Soto Ayam

Soto ayam

Yup, still the same old story. I'm under a lot of pressure to produce a nice presentation to show of what I have done in my one and a half year of PhD. My supervisor told me not to stress, my colleagues said that I will be fine, yet I cannot help but feel anxious. When I started my PhD, I felt a little bit out of place but the feeling is accompanied by a strong hope that in time, I will develop all the skills to know, to do and more importantly, to be. Here I am, having done almost one and a half year of it. Having reached this stage, I have come to realise that it isn't enough to hope that I will acquire knowledge, but to actively and constantly seek out for more. I do wonder if anyone in this business ever feel satisfied with themselves, if the most confident of my colleagues and supervisors ever do, and if such exists, I wonder if I will ever reach that peace myself.

Espresso souffle of potato and bacon

Espresso sized souffle with soy fish and salad
dressed with the reduction of the fish marinate

I bought a bag of baby potatoes from the neighbourhood fruit and vegetable store with the intention to make baked baby potatoes like the ones that I loved back in my days in the boarding school. But considering that that particular love (and many other things) turned me into a fat teenager I thought of a better idea: a shift towards exercising some inventive energy to churn these babies into something else that is more than ordinary.

Bubur Ikan Sudirman (Fish porridge a la Sudirman)

Bubur ikan Sudirman

Winter has precipitated over the Southern hemisphere. It's cold, it's dry and the the sound that of the wind blowing through the thin opening of the window into my kitchen moans for something to soothe and bring home the warmth. In my family, there's no comfort food like porridge.

Nasi Goreng Laksa

Nasi goreng Laksa

"Today's steamed rice is tomorrow's fried rice," so recites many forwarded joke emails on what defines an Asian. Another one of my favourite is "You know you're Indonesian when you carry a bottle of your own chilli wherever you go." Well, with the airline rules to strict these days, I can't do that but I was so delighted when I found a Nando stand selling any 3 sauces and marinates for $10 in the Kingscross festival.

Grilled honey and miso salmon & steamed frittata

Steamed spinach and baby tomato frittata

Back to Earth, back to Sydney and back to the reality that Australia is in the middle of a recession. Apart from that, I just got two lotus shaped sauce dishes from Japan city (on special!! :D) that look so pretty when teamed up with sake cups so I need an excuse to parade it.

Grilled honey and miso salmon & steamed frittata

Blancharu review

Trout with roasted pepper on the top and prawn ravioli with basil sauce on the bottom

For my birthday this year, I went to Blancharu for dinner as a treat. Blancharu is a Franco-Japanese restaurant run by chef Harunobu and it serves Japanese cuisine with French influence. The ambiance is warm and welcoming while staff are friendly and seems to know their stuff well.

Beef steak on potato

Vanuatu 2009

The sandy beach of Hideaway island

My skin colour set me apart from the locals and the usual tourists, but I couldn't feel more at home in Port Villa. It felt like I had taken a step into a time rich society nestled in paradise where all they need is supplied by Mother Nature. The water is clean; the earth is rich and the people honest and friendly.