Berlin

26th Jan 2008 was the day of my last paper for the semester and 2 days later i’m off to Berlin with nothing planned out in details … i practically just pack my clothes, grabbed my flight ticket and got on the plane :p

So happens that my fren Kristof wanted to go on a trip but had no particular plan in mind, so i had him traveling with me. (despite his not too conventional name, he is a fellow Malaysia)…

Day 01 

around 5am on 28th Jan, we took a taxi to the airport. The flight is bloody too early and i end up packing my stuff+do som last minute “research” the nite before. There is a bit of a fright moment at the airport when i forgot about my pouch (which had all my important document+money+cards inside) while collecting the scanned items, only to realise it when the custom officers asked for my documents. Luckily no big scene is made, i kept my cool and explained myself, then had the Russian custom officer ascorting me to locate my “forgotten” pouch :p

The 3 hour flight is a comfortable one (especially if i were to compare it with the later flights) and we arrived safely in Berlin, Germany. The weather is not bad as compared to Moscow. We took the S-Bahn and headed for EastSeven Hostel. Upon arriving, we bumped into Olivia and her friends. Apparently, they are leaving for UK on the same day. Anyway, Eastseven is a Orangey hostel which give a feeling of being at home.

Happy 2008!

Happy 2008 everyone!

It’s been a while since i post any blog. Well, it is understandable, i guess, that we all are busy getting down celebrating Christmas and New Year. Now that i finally being able to sit down quietly after the whole New Year hoo-ha, i’d wanna look back in time and see how things have been.

2008 will be my last year being here in Moscow, so Yesterday New Year celebration would be my last one here. At first, i am kind of tempted to go out somewhere to celebrate – perhaps go countdown in Red Square, or go to MGU to see the niteview of Moscow and play some fireworks there. Anyhow, considering the circumstances, i decided to join my friends for a nice warm dinner at their place. To tell you the truth, i’m really glad that i joined them, for i really cherish having a good time with close friends.

We plan the dinner just on night before new year eve. The next day, 9am in the morning, the boys set out to buy all the necessary ingredients for the dinner. After 2 hour, we at standing at the payment counter with the resit mounting to 3800 rub (that’s RM 600!)

Dinner started around 8:30pm after all of us gathered. Here’s what we’ve prepared:
(1) 26 delicious chicken wings from Trypena. Everyone fought for the black ones :p

(2) lap-sap cocktail from Kenny :p (actually it taste nice)

(3) good ol’ French-fries by David and Nicholas (a.k.a Ah Wei) . We finished the french-fries while waiting for dinner to start..mauhahaha

(4) 24 pieces of lamb-roll (with thinly sliced marinated lamb meat wrapped around apple, carrot, srping onion) served together with sweet-sour mint sauce. Yummy! by Me & Fang Jen

due to insufficient sring onion supply, the rest of the lamb is stir-fried

(5) Creamy Mushroom soup well-made by Boon Chin

(6) 36 Super Exclusiv Fried Prawn by Min Jie

(7) Juicy Spegetti sauce with minced pork, large mushrooms by Irise & Enci

(8) Salad by Kuan Mun, Claire and Yoon Chin

(9) Banana Cake with chocolate toppings by Trypena

[ah Wei & Friends]

[cute couple]

[dunno what Fang Jen pose is?? muahaha]

After the superb dinner, we enjoyed some scary ghost stories-telling by Ah Wei and friends :p The just before the clock-struck twelve, we readied for countdown.

At exactly 12 midnite, we countdown and enjoyed the firework displayed outside the window  we toasted for a great previous years and also toasted for the great coming years….

Later we showcased a super-raving Karaokes and then played games till 3am+ (aisk, our team lost and forced to do some “gruesome” punishment) But we all did enjoy the skillful “Dugong fall into longkang” by Fang Jen.. hahahah.

Rice Cooker Bread (Sunday Project?)

after lastweek sucess in making doughnuts, i embark on a new project to bake rice cooker bread 
i got the recipe from here 
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Rice-Cooker-Bread

(actually, i ran out of spegetti, rice and …and all i have in my storage is the ingredient left from the doughnut :p )

see how they turn out to be! nice, rite? Too bad i put too much of salt, so it taste a bit funny 
i’m using them to make french-toast for my breakfast anyhow.

Awesome Japanese Trains

I was surfing yesterday an stumble upon a cute photoblog showing some interesting photos of a special Japanese train.

The first train is designed primarily for the benefit of the kids. It encompasses the whole playground equipped specifically to justify all their needs. The second one is also nice due to its unique strawberry design.

Take a look!

My 1st Doughnut

Last Saturday i made some doughnuts and it was a success! (huhu…so proud of myself)

I got the recipe from my “baking Mentor” :p
here’s the list of ingredient:
Ingredients for dough
350g flour
half teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
30g castor sugar
30g butter
1 egg
150ml milk

Ingredient for coating
castor sugar OR
1 chocholate bar + half can of condensed milk (water heat)

Instructions
(1) heat 150ml of milk till luke warm (not boil)
(2) mix milk, 30g butter, 1 egg
(3) add in flour, salt, sugar and yeast
(4) leave the dough at room temperature for 1 hour, cover with damn cloth
(5) fry it and add sugar/chocolate coating

Anyway, i don’t have proper measuring instruments for the ingredients so i improvise and modified the recipe a bit.

Here’s what i used:
600g flour
1/3 tablespoon of salt
1 packet of instant yeast (suitable for 500g of flour, so said the lable)
2 tablespoon of castor sugar
60g butter
2 eggs
2 cup of milk (with my new nescafe cup)

After mixing the dough ingredients in my pot, the mixture turn out to be too liquid. It is somewhat like “pisang goreng” mixture. So, i consulted my Mentor and she said i have to add more flour. So, i slowly fold in more flour. After adding another 300g of flour, the mixture finally form a soft dough. Instead of using my hands, i used the wooden spatula to knit it a lil’ more. Then i left it for some time so that the dough will raise.
…and after 50 mins….alas! my dough is raised and ready to be shaped and fried.

At first i have no idea how big i need to shape it. However, after some experimentation, i finally got it right! The secret for a perfectly cooked doughnut is not to make a round (cross-section) dough ring with small cross-section diameter. Instead, make it FLAT! In such way, u can make bigger doughnuts!

Next, down it goes into the frying pot. Nothing special here, but it is important to note that the dough expand less after some time. So take as little time as possible between start of dough shaping till it is in the frying pot.

After the tedious task of frying the doughnut one by one, i finally came to the point to coat it. Originally, i wanted to make 4 different types of coating: classic sugar coat, cinnamon sugar coat, apple struddle sugar flavour, and chocolate. In the end, out of laziness, i mixed cinnamon, apple struddle flavour and sugar as 1 coating :p still, the result taste superb 
(though i lost my appetite for it since i had to eat quite a few failed experiment samples :p)

Since i couldn’t have finish all the doughnuts i made, i gave them to my friends. Of course, the feedback is positive.

冬至(winter solstice )

冬至 is an important day in chinese culture. By tradition, we eat 湯圓 (tang yuen) !!

talking about 湯圓, i’ve always thought that they are somewhat too plain to be nice. Mom used to make these simple small glutinous balls with a simple caramel sauce. I am not a big fan 湯圓 myself, but i’ve always eaten it during winter solstice (No second helping though).

NB: large 湯圓 is a big “no no” for me :p i remembered grandma used to make them. They are plain balss without fillings!!! i can still recall how traumatizing it is to yank it down my throat… i think i choke a couple of time trying :p

These few years, i’m away studying in Moscow, so i didnt celebrate 冬至 . Anyhow, some friends do celebrate them and i saw them making 湯圓 with peanut fillings. Never realised it can be made that way (shame to call myself a chinese now).

2 years back, i travellled to HongKong, and there, the 1st time i actually enjoyed eating 湯圓 . They serve it cold with creamy mango ice-cream. Everything just RIGHT!

This saturday will be 冬至 again. So happens that the x’mas bash charity concert will be on the same date…so i supposed that i will be celebrating without 湯圓. (Yeap, 1st Malaysian Idol winner Miss Jaclyn Victor will be performing! Cool, no?)

at the 6th year of my medical schooldays…

at the 6th year of my medical schooldays…. 
things went cuckoo a bit… not in a bad way, just not quite the right way :p

at the 6th year of my medical schooldays…
i want to make the best out of everything. Maybe it is not feasible,  but i want to try, at least

at the 6th year of my medical schooldays…
I want to make sure i’m taking with me the knowledge, which is what i came here for in the first place.

soon a full-fledged doctor with a M.D. permanently associated to the back of my name

“i’m sorry, but i’ve tried my best…”…am i able to say these phrases san regretto?
(okay, don’t get me wrong here. I’m not saying that those words are gonna be my “most frequently used” ones. I’m just saying, considering the circumstances, am i really well prepared to take on the title Dr.Yip in less than, say, a year from now?)

Don’t ask me why i like to stressed myself.. I have a valid point, rite? I mean, hey, u can talk all u want, but have it ever-crossed your oh-so happy-go-lucky mind that life ain’t really that all that easy going?

So,
- don’t say i’m too serious when it comes to study! i’m just trying my best.
- Don’t mind me keeping to myself. (no, it is not PMS; no, i’m not bad-mood either) I’m just felt a lil’ declined to be too relaxed
- Don’t be mad at me, if i always put patient before anyone else. It’s just my instinctual reflex

 at the 6th year of my medical schooldays…
I want to take with me fond memories of this place (despite it being said many times, to be the worst place ever). I’m sure being in Moscow will be an important chapter of my life. It’s my tale. So, i’ll take my time visiting some interesting place here this year.

at the 6th year of my medical schooldays…
I want to savor the frenship with the ppl i met here. Coz i’ve always enjoy making frens. (though i can’t say the same or wether not others enjoy making frens with me :p) No, seriously, i am not so easy to be taken in afterall. Perhaps it’s my serious attitude. Perhaps is that thick air of coldness that lingers in my presence. Perhaps it is the pressure i tend to make ppl feel. Perhaps it is my words that never comes out rite. Perhaps it is my overly un-amusing joke. Perhaps it is me being unfrenly.

But trust me on this: I’ve always been sincere.

at the end 6th year of my medical schooldays… marks a new path to be written.