Would've been healthier if I didn't add any whipped cream to this:


...but I did. :9

I love summer.

OK, I don't know if you remember but I mentioned it here that I wanted to make a cake like the one in Portal, the video game, for Sean's birthday. (Image here and on my user icon.) But then we found a new place and the next thing I knew we were packing stuff and all so I didn't have any time to make one back then. And since today (Wednesday) is our anniversary, I had a brand new reason to make one.

Here are some cell cam pics that I took so I could email the progress to Sean while he's at work.

( click click )

And here are the nicer pics later on. And no, no LJ cut for this one because I'm still basking in my glory. OMG I MADE A PROPER CAKE AND IT ROCKS!!!!!





Not so good low light picture, but we've gotta try to mimic how the cake like in the video game.




Not so sharp picture because I couldn't wait to eat my slice.



And a not so good picture of us with the cake.

OK, that's it. Thank you for your patience. I know you'll forgive me for spamming your friends page. :]

1. Changed my username. Finally! Yay!

2. Deleted some folks off my friends list. Usual reason, i.e. they never update their LJ anymore.


Anyway, that's it! Have a good weekend everyone! :)

The largest earthquake drill in US history. I'm excited. We're going to open a shelter and everything. Although, turned out our evacuation point is a palm tree outside the office. WTF? Should we worry about the coconuts?

I found the recipe here. This is my new favorite meal because it's semi-homemade and doesn't take that long to make. Although, instead of sticking with the how-to instruction, I seasoned my chicken breasts with salt and pepper, seared them in a pot, and remove them once they're browned. With the left over oil in that pot (now flavored with chicken fat) I dumped the onion, garlic, and other seasoning, then dumped everything else in, including the shredded chicken. Easy, easy, easy!

My thread of choice, or something else, didn't get along with the sewing machine so I've pretty much been doing everything by hand. No, wait. That's not true. I've been doing ALL of it by hand. So needless to say, my wrists have been begging me for a vacation, but I shall have this hanging on my wall, dammit!

I hope everyone is having a GREAT weekend! :)

To bring to Sean's work tomorrow. :)

Clear Oriental Chicken Soup (? ..according to the package) with rice, bean sprouts, and egg, then garnished with cilantro, deep fried shallots, and soy sauce.

I used Indofood instant seasoning cus there's no way I'm gonna prepare the spices from scratch. But instead of adding water like the direction on the package suggests, I added chicken stock. On top of that, I seared the chicken, skin side down, in the same pot before I dump everything else to get the yummy fatty flavor in. So, by the end of it, this was a very tasty meal. Besides, with a presentation like that, who doesn't wanna try, right? But then Sean came over, checked it out, commented, "That looks very nice, sweetie.." then proceeded fixing a bagel for himself.. omg, what's wrong with this man?!?!?

The placemats still need their final pressing, but overall I'm pretty satisfied with the whole set. Everything looks good and presentable. :)

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LOL! I found this amusing. The subscription link is real, too. (Sean: "Of course. There's no such thing as free lunch.")

I needed a notebook or some sort to write down scattered recipes, so I went to the nearby used bookstore. I knew it's a long shot, since who sells used note books anyway, right? But who knows. Besides, it was a good day and I wanted to go out even if it's just around the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, they didn't sell notebooks. That's OK. I just browsed around and checked out what they have. So I started meandering around from the history section, to non-fiction, to art, to cooking. Then, lo and behold... There it was, sitting on the shelf, Cradle of Flavor, the book I mentioned here yesterday!

GAAAAAAASP!!!!!

OMG! There was just one copy, hard cover, no stain or smudge, practically undamaged except for a tiny dent somewhere on the piece of glossy paper that envelopes the covers. And it was in a used book store.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAL!!!!!!! :D :D :D

O man, I can't believe my luck! And I've only found out about this book yesterday from a radio show. They were interviewing the author, and you can tell the book's gonna be good cus he is so immersed into the culture, particularly the food. At one point, he described how to make rendang in such a way that even I who was just listening could taste and feel its texture so vividly in my mouth. (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating. Memory did help, and it's pretty easy to remember rendang. Feasting it is like having orgasms in your mouth. Mmmmmm... )

Anyway, what I love, love, love about this book is that the recipes are designed to accomodate Western kitchen without losing their authenticity. It also tells you, among other things, where to look for hard to find ingredients, which to substitute or ommit if they're not available. It's excatly what I need right now. It's also nice to read the stories and details that he slips in before each recipe. Between that and the hefty chunk of the book dedicated to describing every single basic ingredients and spices commonly used in the region, this book is a treasure. And getting it in an (almost!) mint condition at half of the retail price is such a sweet, sweet deal.

Purrrrr...

Scary stuff! Click on the image for the website.

Note to self:
Fabric: 10 oz. indigo denim.
Bag's dimension: 14"×12"×5" (2 pieces of 19"×12", 1 piece of 14"×5")
Handles: ± 1" in width and 1 yard (or whichever the length of the left over fabric).
½" extra fabric on every side.
All machine sewn except for the appliqué, which was the reverse side of the same fabric and hand sewn onto the bag with blanket stitch.
All double stitched except for the folding reinforcement on the sides of the handles.
Carries a gallon of milk just fine.

I have to admit.. I find the new WoW Toyota commercial really, really amusing cus that's how they really talk in online multiplayer games (cept there's no cussing here. ;)


Sean's currently trying to set up interviews with the makers at Hydraulx to put on his gaming blog. I bet it'll be very technical. So why did you decide to use Maya for this one? What? Huh? What?

From this...


...to this,

sans the kolak.

I really enjoyed cooking this evening, especially the part where Sean got panic, opened all windows, then ran into the bedroom cus of the 'stench' of the chillies. :P

SMS ping-pong:

him 11:04 pm - Omg its packed

me 11:05 pm - How long is the line? I thought nobody knows there's a game stop in santa monica place

him 11:06 pm - Its at another local gamestop- Lincoln and pico. I think all the santa monica and west la stores funneled their preorders into this stores.

him 11:08 pm - At least 60 people...

him 11:08 pm - Maybe 100

him 11:11 pm - ( Emailed you a photo )


But turned out nobody actually knew there's a Game Stop in Santa Monica Place. Sean said when the store's finally open, an employee came out and announced that the people who ordered their Halo 3 from SMP should form a separate line. And so all ten of them rushed to make a new line. LOL! Man, no wonder he's home so early.

Luckily I finished this one level on Eternal Sonata (rented from GameFly.com) and was juuuust saving my game when he came back. Then he went, "Can I? Can I? Can I..." And he's been on the Xbox ever since.

Anyway, sleepy time..


EDIT: For a more than three line run down of the event, go to his blog.