Weekends and Christmas faire

It's been a really Christmas-y atmosphere here in the last two weeks, so we baked German traditional Christmas cookies at a friend's place, and they turned out really good.

Yummy cookies.

We also cooked fried noodles, kim chi fried rice with red/green/yellow peppers and carrots, and minced meat. It tasted much better than the first time. Success!

Cooking was actually really fun. Minus the lingering smell of oil and grease in my hair.

We also played this interesting game called 'Werewolves,' which is kind of like 'Murderer,' but with different characters, such as werewolves, hunters, lovers, villagers, cupid, witches, and all that stuff. It started off a little confusing because some people didn't understand parts of it since they didn't speak English that well. But it got more fun as we progressed. Although it was pretty intense when people started arguing and getting all heated up about who was the werewolf and stuff like that.

 
On Sunday, we went to another staff member's house to play Wii games - Wii Sports and Guitar Hero. I miss playing Guitar Hero. Plus I totally dominated (mostly because the rest never played it before).
We also played Dutch Blitz and Phase 10 and sat around eating yummy homemade crepes with strawberry jam, cinnamon, nutella, chocolate flakes, lemon jam, sugar, and all kinds of wonderful junk.

Then we heard lots of stories about their adventures aboard the OM ship for two years. They traveled to tons of different countries to sell books, do dramas and concerts, and tell people about the good news. It sounded like an awesome experience, but I don't think I could ever do it. Two years is a long time, especially on board a ship and living in a tiny room.

One Saturday we had a Christmas Faire at the church to help them raise money for the construction of their new church building. There were little 'stalls' selling all kinds of stuff like jewellery, cakes, cookies, candy, books, tapes, DVDs, toys, and games. We were in charge of the face painting and games stalls with the girls from youth group, so that was really fun. I painted glittery flowers and butterflies on all the girls' hands and arms :)

Painting a heart on this little girl's face

Girls from the kids' club. They're so adorable.

Painted the flowers on her arm. I'm surprised it actually looks not bad.

The Spaghetti Dip - where you plunge your hand into a pot full of spaghetti sauce n noodles to try to find a ball that gives you a prize. It was gross. Only the kids did it.

And apparently we raised about 600 pounds! Even though most of the stuff was sold at dirt cheap prices. That was a pleasant surprise.

Left behind

It's weird being here and having people come and go all the time. Usually I'm the one leaving others behind, but nowadays I'm the one being left behind, and it's not a nice feeling at all.

On Sunday, one of our team members left to go back to Switzerland. It was kind of really sad, because she was only here for 2 months and then she had to go back to take exams and prepare for university. So we went to Birmingham Chinatown and let her try real Chinese food at a cafe. I had stir fried noodles, bubble tea, and red bean dessert - it cost 6 pounds (12 SGD), but it was well worth it. Everyone really liked the food, which was good, because me and my Taiwanese friend brought along a girl from Korea, a guy from Spain, and the girl from Switzerland, and they liked the food better than I thought they would. So that was cool. And then we spent lots of money buying Chinese groceries. I bought frozen lotus paste bao and dumplings and rice crackers and kim chi paste and pocky. Happiness.

We went to a friend's house to make homemade burgers for dinner, and it was SO GOOD. Germans can cook really well. And then we just hung out and talked until really late. She had to leave the next day in the middle of church, so we all left the service halfway through to say goodbye to her. It was really sad because I probably won't see her again; I mean, what are the chances of me going to Switzerland or her coming all the way to Singapore? That's what I really don't like about meeting new people from other countries. It's like, you get close and then you leave and then you never see them again. I wish the world was smaller. Or that plane tickets were cheaper. That would be nice.

Oh well. I guess it's all part and parcel of life. People come and go, but God is always faithful and true.

Harvest Sunday food

Last Sunday was Harvest Day or something, and so we had a potluck Harvest Lunch at church after service. Service was Harvest service, which was really cute because I have never seen anything like it before. We sang songs of thanksgiving to God for the harvest, which didn't really apply to me because I am not a farmer (or any one of us), but it was fun. And then the kids came up and handed canned and boxed food to two ladies in front of the church, and they decorated the front with flowers and cloths and donated food. It somewhat reminded me of Chinese New Year, maybe because of all the red cloths and flowers. But it was heartwarming to see the church so enthusiastic about giving to the poor.

On Saturday night, our team gathered at someone's house and cooked up a storm. Before that, I went to Birmingham to catch The Takers at the cinema (it costed 5 pounds, which is 10 SGD -- normal price for the weekend, I guess), and it was awful. Lots of fighting, explosions, and dead people - totally a manly movie, as one of the guys would say. And true enough, the guys came out of the theater carrying pretend guns and fake shooting people. Boys will be boys (no matter how old they are).

So anyway, we made fried rice with long beans, bean sprouts, corn, carrots, cabbage, chicken, and kimchi + sambal mee goreng paste. It was amazing. I totally miss asian food. Except the rice was a little mushy, but I am totally proud of myself for having made such wonderful fried rice ALL BY MYSELF (with my other clueless asian teammate) for the very first time unassisted. We also made fried noodles with the same ingredients, and it also turned out great except for a little mushy.

Okay, so it doesn't look very appetizing in the photos, but it tasted pretty good. One girl had 4 bowls of rice/noodles. Safe to say, my European friends loved it. Except for one guy on my team, who doesn't like asian food in general and eats only white rice by itself. But he did try the fried rice upon lots and lots of persuasion, and admitted it was good. Success!

Training sessions and culture lessons

The past... 3 days have been full of training, training, and more training. It's a little bit overwhelming at times. I can't believe it's already almost Thursday. I feel like I've been here for months and months already.

So far we have... 

• been on a treasure hunt around the town to check out where everything is
• had a professional magician come in and teach us mind-blowing magic tricks (I am now a semi-professional magician who can perform 3 rope tricks.. adequately)
• learned more about the organization and its mission and values
• learned how to give our testimony in 3 minutes, crafted our 3-minute testimony, and shared it with everyone (I just love hearing people's life stories - it's amazing how God works in different people's lives)
• learned tips on how to share the Gospel with complete strangers
• learned a little bit about British culture and how the Brits are reserved, proper, polite, and turn bright red when they go to the beach in their sandals and socks

It's quite interesting, what we've been learning.



And outside of class, we have...

• Gone to the town numerous times to buy necessities, chocolates (a lot of the girls here are obsessed with it), or just to walk around
• Had random worship sessions
• Eaten way too much every day. I did not expect to be fed this well at a mission trip, but it's like we eat at least 5 times a day - breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, another afternoon tea, dinner, supper
  And the food is so good: fish n chips, lasagna, curry and rice, and LOTS of dessert at EVERY meal. Not. Good.
• Had lots of ridiculously hilarious talks about random things under the sun
• Laughed like mad about all kinds of things
• Taught each other how to say random words in our own languages 
• Had a mini dance party in the girls' dorm
• Given each other completely non-related nicknames
• Played random games as a form of entertainment after dinner
• Gone out to dinner in the town at an italian place. They had delicious + cheap pizza. We ate 2 slices of pizza each, a salad, wedges, and then we finished 2 entire tubs of Haagen Daaz ice cream, all 6 of us. That was today, and now I feel like I don't need to eat for the rest of the month

So yeah that's basically my life right now. I like it so far. It's pretty cool :)

Bad foods that are actually good for you?

1. Peanut butter
2. Avocado
3. Coffee
4. Grape juice
5. Potato
6. Eggs
7. Chocolate

I got this from an article on Shine. And I don't really care much about coffee or eggs... but chocolate, potatoes, and peanut butter? Yes, please!

Also, from Glamour...

Healthy Snacking Tips

1. Have an afternoon energy boost
2. Don't wait too long between eating
3. Don't automatically pick up 'light' reduced fat snacks
4. Put healthy snacks within sight
5. Eat dried fruit, nuts, wheat crackers, pita chips, etc.
6. Don't let yourself get thirsty
7. Don't think 'veggie' means healthy; baked chips are better
8. Be aware of trans fats
9. Have light meals and snacks throughout the day
10. Take a walk
11. Eat slower
12. Don't snack while distracted
13. Plan what you'll eat
14. Avoid salt
15. Check nutrition labels and ingredients
16. Don't snack on junk food when you're stressed

It's random, but I just like to read articles like these when I'm bored.

Baking and merrymaking

 Lately, I've been rather obsessed with cooking and baking. More baking than cooking, but both are still fun. If I had a chance to go to culinary school and sharpen my non-existent skills in baking pastries, cakes, cookies, and all kinds of desserts, I totally would. It's hard work though; not to be sexist or anything, but I think that's why most chefs are men.

Just mixing all the flour, sugar, eggs, and other stuff together, and whipping all that sugar, cheese, etc, gets me huffing and puffing and makes me feel like I'm not in shape to bake. Also, I have no patience to wait for the cake/cookie/pastry to cool off before I remove it from the pan and pop it into my mouth, and that's why I usually end up with crumbly cookies and broken-up cakes. But hey, at least they taste (surprisingly) good!
 

Last week, I baked chocolate chocolate chip and pecan cookies after the crowd died down at the pizza place (since there was an entire kitchen full of cooking utensils and a huge oven at my disposal), only to have it turn out a little too crumbly.

And then I made oatmeal raisin almond cookies; they were dee-lish. We ate them all in two days.

This is a pizza Cartoon and I made for lunch on Saturday. My side is filled with veggies - tomatoes, red and green capsicums, mushrooms, and onions. Hers is filled with meat and cheese - pepperoni, ham, minced beef, bacon, and chicken. And did I mention it's loaded with cheese?

My attempt yesterday at making strawberry frozen yogurt with frozen strawberries, natural yogurt, milk, honey, and vanilla extract. It turned out to become ice, and it tasted a little weird. Fail.

Yesterday I also made cheesecake, which turned out half okay. The cheese part was good, but the cake (crust) part was too sugary and crumbly. I couldn't find graham crackers in the entire area of Perth, so I used honey teddy bear biscuits instead, and it turned out weird. But other than that, it was pretty good. We couldn't wait to let it cool down in the fridge so we ate it right out of the oven. And Jedi ate half of the entire cake this afternoon, which is a good sign.

Today I made carrot cake with walnuts, pecans, and cream cheese frosting at the pizza place, and although it kind of fell apart when I tried to transfer it from the baking pan to the container, it actually tasted really yummy. Good job, me! :)

Hard work and pizza days

I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life. Everyday is consumed with work and pizzas.

Sometimes it's just me and mom at work, so we have to do EVERYTHING ourselves - we make the dough from scratch, pull the enormous lump of dough from the mixer, roll and flatten it, flip it in the pans, store it in the fridge, top the different pizzas with different ingredients, bake them in the oven, display them for customers to ogle over, slice them up when people order them, cash in the money, chop up ingredients, stock up the fridge, count the cash, clean the mixer, sweep the floor, clean the entire place... and then collapse on the chair in sheer exhaustion at the end of the day.

I don't know how mom manages to cook dinner, do laundry, clean the entire house, and do the accounts in the evening. Me, I just pass out on the couch in front of the TV after a shower, and remain there the whole night, leaving only to move to the table for dinner.

But at least Cartoon is here now, and that makes work more fun. Plus now I have someone to go party with. Which we did. On Saturday night. At supposedly the biggest (asian) club in Perth. And it was pretty fun to let loose after working hard for a month.

Snacking

Best snack in the world. I could eat these gummy dinosaurs every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

In fact, every gummy from The Natural Confectionery rocks my socks off. Gummy dinos, gummy snakes, sour snakes, jelly beans, party mix... Yum. Supposedly there are no artificial colors or flavors in the snack. Hopefully its as natural and nutritious as it says it is. If not.. I'm in big trouble, because I've been scarfing them down like nobody's business.

Lazy days for sick people

So I've been out of it for the past few days. A mild sore throat escalated to a full-blown flu within days, and period pains made me want to tear my uterus out of my body once and for all. No more period, no possible pregnancy torture = two birds with one stone. I wonder if anyone's really done that before.
Hmmm. 30 more years till this is all over.

Anyway, I've been drinking so much tea, I don't think I've ever drank this much tea this past year like I have this past week.

Peppermint tea. Totally soothes the throat and the stomach.

Apple cinnamon spice. Full of natural goodness and sweetness there's no need to add sugar. Got a packet of it from the Fremantle market and totally loved it.

So... since I've had a bunch of time in between blowing my nose and doubling over in pain, I've watched two Survivor seasons and the entire first season of How I Met Your Mother. 

The flame of my past obsession with Survivor has been rekindled. I used to watch every single episode of every single season, but then college came, and I didn't own a TV in my room, and other things just took priority.

So I watched Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, which was pretty much THE best season EVER. There were faces I recognized, but half of them I had never seen before. I totally rooted for the villains because they were wildly interesting and wonderfully manipulative - totally great entertainment. And it was very fitting that a villain won; the heroes were a little too bland and spineless in comparison.

Then I watched Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites, which was the second best season ever. Pitting experienced familiar faces against starstruck naive fans? Hilarious.

And then I started on the first season of How I Met Your Mother. I'd always heard great things about this TV show, how it's humorous and entertaining and all, and they were all true. I mean, I've seen a few episodes here and there, but now that I've watched it from the beginning, it all makes sense finally. One episode totally reminds me of The Hangover, too. Four more seasons to go!

Absurdly cool cakes

I love this design. The stripes, the color, the pearl-like beads... Pretty funky wedding cake.

This kind of reminds me of Cinderella and her pumpkin carriage.

Love Disney. Love Disney princesses. Love this cake. Why didn't I get it for my 5th birthday??

This Guitar Hero cake looks ridiculously lifelike. I almost want to pick it up and play.

Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street. Some kid must've been over the moon on his/her birthday. Although... I didn't think Oscar was a popular character. He was always too grouchy for my liking.

This Nikon camera cake is my favorite. I wonder how they got the outside to look so grey. And the inside looks like a red velvet cake. Yum.

Appropriate for computer geeks everywhere.

Grandma's birthday, anyone?

This cake looks amazingly delicate. It must have taken hours to construct every fine detail of the bridge.

I wonder who this cake was for. An optician, perhaps? And is that... Greek? Hebrew? Have no idea.

A map of India. Hmmm. Somehow it doesn't look very appetizing.

Giant Nintendo Wii remote for Wii fanatics everywhere. My brothers would rejoice.

Giant chunk of chocolate? Heck, yes. This really doesn't look like a cake at all. I wonder if they just made a chocolate cake and wrapped it in Cadbury paper.

Mac lovers unite!

Louis Vuitton has not only conquered the fashion world, the brand has also seemingly expanded to the world of cakes. This 'bag' looks amazingly like a real one. It'd be funny if someone attempted to pick it up.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Spongebob squarepants! I imagine this cake would be a hit with kids everywhere.

The Eiffel Tower. Wow. Wonder what flavor it is.

If this cake had liquor in it, it'd be perfect.

Cake with a sense of humor. I like.

For some reason, I was just surfing through websites of unique-looking cakes, and I chanced upon these few. They made me want to be a baker so I could make awesome creations like these. It's like art, but edible!