Sharp Drop

I woke from my slumber as the phone chirped out the alarm melody. It was 4 am & that was hub's alarm. I'm a side sleeper. Every night without fail, I go to sleep on my right. As with last autumn, I would wake up every single night multiple times to flip my blanket on & off like a prata. With my blanket, I sweat. Without it, I freeze. I could never find that fine balance needed to sleep through the night.

But for the 1st time this autumn, I did. I vaguely registered the fact that I had not woken up during the night & that I was still in the right lateral position. The previous night was colder than usual. So we decided not to switch on the fan like we normally do. I guess as the temperature dropped further during the night, it became cold enough for me not to get hot & sweaty.

When my alarm went off at 5 am, I reached over to switch it off. My phone automatically updated the temperature & I saw that it was 3°c, way below the forecasted minimum of 9°c. No wonder I slept so well! It went from low teens the previous day to just above zero. So for the 1st time this year, I switched the car heater on (feet only) coz I drive barefooted & my toes were freezing. As always, I'm looking forward to the approaching winter.

Milestone: 1st Anniversary

2nd May 2014. We landed in Perth Airport at 11.30 pm with only uncertainties ahead.

2nd May 2015. Exactly a year since we arrived. It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing. But then, what in life is? Still, we definitely came a long way from where we began. We've overcame the many obstacles & difficulties in our way. I'm forever thankful for each victory we claim. We celebrated by having steamboat dinner while watching The Amazing Spiderman 2 on dvd. I also baked a ricotta cheesecake with cherry sauce.

My colleague bought a ricotta cheesecake & brought it to work last week. It was so good that I searched for the recipe online. The outcome was a pretty dense cake, probably needs a bit more liquid than stated in the recipe. It was so much better when eaten with the cherry sauce. Luckily I decided that just having a cheesecake is too plain & wanted an extra oompf. Best of all, the frozen cherries were on half price, at $2.80. The cherry sauce was so easy to make & I wondered why I bought the canned version all the time when I was still in Sg for $7.90.

I also found an ingredient I've been looking for in the seafood shop nearby. I've never stepped in as they looked expensive. But hubs wanted to get scallops for this special occasion & hence we went in for the 1st time. Monk fish. I've always wanted to try out a recipe in Gordon Ramsay's cookbook that utilises monk fish. But this fish is not available in Sg. Looks like now I'll finally get my chance.

I finally feel that I have a life again. It is hard to find appreciation for life when all your time is spent at work. Now, I finally am living the life I could only dream of in the past.

2nd May 2016. Who knows where we will be then? May we always persevere in the face of trying times & never forget the debt of gratitude we owe.

Baked ricotta cheesecake with cherry sauce.

Memories Of A Past Life?

In 1 of my previous posts, I mentioned feeling a sense of familiarity, a sense of deja vu. It only happens when I'm down with a flu & the weather is overcast or rainy. These are the 2 absolute conditions. I started having this feeling when I was very young. If you asked me to describe it, I can only say, if there is indeed a past life, this is a memory of my past life. On top of that, I have 2 very certain images in my mind. Images that have been with me since I was a child. 1st is of a girl (me), standing on a hill, looking down across a wide green field. The other is of a lady (me) in a trench coat, carrying an umbrella, walking down a cobblestone street with old fashioned street lamps at night, in the rain.

Are these memories from a previous lifetime? If not, how do I explain the existence of the images & feelings since I was a little kid? Does that mean that there will be a next life?

Sunrise At Kings Park

Thursday, 16th April. I had no list & hence got the day off. Hubs was asked not to work as there were no orders. I said I wanted to take panorama pictures at Kings Park on an overcast day but couldn't as I had to work. It was forecast to be a clear, sunny day. It would have to do. We woke up at 4.30 am in the morning in preparation to leave the house at 5.30 am. I estimated travelling time to be around 45 mins, just in time for the 6.30 am sunrise. It wasn't too cold (12 degrees) but I heeded hub's advice to wear my thicker jacket. Thankfully I did coz it was very windy & my usual thin jacket wouldn't have sufficed. As predicted, we arrived at Kings Park at 6.15 am. The views were breath taking. The photos I took on my S3 don't do the scenery justice. 

I brought Ton along just becoz dogs are allowed. We leave him at home way too much. So whenever I can, I'll bring him. He did his usual thing, trying to chase & bark at passing joggers. After watching the sunrise, we wandered for a bit in Kings Park before heading home. 

View overlooking the city.

Goofy Ton.

It's starting.

A fully risen sun.

Kitchen Toy: Dehydrator

The dehydrator is 1 of the toys I brought back from Sg. I bought this many years ago when I 1st had Ton Ton. He's 9 this year so I think this must be around 8 years old. I bought the dehydrator specially for him. As the name suggests, it dehydrates food or if you want, flowers. Instead of buying commercially, I used it to dehydrate meat as snacks for him. It was used very infrequently & not once in recent years, having been stored deep at the back of the storeroom. In fact, I had to move tons of things out before I could even reach it. I carried the base in my hand carry while the trays went into check in. 

2 weeks ago, we went to the Asian supermarket's butcher & bought 1 kg of beef tendons for dehydration. In addition, I bought a slab of pork shoulder to make char siew. The pork shoulder came with skin which I trimmed off & dehydrated as well. The tendons came out nicely, good as a teeth cleaning chew for Ah Ton. I give him 2 pieces everyday & his breath is smelling much better. Most of the plaque on his teeth even came off. No preservatives, no unknown ingredients. 

Pork skin.

Dehydrated pork skin.

Beef tendons.

Rock hard dehydrated tendons.

Back Online

Finally! After almost 1 month in our new place, the internet has been successfully activated. I didn't manage to settle the stupid iinet issue though. I went to the bank & asked that future direct debits be blocked. During this month, I've made several calls to their call centre to no avail. Twice, I was put on hold & then disconnected. I suspected they hang up on me coz by then, I'm already with Telstra & I had full mobile signal the entire time I was on the phone with them. 3rd time, the guy said he needed to investigate & would get back to me within a few hours. Of course, he never did. Following Nix's advice & complain email format, I shot them a complain. I never did get a reply. That was 2 weeks ago. Then, they tried to deduct the $300+ from my bank account, which, I had blocked. Immediately, I started receiving text messages & emails informing me that the deduction was unsuccessful & to make payment. I think I may really have to write to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

Loving Soft Bones

The only thing I ever order at Ajisen is the nankotsu ramen in Sg. I simply love the flavourful gelatinous texture of the 软骨. I brought my set of AMC pots back to Perth from Sg when I went back late last month. A heating base that doubles up to turn the AMC pot into an oven, 2 pots (1 taller soup pot & 1 shorter pot) & a pressure lid. They're not cheap but I got them at a good price.

Before the lamb shanks, there was the soft bones. We were at the asian grocery shop & I bought a packet of herbal bakuteh. I intended to use ribs but when I got to the butcher, I saw soft bones selling for half the price of the ribs. I thought of my pressure lid & went with the soft bones.I didn't marinate the soft bones coz I know the pressure will force the flavours into the meat. I've been working late recently, sometimes arriving home at only 8 pm. So being able to chuck everything into a pot with no extra work is perfect for me. I set the timer for 1 hour & did my things. Shower, feed & let Ah Ton out, etc.

However, 1 hour wasn't enough for the soft bones to turn into the perfect texture (to me). It was not gelatinous enough. This is something I love so I'll definitely want to get the timing right. I'm just undecided putting it for 1 hr 15 mins or 1.5 hrs next time. I don't want to overdo it & have it disintegrate. But as I've predicted, the soft bones were flavoursome despite not being marinated.

5 pieces of soft bones cost $9. The herbal pack, $3. Still not too bad for 2 serves.