C'est la vie!

Yes! I know! I've been terribly lazy in updating my blog!
I'm sure you're wondering where's the write up on Thailand. It'll come. At some point.

I've been working at Le bistrot for the past 3 weeks or so, and I've been keeping myself busy with thought; thinking and planning about the present and future. I sometimes wonder if I put to much thought into it, and if things dont't work out, man... it's gonna be a bummer. Nevertheless, life goes on, whatever happens eh? I mean, to know that God loves me (and you!) is enough for me to keep on going.

Mean while, here's some old pictures I took with my Nikon D70s that my dad has generously bleesed me with for my birthday.
I finally found a lazy sunday afternoon to pop open the Classic Rutherglen Tokay with someone!
I really enjoyed that day. Away from the crowded streets of town. To just sit down, and enjoy a bottle of sweet dessert wine with a friend, and to discuss and ponder about life and what not. It's a day to be remembered. And I look forward to more days like that.I love how Clayton's expression described the entire affair. A lazy sunday afternoon.
Here's a picture of my mom's Thai Laksa. It's not like any other laksa I've had in Singapore. Three reasons: One, it has no coconut milk in it, which allows the flavours of the chilli paste to come through strongly. Two, I have it with salted vegetables, chives, parsley and lime, a delicious combination which my mom serves it with. Three, it's made by my mom.
This is also my first attempt at framing a picture.

A day out with a friend...

... is complete with a pint of Hoegaarden. In the afternoon, mind you.

Teri!

Well, that's it for now.
Enjoy!

Thailand

The land of the free. It makes me warm and fuzzy inside, knowing that I'll be in arriving in Bangkok in 10 hours time. It's been such a long time since I've been there. You see, my mom's Thai, and we used to take short trips to Thailand when I was alot younger. I have fond memories of that place. The best memory I had of Thailand was when I visited my grandmother's place. It was the first time I ever saw her. She was seated down naked, and someone was helping her shower. My mom pointed towards the old naked women and said :" That's your grandmother". And I thought: " That's my grandma?" Not the best way to see my grandma for the first time, but that was life in a Kampung. The wooden kampung was built alongside a river, and instead of cars parked in a garage, there were boats docked under a wooden shack. I remember being taken for a ride on the boat, and I saw how the locals lived. I remember peeing into the river. The very same river where we caught some fish for dinner. We spent a night there and I remember staring out of my green mosquito net bubble, looking up into the sky, and listening to the crickets sing.
All that is gone now because they've sold the place, and all of my family has moved to various places. What a shame.
Anyways, I'll be spending the next 11 days there. I believe I'll have alot of fun, just seeing my family there and getting to know them. I can't speak a word of Thai right now, but just maybe, I might come back with a handful of phrases.

I've been thinking alot lately about the present time, the future and everything in between. I'm happy about alot of things, and at the same time, I'm bummed that I'm not seeing some things go my way, but that's life eh? And to think that I can actually bake a cake and have all of it. But it just dosen't work that way.
I can't wait to get out of Singapore and spend some time away from everything. It's gonna be a much needed break. Laters!

Indonesia: Epilogue

So I've finally traveled out of Singapore and into another country. I've always been talking about travelling, but I've never had the money, time, opportunity, travelling mates, or a combination of factors. Ugh, how I wish I had all of those.

I found a piece of writing that I wrote sometime in my polytechnic days, about 2 years ago:

As a traveller, I would love to immense myself into the culture. Lose myself in the streets, you know? I don't want to be following a flag that says "Joyful Tours", eat tourist food and stuff. I want to feel what the locals feel, eat what they eat, experience their culture. Travel. God, I love this earth of yours. The continents, the foreign languages are yours, Creator of all things. How nice it would be to watch the sun set in another country while the sun rises in yours.

So it isn't exactly a piece of writing, but more of random brain vomit during some engineering class, I'm sure. But yea, that pretty much sums up how I've felt and feel about travelling. Travelling with a group, that includes your pastor has taught me alot. Namely, travelling in team. You can't just walk off whenever you want. And this paticular trip wasn't a holiday or sight seeing one. It has taught me alot about accountability.
I did have a window of opportunity, and I took it to visit a local traditional market in Semarang. I climbed into a angkot (it's public transport in a form of a van) and asked the driver if he was headed to Pasar Johar. Without even looking at me, he nodded and started chugging down the busy street. He finally stopped and told me we've arrived. After a show of fingers by the driver, I paid six thousand rupiah for the trip. That's about $1.20 singapore dollars. I spent the next two hours navigating the narrow paths of the market. It's nothing like your supermarkets that many of us are familiar with. Here you have seafood, lying in a pool of stale water, cows head and organs laying all over the table. Flies resting on anything fleshy. It was more of a cesspit. But this is it. This is how the locals lived.
I had a blast hanging out with some of the people and I've made many friends. I can't wait till Novemeber, where I'll see some of them in Johor Bahru at a Leadership Training Time and more of them back in Indonesia in December, where I hope to go again for another LTT. That is of course, if I haven't been called up for National Service.

Indonesia in Pictures!

First night in Semarang. A food stand selling Bakso, a noodle dish with beef balls.

Semarang, City Center

Riding Pillion in Semarang is a very scary but thrilling affair! Note the nervous smile as I take a picture of myself.

Zipping past a road side food stall.

Modus Operandi for road side food stalls.

A simple meal of Pecil, with cows lungs, heart and stomach.
The heart and lungs were nice. As for the stomach, I almost hurled when I tried eating it. It's like gnawing on leather.

That's Pecil, a sweet peanut sauce.

Pasar Johar

I would imagine this to be a typical day in Pasar Johar.Es teh, essential thirst quencher.

Sate Kambing! The guy was too shy to smile for the camera when I asked him to.

Sate Kambing, is delicious.Heading back to the hotel in a Pedi Cab.

That was my ride.

I forgot was this drink was called. But it'd nasty. It's a femented rice drink.

Fried spniach leaf. Makes for great snacking.Mee Soto, Indonesian style.

We stopped for awhile when the car overheated. Cloves drying by the road side.

Entering Aman Jiwo

They take their salt and pepper seriously. Points.

Their take on local food.

No hotel menu is complete without a "western" selection.

The dessert that I ordered: Coconut vanilla sorbet with papaya and tamarind jelly. Mignardises!Umbrellas come in handy under the relentless Indonesian Sun.Taking a tour of Aman Jiwo.

This place, is totally built for couples. There's two of everything. Save for one king sized bed and one bath tub. Go figure.I love how the light comes into the room.

Deep Fried Gourami that was swimming just an hour ago!

A Carp ended up on the lunch menu too.Eating Deep Fried Fish, Rice, Vegetables, Sambal with hands. Not a first for me, being half Thai.

The Simple Life in the "Suburbs" of Semarang.Heru, the drummer I played with. I love how his shirt matches the drums.A regular night for prayer meeting.

This is how your face would look like when presented with a menu in a foreign language.

Alpokat. Avocado Juice. With chocolate. Absolutely divine. This is one ingredient I've taken a liking to.Chilli sambal in a mortar.This is the young lad who cooked our lunch.

Bunking in at Elika Retreat center in Bangdunan.Dave Haggar: "Hallelujah!"The Indonesians playing a game called "truth". They tried teaching me the game, and I even played several rounds. But, I'm still totally clueless about the game.Road trip! The scenary, on our way to The Land of Nine Temples.The guys that I went with.Alam and BenThe 4th temple.Some wooded area. It made me feel like Alice in wonderland. Although I should be feeling more like Little Red Riding Hood.We were in a sulphur pit, and this pool of water was about 70 degrees celcius!Heading back to the center.A game of soccer before dinner.I decided to walk around town, and saw this little darling.Bakso!

Dinner time.The food was more enjoyable, eating it sans table. At least I thought so.

We headed out in search for supper after the meeting. This is Dedi on the phone with his Sayang (darling). He was making kissy noises as he navigated the winding roads with one hand on the handle. We weren't wearing any helmets and I was for a moment, afraid.

The magic that is of Kue Bandung.

Step 1: Make a crepe like base, add sugar and chocolate. Cover with a lid to let it melt.

Step 2: Remove from heating element and pour condensed milk. He wasn't shy with the amount.

Step 3: Grate a generous amount of parmesan cheese over it.

Step 4: Fold in half, and slather it with butter.Step 5: Portion it and enjoy.
I would imagine the local nick name for it would be "Heart Attack Pancake".
But I tell you, it is sooooooo good!

My last meal in Bangunan in a roadside store just before midnight.

My first trip to Java, Indonesia!

Indonesia 2006
Joy to the Nations

Saturday, August 5 -Semarang City
Its my first night in Indonesia, and it feels so surreal. Just weeks before, all I had wanted was to go anywhere in the world. To enjoy God’s green and mostly blue world, to experience the local culture in a far and away land, to take in the sights of a foreign place, to listen to the unfamiliar babble of another man, to just feel the wind through my short hair in another land, and to eat what the locals eat. I want to immerse myself into another culture and think, “Wow, God loves these people in another land too, heck, He loves the entire world!”
I didn’t want to spend my first night in a hotel room, so Raymond and I headed out into the streets and it was intense. We wanted to cross a road and we figured there was no way we could do that. There are no traffic lights around, and I’m thinking, : “ How in the world do they get across?” We observed a few locals, calmly walking into the traffic, and the most amazing thing happened. Every vehicle of different makes slowed down, and simply avoided them. Motorcycles ( the choice of transport here in Semarang) zoomed past them, wiggling their way in between people and cars. It was just the first night, and already I knew I was going to enjoy immersing myself into a different culture.

Sunday, August 6, Semarang City
Darwin, the lead elder of JUBILEE picked us up just 15 minutes before the meeting was suppose to start. I’m thinking, how are we suppose to get there in time? And it turns out, we did arrive fashionably late and everyone was already waiting for us. It was such a grand welcome, and it felt like as though they’ve been waiting for us every since Darwin made the announcement that we would be coming. People stood at doors, greeting us, and we shook hands, as we made our way in. I’ve never shaken so many hands in just 5 minutes. We were introduced by Darwin, and there was the whole rah rah welcome. I could just feel the hunger in these people for guys to come in and impart into the local church. They were really happy to receive us. The musical part of the worship started and it was SO INTENSE. From the first strum of the guitar, everyone was already ecstatic! Every single person in the room was jumping up and down, and dancing unto the Lord. Darwin who was just next to me, was really grooving and giving his all to the Lord. I’ve never seen a man his size do that, and he has inspired me. The presence of God was immediately upon us and even I, was dancing unto the Lord like a fool. Who cared how I looked like? I was praising and worshipping the Creator of the universe.
Eugene, started off by introducing us. Raymond, as the worship leader, me as a youth leader and Jenny as someone who leads him. I’m thinking again, : “ Eh? oh yea, I do lead the young people. It sure doesn't feel like it though. I haven’t exactly started any sort of ministry. Ministry, thats a new and funny word.” Eugene then did what he does best, preaching the word of God.
After the service, Jenny and I made an interesting observation. Everyone turned their chairs, facing each other and started to fellowship with others, some even praying for one another. It was amazing, it seemed like everyone was actually interested in everyone’s life. We all started talking to people, quickly introducing ourselves, and sharing our lives with one another. What seemed like forever, was cut short by Darwin who wanted to take us out for lunch. Lunch came and went, and there was even more sharing and relating amongst us.
Dedi, a really good friend of mine whom I met during the Asia GTT in Johor Bahru, Malaysia had offered to take me around Semarang City, and to see and experience the real Semarang City. It was such a precious opportunity, and I grabbed it. Dedi took me on his bike, and I can’t help but laugh. My dad surely wouldn’t have allowed me, but there was nothing he could do.I was far and away. Heh heh. During the Asia GTT, Darwin had put on a power point slide, reporting on the work in Semarang City, and I had the pleasure of actually visiting the training centers that they had spoken about. As we entered the “suburbs”, traveling up and down the steep slopes, it was getting dark, and I could hear the evening prayers that were broadcast from the nearby mosque. I can’t help but feel that we were two underground christians in a muslim land, visiting “training centers” were people will be disci-pled, and then sent out to plant more cell groups in Indonesia. It’s cheesy, but I felt like I was in a movie, and that I could die from a gunshot anytime. I guess the media had its effect on me. In all, I visited two “brother centers”, two “sister centers” and a workers meeting. Dedi being his cheeky self introduced me as the “single guy from Singapore” to the sisters. It was so weird, having over ten pairs of eyes, asking me all sorts of questions about Singapore. It was somewhat overwhelming, but I did have nothing to lose. After all, I did come with an intention to fellowship with christians from another part of the world.
Dedi took me to the workers meeting too, and without even giving me a chance to settle down, they were already asking me if I had anything to say about starting a business. “Sheesh, Kendall should be here, and not me”, I thought. Well I did have things to say, and it seemed that they felt the same way I did about juggling between a business, social life, marriage (hopefully soon!) and most importantly, quiet time with God.

Monday, August 7, Semarang - Salatiga
We headed out to Salatiga. Salatiga is a Student town, that is predominantly christian. I’m having second thoughts about Indonesia being a muslim nation. Then again, Indonesia is a large country. What is one christian town compared to the rest? Siswo leads the church of some 100 young and zealous born again christians. Almost everyone is a student at the local university. I still remember Eugene leaning over to us, saying: “Prepare something to say.” The thought immediately sank in and we prepared ourselves accordingly. Kendall, Raymond and I had a great time sharing. After the service, we spent more time just talking to the students, and everyone is so eager to get to know us. I felt so loved by strangers that I’ve never met. Then again, we are the body of christ. I had so much to share with them and many could relate with me; about our parents who aren’t saved.

Tuesday, August 8, Semarang - Jogjarkata
We spent most of today sightseeing. Kendall bought us lunch at a boutique hotel called AmanJiwo. AmanJiwo was surreal. It’s location is hidden by thick vegetation, and it’s path long and narrow. One would have to know where it is to go there. The place had the words opulent and decadent written all over. Such a beautiful place that was built by man reflects their creativity. I can’t help but think, that it was God who created the creative man. God is indeed creative, and has made the world beautiful. Anyway, after a sumptuous lunch and short tour of the hotel, we went on our way to Jogjarkarta. Yopi, another friend of mine leads the church there. Currently he travels up and down the winding roads for 3 hours each week on thursdays, and returns on mondays to be back with his wife and daughter. He’s been praying about the situation and hopes to eventually relocate to Jogjarkata with his Family.

Wednesday, August 9, Semarang
We had a special meeting for leaders today in the church’s office building. It was a smaller group of people, but these guys are all cell group leaders, and it’s amazing to just see all of them gathered there. It was during working hours and yet so many had made an effort to come for the meeting!
I’m looking forward to tonight’s prayer meeting. It would be the first one in another church, and it’d be interesting because Raymond was asked to worship lead. We arrived fashionably late, and had only 15 minutes to get acquainted with the band, and play together for the first time. By God’s grace and unity in spirit, we got it going and it was so awesome. God’s presence was definitely there and everyone was worshipping with such zeal. Eugene conducted a prophecy workshop, like the one we had gone through during our own prayer meeting. The results were very interesting. Several people went up to share what they had seen and heard from God, with confirmation of one or two people from their group. The usual chit chatting ensued after the meeting, and in our group, one guy who had been going from church to church for a long time didn’t feel the presence of God until he joined Jubilee Church, and he wanted more of it. So we all prayed for him and I had the honour of sharing Acts Chapter 4 with him through an interpreter.

Thursday, August 10 - Saturday, August 12, Semarang - Bangdungan
Today’s the Geographical Training Time and we all headed up to the hills of Bangdungan.
It was a nice change of environment because it gets fairly cold at night. We all bunked in a dormitory, while some checked into a hotel. Over the next two days, we’ll have a total of 4 sessions. Dave Haggar from the Coastlands spoke and Ian Mckellar from Singapore lead the meeting. It was a time of hearing the word. We also had further reports of the church in Indonesia. There are fifteen churches in total, with more cell group leaders wanting to plant churches in areas that are still untouched.

Going to the nations has been one of the best things I’ve done so far this year. It was an opportunity that was made possible by the church (That’s you guys!). I couldn’t afford the trip but I had been “sent” by the church. People in the book of Acts had been prayed for and then sent out by the church. To be able to live the moment those guys had been doing, is such a great honour and blessing upon me. This trip has opened my eyes to realities I’ve not previously seen before, raised several questions about my walk with God, and it has allowed me to fellowship with believers from another land. All in all, this trip has changed my life. The Indonesian LTT is coming up in December and Church of Joy is helping with the organization. God willing, I’m definitely going back again, and I encourage everyone to go. There are many things that are difficult to put down in words. Only by being there, and living out the moment can you fully understand and feel about the realities and emotions felt in Indonesia. It may not exactly be the Shangri-La, but fellow-shipping with the people there is far more worth than a luxury tour to Spain.

The Burger Barbeque

It's funny. Whenever I hear the word "barbeque", I think of chicken wings marinated in soy sauce, processed hotdogs and crabsticks, squid with sambal and the all time The clichés. Chris had a grand idea of just having burgers for a barbeque. And it did sound good. After all, I really really dislike grilled and then microwaved burgers from fast food joints. It's such a lie! Most places promise flame grilled burger patties, but at a certain fast food joint, I opened my patty just to see if they really were flame grilled. Well, yes and no. The sides were charred, evidence that it had actually been on a grill, but the middle part of the patty had air bubbles, that were popped. This definitely isn't a hand made patty, I thought, and it sure looked like it was nuked. Why would there be popped air bubbles? I'm sure it was. It's fast food. Anyway, I shouldn't complain too much. I can't expect much from a fast food chain.

Moving on from bad food experiences, Chris had a plan, and we finally put it into motion.
It was suppose to be a fairly stress free event, but poor planning led to a rather hectic evening. But it was all good. Being the food snob that I am, and I apologize to anyone who has put up with it, I insisted on hand-cut fries, home-made burger buns and of course, hand made patties.
Chris and I spent the entire day before shopping for ingredients at tekka market and Carrefour. I absolutely love tekka market and I highly reccomend it. Anyway, we got a styrofoam box from one of the stalls and I went to get it washed while chris was arranging for space in his car. A lady at the seafood section of the market was kind enough to hose it down for me. I had my entire right arm hosed down in the process, and she was apologizing profusely. I could only laugh at what happened and went on down to the carpark. Chris found it funny too.

All loaded up at tekka market

We spent the evening making the beef patties, and I started on the burger bun recipe that I've never tried before. It was going well until I got impatient, and decided to bake the buns, without letting it proof for a longer time, and what we got was a bun that was inbetween light and dense. Not quite what we wanted, and I figured I ought to let it proof even longer the next day. We decided on having the burgers for dinner and to test them at the same time.

Halving the burgers!

I was really happy about the buns though. I found out that I could roll two rolls at the same time, using both left and right hands.
The night carried on over to Jeremy's and we ended up with 54, 140g patties and a very hungry husky at our sides the entire time. It was meant for about 16 peope, and clearly, we've bought too much. We spent more time just talking and I went to bed only at 6am because of the delicious hazelnut coffee I had over at Jeremy's.
Waking up two hours later, I started on the burger buns, shaping them two at a time with my new found confidence in bread making. In between a now longer proofing time, I made a Spicy tomato sauce, blue cheese mayonaise and spear mint syrup. Music practice came and went for me, and we spent more time buying stuff for the barbeque, and then Charles and I went on to Jeremy's and started peeling and cutting the potatoes in to random stick sizes.

Everything else kind of came together, and everyone finally came and it all just happened.
It was so hectic. All that hard work. All that time spent. Sleeping only 2 hours. Was it worth it? Sure it was.

Julian and Jeremy

Charles, Jeremy and Chris

The burger

Nothing beats a hand made burger. I must say, the fruits of your labour, is very satisfying.
We did make too much patties, and so the burger barbeque carried on over to two more days. Having burgers three days in a row did it for me, and I haven't had one since.
I am craving for one now though. I'm keen on trying the Wagyu beef burger with Foie Gras and truffle at One Ninety. Mmmmmm.

Oh, I was away in Indonesia for the past week, and I didn't get a chance at all to post this entry before leaving. Thus the absence.
Look out for the next post on Indonesia!

Are you the one?

It it a staple in many, maybe even every Italian ristorante. Perhaps, a dessert that should be a repertoire of every chef. A test of standards, maybe. A dessert who's history is debatable, and that needs no further introduction, or history lesson on another blog site.
I give you, Tiramisu à la Nicholas.

Tiramisu, à la Nicholas

I started looking for the perfect tiramisu recipe sometime in 2005. If you have scoured the world wide web for a tiramisu recipe, you will know that are many different kinds of recipes, and several ways of assembling this dessert. That, can leave you frustrated or confused. Which recipe then, is the perfect one? If I'm gonna pay a pretty penny for a tub of mascarpone, I am gonna want to make the perfect tiramisu, no? I personally do not think there is a perfect recipe for this popular Italian dessert. It is only as good, as what you think it is. As with many other desserts that do not require precise measurements, I go with the flow. Who am I serving it to? Will they prefer a boozy version, or a booze free version? How should I present this? Should it be elaborate with many different kinds of garnishes? How sweet should the tiramisu mixture be? What kind of coffee shall I use?
I really enjoyed making this particular batch. I have to say, it was almost therapeutic. I was not boxed in by exact measurements. I started off by pouring boiling water into a bowl filled with Ipoh White Coffee grounds. I paused to savour the aroma that was generously released. I then gently mashed the mascarpone into a smooth mixture. After which, I cracked whatever eggs I have left in the fridge and playfully separated the yolks from the whites by hand. I pour some sugar into the eggs and taste. Yea okay, I think it's sweet enough. I pour some sugar into my saucepan that my dad bought for me and put it under a running tap, filling it with just over twice the amount of sugar and I put it on the flame. I walk over to my liquor cupboard and I open up the doors and consider the selection. Rum? Nah, tried that one before. Marsala? Typical. Sherry? Dosen't quite hit the spot. Ah, Cognac, I taste some and I like the way it fills my mouth.The full bodiedness of the cognac won me over. I poured myself abit more although it was unnesessary. I splash some cognac into the eggs and taste. Hmm, maybe just a bit more. Splash. I turn to the now simmering pot and I pour the syrupy liquid into the coffee and I refill the pan with just abit of water and I set the bowl of sweet boozy egg yolks over it. The arduous process of whisking the mixture constanly over a stove begins, and will only end as soon as ribbons form in the mixture, turning it into a Zabaglione. Not with Marsala wine, but Cognac. I whisked, and whisked, and whisked somemore. What began as a trickle of sweat turned into something that need not be described. Hey, it's hot here in Singapore, and I have to shut the doors, or the wind will blow the flame out on the hob. Minutes pass, and the boozy egg mixture begins to thicken. Almost there... almost there... Heck, I'll turn up the heat and speed up the process. I'll slap myself silly if it turns into scrambled eggs. There! Just about the right consistency. I take it off the heat and whisk somemore, encouraging the mixture to cool down even faster. I open the doors, and enjoy the gush of wind rushing into the kitchen. One of the perks of living 14 floors up. I pour the Zabaglione into the mascarpone, and I go into a rhythm of turning the bowl counter-clockwise between each fold. The yellow of the zabaglione becomes a playful swirl against the white sea of triple cream cheese and it soons turn into a off-white mixture. I take a taste. Needs more sugar. No worries. I take another bowl and whisk out of the freezer which I had placed in earlier on and set it into the stand mixer. I pour in a desired amount of cream and spooned in some powdered sugar. I set the speed on high. The loud whirring of the kenwood mixer makes me want to hurl it down the rubbish chute and buy myself a Kitchen Aid Mixer. I watch the whisk spin in the bowl, and I'm almost hypnotized by the rotating whisk and loud whirs. A trace of ribbon begins to form and it snaps me out of my "stoned" state. I look more intently now, and I stop the mixer as soon as medium stiff peaks form. I begin the rhythm again, and fold the whipped cream into the off-white mixture. I taste it again. A slight smile breaks over my lips. Perfect. I start straining the coffee, separating sweet aromatic liquid from bland coffee grounds. I take out all of my little cups and line them up like little soul-less soldiers on cling wrapped trays. I tear open a packet of vicenzo sponge fingers and break them into half. I baptize them in liquid gold and tease them into the round bottoms. I thumb a bottle of Tia Maria, and sprinkle the liquor into the already moist sponge fingers. This oughta give the coffee a pleasant boost in flavour. I fill up a piping bag with the tiramisu mixture and I pipe them into the glasses. I repeat the process of dunking the sponge fingers and sprinkling Tia Maria to form a second layer, and I top it off with the rest of the tiramisu mixture, scraping out every bit with my essential rubber spatula. I cling wrap the entire tray, glasses and all, and proudly lifted it onto the top shelf of the refrigerator.

I went to bed that night, satisfied. I don't mean to claim that my version of the tiramisu is the best. But I am very happy with it because I've considered the ingredients carefully, and this is the way I like my tiramisu. Light, rich, and boozy with a strong coffee flavour. I can't wait to try it later. In about 9-11 hours actually. I made these for the ladies meeting at church, and I set aside 8 cups for the worship team. Hopefully, they will still be there, and I can have one.

I just spent the entire friday with Chris, grocery shopping at tekka market and then at carrefour. I couldn't refuse to try some hazelnut coffee that Jeremy's mom offered earlier on, while we were preparing for today's burger barbeque, and now I'm still wide awake. A bad call, I must say. I'm gonna start making burger buns in 2-3 hours, and sauces while the bread is proofing, and I've been awake for more than 21 hours now. It's time for a power nap.
Watch out for the Burger Barbeque post!

So, what are you doing now?

Well, I've been on hiatus long enough now.
So what am I doing now?
Well I've been deep in thoughts and I'm disconcerted. I've been taking in the vastness of life, within boundaries of course. I'm having my turn on the roller coaster, that is of life. I feel like I'm about to end one chapter of my life, and begin on a new one. In other words, I'm at the peak of my quarter-life "crisis". Some nights, I feel numb and feel like I'm just existing day after day, without purpose and I'm not very motivated right now. The only reason I can face another day is because I've cried out to God and He finally answered one sunday morning. It's funny, I'd thought that life would be fine and dandy, but it's only gotten alot tougher. I feel burdened by many circumstances around me and it's tiring. But only by God's grace, I can face another day.

Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

In about a months time, I'll turn 21 and have several questions about myself answered. I'll have known how many goals I've achieved that I've hope to accomplish when I was just a wee lad. I'll have new goals that I'll want to achieve. I've taken a good look at myself, and I see where I'm standing. I'm almost 21, I'm still not in the army, I'm not financially independent, yet, I don't have a solid job for now, I haven't been travelling around the world, as I had hoped I would be at this time. And to top it all of, I'm still single. Haha, yea, I threw in that last bit just for good measure.
I do look forward to the future, but I miss being young, when my only worries were homework and exams. And it was great, cause I never did worry much about them.
I slept over at three different friends place the past three days, and I miss sleepovers. We'd just talk about life in general, play some music, eat and have ourselves some innocent fun. It was great and I miss it alot.

Anyways... here's a chocolate mousse cake I made just last week for someone's birthday.It's one recipe that I've picked up during the time I spent working at Raffles Hotel. It's a fairly simple recipe. This was also when I was introduced to a new ingredient. Feuilletines. It's made of crushed biscuit flakes. It adds an interesting crunch to simple recipes and I like using it alot. For this one, I mixed the feuilletines with nutella and chocolate, and used it as a base for the mousse. I wished I could have decorated the circumference of the cake with square chocolate pieces, add a trellis rod of chocolate on the top, and accompany the strawberries with delicate swirls. But of course, the heat makes it impossible for any chocolate work at home. I have considered setting a chocolate work station in my room with the air condition on, but that's just crazy. But it will work. Hmm. Maybe I will, if I do get ever get around to doing it.

I have also been toying with several ideas and I've been thinking alot about milkshakes and smoothies. I'd love to serve "gourmet" smoothies and shakes next time. I'm thinking, some milk, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, real chocolate - melted, some praline paste and caramelized hazelnuts, blended into a harmonious amalgamation. I've yet to try them out as I lack the funding. I realized that while it was great to sleep in and wake up by myself, I need to get a job to support myself. For now, I'm getting by with just enough, though it would be nice to have a nice intimate dinner with people everynow and then. That will give me a chance to use my Built NY BYO wine bag I bought a few weeks ago. Plus, I have a bottle of Inniskillin Riesling Icewine and a bottle of Classic Rutherglen Tokay that I've been waiting to open for the longest time now. There just isn't anyone to open it with.

All Asian Leader's GTT

Right, alot has happened since I last posted about anything.
First up, I've left Raffles Hotel. My parents thought I was crazy, along with many other people. I've not been learning anything new at work and I decided that I'd rather take some time off for myself. I have a whole bunch of ideas, flavour combinations and recipes that I want to try and develop before I go into national service. It'd also be nice to have some time to myself and go out with people.

The week after I left Raffles Hotel, I went for the All Asia Leader's GTT for a week in Johor Bahru. The Geographical Training Time is a time where leaders and emerging leaders from churches that relate to New Covenant Ministries International gather together from all parts of the world for a time of corporate worship, relationship building and leadership training. It was the most intense and fulfilling week I've had since a long time. Thirteen Nations were represented and there were several reports about what God is doing in Asia.

Here's the worship team during practice. I've been playing with them for a long time and I love these guys/girls. I can't believe I'm even on this platform. I remembered when I wanted to play in a worship team and serve in that manner for God so badly when I was fifteen. It's just so great that God has given me that gift and priviledge.
Here's droopy eye Dave. He was our awesome drummer for the week. The last time I played with him was in March 2005. There will be another Leadership Training Time in November and I look forward to playing with him again. He has relocated from Taiwan to Cambodia to plant a church.

This is Dave looking like a drummer.

Here's Meg, Rach, Daniel and myself with the 3 most adorable boys at the meeting.
They were insanely cute and funny.

Clockwise from bottom left: Daniel, Katna, Gansu and myself.

We made friends with two Mongolian guys and took them to the Night Safari when we got back to Singapore. They love their meat, and shun vegetables. It was a such priviledge to even talk to them and it was funny to hear some of the worship songs that we do in Mongolian. Several words sound like they were trying to clear their throats, but otherwise, it's Mongolian.

So that's what has been happening. Hopefully within the next few days, I'll be able to bake again. It's been a really long time since I've done anything like that. And I miss it.