It is my first Chinese New year away from home. Yes, for the past 20 years, I have always celebrated Chinese New Year in Singapore, together with all my friends and relatives. Not this year... I am practically half way round the globe, away from home, away from my good ole pals and relatives, unable to celebrate Chinese New Year with them. But, nonetheless, it has not been any less of a Chinese New Year. It started at the beginning of this week, when we (Laura, Jane and me) started putting up CNY decorations around our apartment. You see, Laura's mum bought the CNY decorations for her to bring here. And, it has really liven up the atmosphere at home...

KRISPY KREME Part 2...

Uh huh... Andre drove us to Krispy Kreme to get donuts since we were up North and the Krispy Kreme store was super nearby, and we were super lucky when we got there, cos...If you have no idea what it means... It means that their donuts are being freshly made at that time. And, it means that you get a free, freshly made donut, hot off the conveyor belt. Imagine, just a few minutes ago, this donut was just a but a lump of dough, but now, it's a warm, sweeten piece of donut. That's how fresh the donut was...

Before I go on to the taste of the donut, here's a couple of pictures of the conveyor system where the donut is fried and glazed. So interesting, right? Haha.. The 3 of us were so intrigued by the system!!! Haha...
The glazing... (The donuts before that look more brown are preglazed, those looking paler are after glaze.) The donuts we were offered were taken from the side nearest to the left of the photo. That was how fresh the donut was. Just fried, and just glazed. To the far right, that's where the donuts were fried. It's all automated, and there's even a mechanism to turn the donut over!
Anyway, in the midst of us taking photos of the donut manufacturing, the Krispy Kreme staff offered us a donut each. Just made and just glazed. And, I tell you, that 1st bite in was just absolutely amazing. Maybe cos it was just glazed, and warmth of the glaze together with the just fried donut just melted in your mouth. The donut texture is so soft and warm on the inside with a slight crispy outer texture from the frying of the donut and the glazed donut. Yes yes, really soft that it just melts in your mouth. It's just SO fantabulous heavenly!!! Really, after eating 1 piece, you can't help but want a few more pieces. (Very good marketing strategy. Entice you with one, and they know that their donuts are irresistable that people will just end up buying a dozen or so...)
Ahhh... I've probably said this before in my previous post. But, really, sinking me teeth into the donut is like a small dream come true. After all that case study analysis done on Krispy kreme, yet, not knowing how it tastes is such a torture. It's like you know the product and the organisation and it's workings so well, just that you haven't seen it, eaten it and physically felt it. So, now feeling it, seeing it, and eating it (and at the same time remembering my case study facts), there was a sense of attachment with the donut. Feels like meeting an old friend for the 1st time. Contradictory? Haha... But, I suppose you know what I mean. Ahhh....
Imagine our disappointment when we finished our donuts... Sigh...
Krispy Kreme donuts. They're the best!!! Sigh... If only it weren't that sinful. Gee...

It's time to get in touch with ASIA again... Well, that's cos CNY is round the corner. Haha... So, today at dinner, we had Vietnamese food. Yuppers... ANd, the coffee that Andre ordered was SO interesting... and, the amount of vegetables they served is amazing. But, I love it.. haha.. lots of bean sprouts. hee... We headed down to the Hong Kong supermarket (which is owned by Vietnamese), and we were so intrigued at the amount of Asian food they had. Haha... We went wild, going "OMG!! They have san char here!!! Oh, and they have chinese sausage here too!!!" Ahhh, u get the drift. Pity that the HK market is quite far off, if not ah, I think we'll come here to get groceries instead. And, soon, we'll be able to eat Singaporean styled food. haha... However, can't really find the Singapore spices there. But, nonetheless, got stuff to make soup stock can already. hee... Soup soup soup... more SOUP!!!

And since TARGET was just a stone's throw away, we decided to check it out. And, I happily went in saying, "We are NOT going to buy anything". (Well, cos we just spent another bit on grocery shopping at the HK market. We always spend A LOT during grocery shopping. gee...) Andre was just laughing at us, saying we wouldn't be able to resist it. And, yes, he was SO right... Think Walmart, just more high class (or so I was told. I have yet to step into Walmart. I will, I have to, at least once, since I am in the States.)

Ahhh.... Jake, Josh, Sam, Adriel, Abby, Deb and all those who were involved in the Spongebob party... Haha... This is for you.. Saw this pinata in the shape of spongebob at TARGET, and I HAD to take a photo with it. hee... and, here;s another with strawberry short cake...

School...

There's just so much reading to do. Like some of you would have heard, I seem to be doing my readings here much earlier than I would have done when I was back at home. Can't believe it, and they say that the workload here was easier. Hmmm.... maybe it is... Just that we are pushing too hard. I should learn to take it easy, anyway, since this is S/U. Haha... But, must get S, can't get U. BUT, don't get me wrong, I love the lessons here. I love the interactive feel and the open discussion here. The people here are more vocal. Much more vocal than in Singapore. Thus, we get to hear a lot more different views and ideas. And, so far, I've been enjoying my lessons a lot. Sometimes, I wish that I could do my degree here. Cos, if I could, I would be able to do such a larger variety of modules compared to Singapore. AND, I would be able to do a major in MUSIC and Business. It would have been so much better. The only reason why I didn't take MUSIC in Singapore, was cos, the School wasn't that established yet. Nonetheless, I still love doing Business and the NUS Business School.

Ahh well... Did I say that I have a craving for CNY goodies? Yes, you lucky people in Singapore. Got so much CNY goodies to eat. Thank God for mummy's cornflake cookies (which are practically gone...) and Mei's mummy's pineapple tarts to tide me through. I feel like eating pineapple tarts (more more more... I love both the Nonya one and the Taiwanese one), yu sheng (some one send up the prepacked one. the more the merrier, cos I LOVE TO LO HEI!!! LOL... I'll get the cucumber, carrot and raddish here on my one... And, but extra of the crackers and plum sauce. I just love it... HAhaha... Just kidding...), kok zai (i wanna eat mama's kok zai!!!), kueh bangkek, love letters, sugee, bak kwa, ju zi (aka the mandarin oranges. I love eating it. Especially at this time of the year, cos it's super sweet. It's one of the few oranges I love to eat. uh huh... Sadly, it's heaty, so can't eat too much...), peanut cookies etc etc.. More more more!!! I love CNY goodies!!! Hee... =) Ok, I'm dreaming too much. Haha... Cos, I know it's impossible to get it here and it's not economical. So, what I'm going to do is go check out the Hong Kong market here and see what CNY goodies they have there, and Jane's going to get her US version of yu sheng done for this sunday's potluck (uh huh.. we're hopefully going to get a potluck this sunday to celebrate CNY). And, the 2nd part of the plan is to come back to Singapore and go to Bengawang Solo and buy their pineapple tarts, sugee, kueh bangkek. Hee.. And mei zhen xiang to get my bak kwa. Haha... Probably not get the atmosphere, but at least, I get to eat my CNY goodies.

Ahhh.. Ok.. offf to Hong Kong market now..

Happy BIRTHDAY to YOU
Happy BIRTHDAY to YOU
Happy BIRTHDAY to GRACE,
Happy BIRTHDAY to YOU!!!

Some of you would have read in a VERY early post of mine (I think about 8 months ago), that I was doing a project on Krispy Kreme. Yup, it was a marketing case study on Krispy Kreme. And I was complaining how I was doing the project, reading all about people's ravings on how fantabulous Krispy Kreme is and so on and so forth, but I have never tried it. And so, NOW that I am in the STATES, i HAD to try it. And, I found out a week ago that UT sells KRispy Kreme. Yupyup, but there isn't a stall here, it's just one of those off the rack ones. So, I was hesitating buying it, cos I wanted to eat the hot, fresh one that everyone's been raving about.

Ahh... Alas, I could succumb no more to the temptation and the 8 month long NEED to try Krispy Kreme, that I just decided to taste the donut even if it's off the rack. It's delievered fresh daily anyway, can't go THAT wrong. So... I bought it. And, of cos, I HAD to try the ORIGINAL GLAZED before everything else. (NExt would be chocolate glazed with iced custard.... Yummilicious!!!)

And, YES!!! IT IS GOOD!!! Firstly, it's not overwhelmingly sweet as I tot it would be. The donut's soft and sufficiently wet (not like those hard, dry ones you get outside). The glaze is so good that it doesn't stick around ur mouth giving u that eeky sweet sticky feeling. SUPERYUMMILICIOUS!!!! I can't wait to try the fresh, hot ones...

Did some cooking the other day. Haha... I don't know why, but I kept wanting to make pork chop. The Hainanese pork chop. Maybe it's cos I haven't eaten mama's pork chop for a while, or maybe I'm thinking too much of the super wonderful pork chop at this place along Upper East Coast road. (Their pork chop there is fantabulous!!! Lean, and super delicious!!!) So, tried to replicate it here... And, it tasted not too bad... haha... And, it came with sauce!! Haha.. But, since we didn't have ketchup at home, we had to be super kiasu Singaporeans when we went to Jack in the Box for lunch. Ahhh.... Jack in the Box is this place really nearby our apartment which serves... CURLY FRIES!!! My perpetual craving for curly fries, finally satisfied!!!

Dinner:
Pork Chop with potato fries... And, it's all from scratch.

I saw this of the streets the other day, and I just HAD to take a photo of it. Like, hey! How often do you see a horse driven carriage on the roads? And, no, this is not some photo taken outside any theme park. This was taken a couple of streets from where I stay. Can you believe it, they actually have this type of services?
How wonderful it will be (and so surreal) if I could even sit in that carriage all decked out in splendour and beauty with my prince charming on this carriage, on our way to a ball... ahhh... Just imagine. Haha... But *slap* back to reality, it might be surreal, however, not practical lar. Like, it will be super cold especially if it's such a season as now (it's winter here, btw. Temperatures can be as low as 6 degrees, or even lower), and what happens if it rains. I'd rather opt for a limousine (hmmm... but the again, it's so huge and long, very hard to do turns and all), or maybe a sports car (hmmm... then, my hair will be in a mess after the ride). Urgh... I'll just stick with a beautiful Merc or any of the premium brand cars that look, stylish, classy and sleek. All the better if there is a mini bar in it filled tonnes of champagne and it's chauffeur driven. Haha... I'm dreaming too much.

It's been a movie marathon over the last weekend. Watched 3 movies in 2 days. Yes, it doesn't seem like a lot, but the sudden density of movie watching is much more than my usual. (about 1 or twice per month on the average? Thanks to Rudi who would pull me to watch the movies. If not ah... I think I wouldn't have watched any movies. You see, I am lazy. I will look at the movie page and say, I wanna watch this one... But, I am far too lazy to go down to the cinema to go and watch it. Not like there's a cinema super near my house. Most of them are out of my Siglap, Bedok comfort zone. Nonetheless, thank God for Rudi who would pull me to watch movies. Sighh... Miss that boy... He has such interesting opinions, that it just tickles me whenever he comments about the movie. It's such a joy to watch movies with him, YX, shirl etc etc. Miss you guys!!! Must do it again when I go back to Singapore, k?)

Ahhh... I digress yet again. I'm quite good at it, apparently. So, now, back to my blog. We didn't know what to do on friday night after dinner, so we decided to rent a movie -- Monster in Law. It's hilarious. I love the bickering from J Lo and Jane Fonda. Haha... So much for it being a girls' show. In the end, Andre (who earlier had protests about watching the show) also watched the show with the rest of us.

Movie No. 2: Phantom of the Opera. We had just finished dinner at Dog & Duck pub, which, serves... erm... Fish & Chips. Ok, it isn't the only thing they served, but it was supposed to be quite famous for the fish and chips. And, gosh, as usual, the portions are HUGE!!!

So after dinner, we were waiting for Movie 3 to start, and we were just lazing at Jan's house, playing soccer and football in his room. Or rather, attempting to. And, we got bored, which was when Pammy brought out her Phantom of the Opera and we watched Phantom for that short time to before our next movie started.

Movie 3. This is the point of my whole blog. We watched End of the Spear. It's based on a true story about how the Waodani people--a violent Ecuadorian society living in the Amazon jungle--and 5 young missionaries who, in the early ‘60s, tried to communicate peace with them. Lead by Nate Saint, the five men (including Jim Elliot) make contact with the tribe but are brutally speared by Waodani leader Mincayani and his fellow warriors. Then, in an odd twist, some of the slain men’s family members, including Nate’s young son, Steve, go and live with the Waodani in a continued attempt to promote peace. But as Steve grows up, he is haunted by his beloved father’s death, while Mincayani struggles with his past actions and his ever changing world. Steve returns to the jungle, and he and Mincayani finally have a meeting of the spears.

I don't know if the movie would go to Singapore. But, if it does, do go and watch. Really shows how each and every circumstance and life was used by God in spreading His word to the people. It really portrayed the real love of the missionaries for God, such that they could find it inside them to love the people who killed their loved ones. I especially like the last part when Mincayani and Steve were confronting each other, and Steve had to learn to forgive Mincayani just as God forgave him and love him just as God loves us. Although it is not a VERY God focused movie, but the subtle reference to God was truly shown through the movie. Go watch if it comes to Singapore!!!

JAN the player!!!

Ahhh... Jan, here is the post dedicated to you. Haha... For the benefit of all my dear Singapore friends, Jan is one of the SSA (go refer to my earlier postings as to what SSA) people here. And, he's been such a dear. Always sending us around, entertaining us, allowing us to wreck his house, car etc etc, being the porter to our shoppings bags, quarterback etc etc. But you know, although he's been in the States longer than us, and been in Austin longer than us, he's almost as much as a tourist as us. *wonders why* Oh, and he's got a never ending craving for ice cream. So, here's a post dedicated to you Jan for being such a dear sending us around and all. =) BIG THank YOU!!!

Ahhh.. before I forget... Here's one dedicated to you, Ker Yew...
Now can't go and find cute French men already. Nvm, I'll try my bestest on my part here. But then again, many people say my standards are far too high, so a BIT hard. Sigh... No one to be Sarong Party Girl with me liao...
(Photos taken during Christmas 2005)
hey babe, have a safe trip to Paris, yeah? Haha... Miss you lots! Sorry, I won't be able to send you off. Anyways, I miss hanging out!!! When we return to Singapore, must do that AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN (ah.. you get the point), and throw in the SALSA, CHILLING and ALL with everyone else, k? You should go learn how to cook french food, then I'll learn Tex Mex and Texan BBQ, and the rest of you all, go learn how to cook SIngapore food (either that, or better start queuing early at BLk 85. haha...), and then we'll have a potluck!!! Must msn, skype and all, k? *hugs*

Note to KY's BF (if you ever read this): Ooi... dun just study all day lar... Actions speak louder than words.

16th January - MLK holiday: Last day before school starts.
MLK= Martin Luther King

After hearing LOTS about Barton creek Mall, we finally made a trip down. It's apparently one of the biggest in Austin. Yupyup, and it IS huge!!! Well, it's hard for me to compare it with Singapore, cos it spans a large area, however, it is only 3 storeys high. And, unlike many of the shopping centers in Singapore, is not an office building cum shopping area. A good estimate would be the whole ground floor area of suntec city till Milennia Walk area.

It was a good time to go to the mall, cos many shops were having discounts (post Christmas and new year sale). And, yes, we girls went crazy shopping, and the poor guys were just walking around carrying our stuff. Haha... And, I came in contact with my 1st brush of a food court in the States. We decided to lunch at a food court, assuming that there would be a larger variety of food (you know how Singapore's food court have such a HUGE variety of food, different cuisines and all?) But, when we got to the food court, I got a BIG shock of my life. Most of the stalls were selling fast food. The fast food restaurants were all open there. Either sandwiches, burgers or pizzas. Only 3 stalls were selling ethnic cuisines: Japanese (I heard it's good, but it's mainly fried Japanese food. we wanted to go for something healthier), Chinese (It was super expensive!! $5 for a plate of fried rice!!! And it doesn't look as appetising, just looks super oily. I think our fried rice we cooked the day before looked much better), and Mediterranean. It looked the best (since we girls did not want to eat fast food AGAIn!). I'm seriously wondering, where's the real food? Is food just all about burgers and pizzas? Gee...

So, anyway, here's what the 3 of us shared...


The 3 of us who ALWAYS share our food. Haha... The SSA people are always so amused how 3 of us can share 1 portion of food. The amount the 3 of us eat is equivalent or sometimes less than what one of the guys will eat. And, the guys are NOt big eater. Well, we're not big eaters to begin with. Haha... And, it helps us keep in check and not grow fat. So, if we ever get to sharing 2 portions amongst the 3 of us, we know we're putting on weight, and having an increasing appetite, so we would have to cut down. Hoping that we do not put on weight when we go back. After lunch, Andre, Kim, Alice and me went off to a Christian bookstore (I think it's family Christian bookstore or something) and I was browsing and the wide selection of CDs, books etc. Yes, they have SO many bands here. The variety of Christian band CDs available is so wide. Most of them haven't had much presence in Singapore, but I hear from Andre and Kim and their music is really good.

Anyway, dinner was at this place call Jason's. They serve sandwiches which are HUGE and laden with SO much ingredients. And, it still comes with free flow of salads, biscuits, muffins and ice cream. Most people eat usually half of the sandwich, and tabao the rest back. Haha... as usual, the 3 of us shared 1 sandwich. And, we saw some even tabao the salads and biscuits back. (They brought the tabao pack to the salad bar and put the salad into the pack!!!) Hmmm... So, are Singaporeans really all that Kiasu?

15th January 2006
Haha... we've been cooking quite a bit, and eating out quite a bit too. Here's the fried rice and soup that we cooked. haha... Looks good rite? It tastes good too!!! Haha... I realized that Swanson's chicken broth just work miracles on every single thing. We wanted to spice up our fried rice, so we added some Sambal Blachan powder (not enough though, should have added more), but it tasted fantabulously great!!! We've been whipping up quite many different dishes. It's really fun, I love doing it! Every day eat something different. And, so far, it's all been Asian food!!! Hee... I haven't fallen back on my comfort zone on Western food. Hee... =)
Later that evening, since we were super full from lunch, we just popped by Cold Stone for ice cream (Jan's suggestion, and for his perpetual ice cream craving). It's some Pecan ice cream thing. And, you know the thing I was blogging about Amy's Ice cream's crush'ns that I found so fascinating? Apparently, it must be a very standard thing here. Cold Stone also had it and they were doing it to the Pecan ice cream. haha.. No wonder the people in Amy's were looking at me so weirdly when I was so fascinated by them chopping up the ice cream and putting the crush'ns in. They seriously should have it in Singapore. The taste is so much better, flavours of the crush'ns (eg. cookies and cream, the cookies..) are MUCH stronger, and they flavour the ice cream really well. It's really great!!! Love it...


Oh, and I watched the Chronicles of Narnia again today. But, not the Disney version, it's the BBC version. And, we had a super good laugh at it. Not that it was bad, it's a classic lar... Just that it's so funny that the animals were people in costumes. We had a good laugh. Haha... However, I think it was a really good portrayal (closer to the book version than the Disney one) and for the effects considering when the movie came out, it was good.

Backdated post for 14 January 2006 (all thanks to Time Warner for screwing up...)
Yesterday we trooped down to Jan's house to watch TV. Haha... Sounds so weird right? Well, cos we don't have a TV in our apartment. So, that day when Jan came over to pick us up to go to Kim's apartment, we were sitting on our couch and commenting that it's so weird to sit on a couch without a TV in front of us. And, there, it was set that we would go to Jan's place to watch TV. (Editor's note: It has been close to 2 weeks since I last watched TV)

Yup, so we went over and watched Father of the Bride1 & 2 that was showing on HBO. Kim cooked a delicious meal of Hainanese Chicken rice for us. (Obviously with the help of Prima Taste Hainanese Chicken rice sauce.) Haha... It looks so goodie, rite?Ok, the rice a bit little, cos it's my plate. Haha... Nonetheless, here's a better view... And, I took this to show that Jan couldn't find his last fork, so he had to use chopsticks instead. Haha... That's us at the dinner table, and us on Jan's comfy pillow bed. Pillow bed? Basically, imagine sleeping fully on a bed with all pillows, just more comfortable. Uh huh... Haha....
After dinner, we proceeded to play pool. Yupyup, and, our team won!! Whee hee hee... Thanks for all the training Nat! Thanks Veen!! (not that i can play well or wad, but at least, I know how to act sei, and not be like a fool. haha...) Miss ya boys!

My internet connection at home has been screwing up. (Time Warner Sucks!!!) So, I haven't been able to update my blog. Currently using the school computers to do a quick update. More photos and details later when Time Warner finally fixes the problem. (At this rate Time warner is going, I don't know why I'm paying for Internet when I can't even access it!!!)

Anyway, school started yesterday. Wondering why I started on a Tuesday? Well, cos Monday was Martin Luther KIng holiday. I will update more on what we did later. I had mixed feelings about starting school.
1) I am glad that school is starting and I'm not just slacking everyday.
2) However, I am not ready to start school. I am still in holidaying mood.
3) It is such a pity that we (Jan, Kim, Andre, Alice... and us) would not be able to hang out as often anymore... Things were just getting great, just chilling, going out hanging out and all. But, sadly, now we can do that only on weekends. Yes, super duper bestest fren, going to miss you lots... =(
4) I am not ready for the semester to fly past me. It always flies past me whenever school starts, because you get busy and forget everything else.
5) I am excited about the modules I am taking this semester. Hopefully I get ALL the modules I want.
6) I cannot believe that once this semester flies past, I will be about 7 months away from graduation. And I am not ready for it!!!
7) I cannot wait to get back to Singapore because I miss my friends!!!

Sighh... See how random my thoughts and feelings are? How mixed my feelings are? I will be here for this season, so since I am here, I am going to treasure every moment of classes and all the time spent with friends here.

Now, I was saying, yesterday was the 1st day in class. I was walking to school and it dawned upon me that UT could actually be crowded. I have been here in Austin for about 17 days now, and every time I step into UT, it has been super quiet (short of that night of celebration for the Rose Bowl). The roads outside my apartment were totally packed with cars parked bumper to bumper. There were tonnes of students walking up and down. It is like the whole University suddenly came to life. And, to my surprise, the workload here seems really heavy. Heavier than NUS!!! I wonder why people say that the workload here is not as tough as NUS. Nonetheless, I like the open class discussion idea, and hopefully, with my experience in Singapore, I will be able to bring that to class. Uh huh... Oh, and when we were doing introduction, I think I was intimidated by the strong Texan and American accent here, that when it was my turn to introduce myself, I felt almost tongue tied. Cannot use all the lars, hors, erms etc etc...

Today, I met Jan and Laura for lunch at Jester center. And, as you will read in my MLK entry, there hardly any real food here. Most people either bring sandwiches to eat or they buy fast food. I don't see the real food!!! Haha... But, then again, I think that is the American lifestyle. I am hoping I don't put on too much weight. However, with so much junk food around me, I wonder if that is possible. Gosh!! Dun they have any healthy food over here? I think I’m going to eat salads alone if it’s anything to go by. Salads without salad cream. Just the vegetables alone. Oh, yes, the vegetables here are really sweet. Can go without salad cream and dressing and even without cheese and bacon. Yummilicous.

After a late night yesterday, we woke up REALLY late today. I woke up at 10.30am, but then, as I was trying to get up, my muscles were aching so much (due to yesterday's football game) that I fell promptly back to sleep waking up an hour later, still trying with much difficulty to get up.

Much of the day was spent getting my muscles warmed up and yelling in pain due to my muscle ache (ok, I'm exaggerating). But, you get the point. Anyway, hilight for today was that I managed to use skype to call a landline after topping up my skype account. So, I'll use that means during CNY to call mama and the rest of them. yuppers.. Oh, and am using M1 message center to send local SIngapore smses. haha... But, silly me, forgot to on my phone to receive the replies, so, I think I probably lost quite a lot of replies (the msg get deleted 24hours if they aren't sent to the phone). Gee... so, if i din reply you and you were expecting a reply it's probably because of my switched off phone.

That aside, we were going to prepare dinner when Jan called saying that they were going over to Kim's house for dinner. And this was a very interesting coversation over a piece of chicken (not word for word though):
Joanne and Laura are taking out the piece of chicken about to prepare dinner.
Jane's phone rings. Jane: Hello
Jan: We're going over to Kim's house for dinner. You girls wanna come along?
Jane: (to Joanne and Laura) They're going to Kim's house for dinner.
Joanne and Laura: So, we're not cooking the chicken?
Joanne and Laura put chicken back into the fridge.
Laura: Does he want us to cook something?
jane: Do you want us to cook something?
Jan: I don't mind.
Jane: (to Joanna and Laura) He doesn't mind.
Joanne: Ok, so we're cooking.
Joanne and Laura take out the chicken again.
End of conversation.
Don't ask me why, but I was so tickled at the fact that we took the chicken out, put it in and took it out again. haha.. So funny. =)

But, anyway, we cooked chicken and potatoes in spicy tomato sauce. I think it's call Masak Merah or something, and it turned out not too bad. And, of course, since we targetted to finish cooking in an hour, our trusty microwave was our big time helper, helping us to get all the food cooked. Haha… And, we found the sauce not spicy enough, so we wanted to add in chilli. But, alas, we didn’t have chilli at home, so in the end, we added in sambal blachan. Haha… It didn’t come out all that spicy in the end though. At least not spicy enough for that kick. As Jan put it (he came over and he was our taste tester): It was supposed to be HOT????

Ahh… So, this was what it looked like. (And, of course, Kim’s beautiful dish made everything look better) Haha… I forgot to take a photo when it was just served, but nonetheless here was what we cooked…
And, this was our dinner. Pasta cooked by Andre. It’s super yummy alfredo pasta. I lurve the sauce!!! And, the salad. The vegetables are so sweet! Not like the ones in Singapore, where there is a bitter after taste. I ate the salad without the sauce, cos the vegetables were sweet, and I didn’t need the salad creams to mask any taste. I even went for 2nds and 3rds!!!
Ahhh.. Yummy yummy… That’s us girls at the table (L-R: Jane, Alice, Laura, Kim), and here are the 2 guys (L-R: Jan and Andre) at the bar top counter at Kim’s place. (I’m behind the camera, so don’t see me. Hee…)
Our dear Jane feeling super cold after dinner. Haha.. She looks so cute, all curled up on the sofa. Hee... And she had 3 jackets on: Her own, Laura's and Mine. Haha...
So, anyway, after dinner we had a few rounds of heart attack, the cup game and murderer. Haha... That's us around the table playing the cup game...
Snapshots in Kim's room. Here room is super well furnished. besides her bed (I think it's a queen sized one), she has a coffee table and a sofa in her room. And she has a Gibson electric guit, a yamaha guit, an AMP!!! Gosh!!!
L-R: Kim, Jane and Alice sitting by Kim's bed and coffee table.
L-R: Jan, Laura and me on Kim's sofa in her bedroom..Me playing around with Kim's guitar. I can't play guitar for nuts, but, I do know a few chords. Since I don't have a guitar at home, every time I see a guitar lying around, I will take the opportunity to try to practice those few chords I know, and try to change my chords quickly. But, I still suck at that. I should just stick to piano. hee...
And, us playing murderer (you know where you have to wink at the person so that the person is dead?), which ended up with Andre and Jan playing a staring game...
After which, we adjourned to Amy's for ice cream. Apparently it was supposed to be very good.
Amy's has this interesting add ons call crush'ns. What they do is they grab a scoop of ice cream (in this case it was belgian choc), chop it up like this... and then add the crush'ns you ordered. In this case, we ordered marshmallows... Finally, they mix the ice cream up again. All the ice cream with the crush'ns. So interesting, right? I was so facinated that I started taking lots of photos. Haha... ANd i think locals were probably wondering what this weird girl was doing taking photos and all. The marshmallows didn't taste that fantastic, cos the ice cream made it really cold, but the one that Kim ordered was really good. I think it was Belgian chocolate with peanut butter cups. It really tasted great. Haha... Us at the Amy's...

After which, we headed back to Kim's place to play Texas Holdem (is that how it's spelt?) It's similar to Indian poker. ahhh... I'm not too sure myself. But, basically, you can see your own cards, but can see everyone elses cards, and the person with the lowest card value (without any set on with the cards on the table) loses. So, in the game, everyone is given 2 cards, and then, there will be 3 cards in the center. Then, we go around betting. In this game, we did it such that the loser will have to drink water. So, if you're confident of your cards, you can pour as much water (before the game, everyone is given a cup of water) as you want into this HUGE cup. Then, 2 more cards open, and the same thing is done. And, we hold the cards like this so that we can't see our own cards. The cards were HUGE. 4 times the size of the normal pack of cards, thanks to Jan who had such HUGE cards. Jane was really lucky throughout the game. EVeryone had drunk at least 1 cup of water, but our dear girl was super lucky. If she didn't get good cards in the 1st round, she would always escape because, somehow or another, another card which appeared in the later round would save her skin by making for a pair or something. Hahah... In the end, we decided that once Jane drinks, we would end the game. And, when I dealt this final round (we take turns to deal), she lost. hee... Her cards were the lowest, and everyone was praying very hard that the cards that came out in the 2nd and 3rd round wouldn't be any of her cards to make a pair. LOL... You should have seen the joy on everyone's faces when the last card was opened. Everyone started dunking a full cup of water into the center cup. Haha... JUst pour pour pour... Only Andre (who was her pair... We girls paired up with the guys so that if we can't finish our water, they'll finish it for us) didn't pour. And, yes, in the end she lost, and we forced her to finish her cup of water on her own, without letting Andre drink any. Well, simply cos her hand was always so good, and we all had drunk at least 1 1/2 cups or more of water already. (More for the guys...)