I have the habit of reading my blog post over and over again even after i had posted them up. With regard to the previous post that im pissed off with, i actually find it quite silly. I felt that im picking on stuffs and things to rant and whine on. But my emotions overwhelmed me when im not in a good mood. Reading posts blogged few years back makes me think that im more matured now even though im still petty and pick on really minor issues. Somehow, my thinking and opinions of certain matters changes over the years. Is that one of the reasons why human beings are always trying to seek for the better? Some people who are merely a few years older than me can even comment that im still young and i will realise it only when im out in the society to work. People are saying 21 is still a young age for me as I have no experience in many issues. But yet, i felt that my life is so filled with past that many does not have.
Somehow, a change in environment always changes how i think and view things. In Leeds living alone, im doing so many things that I have always felt lazy to do. Everyday routine is the same and im getting bored here. I always complain about how much i do not like my own home country because its always so busy and the weather is so hot and humid. There are no places for me to go because it is so small and etc. Here, im complaining too and im starting to appreciate Singapore more. Different people may view it differently from me but this is just so ironic!
Lifestyle here is super slow paced thus i do not have to rush for everything. My everyday routine basically revolves going for one hour lesson (almost everyday early in the morning) and back in my room till the next day. And i can leave my room around 10-15mins before lesson starts since everyone actually arrive ON TIME (not earlier than that). I cant seem to travel and skip lessons because Leeds is so small that there is nothing to explore. The only time we went out to travel is over the weekends. But the traveling time is so long! It will make me feel worse when my motion sickness kicks in. Thus, you see how bored am i here during weekdays? So, i study. im actually doing more studying and readings than in NUS. Gosh. im on exchange, i should play! Thats what people always say but here, we dont find any NTU or SMU exchange students so its always the 3 of us! Im always facebook-ing and watching movies from my funshion program back in my room though with once a week dance practice.
Laundry is another troublesome matter i hate. The laundry room is so damn bloody far away at Block H (unlike the washing machine back at home which is merely a few steps to kitchen) and i have to go up and down the stairs at least 5 times to check and restart dryers. So we incorporated cooking dinner with laundry to save time. But again, we have to constantly take turns to go down to check on the laundry and our dinner has to be consumed quickly to avoid people from taking out our clothes and dumping it aside since there are limited machines. That will then be wasting of money washing the clothes as they will be dirtied again!
Cooking requires ingredients and i dredged going to the supermarket which is about 15 minutes walk (about the same distance from my house to jurong point). But the toughest thing is walking back up slope with the heavy groceries! We are also experimenting our own cooked food. By the time we are back home, i supposed we will have a lot of our own recipes! We think of our recipes, buy and throw everything in. Its either boiling, frying or baking them. We are very proud of ourselves because we are REAL NOOB who DOESNT know how to cook! Im actually quite glad that we are able to whip up dishes from our IMAGINATION. Why? Consider the scenario of cooking curry:
- “Boil the potatoes and chicken first. I want the potatoes to be soft so i must boil it longer.” (at the expense that water is already included in the accommodation fee, so we are basically boiling everything)
- “Throw in the curry and add the milk. No milk how?”
- “My mother says can add fresh milk!”
Then trying to whip up some dishes from scratch:
- “Cooked what first?”
- “Garlic and chili, minced meat since it is frozen then vegetables? Mushrooms last since it takes damn fast to be cooked.”
- After adding everything, “why isnt the mushroom shrinking? I think must add water because i THINK i saw my maid adding water every time she cooked vegetables.” (this ‘think’ is actually recalled from the dont know how many years back when my maid was cooking in the kitchen.)
- “Sure a not?”
- “Just add!”
- Well, im right. Mushroom and vegetables shrunk and the dish is cooked after adding some soya sauce.
Cooking baked chicken:
- “How to marinate the chicken and what to put?”
- “You know how to barbeque? Just do the same to the chicken!”
Cooking Macaroni:
- “Why the chicken stock made the soup taste like magee mee?” The soup from the boiling of chicken (which will be shred after chicken is cooked) taste sweeter and nicer.
- So for second try, soup for boiling chicken is used as macaroni soup with one or two cubes of chicken stock added.
- “How to shred chicken then?”
- “Use your fork and knife or hands and start tearing!”
Frying fries:
- “How to make my fries taste like french fries with limited time?” (even though we know we have to soak the potatoes with salt and sugar the previous night into the fridge but ingredients for dinner are always prepared on the spot.)
- “Boil the potatoes, slice, cut then fry!”
- “Sure?”
- “Maybe. It works sometimes.”
There are many other scenarios where we bought the food and started experimenting and its so damn funny everytime we tried something new. But we have to squeeze our brain juice everytime we are at the market to think of what we can cook. I wonder how housewifes manage to cook different dishes everyday! We still do resort to eating only pasta, sides and salads sometimes when we ran out of ideas. So far, our imagination gave us Aglio Oglio, Beef bolognese pasta, carbona mushroom pasta, tortellini, wraps like popiah, macaroni, curry chicken, baked chicken, omelette, egg mayo, banana and choc crepes, turkey/bacon ham with cheese sandwich, baked potatoes, Mojito and many more. And know what? I am still surviving with the same old ingredients we can find from the supermarket. Aww… im missing chinese food.
