looking back....and forward!

What a year it has been, 2011! As I attempted to recall the highlights of yesteryear, I thank God for everything that had happened. In fact even amazed that the year had gone by so swiftly. And here I am, in my 'late 20's' now!

The biggest highlight of the past year has certainly got to be life with Justin. I treasure very much all the little adventures that we had with each other, friends and family. Those who know me would know that I used to be the worst Malaysian in the world - I never ate Malaysian food or even understood what the fuss was all about. Hated cooking too. Absolutely hated it. However in the past year, he's exposed me to so much food that I think I've even become a food snob!

I'd like to think that I now know my parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme!

Most times we're work in peace in the kitchen though. I promise! Helping him out with his food blog endeavours was plenty of fun too! As a dish washer, that is...

Went to The Script concert in Brisbane as well as spent time in the Gold Coast with Justin and my family! We had a hilarious bonding session over Cranium! I also had the chance to hangout with his family on numerous occasions.

Went on my first rogaining competition with the gang, finished 97th I think. Well, all in the name of charity!

Organised and shared a memorable birthday with Justin - with the company of good friends and good food of course!

Had an adventure of a lifetime in the great big US of A with dear friend and travel-buddy Lillian. Found myself feeling 'bleh' for the bustling cities of NYC and LA...

...and instead fell in love with the charming Boston and DC!

Of course, who can forget the multiple celeb-spotting, Michelin-starred restaurants and (mis)adventures?

Soon after Lillian and I parted ways, we met up weeks later again in Perth while I was on a training course. I enjoyed the little time we had with each other.

Justin and I also went to Melbourne for a 'makan' (eating) trip! Movida (pictured here), Nobu, Hardware Societe, Maze by Gordon Ramsay....yum!

Surfed (more like trying to stay afloat) for the first time with a bunch of friends...well, if you call 20 people 'a bunch'.

The duo of 'janiceandjustin' sang at our very first wedding! With Aaron our stoner of a drummer...

I also had the opportunity to sing solo for the very first time at our bi-annual concert at my singing school. :-) How very exhilarating it was! Having the support of Melissa and Justin in the audience was encouraging.

Went back to Kuala Lumpur for Chinese New Year with Justin and met ALL my family members on both mum and dad's sides! That's a rarity! Highlight was the chance to hangout with each other's families, and our families meeting one another! I really appreciated the time spent with them. Seeing old friends as well, everyone's grown up now! Except me, I'm still 4'11". Even my 'baby' niece is taller than me now...(but we all know she's still a baby inside!)

Being at a TAYLOR SWIFT concert with a bunch of girlfriends...that's priceless. It was magical. I thought I was fifteen again.

Now, I'm not sure what 2012 holds for me (though we're almost a quarter way through!) but I'm sure it'll be one that's full of excitement! Though, I must admit, despite friends here leaving Adelaide for 'greener pastures', our dwindling number has ironically brought us closer together. I can't imagine life without friends here in Adelaide. I always wondered though, what if there was no one left? Double :-(

Without a doubt there will plenty of 'foodie' adventures and hopefully we can revive our pseudo-music-making attempts! Career and faith-wise, I think I have much, much, much to learn. Though difficult at times, I want to believe that I will get there one day. The 'road is long and narrow' right?

One thing for sure, a few of us are going on another 'trip of a lifetime' and this time to Europe! The dates have been set and we're all super duper excited about it!

Au revoir!

the celebrity experience

Okay, for 'effect', play this video and read on! It's such a lovely song :-)

Never did Lillian and I imagine that we would see even a single celeb here in the US. Much to our surprise, they were everywhere! This, we must really thank God for the opportunities because most times we were just at the right place at the right time! Here are some of the celebs we saw:

Daniel Radcliffe and John Laroquette (Boston Legal) in the musical, 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'. We took a risk by buying the tickets as we weren't guaranteed of Harry Potter's appearance. Our gamble paid off when he appeared in the opening scene of the musical! He looked...so...normal! I had never been a big fan of his, but I must say that he can sing and dance just fine! A very funny musical comedy indeed! Highly recommended.

Right after Daniel's musical, we walked down Broadway towards Times Square. Lo and behold! A crowd had gathered around a car right outside another Broadway venue. It was Bernadette Peters, legendary Broadway star who has been nominated for several Emmys, Tonys and Grammys before. I must admit I was struggling to identify her but she looked too familiar! It wasn't until I asked a passerby that I found out who she was.

Moving on to the US Open tennis finals few days later, we saw the likes of American Lisa Raymond at the Women's Doubles finals, and of course, good ol' Serena Williams (with whom, together with Venus, I have had a hate-hate relationship with since I was 12) and Aussie Sam Stosur at the Women's Singles Finals! We were plain stoked, it was a bonus to see an Aussie go on to win the Open, it's been too long! At the circus also were Alec Baldwin, Bradley Cooper and Will Ferrell...we had to squint our eyes to actually spot them though. A big surprise with Queen Latifah's guest appearance to sing the National Anthem, as it was 9/11 that day. Apparently, Vanessa Williams was there too! Love her on Ugly Betty!

Now, on to a slightly different sort of celebritydom. We saw the culinary genius at work in WD50, the very man himself, Wylie Dufresne (pronounced 'doo-fraine'). An up and coming eatery, WD50 is one of the top restaurants in the world. Granted, he's no eye candy, but boy does he cook some mean dishes!

On the same note, we also saw Iron Chef Morimoto in his kitchen and socializing with guests at his New York Morimoto restaurant. I was quite star-struck! I actually asked a waiter to ask the Man if I could take a picture with him. But Chef M was too busy chatting with guests :-( I should've just gone up to him myself!

Now, this has got to be one of the highlights of our trip. While walking around one of the smaller alleys near Times Square, we suddenly came across a huge crowd at a gate. Being the busybody, no, I mean, inquisitive person that I was, I hurried over to see what the fuss was all about! I had an inkling that someone famous must've been there. My suspicion was confirmed when a fellow passerby informed me that they were in the middle of filming the sequel to the hit movie 'Valentine's Day': New Year's Eve. Guess who was there?! Hilary Swank and Josh Duhamel! We stood there for quite some time (this was late Friday night). They must've shot the same scene at least 15 times! No wonder they get paid the big bucks. After the scene had been shot, Hilary came over to us to sign some autographs! She seemed to genuine and nice :-)

Of course, the night didn't end there! This was afterall, NEW YORK, NEW YORK! After the crowd had dispersed, I took the opportunity to ask a crew member where they were going next. We were directed to the other side of the building. And so we went. The alley we traversed was quiet BUT Lillian spotted a tall guy in a tux with a companion who could only be a bodyguard. Could it be? Was it Josh Duhamel? He was actually walking to the other side of the building? Not in a fancy limo? WOW. This is it! This is our chance! So I ran up to him and asked if we could take a picture with him! Now, let me make clear that I had never been a fan of his. I mean, I don't really fancy Hollywood celebs. But, BUT he was a TOTAL HOTTIE! He was all dressed up for filming and looked absolutely gorgeous. I totally did not expect myself to squeal like a teenage girl in front of him. Yes, but I did. Embarrassing! He was kind and put his arms around Lillian and myself to take a picture! OMG. Just in case you didn't know, Josh Duhamel's the guy in Transformers, Life as We Know It, and Black Eyed Peas' Fergie's husband).

Still pumped with adrenaline, we headed to the next filming scene. A big group of people had gathered nearby. When a crew member invited them to 'come on in', I told Lillian that perhaps the film crew was inviting everyone in! Both of us quickly scurried behind the group of people and entered the film set! Both of us, Asian girls with fancy cameras and all, were busy marvelling at the film set and taking pictures as fast as we could! We couldn't believe it! We were IN A HOLLYWOOD FILM SET! But then! Suddenly a man spotted us and shoo-ed us out :-( At first I thought he was just being a plain racist, but of course, we had actually trespassed as that 'group' of people were actually extras! It then became so clear because they were all wearing winter clothing, when it was actually summer then!!

All in all, Lillian and I were very, very thankful to God for all the opportunities and fun we had in this trip. Along the way, we met a pair of Texan ladies who were on a 'trip of a lifetime' as they were going to New York Fashion Week shows, eating good food, shopping etc. Apparently they had known each other for 40 years I think. They live far apart from one another but still made it a point to keep in touch year after year. They saw themselves in us, and advised us to always keep in touch and cherish friendships like ours. It was a great time travelling with one another, eating, experiencing and seeing so much! Praise God for everything!

Here to you, Lil!

the celeb experience

Okay, for 'effect', play this video and read on! It's such a lovely song :-)

Never did Lillian and I imagine that we would see even a single celeb here in the US. Much to our surprise, they were everywhere! This, we must really thank God for the opportunities because most times we were just at the right place at the right time! Here are some of the celebs we saw:

Daniel Radcliffe and John Laroquette (Boston Legal) in the musical, 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'. We took a risk by buying the tickets as we weren't guaranteed of Harry Potter's appearance. Our gamble paid off when he appeared in the opening scene of the musical! He looked...so...normal! I had never been a big fan of his, but I must say that he can sing and dance just fine! A very funny musical comedy indeed! Highly recommended.

Right after Daniel's musical, we walked down Broadway towards Times Square. Lo and behold! A crowd had gathered around a car right outside another Broadway venue. It was Bernadette Peters, legendary Broadway star who has been nominated for several Emmies, Tonys an

d Grammys before. I must admit I was struggling to identify her but she looked too familiar! It wasn't until I asked a passerby that I found out who she was.

Moving on to the US Open tennis finals few days later, we saw the likes of American Lisa Raymond at the Women's Doubles finals, and of course, good ol' Serena Williams (with whom, together with Venus, I have had a hate-hate relationship with since I was 12) and Auss

ie Sam Stosur at the Women's Singles Finals! We were plain stoked, it was a bonus to see an Aussie go on to win the Open, it's been too long! At the circus also were Alec Baldwin, Bradley Cooper and Will Ferrell...we had to squint our eyes to actually spot them though. A big surprise with Queen Latifah's guest appearance to sing the National Anthem, as it was 9/11 that day. Apparently, Vanessa Williams was there too! Love her on Ugly Betty!

Now, on to a slightly different sort of celebritydom. We saw the culinary genius at work in WD50, the very man himself, Wylie Dufresne (pronounced 'doo-fraine'). An up and coming eatery, WD50 is one of the top restaurants in the world. Granted, he's no eye candy, but boy does he cook some mean dishes!

On the same note, we also saw Iron Chef Morimoto in his kitchen and socializing with guests at his New York Morimoto restaurant. I was quite star-struck! I actually asked a waiter to ask the Man if I could take a picture with him. But Chef M was too busy chatting with guests :-( I should've just gone up to him myself!

Now, this has got to be one of the highlights of our trip. While walking around one of the smaller alleys near Times Square, we suddenly came across a huge crowd at a gate. Being the busybody, no, I mean, inquisitive person that I was, I hurried over to see what the fuss was all about! I had an inkling that someone famous must've been there. My suspicion was confirmed when a fellow passerby informed me that they were in the middle of filming the sequel to the hit movie 'Valentine's Day': New Year's Eve. Guess who was there?! Hilary Swank and Josh Duhamel! We stood there for quite some time (this was late Friday night). They must've shot the same scene at least 15 times! No wonder they get paid the big bucks. After the scene had been shot, Hilary came over to us to sign some autographs! She seemed to genuine and nice :-)

Of course, the night didn't end there! This was afterall, NEW YORK, NEW YORK! After the crowd had dispersed, I took the opportunity to ask a crew member where they were going next. We were directed to the other side of the building. And so we went. The alley were traversed was quiet BUT Lillian spotted a tall guy in a tux with a companion who could only be a bodyguard. Could it be? Was it Josh Duhamel? He was actually walking to the other side of the building? Not in a fancy limo? WOW. This is it! This is our chance! So I ran up to him and asked if we could take a picture with him! Now, let me make clear that I had never been a fan of his. I mean, I don't really fancy Hollywood celebs. But, BUT he was a TOTAL HOTTIE! He was all dressed up for filming and looked absolutely gorgeous. I totally did not expect myself to squeal like a teenage girl in front of him. Yes, but I did. Embarrassing! He was kind and put his arms around Lillian and myself to take a picture! OMG. Just in case you didn't know, Josh Duhamel's the guy in Transformers, Life as We Know It, and Black Eyed Peas' Fergie's husband).

Still pumped with adrenaline, we headed to the next filming scene. A big group of people had gathered nearby. When a crew member invited them to 'come on in', I told Lillian that perhaps the film crew was inviting everyone in! Both of us quickly scurried behind the group of people and entered the film set! Both of us, Asian girls with fancy cameras and all, were busy marvelling at the film set and taking pictures as fast as we could! We couldn't believe it! We were IN A HOLLYWOOD FILM SET! But then! Suddenly a man spotted us and shoo-ed us out :-( At first I thought he was just being a plain racist, but of course, we had actually trespassed as that 'group' of people were actually extras! It then became so clear because they were all wearing winter clothing, when it was actually summer then!!

All in all, Lillian and I were very, very thankful to God for all the opportunities and fun we had in this trip. Along the way, we met a pair of Texan ladies who were on a 'trip of a lifetime' as they were going to New York Fashion Week shows, eating good food, shopping etc. Apparently they had known each other for 40 years I think. They live far apart from one another but still made it a point to keep in touch year after year. They saw themselves in us, and advised us to always keep in touch and cherish friendships like ours. It was a great time travelling with one another, eating, experiencing and seeing so much! Praise God for everything!

Here to you, Lil!

a million bajillion photos from the US of A!

As Austin Powers would demand, here's a million bajillion photos from the US trip! Enjoy! I do apologise for the lack of captions, as I have only done them for the Facebook ones. I will endeavour to blog about highlights in good timing. Moving house isn't easy!

Los Angeles!

Washington D.C.

New York!

Boston!

the per se experience

I first heard of Thomas Keller from Australia’s Master Chef TV series. I wasn’t one who was familiar with the powerhouses of the culinary world however the recent trip to New York opened my eyes and palette to the wonderful world of gastronomy! With the very timely purchase of Chef Keller’s French Laundry and Ad Hoc at Home cook books, I was even more determined to taste his legendary cuisine. Naturally, Lillian and myself jumped at the chance of anything Keller-related when we were in the US. We went to Bouchon in Beverly Hills, Bouchon Bakery at the Rockefeller Centre (where I chatted with Chef Keller’s ex-brother-in-law! :-p) and last but not least, Per Se in NYC, rated the 10^th best restaurant in the world by the mother of all lists, the ‘S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants’.

There was much anticipation and anxiety building up to our visit to the ‘Best Restaurant in New York’ (as rated by New York Times few years ago). ‘What to wear? What to say? What to eat? How to eat?’ all flooded our minds even before we stepped foot into the establishment. Located in the Time Warner Centre, this discretely placed restaurant was hard to find as its facade was only but a blue set of doors! No sign, well, no need for any signs for such a reputable restaurant. The famous $295 degustation menu was certainly out of our budget however during the recent GFC, Chef Keller made it accessible to the wider public by introducing a ‘lounge menu’ whereby smaller serves of food are served at more ‘reasonable’ prices.

It was a Friday morning, 10.30am, we made sure we went really early to make sure that we had a spot. Upon arrival, a troupe of businessmen in black suits was already crowding the front of the restaurant! This added even more to our nervousness! But no worries, we were ready to take on Per Se! All our fear and anxiety quickly melted away when we stepped foot into the restaurant when the staff greeted us with warmth and respect. We felt at home! Not to mention, the waiting staff were pleasing to the eye as well!

We were brought into the elegant lounge, seated by the window on the 4th floor of the Time Warner building that overlooked Columbus Circle. The sun was shining and all was good. It was all coming true! Per Se! We placed our order for a Mains and Desserts and waited.

Much to our surprise, (which we found out was standard procedure) we were given some complimentary signature amuse bouche (fancy speak for tiny food!) which were gruyere cheese gougeres and salmon cornets (a variation of which Justin tried making, see here). Okay I must say, the Malaysian in me was delighted as we were receiving free stuff! Being a great lover of anything tartare style, I LOVED THE SALMON CORNETS! By the way, the salmon was from New Zealand! Our part of the world!

This was followed by their famous bread basket which consisted of pretzel and baguettes. Those were the best soft pretzels I had ever eaten! The butter served was from a company in Vermont called Animal Farm which almost exclusively makes butter for Chef Keller’s restaurants. There are only 6 cows on this farm which is located in Orwell (geddit now?! Orwell...Animal Farm..!). The butter was, yes, very special, tasted unlike any other butter I had before.

Then at last, our mains came. I had my ‘Sauteed fillet of atlantic halibut (Charred Eggplant mayonnaise, summer squash, toasted pine nuts, garden mint)’ which was absolutely delightful. And yes, having paid a hefty amount for a tiny dish of food drove me to eat my vegetables. I’m not going to pretend to know how to explain what I ate, but boy, was it YUM! Very refreshing dish.

We had two desserts: Firstly a plate of 4 flavours of sorbet – black currant, greek yoghurt and 2 other flavours which I can’t recall (kicking myself for not writing down!). The second plate was a mixture of chocolate and orange delicacies which was exquisite.

The meal wasn’t over yet, complimentary hand made sweets and chocolates were served on a 2-tiered silver platter: raspberry nougat, milk chocolate truffles, white chocolate, red jus sugared candy etc. To cap it off, they presented us with two little bags of butter cookies ‘to remember us by’. Wow, what an experience right?! We had such a lovely time. The food, ambience, staff, were all top notch and together gave us a very special and memorable culinary experience.

cake!

I recently bought a copy of Gourmet Traveller. The September issue features a list of the best restaurants in Australia. There is a special column in this magazine which regularly features recipes from famous eateries. In particular is 'Myer Lemon and Olive Oil Cake' from Hobart's 'Pigeon Hole Cafe'. The recipe looked pretty simple, so I decided to give it a go! Turned out nice and warm :-)

sick - at - home - day

Obviously I couldn't sit still at home all day on my butt. I could easily do that at the office! Truth be told, my bum has been hurting from sitting too much at work!

Thought I might make some nice pumpkin soup with parmesan crips. Besides, I know a lot of sick friends today who could also use a little bowl of hot soup. Embarrassingly though, the recipe was off a Continental Stock Pot ad in the MasterChef magazine. Shhh.....

I also tried making salt and pepper flavoured chocolate, as inspired by RiChocolate at Seppeltsfield Winery in the Barossa Valley. Unsurprisingly, mine didn't taste as magical as the one from RiChocolate :-(

Yummy parmesan crisps with chilli flakes!

party all week long!

Had a great birthday week! Yes week! Thanks to wonderful and dear friends. Pictures speak a thousand words so here are some!

Wacky friends to celebrate with!

Lovely deco all the way from Perth! Okay, I stole this picture off Justin's blog.

Crazy-ass baking friends!

Out-of-this-world surprise package from Lillian! Pressies for mum, Mel and Janene too! How thoughtful of Lil...Brilliant package, it was like Christmas all over again.

Lovely travel diary and purse from very thoughtful friends!

Like I said, crazy-ass baking friends!

Friends who surprised me at home, and boy was I surprised! I screamed and climbed onto Justin when they switched off the lights!

Wait, did I mention crazy-ass baking friends?

Another nice birthday dinner! These friends gave me some handy moolah for the upcoming trip!

Capped off by dinner at Lenzerheide, the best steak I ever ate!

Ah, twas a wonderful week...thank God for friends like these!