Dissertations and Waterfalls

Yo folks,

Sorry I haven't been blogging--I've been swamped reading up on British political history between 1880-1945, and that's literally all I have been up to the past few weeks, in preparation for writing the first chapter of my dissertation. Man, if you think politicians these days are inept, check those guys out! As Oscar Wilde didn't say, "To have one world war may be regarded as a misfortune; to have two looks like carelessness."

I won't bore you with all that stuff, but it does account for the fact that I've done nothing at all besides sit in the library and read for the past few weeks, so I have nothing really to blog about. It's not bad being stuck here, though--Ithaca is super-nice in summer, or, as they say here, "Ithaca is Gorges." So I'll leave you all with the trail that I take up to campus whenever I feel like an uphill hike (about 20 minutes, through 5-6 waterfalls):

OH OH OH, and before I forget, check out this indie Swedish pop singer, who has written the catchiest song I've heard in ages, featuring...wait for it...HAND CLAPPING! Download or play "The Quiz" from Hello Saferide's myspace: www.myspace.com/saferide

Ok, so the lyrics are a bit rough, but give her a break--she's Swedish!

/J

Race for life - give give give!!!

me and my apt "i Love fat boys" t-shirt, running on the ex-Fiat factory test track


doing my stretches - i am becoming so inflexible these days!



futuristic looking helipad on the test track


ex-fiat factory test track - take 4

my fellow generous biatches,

i will be running two 5km races in early july - the second is for cancer research. if you feel like i deserve a bit of encouragement, please sponsor me - all the money goes to a very good cause and don't feel as if it's not enough. even £5 helps!

you can sponsor by clicking http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/suanong

thanks for your help and support!

suannie 

Turin - home of the Shroud

suan trying to get on a Vespa gracefully...



Resting place of the Holy Shroud - thought it was a hoax???


Reproduction of the Shroud


happy hour @ the bars - free tapas from 5-7pm!

hellOOooo my laksa making biatches,

how are you lot doing? i know you must be busy as usual, but please, please don't forget your friends here who regularly check the blog and always go away slightly disappointed because nothing new has been published...

i have been pretty shafted at work, but i managed to get away for 2 whole days to visit historic turin...it's a lovely city built mostly on baroque architecture - most of it is untouched - imagine, an ex-synagogue is now a museum of cinematic history, and an ex-Fiat factory now houses a huge shopping mall and a hotel. more about the Fiat factory later...

i managed to see where the shroud of turin is resting - it's not accessible now, apparently, they will display it in 2020. think it's because too many people have breathed on it or something - it is deteriorating fast!!

OOhh. the best thing about turin is the FOOD. yum yum yum. pasta galore!!!! a must try - squid ink pasta. it's THE BEST!

i had a good time walking around the city - it is very dispersed, so public transport is essential. it's pretty cheap though - i bought one of those touristy cards which allows you to travel and access to all the museums (there are 104 of them) free of charge...

let me know if you plan a trip there - i have all the travel books/maps/good advice on restos!

suannie 

Laksa Schmuksa

Ok. I promised Janice this. It’s no surprise everything is agak agak. But J said it was ok. She will agak agak til she gets it right!

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
Bean sprouts
Noodles – Mihun, Mee
Curry powder (about 2 cups)
Belacan (toasted and pounded to powder form)
Shallots (minced) LOTS!
Garlic (minced) LOTS!
Buah Keras (pounded)
Curry Leaves (bout 10)
Chili powder or paste (to your spiciness liking)
Tau-Fu-Pok
See-Ham or Mussels
Shrimp
Lemon Grass (one stalk)
Coconut milk or cream
Oil

Broth – Place chicken in pot and fill with water til cover chicken. Cook chicken, breast side down. Once water boils, turn down to medium heat and cook for half hour. Turn chicken and cook for another fifteen minutes. Turn off fire. Remove chicken from pot and let cool. Shred or chop chicken – to your liking.

Make a Curry Paste with curry powder, Salt or fish sauce (once again this is another recipe that should not use soy sauce), chilli powder, curry leaves, coconut milk or cream (about 3 tablespoons) and water – til a thick paste is formed.

Heat oil, cook garlic, shallots, buah keras, lemon grass and curry leaves til fragrant. Add Curry Paste and more coconut milk (another 3 tablespoons or so). Cook til red oil oozes out. (the coconut milk causes the red oil phenomena). Add belacan and fish sauce or salt. It’s okay to be a little salty here. Turn fire off. Save ¼ for dipping later.

The rest of the ¾ to make the Laksa soup.Add the cooked paste in broth. Add the rest of the coconut milk to taste. (Add as milky/thick as you like) Let boil. If you shredded the chicken, you can add the bones back in to the soup to boil for more taste. If you cooked mussels, add the broth in the soup. You can also add shrimp and you should also add the shrimp broth in. Add salt or fish sauce to taste. Add tau-fu-pok and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serving – Cook noodles and bean sprouts. Place in bowl, add Laksa soup. Add chicken, mussels and shrimp on top. Don’t forget you still have the ¼ cooked paste. You can put some on top or add it with lemon/lime juice as a dipping thing.

Enjoy!!!

~Al

Andrea Bocelli at the Bowl

When I first heard that Andrea Bocelli was to perform at the Hollywood Bowl, I knew that it would be an experience.. The Hollywood Bowl is an amazing amazing place to have a concert. Located in a valley, amidst the Hollywood mountains, the natural surroundings is simply beautiful. It's an old old place with hard wooden benches and abosolutely ancient numbering system. Even the font they use for the seat number is retro. But then, its also a very casual place to have a concert. The gwailos will bring their picnic baskets - filled with wine, plastic wine glasses, cheese, salads, sandwiches, cold fried chicken and some will even go the extent of bringing flowers in a vases! While the Asians will bring the Sushi and wine combo. (Me and Jian did that last August and we had an absolutely amazing time) As for me, we brought Chinese pastries - cakes and coconut buns. Then had peanuts and Chardonnay. Yums. :) Since its in the open, it's also cool when the sun sets (You can just imagine the view when the sun sets!), ppl bring blankets, coffee and hot chocolate - bundle up and get nice and cozy. All said, having a concert in summer at the Bowl is a MUST! :)

BTW - i didnt take the picture above. My trusty Sony camera was not sophisticated enough to take any clear pictures at dusk without a tripod. And sorry, no other pictures.. Damn hard to take ok with that dusk lighting!



The icing on the cake was that this time, its Andrea Bocelli kicking off his World Tour at the Bowl. I bought my tickets 3 months ago, 2 minutes after it officially went on sale. And even then, I didn't get the seats I wanted (I had originally plan for the $150 tickets - but ended up with the $75). Seems like the Bowl is so popular, the expensive tickets sell out first. Anyway, back to Andrea. I'm not sure if any of you guys are fans of his.. but after last night, I'm a way bigger fan then I ever was. He sounds truly truly raw and amazing.... and it seem to come so naturally to him. Without any extra effort, his voice overpowers anyone else singing with him. He sounds exactly like he does on CD. And last night's program was well chosen and gave me goosebumps (but maybe that was also because i had no blankie and the wind was blowing) He sung works from La Boheme, Tosca, Carmen and Il Trovatore. And to top that icing with powdered sugar, Katherine McPhee (WOOoooHHhhoooooo!!!) made a surprise appearence and sang two songs with him. Hehe. You can imagine how happy I was. And then, David Foster played the piano and Donald Trump made a short short apprearence. He then sung newer works like Funniculi, Funicula (which is not very new but got everyone hopping), Mamma, Besame Mucho (oOOohhh.. which was so so so romantic), The Prayer, Can't Help Falling in Love (which was very different but lovely lovely rendition), A Time to Say Goodbye and finshed off with my all time favorite - Nessum Dorma.

Sighhh... sigh sigh sigh sigh sigh.......

~Al

Rugby Sevens @ Twickenham!

This is no optical illusion - there was this GIANT inflated rugby ball which one of the event's organisers decided to throw at the spectators to keep us a bit distracted from the game!!! (Fijians are playing in the pitch)



Tunisians @ half time strategising. They lost unfortunately.


Kiwis - favourites to win - they have been series champions for the last 6 years. They lost to the Samoans who got into the finals against the Fijians.


Fijians - Series champions during the practice break. These are one bunch of FIT boys!

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My fellow biatches,

It has been a loOOoonng time since anyone blogged, and I'm guessing work is the mother culprit of all. I have been pretty busy too - a certain person I had been working with suddenly took off (suspected nervous breakdown) and I was left to clear the shit. Three weeks of running around trying to make things work, I am NEARLY at the end of the job (but not quite seeing the light at the end of the tunnel) . I am looking forward to next Thurs, when I'm off to Turin, Italy to check out the shroud that Leornardo supposedly made, and just to relax and enjoy Italian coffee (whoop dee doo - nothing but a caffeine fix every hour!).

Last weekend was spent at the rugby stadium in Twickenham - home to the England rugby players. Alvin, his dad & I were there for an average of 9 hours for both Saturday & Sunday, from about 11am to 8pm, watching 24 matches in all. The Rugby 7's are quite good for rugby virgins because they sort of keep you at the edge of your seat - the games are all very fast, about 15 mins each as there are 7 to a team...I had quite a lot of fun and was surprised that I actually enjoyed my time there, cheering for the underdogs of all games and just listening to banter of the crowd...the atmosphere is definitely so different compared to when you watch it at home - granted, you don't get SUNNED on for 6 hours straight leaving you looking like a red lobster (the guys at work asked me whether i spent the whole weekend tanning myself on a sunbed!)....

The weather in London has been exceptionally good - it has been so warm for the past week and a half and although I would love for it to last, I absolutely feel like a baked potato when I'm travelling in the tube - it's about 5-10 degrees warmer down there in the tunnels, and 100% more stuffier. People have been fainting (these kwai los obviously cannot deal with heat) and we've been advised to keep a bottle of cold water with us when we're travelling in the tubes.

It's about 1130pm now, and I've got to get back to work before I my early start at work tomorrow (SIGH!)...I will leave you with a big "HELLO, WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO?". This silence is NO GOOD. Al's last entry was about voting for some McPhee bird on American Idol!! C'mon guys, I'm sure you have something you want to tell your fellow biatches????

x
suannie