Wow, two posts in one day after a hiatus! I finished my scholarship applications you see, so I'm allowed back on.
I don't have much more to add, just that we were playing at Central while we waited for the train to Rhodes and I took a couple of pictures I was really happy with, so I thought I'd show you!
Really love this one. I had to be sneaky though because I was worried they'd think I was a terrorist. Which, for the record, I am not.
PS. I think I've finally figured out how the colour management on Aperture works, but you probably don't care, and more likely, you probably didn't notice.
PPS. My room smells a bit like petrol right now. If the petrol station next door blows up I'll probably get burnt to a crisp :S
I don't have much more to add, just that we were playing at Central while we waited for the train to Rhodes and I took a couple of pictures I was really happy with, so I thought I'd show you!
Really love this one. I had to be sneaky though because I was worried they'd think I was a terrorist. Which, for the record, I am not.
PS. I think I've finally figured out how the colour management on Aperture works, but you probably don't care, and more likely, you probably didn't notice.
PPS. My room smells a bit like petrol right now. If the petrol station next door blows up I'll probably get burnt to a crisp :S
Surely I am among the few who are able to procrastinate even when there are no assignments due?
I'll tell you a secret... there are some very pressing scholarship applications that need to be written, but I promised myself I'd start after I wrote this. They're due tomorrow. Hopefully this won't take long..
Apologies for the lack of posts during the week, things were supposed to be hectic because I moved house, but I surprised myself by getting everything unpacked on Monday afternoon/night after it was delivered. I even had time to put together my table, desk, and kitchen trolley, plus have some vodka!
I'm going to take some pictures of the new place and my room soon enough to complete the "My Rooms" series, but like I said.. scholarship applications beckon.
Because things ended up not being hectic, I've not had much to do this week, but somehow ended up being busy anyway, and suddenly its Friday. For example, and this is getting to the point of my post, yesterday I went and ate dumplings in city and went on an impromptu adventure to IKEA (!) On Tuesday I went to uni and battled my way through first years & Campus Bible Study goons to enrol and go to the doctor (more on that later), and today I went to the city again. For dumplings. Again. But from a different place. Man, I seriously love yum cha, especially mango pancakes.
Oh, where was I? Yes, IKEA. Total. Favourite. Place.
But then you already knew that right? Kieran and I had nothing to do after we ate dumplings so we decided to go to Ikea. I always thought that since it moved out to Rhodes it was in the middle of nowhere and only worth visiting in a car. But, as we discovered, it's only half an hour from Central, which, when you have nothing better to do, is really not far at all.
I'm not used to Ikea being inside a shopping centre, but I do like how nice and shiny this new one looks on the approach :)
We had huge amounts of fun taking wankish avant garde photos while we were there. I was trying not to buy anything, but then, I did.
AND bestest part ever, we got Daim tårta from the food hall. At first we were sharing it...
..and then I commandeered it and took the last bite (well, bites) because I love Daim tårta. It tastes like Sweden!
What a fantastisk way to spend the afternoon!
I'll tell you a secret... there are some very pressing scholarship applications that need to be written, but I promised myself I'd start after I wrote this. They're due tomorrow. Hopefully this won't take long..
Apologies for the lack of posts during the week, things were supposed to be hectic because I moved house, but I surprised myself by getting everything unpacked on Monday afternoon/night after it was delivered. I even had time to put together my table, desk, and kitchen trolley, plus have some vodka!
I'm going to take some pictures of the new place and my room soon enough to complete the "My Rooms" series, but like I said.. scholarship applications beckon.
Because things ended up not being hectic, I've not had much to do this week, but somehow ended up being busy anyway, and suddenly its Friday. For example, and this is getting to the point of my post, yesterday I went and ate dumplings in city and went on an impromptu adventure to IKEA (!) On Tuesday I went to uni and battled my way through first years & Campus Bible Study goons to enrol and go to the doctor (more on that later), and today I went to the city again. For dumplings. Again. But from a different place. Man, I seriously love yum cha, especially mango pancakes.
Oh, where was I? Yes, IKEA. Total. Favourite. Place.
But then you already knew that right? Kieran and I had nothing to do after we ate dumplings so we decided to go to Ikea. I always thought that since it moved out to Rhodes it was in the middle of nowhere and only worth visiting in a car. But, as we discovered, it's only half an hour from Central, which, when you have nothing better to do, is really not far at all.
I'm not used to Ikea being inside a shopping centre, but I do like how nice and shiny this new one looks on the approach :)
We had huge amounts of fun taking wankish avant garde photos while we were there. I was trying not to buy anything, but then, I did.
AND bestest part ever, we got Daim tårta from the food hall. At first we were sharing it...
..and then I commandeered it and took the last bite (well, bites) because I love Daim tårta. It tastes like Sweden!
What a fantastisk way to spend the afternoon!
I love birds, really, I do. I love their shape, and their attitudes (especially the little flitty passerines that bounce around a lot). I think that the Willy Wagtail is my favourite bird: so cheeky, so flirty, and so bold with his tail fanned out; although, the Superb Fairy Wren is also pretty high up on the list. Yes there's a regular old bird love-fest going on over here.
I think birds have the most amazing colour range, and native Australian birds especially are often so brightly coloured but almost completely camouflaged at the same time.
Today I noticed this immature crimson rosella (I'm pretty sure that's what it is) having a dandy old time in one of the casurinas in our back garden. He blended in so well that it was only the branch bobbing up and down that made me notice him. And yet, look at his head and body- bright red!
(Apologies for the crapness of the pictures to follow, birds don't stay still very often, and I don't like using digital zoom on moving targets.)
And yesterday I saw a group of these little guys, they never stop moving, I think to get a good picture you probably have to drug them.
They make such a nice sound too, I'm glad we have a bird-friendly garden.
I think birds have the most amazing colour range, and native Australian birds especially are often so brightly coloured but almost completely camouflaged at the same time.
Today I noticed this immature crimson rosella (I'm pretty sure that's what it is) having a dandy old time in one of the casurinas in our back garden. He blended in so well that it was only the branch bobbing up and down that made me notice him. And yet, look at his head and body- bright red!
(Apologies for the crapness of the pictures to follow, birds don't stay still very often, and I don't like using digital zoom on moving targets.)
And yesterday I saw a group of these little guys, they never stop moving, I think to get a good picture you probably have to drug them.
They make such a nice sound too, I'm glad we have a bird-friendly garden.
Have I ever told you how much I love hats?! I own so many, but then I'm always to puss to wear them in case I look like one of those grumpy hipster girls in Newtown who are really good at accessorising, but ever so slightly too aware of it. If you know what I mean. Probably not.
In honour of the bizarre rainy cold weather currently going on where I am, I indulged myself with some hats on Monday (because you see, I'm on holidays now, quite bored, and had nothing else to do).
Welcome welcome, to the Parade of Hats!
This is my total favourite though...
PS. I ate an entire bream for dinner last night. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
In honour of the bizarre rainy cold weather currently going on where I am, I indulged myself with some hats on Monday (because you see, I'm on holidays now, quite bored, and had nothing else to do).
Welcome welcome, to the Parade of Hats!
This is my total favourite though...
PS. I ate an entire bream for dinner last night. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
As if the last few days haven't been enough! But you see, I have this little stockpile of photos & projects I always plan to blog about, but never seemed to get around to.
I was quite obsessed with the website Etsy which is quite like eBay for crafty vintage cool things. Sadly the crash of the Australian dollar has put the brakes on that particular pastime for now, since the majority of the things I seem to want need to be shipped from the States.
Anyhoo, my first foray into Etsy purchasing was some beads. I had in my head an idea for a necklace that was like a Van Cleef & Arpels design that I'd seen in some magazine. Sort of like a crazy long chain interspersed with clover-shaped things.. it looked fantastic in my head. In the end I couldn't find beads the right shape, but the idea progressed from there and I bought these:
First I pulled apart an old silver chain, splitting it into equal lengths, then I used medium gauge sterling silver wire to make little joining bars. That was a little difficult because I could only shape the loops with the bead already in place, and then try and slip the chain on to the loop..it took a few attempts to get the hang of it.
Once I'd made the chain back into one length, joined by the black beads, I made more little loops for the birdies. Even more fiddly. I was happy with the result, even if it was very different to my original inspiration.
I had a few beads left over so made some earrings too, but they aren't quite right.
I'm not sure if I'll pull them apart and make something else. I might give them to someone instead...
I was quite obsessed with the website Etsy which is quite like eBay for crafty vintage cool things. Sadly the crash of the Australian dollar has put the brakes on that particular pastime for now, since the majority of the things I seem to want need to be shipped from the States.
Anyhoo, my first foray into Etsy purchasing was some beads. I had in my head an idea for a necklace that was like a Van Cleef & Arpels design that I'd seen in some magazine. Sort of like a crazy long chain interspersed with clover-shaped things.. it looked fantastic in my head. In the end I couldn't find beads the right shape, but the idea progressed from there and I bought these:
First I pulled apart an old silver chain, splitting it into equal lengths, then I used medium gauge sterling silver wire to make little joining bars. That was a little difficult because I could only shape the loops with the bead already in place, and then try and slip the chain on to the loop..it took a few attempts to get the hang of it.
Once I'd made the chain back into one length, joined by the black beads, I made more little loops for the birdies. Even more fiddly. I was happy with the result, even if it was very different to my original inspiration.
I had a few beads left over so made some earrings too, but they aren't quite right.
I'm not sure if I'll pull them apart and make something else. I might give them to someone instead...
Obviously I've been on a bit of a susie-homemaker run lately, what with all the baking etc. Since it's been raining and I have nothing to do, I thought I'd share a little crafty DIY project from last year.
See what happened was that it was November and I was all broke and stuff, and I had to get a birthday present for my brother. Unfortunately I couldn't afford an actual present from Kikki-K, so I decided to make some nice little things.
I bought these crappy frames...
...and then I covered them in nice thick glossy Kikki-K paper...
I thought they looked quite nice...
...but as presents go they were a total failure, and I felt compelled to buy him some tea from T2 as well but he didn't seem overly impressed. I had looked high and low for an online photo processing place that does vouchers for getting digital pics printed, because the idea was that then he could get a whole stack of photos from his Japan trip printed, and they'd go in the frames. But I couldn't find one so, yeah...pretty crap in the end.
See what happened was that it was November and I was all broke and stuff, and I had to get a birthday present for my brother. Unfortunately I couldn't afford an actual present from Kikki-K, so I decided to make some nice little things.
I bought these crappy frames...
...and then I covered them in nice thick glossy Kikki-K paper...
I thought they looked quite nice...
...but as presents go they were a total failure, and I felt compelled to buy him some tea from T2 as well but he didn't seem overly impressed. I had looked high and low for an online photo processing place that does vouchers for getting digital pics printed, because the idea was that then he could get a whole stack of photos from his Japan trip printed, and they'd go in the frames. But I couldn't find one so, yeah...pretty crap in the end.
Following on from last week's cookie adventure, of which incidentally, there are more pictures here, I made some more flooded cookies to contribute to tomorrow's staff meeting. Ordinarily there's no way I would go to so much trouble, especially because I don't actually work there anymore, but it's a gold coin donation for the Victorian bush fire appeal- I urge you to donate money to the Red Cross or donate blood if you are able.
So, in keeping with the theme, I made Red Cross cookies...not so great because I've never been patient enough to perfect a neat piping technique, but I've decided that off-centre whimsical shall be my signature style..
They weren't really what I was planning: I couldn't find a cross-shaped (or square) cutter, so I had to improvise.
Oh, and a few people have asked me since last week how to make royal icing. It's really easy and dries solid overnight. This is the way I make it:
Royal Icing.
1 egg white
~250g pure icing sugar (not icing mixture)
2 drops lemon juice/vanilla
colour
Separate the egg white from the yolk carefully to avoid any yolk contaminating the white.
Sift the icing sugar and add it to the white one spoon at a time.
Continue mixing the icing sugar in until the icing is opaque and reaches 'stiff peak' stage. That is, when you lift the spoon up, a little peak is pulled up, and holds its shape fairly well when you take the spoon away.
Now is when you add your colouring and lemon juice/vanilla. The juice isn't essential but makes the icing taste a little better (lemon will make white icing brighter too).
I use stiff-ish peak icing to pipe lines, and let them dry a while before flooding the outlines. To make the icing runny enough for flooding add water drop-by-drop until you get the consistency you want.
One egg white makes more than enough icing to fully cover ~30 cookies.
I usually use Wilton gel colours because they don't leave grainy flecks of colour or change the consistency of the icing. If you're using liquid ones, like the Queen ones that come in the 4 pack at Coles/Woolies, go easy or you'll need more icing sugar to stop the icing getting too runny.
For the red cross cookies I used uncoloured icing for the background, and oil-based powder red for the cross. To use powder colours you need to grind them a little with a spoon so they're fine enough. It was recommended to me that I mix the powder with a little bit of oil first to dissolve it and bring out the colour, but I think as long as you grind it you don't need to bother.
With all colourings, add gradually. It's easy to make the colour more intense, but it's hella difficult to un-colour without adding copious amounts of white icing.
So, in keeping with the theme, I made Red Cross cookies...not so great because I've never been patient enough to perfect a neat piping technique, but I've decided that off-centre whimsical shall be my signature style..
They weren't really what I was planning: I couldn't find a cross-shaped (or square) cutter, so I had to improvise.
Oh, and a few people have asked me since last week how to make royal icing. It's really easy and dries solid overnight. This is the way I make it:
Royal Icing.
1 egg white
~250g pure icing sugar (not icing mixture)
2 drops lemon juice/vanilla
colour
Separate the egg white from the yolk carefully to avoid any yolk contaminating the white.
Sift the icing sugar and add it to the white one spoon at a time.
Continue mixing the icing sugar in until the icing is opaque and reaches 'stiff peak' stage. That is, when you lift the spoon up, a little peak is pulled up, and holds its shape fairly well when you take the spoon away.
Now is when you add your colouring and lemon juice/vanilla. The juice isn't essential but makes the icing taste a little better (lemon will make white icing brighter too).
I use stiff-ish peak icing to pipe lines, and let them dry a while before flooding the outlines. To make the icing runny enough for flooding add water drop-by-drop until you get the consistency you want.
One egg white makes more than enough icing to fully cover ~30 cookies.
I usually use Wilton gel colours because they don't leave grainy flecks of colour or change the consistency of the icing. If you're using liquid ones, like the Queen ones that come in the 4 pack at Coles/Woolies, go easy or you'll need more icing sugar to stop the icing getting too runny.
For the red cross cookies I used uncoloured icing for the background, and oil-based powder red for the cross. To use powder colours you need to grind them a little with a spoon so they're fine enough. It was recommended to me that I mix the powder with a little bit of oil first to dissolve it and bring out the colour, but I think as long as you grind it you don't need to bother.
With all colourings, add gradually. It's easy to make the colour more intense, but it's hella difficult to un-colour without adding copious amounts of white icing.
Today is my second last day at CSIRO, and my last lab meeting *tear* Who would have thought that three months in Armidale would go so quickly!
Despite my anti-Valentines rant yesterday, I couldn't help myself last night and decided to make a little loving for my last lab meeting with my PC2 Molecular Group friends.
Remember: if science doesn't work out for me, baking will always be my back-up.
I followed Louise's tutorial (from Cake Journal) to make these cookie pops but I didn't have a squeezy bottle- in fact I didn't have any of my normal equipment-so I had to improvise a little bit.
Next time I'll make the flooding icing more runny, but because of my lack of bottle I had to pipe it from a little bag. A bit more fiddly than Louise's technique looks.
Oh, and the biscuit recipe is pepparkakor from here because we still had some dough frozen from Christmas time. You don't roll them as thin though because otherwise you can't get the stick to stay in the cookie.
Despite my anti-Valentines rant yesterday, I couldn't help myself last night and decided to make a little loving for my last lab meeting with my PC2 Molecular Group friends.
Remember: if science doesn't work out for me, baking will always be my back-up.
I followed Louise's tutorial (from Cake Journal) to make these cookie pops but I didn't have a squeezy bottle- in fact I didn't have any of my normal equipment-so I had to improvise a little bit.
Next time I'll make the flooding icing more runny, but because of my lack of bottle I had to pipe it from a little bag. A bit more fiddly than Louise's technique looks.
Oh, and the biscuit recipe is pepparkakor from here because we still had some dough frozen from Christmas time. You don't roll them as thin though because otherwise you can't get the stick to stay in the cookie.
One of my 2009 resolutions, along with losing weight and studying more, of course, was to be less materialistic. It's not going so well thus far, although after some spectacular present failures last festive season I've decided that this year it's goats to Uganda and cutlery with a purpose all round.
Anyway, as per this less materialistic goal, I've decided that Valentine's Day can go to shit.
Valentine's Day can kiss my ass..although I'd be willing to make an exception if it involved produce from Belgium or Switzerland...
Anyway, as per this less materialistic goal, I've decided that Valentine's Day can go to shit.
Valentine's Day can kiss my ass..although I'd be willing to make an exception if it involved produce from Belgium or Switzerland...
Welcome to my new home:
www.sosaidellie.blogspot.com
Update your bookmarks..because you know.. I'm sure you have me bookmarked..
www.sosaidellie.blogspot.com
Update your bookmarks..because you know.. I'm sure you have me bookmarked..
Sushi restaurants in Japan are an experience that you have to see to believe. The super trendy hip ones are full of super trendy young things and chefs in bandanas shouting a lot. The old fashioned traditional ones are full of old fashioned old things and chefs in bandanas shouting a lot.
When you walk in the door about 30 people shout irrashimase at you, and the sensory overload just goes from there. I went to some super trendy hip sushi bar with a family friend in the Ginza district of Tokyo, and, still majorly suffering from upside-down jetlag, all I could do was go with the flow. Not being a huge fan of sashimi, I asked Ayumi to order less adventurous things off the menu, and she hid her disappointment well.
I was so glad that this was delivered to the table next to us..
although I'm sure if I'd kept knocking back sake at the same rate as Ayumi then it would have been just dandy.
But actually, this post was supposed to be about something different, I was just setting the scene; trying to get you to understand that sushi in Japan is truly an art form, not just food.
But there's another type of sushi, which we were introduced to by some other family friends. In Japan it's called "Viking Sushi", which sounds quite bizarre, especially when imagined in the Japanese accent: "Biking Sushi".
The name comes from the association of buffet-style food with the smorgasbord, and that in turn with the Vikings. It's Japanese logic. Simply put, Viking sushi is the type you eat at home casually with your family, all the ingredients are there and you can choose what you want, like a buffet. It's not as pretty as sushi-as-art, but it's just as tasty, and really easy to make at home.
Observe:
PS. Just in case you want to try this at home, the key to good sushi is good sushi rice. I can't over-emphasise that!
When you walk in the door about 30 people shout irrashimase at you, and the sensory overload just goes from there. I went to some super trendy hip sushi bar with a family friend in the Ginza district of Tokyo, and, still majorly suffering from upside-down jetlag, all I could do was go with the flow. Not being a huge fan of sashimi, I asked Ayumi to order less adventurous things off the menu, and she hid her disappointment well.
I was so glad that this was delivered to the table next to us..
although I'm sure if I'd kept knocking back sake at the same rate as Ayumi then it would have been just dandy.
But actually, this post was supposed to be about something different, I was just setting the scene; trying to get you to understand that sushi in Japan is truly an art form, not just food.
But there's another type of sushi, which we were introduced to by some other family friends. In Japan it's called "Viking Sushi", which sounds quite bizarre, especially when imagined in the Japanese accent: "Biking Sushi".
The name comes from the association of buffet-style food with the smorgasbord, and that in turn with the Vikings. It's Japanese logic. Simply put, Viking sushi is the type you eat at home casually with your family, all the ingredients are there and you can choose what you want, like a buffet. It's not as pretty as sushi-as-art, but it's just as tasty, and really easy to make at home.
Observe:
PS. Just in case you want to try this at home, the key to good sushi is good sushi rice. I can't over-emphasise that!
Oxford Booties - by e_p on Polyvore.com
Imagine those shoes in black. Imagine them on my feet. Imagine me happy.
Though obviously, reshape your imagining to make the shoes not Dolce & Gabbanna, and therefore not $850USD...
I was looking here yesterday because it was hot and I needed a time-out from watching episodes of The West Wing, and because I like orange things.* I've never been shy about my love of all things Ikea, or the fact that I've been to 6 Ikeas in 3 different countries; I really feel the love that much. And much as I hate Allen keys and the fact that there does seem to be at least one crucial component missing from the little packet of screws that comes with every box of flat-pack furniture, it's an obsession. I just can't help it yah.
Oh, you might've noticed too that I really like Sweden. I don't know, I think I've probably mentioned it a few times here and there...
So it should come as no surprise to you that when I found my Ikea style, it was "Scandinavian original"- what's yours?
More Ikea wishlist - by e_p on Polyvore.com
*not as much as green things, but that's only marginally relevant.
Oh, you might've noticed too that I really like Sweden. I don't know, I think I've probably mentioned it a few times here and there...
So it should come as no surprise to you that when I found my Ikea style, it was "Scandinavian original"- what's yours?
More Ikea wishlist - by e_p on Polyvore.com
*not as much as green things, but that's only marginally relevant.
We WILL win the safety sign competition!
I was writing a miniature thesis-type thing about Soviet Biology in the Stalinist Era. It was a lot more interesting than you'd think, you should ask me about it some time.
Oh that Lysenko. Those Menshevising idealists; bourgeois fascists; those crazy kids. Yes, I am truly a riot at parties.* And for the record, not only do I know what all those words mean, I know how to pronounce them. Hell, I used "abrogate" in a sentence today!
Anyway, so around the same time I also had about 5000 words of other essays to write on top of like, 7000 or something about the Russians, and in two weeks I spent more than 140 hours in the library (it's true, I added it up). But in an effort to convince myself that the earth was still in its rightful place in the centre of the universe, and that the sun was still rotating faithfully** I went outside. I might've even done it twice. Who can remember these things?
Apologies for crappiness of pictures. I was 'studying' so I didn't have my camera with me.
Construction work on lower campus, because..you know..why fix the old buildings when you can just build shiny new ones. Is installing air-con in the 3rd year micro labs really that hard?
UNSW Main Walkway: symbolic of many things, for example, degrees that will not end.
Mathews Building, looming up Soviet Stylz. Appropriate really, given the context. And oh..look, what's that in the top left corner? Is it..oh yes..I think it is... another crane! Because why would you fix the old buildings, when you can just build new ones!!
OK, I lied. I was still inside when I took this. One nerd remains on the library lawn. All the others remain in the library.
*Although it must be said, in all, it was quite fascinating. I just didn't want to say so up there...
**DISCLAIMER: obviously I am joking. Otherwise my entire Arts degree, majoring in History & Philosophy of Science, was a complete waste of time. Hello Tycho, Nicholas, and Isaac.
Oh that Lysenko. Those Menshevising idealists; bourgeois fascists; those crazy kids. Yes, I am truly a riot at parties.* And for the record, not only do I know what all those words mean, I know how to pronounce them. Hell, I used "abrogate" in a sentence today!
Anyway, so around the same time I also had about 5000 words of other essays to write on top of like, 7000 or something about the Russians, and in two weeks I spent more than 140 hours in the library (it's true, I added it up). But in an effort to convince myself that the earth was still in its rightful place in the centre of the universe, and that the sun was still rotating faithfully** I went outside. I might've even done it twice. Who can remember these things?
Apologies for crappiness of pictures. I was 'studying' so I didn't have my camera with me.
Construction work on lower campus, because..you know..why fix the old buildings when you can just build shiny new ones. Is installing air-con in the 3rd year micro labs really that hard?
UNSW Main Walkway: symbolic of many things, for example, degrees that will not end.
Mathews Building, looming up Soviet Stylz. Appropriate really, given the context. And oh..look, what's that in the top left corner? Is it..oh yes..I think it is... another crane! Because why would you fix the old buildings, when you can just build new ones!!
OK, I lied. I was still inside when I took this. One nerd remains on the library lawn. All the others remain in the library.
*Although it must be said, in all, it was quite fascinating. I just didn't want to say so up there...
**DISCLAIMER: obviously I am joking. Otherwise my entire Arts degree, majoring in History & Philosophy of Science, was a complete waste of time. Hello Tycho, Nicholas, and Isaac.
