worlds in terms of sense of humour. I love the dry wit of british humour, but American comedy can be so funny, especially if you don’t want to think too much and want to just forget about the crap around you! Here's something I thought was funny:

Little boy goes round to neighbour’s house, knocks on door.

Woman opens door.

Little boy: Lady, can I have some coochee?

Woman: No, you may not.

Little boy goes back home.

Next day, little boy goes round the neighbour’s house again, and knocks on door. Woman opens door.

Little boy: Lady, will you give me some coochee today?

Woman: No, you may not, now go home and don’t ask me that again. Same thing happens for the next 3 days.

Fast forward to Day 5, when little boy goes round the neighbour’s house. Woman tells her hubby that little boy has been coming round for her coochee. Hubby who doesn’t believe, takes the day off to hear little boy ask the question in person.

Little boy: Lady, will you give me some coochee today?

Woman: No, you may not. Why do you keep asking me that? (her hubby is behind the door, listening)

Little boy: Oh, I don’t know what a coochee is, but your husband always comes around asking my mommy for hers, so I thought I could ask for yours!!!!!

Totally unrelated, but this joke reminded me of the boy: http://www.wimp.com/funnyfatty

Anyway, before I go, here’s quite a good ‘sweet revenge’ tale by Margaret Cho who was re-telling a story of when she was at some lesbian get together, and there was all this ‘Bush bashing’, eg how Bush was very much like Hitler, and Margaret was like, hey, Bush will ONLY be like Hitler if he applied himself’, after which, apparently she got all these hate emails from every Bush-loving American (BLA) saying she was a ‘chink* c*nt & a fat dYk*’ and she retaliated by posting their emails, ALONG with their contact details (ie email adds/ phone numbers etc) on her website…if anyone here knows Margaret Cho, she has a big big big support system in the form of the gay & lesbian community who obviously did not sit their as*ses down & watch their fave comedienne get slated, and so, they then bombarded emails to these very rude BLA’s until the BLA’s couldn’t take it anymore and begged her to stop the flood of gazillion emails from her loyal fans defending her righteousness. she calls this the al-gay-da movement. haha. Serve them BLA's right. Revenge can indeed be sweet huh?. She’s a funny lady – certainly had us in stitches. Check out her blog – it’s quite an interesting read if you guys have nothing to do (although, looking at the rate this everyone’s blogging, I can tell that you guys are too busy to even Sh*t!!!)

Now to go back to doing my yearly appraisal (cr*p, cr*p, cr*P) – al, I do NOT secretly like my job OK? :P

The Travel Bug Blogs

Check In: Jian

I have to confess - jetlag is the only reason driving me to write this! :P Since it was so well publicised by Suan and Al - I just got back from my travels once again. Everytime I make a trip like this and return to the real world - I kick myself for not having the guts to make travelling my career! Yes, alright I am already travelling quite a bit for this job but not enough!!!!

So I started my travels in San Francisco for about 2 nights. Was my 3rd visit there - last time I was there was with Al and I'm sure she won't make me forget how I coerced her into walking all those uphills and downhills!! But Al - you have to admit all those views we captured were well worth it!!! Anyhow, this time around I finally made it to Alcatraz which was a truly one-of-a-kind experience!

Then it was off to Chicago for a week's worth of training. Back to good ole St Charles which is about an hour outside Chicago. Training was really useful this time around - it is always refreshing to get together with people from offices around the world because you start to realise that the same shit happens everywhere!!! PLUS had some serious good fun the whole week after hours too - the training centre's well equipped with a 'Social Centre' which is essentially an inhouse pub - believe it or not the best fun was watching the newbies (who were there for some other training) making a fool of themselves!

I happened to be in Chicago/ St Charles on the first official day of spring and guess what - it snowed! So believe you me, Jan, I know how it's like for you! Anyway, after training, spent a night downtown Chicago and then it was off to see Al in LA!

Always good fun to visit Al - you guys should do it sometime really!! She's a great host - knows where best to shop, eat but doesn't really know how to make dining reservations at popular restaurants!!!! :P So she gets all excited that we might try Monday lunch at The Ivy - and I ask her if we should call ahead to make reservations. She says nah, lunch on a weekday we should be fine. So Monday 12.30pm we call the restaurant - can we make a reservation for 1.15 (now she calls!!!) ? Silence on her end...then oh nothing till 3??!?!? Lesson learnt huh Al?

Darn thing was I got seriously sick once I arrived at LA - must have been the cold and late nights in Chicago! Never been so ill in the last 5 years and I had to fall so ill on the first day of my holiday!!!!#$^&%

Then after about 4 nights I think it was off to Madrid transiting in London for about 2 hours. If any of you get a chance to access the British Airways Lounge in Heathrow - try the showers!! They have 'Hand Showers' - ahhaha..I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out what those are!

Madrid was interesting - was a little trying since I was still sick but I still walked about as much as possible despite coughing and sniffing away! Good thing the Europeans and Americans are not as hung up on Bird Flu as they are in this part of the world - else I'd have been quarantined! But me being me, I covered the Old City from north to south, east to west in 2 days!!!

Then me and my 2 big luggages (:) - refer to Suan's entry) made our way to London which was my last stop on this round-the-world trip of mine.

Suan's the funniest hostess ever - if you ever need a good laugh and break from the mayhem of the world - head out to Suan's!! Just 2/3 nights in London with her and you're guaranteed to forget the worries of the world - like that 'spoonful of sugar' shit from Mary Poppins y'know? I finally managed to catch The Producers this time around so I was glad - tried to get tickets when I was there over New Year's but as it was peak season then, I couldn't get any! Other than that, Suan's entry pretty much summarised the highlights of my stop in London.

All in all it was a much-needed break and I could have done with more time in each stop. Had originally planned for a full week holiday in US and then another full week in Europe - making it 3 weeks away from work but sigh..work being work wouldn't let me have it so I had to cut it short.

So my bank account's much much lighter thanks to this trip but worth every penny, euro, dollar! (p.s. a word of travel advice, if you ever make a trip overseas covering many cities, make sure you let your credit card company know where you are - or maybe it's just a stupid KL thing - it's the 3rd bloody year I've had to call them up a few times during the trip to assure them my card was not used in fraud!!!)

Suan and Al, thank you both so much again for putting up with me - I seem to bug the both of you almost every year and I hope I'm not becoming too much of an annual bother!! :D. You should come out to HK sometime and let me play host for once!!

(OK - so there - I have contributed to the Blog, Al & Suan!!)

Check in @ 12.24 p.m.

Since Allison and Suan have gone to all this trouble, I figured I should post something. So:

Trivia #1:

I have to attend a lecture by a guest speaker, Simon Jarvis (Senior Lecturer at Cambridge), at 5:00 p.m., titled "Is there a Philosophy of Verse?"

Trivia #2

I am currently listening to Unkle Bob's "The Hit Parade" and Josh Ritter's "Girl in the War," introduced to me by my favourite radio programme. (OK, the only radio programme I more or less religiously follow: Iain Anderson of Radio Scotland.)

Trivia #3

The night before last, a group of friends and I gathered for the express purpose of improving our French auditory comprehension--in other words, it's pretty much a French movie group. We watched a movie misleadingly titled Look at Me (misleading because the original French title is Comme Une Image), a gem of a comedy about a charmingly self-centered, neglectful father, and his fat, neglected daughter whom he characterizes as "anger on wheels."

Last night, I watched Brokeback Mountain. After having missed it when it was released in the cinemas, missed it when it was re-released in the run-ups to the Oscars, and missed all the angry hype about it when it didn't win Best Picture at the Oscars, I apparently also missed its point after finally watching it. Can anyone say slow (read: boring), sappy, and sentimental? Heath Ledger's mumbling, so widely-acclaimed, also meant that I couldn't hear half of the film (the Heath Ledger half). For those interested, Ang Lee's other gay movie is much better.

Trivia #4

I sleep at home, but live here:

OK, not in the tower. The building to the left, which is Olin Library, one of the two humanities libraries at Cornell.

Trivia #5 (best for last)

Upon doing some research into Malaysian restaurants in NYC, on account of a quick upcoming sojourn there to catch the last of a Goya exhibition at the Frick, I discovered a restaurant there named Proton Saga. Should I risk it?

Trivia #6 (post-scriptum)

It's friggin' April and still barely more than zero degrees here. Where, oh where, is global warming?

Check out: 12.43 p.m. /J

tuesday nights..

check in: Al

So, suan was telling me there were problems uploading pictures. It was way too long.. and she had problems uploading multiple pictures... I think i might have found a "slight" solution. For those of u using Picasa, you can select the pictures you want (use ctrl for multiple pics), and click on "Blog this" at the bottom of the page.... sign in.. and it will go straight to this blog site. A little faster and a little easier....but it still takes relatively long to upload. (Thats how i uploaded the pic above - that was when i was in Florence last Sept.)

Just had a chance to chat with Steph... and we both agreed that we had nothing to blog about... Blogless. Life here is pretty much just work, eat, sleep, work, eat sleep and some shopping in the weekends.... but, sometimes i do try to sprinkle in some brushing teeth and watching tv inbetween the work, eat sleep. Still, i am happy - that i'm even able to sleep. From the looks of it, jian and suan don't even have a chance to sleep. :P Those two biatches are truly workaholics. :) For me, a 10 hour workday is an eternity....!!

So, i know jian works like heck and shops like hell...! Is the eternal globe trotter.. and looks a helluva lot better now that she put on some weight.. (she's one hot chick now! watch out Malaysia's Next Top Model!) She no longer just eat cornflakes and actually enjoys a good bown of yummy pasta. She came to visit me about two weeks ago.. actually.. she came to shop.. and just needed somewhere to crash! :P She also brought a chinese virus and because of her i had to call in sick (which btw has never happened since i started working... at least not intentionally that is). As usual, we had a blast shopping.. spent a years pay in one day and probably now have to apply for welfare.... but luckily.. they were all great buys! So.. am not even a little bit regretful. :) (Jian, still cant wait for this darn rain to stop, the sun to come out and wear those hot skirts we got from Max studio!!!) :)

As for Suan, the last time i saw her was in KL. Shes working her bootie off at her accounting job.. and looks like she's having lots of fun... though she'll never admit it. Everytime when i get a chance to chat with her.. she gets caught by her boss.. and out comes her tiu nia mah chau hais. heheheh. I finally went to visit her in london last year.. before going to Europe.. as usual.. we had a blast.. eating great food (if you guys go visit her... you should ask Alvin to bring u eat crabs with that salted egg stuff.. YUMMY!), shopping and did a wee bit of culture... culture not as important as food and shopping..hehe. In KL, met up with her and jian a couple of times.. mamaking (great fried fish) and we went to a track day at sepang and had also met up with Jamie. We were quite goofy then... suan and jamie were modelling like those jap chics.. u know? Also went to visit her house for CNY... actually the real reason we went there was for the Ang Pows and good food lah. (Yes, it's still always about the food with me).

Now to Esther.. met up with her a couple of times too in kl. As far as i know, she's still busy consulting. When i was in KL, if you go out with her, must make appointment wan u know. :) Had asked her out for lunch once, but ended up having breakfast a la bodega in bsc.. cause she had to go for a seminar and pick up a check. Made me feel so inferior lah.. i never get to say things like, "sorry, im booked. Seminar at noon. Pick up my big fat check too!" hehehhe. :) Oh, for those of u who don't know, Esther straigtened her hair.. and looks like another hot chick.. That chick got manicure, pedicure... spend a FORTUNE on foundation... and looks hot hot hot. VaVaVoom! :) I consider myself pretty lucky lah.. hair oredi straight.. can't imagine going through all that beauty regimen.. :) Pedicure and manicure for me consists of my scholl nail clipper and my brother hanging around to nibble on my cut nails.. hehehehhe.. kidding kidding.. must add a little drama, no? :)

I met with Lara once in Telawi Street Bistro. Another bz chick i tell u.... whats with you all lah.. work so damn hard... take it easy mannnn.. laze around lah.. do nothing.. waste your life abit mah.. don't make me feel so bad about myself :) Anyway, Lara doesnt look like she aged one bit.. she still have that youthful look and still looks so adorable :) Lara, hear you're doing the big move to Sydney to the end of the year... bests of lucks!!! Try not to kill stephanie too quickly, ok? Make sure you use all ur CSI skills to the best.. remember to wear gloves and all u know.. dig a shallow grave.. so that the dingos can smell her and hopefully eat up the evidence.. know what i mean? :P Nyway... best of lucks.. hopefully will able to see you before u leave? maybe?

Hmm.. who else.. I don't know what the hell happened to Janice. I only hear from her when she is transiting in LAX and want to meet up for lunch/dinner. We catch up for two hours, she leaves her jacket at the restaurant, just before she's about to give the officer her passport i'd scream at her asking her where her jacket is, she'd jump in absolute shock, speechless for a bit then will realize she left it in the restaurant, we'd run back to the restaurant, the jacket would usually still be there, we'd pick it up, and go back to her boarding the plane again. HEhe.. from the looks of it, despite being the next nobel prize winner, janice is still janice, will always leave a jacket and a little bit blur-blur. :) Good ol jan!

Then there is steph.. i have not talked to her for AGES.. until 2 hours ago that is. :) She's all happy that Suan knighted her with Honorary Bitch. Don't get to excited ok Steph.. honarary bitch means u are the lowest ranking bitch, meaning, you run errands for us.. u know.. buy nasi lemak for us in the morning.. steal ciggs for us when we are low in cash.. do all the dirty jobs. OK? As usual.. she's still dorky as ever. I havent talked to her in years maybe, first thing she said was "I want a polo shirt. With a big big horse!" If i didnt know Steph as well as i do, that would have sounded like she was flirting with me. :P hehehe.. But, she is only an honarary bitch for a reason.. her innocence and dorkiness. :)

As for Val, errr.. i keep up with Val's life from her blog... purejade something something. (I bookmarked it u know.. u better be honored) I don't know 90% of the ppl she talks about though.. but her blog is pretty interesting lah.. and she always talks about food.. so thats a big plus. Hehe. Keep up the good work Val.. i especially like ur pasar malam foods. :) Val also looks helluva great.. she looks like one of those SEXY japanese anime.. always with the big eyes and the sexy pose... and the boobages lah.. the boobages are essential element lah :) Val, i don't really know what u are doing now.. i know ur not with BI anymore.. so.. no more employee discount. DAMN! :) You should go work for Forever 21 lah.. i hear they are opening one in KL..... if you do and get a employee discount.. i swear i'd be ur best friend for life! :)

ok.. thats all i know about the comings and goings of everyone. As for me.. next blog lah.. :) tired oredi.. I AM still sick ok.. remember that darn chinese bug jian brought???!!!!

oh, one last thing, YOU GUYS BETTER DAMN START BLOGGING!

lotsa love, al 

rainy days and sundays

Check in: Jian & Suan



jian's here in london for a few days (the eternal globe trotter just flew in from chicago-LA (where spent time with fellow biatch al)-madrid and is feeling a bit sh*te coz she's down with the flu)...how she managed to lug her 2 huge bags from LA to madrid to London totally amazed me...anyway, this is a post from the both of us, to start the ball rolling - we would LOVE to see some entries from the rest of you lot...) Check out Jian's luggage - all 41 kg's of it!!!



today was a typical day in london - REaLLY REALLY wet, dull and grey (although we were blessed with intermittent sunshine) - so we decided to do a bit of museum hopping (being the very cultured biatches) we are...HOWEVER, we woke up at around noon and only got to leave the flat at around 2pm hungry... and so started a series of detours... Detour no. 1: Carluccio's, italian resto, somewhere off oxford street..we had spaghetti vongole (yum Yum)... there was a particulary gorgeous maitre d' who caught suan's eye (yum yum yum). lunch was good, but it wasn't quite enough, so we both shared more yummy dessert - chocolate and kahlua pudding with vanilla ice cream & some sorbet too...





Detour no. 2: By the time we left Carluccio's it was already 4pm...walking towards Trafalgar Square from lower Oxford Street can be quite a bore so we decided to go into Zara (a picture of a dress caught both our attention) - that was when it started going downhill...we spent more than an hour looking and trying on clothes and when we finally paid up (jian got 2 pairs of shoes, a shirt dress and a satin top, and i got 3 tops which i will never be able to wear in british weather, a dress and a work blouse) it was nearly 5.30pm - time flies when you're having fun!!!!! we were never going to make it to t-square by 6pm, so on to the next stop (which was 2 mins away!) we went!!

Detour no. 3: H&M - last minute shopping frenzy before the store closed - we managed to still buy 3 items each (jian got pj's and 2 tops and i managed to find a lovely skirt, PJ's and some sleveless kimono-inspired top)..arghghghg...i ALWAYS go mad when i'm shopping with jian - it's like some force (the shopaholic force of jian) comes over me and i just buy buy buy!!!!



Highlight of the day: In the evening we went for a 'Haunted tour of london' which started off at the Monument tube station and then ended at st. pauls...it was quite an interesting walk lasting about 2 hours - the guide was a willem dafoe lookalike who was a very detailed storyteller - the word "tips" apparently originated from the first coffee house in london, which was quite popular in those days (nothing has changed then!) and they had to leave a box outside the coffee house which was labelled 'To Insure Prompt Service' for customers to put some money in so that they could get their coffee ASAP...there were other random bits of 'oh, how interesting' facts such as the phrase 'saved by the bell' came from when people were afraid of being buried alive and so, coffins were made to have bells which were connected above ground and if these bells were rung, it meant that whichever coffin they were connected to had an alive person in there...can't remember all the random snippets, but we won't bore you guys any longer!! OK, so it wasn't exactly a SCARY tour, but we had some fun nonetheless



Spooky...



check out suan's jap tourist wannabe pose)...



All in all, a good day spent - when are the rest of you lot coming to visit suan??

Biatchy Blogging

check in : Al

OK, so this was not my idea. Her biatchiness, aka Suan, suggested it. But, let's see how it goes. So far, there is only Suan and me, but her bitchiness asked to contact the Bitchy Bunch and hope they are up to it. Haven't been able to keep in touch with everyone much...

So, the picture is us in errr.... where were we again? Suan, help me out here..Some art museum in London lah. That's all I can remember. I am helluva bad with names. That chic is one dumbass biatch btw....



My mission this weekend is to get this thing up and working and getting in touch with the girls..

So be it..

o&o