Lucky Prayers

Guess what I was told today?

Apparently I did really well in the written assessment this Monday, the best out of all 3 interviewees!  So I guess your prayers worked!  Thanks!!! =)

Okay please now pray that next Monday I am not nervous for my presentation and interview and that I do very well in both and don’t stutter and turn red.  Thank you.  Also that I do very well in my interview on Tuesday too, thanks!  And that I get offered both posts, in which case I can pick and choose hehehe.

Phew, what a relief.

The thing is, I always ALWAYS doubt myself.  I never feel like I have done enough or done well.  I wish I was more confident but I don’t know whether that is ever going to happen.  The only time I am confident is if I’m trying to give someone else a pep talk, in which case I sound really confident but that’s only because I am trying to boost their spirits and their confidence.

Wednesday already.  Two more days to go!

One Day Down, Four More To Go

Finally I’m home.  Finally the day is over.  Rejoice!

I’m so tired today.  I’ve had this really weird headache since early yesterday, I don’t know whether it’s to do with the change in weather or whether it’s because I was stressed over my written exam for today.  I’ve still got it now in fact but I don’t care anymore because my written exam is over!  Yay.

I don’t think I did that well in it; I ran out of time and my report was really disorganised and not particularly in-depth.  But I tried my best under the circumstances so I’m not going to worry about it anymore.  What will be will be and all that jazz.

On the train home I started dreaming of what I’d have for dinner.  I decided on Chinese delivery and the first thing I did upon reaching my stop was withdraw some money for it.

Comfort food is better than a michelin starred meal any day.  Michelin starred fancy food is good for when you have time, energy and feelings enough to spare but comfort food is good whenever.  It doesn’t demand energy from you to enjoy it; in fact, it actually gives you energy and soothes your ragged soul.

Now I’m off to have some chocolate to make myself feel even happier! =D

Food Diary

Lunch – Roast chicken and stuffing sandwich

Snack – Two clementines

Dinner – One hot and sour soup and Singaporean fried vermicelli.  This is now my favourite Chinese takeaway order.  In the old days I would never have thought that I’d like Singaporean fried vermicelli as much as this but I gradually acquired the taste for it and now I love it, especially from the Chinese takeaway near us, their food has very good “wok hei”.

Dessert – One Lindt chocolate bar

Drinks – Peppermint tea, English tea, water

Dessert 2 – A few squares of fruit and nut!  I haven’t had this yet but I will in a minute hehehe.

Not much is better than lazing on the couch with chocolate in one hand, watching mindless dramas.  I love the theme song to that rice drama that Ron Ng sung, I listen to it all the time!  Haha.

Lavender and Tarte Tatin

I’ve had this event in my diary since early this year – the lavender harvest.

For some reason, sometime earlier this year I suddenly thought “I wonder if there are any lavender fields in London”.  I googled it and not only was there a lavender field in London, it was really close to us and they’ve got an annual harvest weekend.  So I entered the dates in my diary and finally the weekend rolled round this week.

It was a small affair with a few stalls selling lavender products (soap, oil etc) and a big field of lavender where you can pick your own and pay for them later on.

It wasn’t what I was expecting in that I thought I’d be hit with a great gust of lavender scent once I got into the field but there was nothing.  Maybe a very slight whiff of lavender but generally it just smelt like summertime in England.  The lavender was pretty though.  We didn’t bring any money so we didn’t end up picking any, we just took some photos and that was it.

I’m still glad I went.  As I grow older I find I’m appreciating nature more and seeing the field of  vivid purple lavender against the sunny sky made me happy.  It made me happy to live where I live, knowing I’m so close to a beautiful bit of nature.

GM and I were going over to our mates’ for dinner that night so when I got home I embarked on my first attempt at making an apple tarte tatin.  Tarte tatin is a French dessert and it’s essential an upside down apple tart.  First the apples are caramelised in lots of butter and sugar before it’s covered with pastry and bunged in the oven.

It came out pretty good!  It was a bit darker than I wanted it to be though so I had no choice but to test it before giving it to my mates hehehe.  In the end I gave them half the tarte; GM and I ate some each and left a couple of slices at home.  Next time I make it I’m going to cook the apples later so that they retain a bit of bite to them and obviously I’m not going to let the butter and sugar caramelise too much before I put the whole thing in to bake otherwise it’ll turn out too dark again.  I’ll also probably use a different variety of apple because I used cooking apples this time and they turned out quite tart so between the apples and the sugar my tarte tatin was overly flavourful.

The pastry, however, was a triumph and I’m really happy because making tart pastry is a daunting thing for me!  See how flaky it was?

Tomorrow I have to do a written assignment which is part of a job interview.  It’s like a written exam during which I’ll be given a stack of documents to write a report on in one hour.  After that I have to have a little 10 minute discussion with the examiner.  Yikes.  Please pray for me I do really well and don’t freeze, especially in the discussion bit!  Thanks!

Dotty Vintage

There’s a vintage shop near my workplace.  It’s actually not that near in that it’s quite a walk but it’s pleasant to stroll there during lunch (if the weather’s good that is) and spend half an hour browsing through all the musty clothes and dusty accessories.

They’ve got a rack full of 70s dresses and I bought this one yesterday.  Do you like it?

You can’t see from the first pic but it has little red dots all over it.  I’m really feeling dots lately so it called out to me.  It wasn’t expensive anyway and I am thinking how I can jazz it up with accessories and such to give it a contemporary twist.

We had a lovely dinner tonight: Indomie with green veg and some sui gaw (prawn dumplings) from GM’s grandfather’s shop.  Yum.

Food Diary

Breakfast – One bowl muesli

Lunch – Vegemite sandwiches, jam sandwiches

Snack – One Wispa bar (chocolate, kind of like a Flake but better)

Dinner – One packet Indomie with green veggies and lots of sui gaw

Drinks – English tea, water.  I only ever drink peppermint tea when I’m at work cos I can’t be bothered with buying milk and such there.  So if you notice when I’m at home on leave or on the weekends I never drink peppermint tea!

Exercise – None!

Foodie Thoughts

I was watching a well-known English chef, Rick Stein’s food programme just now.  He was in Vietnam and loving it; I could see the excitement in his eyes and the very real respect and love he has for food of different cultures.  While I was watching him discussing Vietnamese food with a fellow chef I thought, “Why can’t I make friends with some people who love food like this?”

The only other person I know personally who loves food to the degree that I do is Diana.  I know plenty of other people who like to eat (that’d be you Joanne) but Diana and I don’t just like to eat, we need to know more about our food, actively seeking out new and different flavours and foods.  There’s just so much more out there that I haven’t tried and I am excited to taste it all some day.  The mere thought of the promise of great foods to come uplifts me.  As Diana says, stars and rainbows shoot out of our heads and our normally little eyes grow big, round and shiny in contentment and happiness when we have good food.

I want friends who love food as much as me.  Friends who’d think nothing of roaming London seeking out the next thrilling morsel.  Alas, my friends like to eat but they’re lazy eaters in that they’re not that open to experimentation and they never like to work hard for their food.  I mean, I’m not always in the mood to traipse many miles to some far flung restaurant just for the one acclaimed dish, in fact, I’m hardly ever in the mood to do that especially after a long week at work, but I am not opposed to the idea and will make a point to do it one day.  I don’t know many people who could say the same however, and that is what I am getting at.  I miss not having someone on the same wavelength as me to share my enthusiasm.

So that’s my thought of the day.

On a separate note, I have the day off tomorrow!  Yay!!!  Unfortunately I have the boiler guy coming round to do an annual servicing but I think I can live with that for a day of peace away from the office.

Food Diary

Lunch – Boiled broccoli with bbq chicken slices

Snack – One banana

Snack – One satsuma

Dinner – One brie, cranberry and roasted ham baguette.  I have been look for a brie and cranberry sandwich to no avail but GM saw this baguette during his lunchtime today so he bought it for me!  It’s definitely the best of the brie baguettes out there but they could have done with less brie and much more rocket.

Mini Dinner – Little bowl Indomee.  GM had Indomee tonight.  I had a bit of it and it was like my tastebuds died and went to heaven.  I love Indomee.

Snack – One Picnic chocolate bar.  Sickening.  Serves me right for eating cheap chocolate against my better judgement.

Snack – One satsuma

Drinks – Peppermint tea, English tea, water

Exercise – None!