Birthday

Today's my birthday. I've had great fun celebrating it with friends and on my own today and for the past few days, all while rushing to complete some academic work. The highlight of the celebrations has got to be heading to the Gold Coast on my own this afternoon to catch the world premiere of acclaimed anime film director Makoto Shinkai's latest movie 'The Garden of Words'. This movie deserves a post of its own so for now I'll just say that it's absolutely beautiful and struck an emotional chord within me so I highly recommend it to everyone, anime fan or not. Shinkai himself was an awesome dude, when I met him during the autograph session (yes, he came all the way down to the Gold Coast!), I mentioned that today was my birthday and requested that he write 'happy birthday' to mark the occasion, which he happily obliged and also wished me a happy birthday. Thanks dude, meeting you today and watching your beautiful new film made my birthday very happy indeed :D

Looking back over my life, I'm astounded by how much I have achieved and how much I've grown as a person. Especially since I started university. If you'd told little me that one day I'd go abroad to live and study (twice!), built rich friendships with so many people from around the world and shook hands with an acclaimed film director, she probably wouldn't have quite believe it! Here's to many more fulfilling and memorable years ahead! :D

Enjoying my food

In spite of my really busy and stressful final semester, when it comes to my food, I tend to make a ritual out of it.

For example, this morning I had to finish the last of the Maple Muesli I bought from the weekly city farmers' market as well as some of my favourite deep - purple grapes that I purchased from the West End farmers' markets (I absolutely love shopping at farmers' markets but that will be for another blog post). It was a morning meant to be enjoyed, to begin with. It was raining when I woke up and I enjoy rainy mornings because the rain makes the morning air so fresh and cool and crisp. So I had to have a nice breakfast to go with the lovely morning. I prepared a bowl of milk, and placed the last of my Muesli and some grapes on the side. Then I alternated between eating the Muesli straight from the packaging and eating it mixed up with the milk. The Muesli was good eaten either way, see. Eaten straight allows you to enjoy the crunch of the various nuts and seeds and savour their delicious toasty nuttiness. Eaten with milk softens the rolled oats at bit and allows the oats to absorb some of the creamy milk. Every now and then, I'd pop a few grapes and enjoy the explosion of sweet grape juice as I munch on them. Needless to say, it was an enjoyable breakfast.

Eating is certainly the best part of having food, but I do enjoy the process of making it as well. Take the very popular and delicious Thai green curry for instance. Since last year, when I happened to find out that Kaffir Lime fruits were in season in Brisbane every April and May, I have been buying up those fruits so that I can make green curry paste from scratch. The challenge of getting hold of Kaffir Limes, as well as a few other essential ingredients for the green curry paste, is the most difficult aspect of preparing authentic Thai green curry here in Brisbane. Moreover, it's a laborious process that involves chopping up a big pile of ingredients (some of which are pretty tough to slice, such as the Galangal), and then pounding them into a paste using a mortar - and - pestle (last year I had some help from my housemate's food processor, but she has since moved out, taking her food processor with her). The end result of an extremely flavourful and fragrant curry, more flavourful and fragrant than many green curries I have eaten in cafes and restaurants, make all that hard work so worth it! Plus, because I make a big batch of paste, I can store up the leftover paste in the fridge or freezer for future use. There's more I'd like to say about the tedious but rewarding process of making Thai green curry from scratch, but that will be for another blog post.



Homemade Thai green curry I prepared last week. Delicious!

Much as I enjoy cooking, it is nice to have someone else cook for you for a change. Because of my limited student budget, I go out to eat only about 3 times a week. And when I do, I make sure my calories and money are not wasted on crappy food. I particularly enjoy going to cafes serving modern Australian cuisine for a bite. These cafes, which typically open from early morning to about 3pm in the afternoon, are really popular in Brisbane. Eating breakfast/ brunch/ lunch at these cafes with friends/ family is a favourite local pastime especially during weekends. It's a favourite pastime of mine too. Whenever I visit one for breakfast or lunch, I never rush my meal. I take my time browsing through the menu or the display cabinets, spend my waiting time reading a good book or a magazine, then savour my food slowly and appreciatively when it arrives. It's not just the food, see, but the whole experience of dining out at a lovely café and the collective experience of savouring beautifully prepared and delicious food with my fellow diners. Again, this whole experience of eating out at cafes in Australia deserves a blog post of its own, which will be written another day.




Confit of portabella mushrooms baked with a feta and chorizo crumble - with dill scrambled eggs, smoked tomato compote and rye and onion toast. This is my favourite meal so far from Pablo, a café in Brisbane that I like.

Of course, much as I'd like to, I don't take my time with every meal I eat. I am a busy final year student after all. But when I do, usually when I'm preparing/ eating my favourite foods or when I'm at a café I like, I really try to revel in the whole experience. I think this is my way of "smelling the roses along the way" as I proceed with life. Too often, we rush through life or are so preoccupied with tasks and responsibilities that we fail to truly live life. I should know. I come from Singapore, a society in which stress permeates pretty much every sphere of life. As my university life comes to an end, and the "real world" of working life beckons, I find myself trying to enjoy the simple pleasures of life as much as I can before I take on the slew of responsibilities that come with being a working adult. How often will I get a chance to savour something as basic as breakfast, slowly and lovingly prepare a delicious meal for myself or revel in the comfort of my favourite cafes when I am busy with earning money and supporting myself? I don't know. What I do know is that for now, I am not too busy to enjoy my food, so I'm indulging in simple gastronomic pleasures while I can.