where high quality fresh foods are widely available in melbourne, gourmet cooking can be as easy as this:

antipasto (from farmer’s market) + fresh pasta (from prahran market) =

antipasto pasta

i’m not very big on cooking especially since the success rate seems to be dismally low whenever i try it. however in recent times, i’ve been fortunate to have friends living in my vicinity who are avid and passionate cooks. this means that firstly, i get invited over rather often to partake in their sumptuous creations and secondly, i get to learn the tricks of the trade at first hand.

the documentary process of such observations have resulted in a recent proliferation in posts in my cooking blog, kwokwok. among which are -

apple crumble

tiramisu

risotto

ratatouille

the pixar production by the same name was of course the impetus for trying out the labor intensive last dish.

you knew you had no business interfering with those people. But you just couldn’t let it alone. You thought you were doing the right thing. I might agree if this was Florida or Singapore, but its not is it? We’re in deep space and a person is dead, a person who would still be alive if we hadn’t made first contact.

in reprimanding chief engineer trip, captain jonathan archer made a reference to singapore at the 39th minute and 12th second of episode cogenitor; star trek season 2.

the context of the tirade was that trip, albeit with good intentions, interfered with the mores of another culture by advocation that “human rights” be applied to all individuals of that culture. the result was that trip showed this individual, this cogenitor all the possibilities that it cannot attain being a 2nd class citizen of sorts and as a result it committed suicide out of depression and desperation.

what’s up with tinseltown’s obsession with name dropping singapore? while chow yan fatt welcomes the pirates to an antiquated (fantastical) version of singapore in at world’s end, we’re being mentioned again in the futuristic setting of deep space.

are we really so fascinating? why not some other tropical island state flung around the equator?

it was at another tropical environment – carins, north queensland that i encountered the ultimate manifestation of racist stereotype which i felt like razing to the ground.

funny thing that the shop wasn’t managed by anyone remotely asian, nor did it sell anything to do with singapore.

the conservatory at fitzroy gardens hosts various interesting flowers that changes its display seasonally. today, al and i drove by the area and decided to pop by to take a look. i’ve been there once before and its still interesting to see what new flora is in stored. in fact, fitzroy gardens and its surrounds are worth the while to stroll along from time to time.

i’ve never seen the calceolaria before. unlike many flowers that has individual petals that splay outwards, the calceolaria seems to have a single petal that puffs up like a calzone or a samosa or a han jun pang. ok, all food analogies.

the calceolaria was so cute i felt like shoving sand in its cavity, but since that might not be in the best interest of the flowers, i refrained from doing so.

the weather has been on the high end of the 20ish degree celsius range these days. it might not seem very hot in itself especially since back home its the norm.

however with the added indication from met services that it will be “dry,” the heat here becomes one that is scorching and suffocating.

there is a constant dryness in my airway that water cannot quench and breathing can become difficult.

a desert-like grip on my throat that wouldn’t be shaken off no matter what i do. the heat here is malevolent.

swot vac or swot vacation is the week after the twelfth and final week of semester and before any exams start. i.e, swot vac starts now. no wonder uni kids were frolicking on the (south) lawn during the final week of semester in the lull before the storm.

i’ve never really come across the term swot till i came here. we just called it study week in ntu/nie. although i have been called a “swot” by a friend for being such a nerdy brainiac, which i then inferred swot vac to be nerdy-brainiac-week. wikipedia concurs with this definition as a “british slang for an inoffensive person who nevertheless offends his peers by giving too much attention to his schoolwork.”

wikipedia also defines swot analysis as a tool for assessing “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective.” even in the context of assessment preparation, this variation of swot seems apt.

all my assessment are essay based, no fixed date, no designated exam room, no memorizing involved. however, as i qualify to friends who are envious of my position, what i lack in exam papers, i make up for essays which i have to generate at the rate of no slower than a 2000 word paper every 1.5 teaching week.

on top of essay preparation, i have a very heavy reading commitment for all 4 subjects on a weekly basis. for an idea of how heavy is heavy; think 2 novels and 150 pages of course reader material every week.

click image for a closer look at the subject titles.

the upside of being an arts student however is that i only have 10 hours of weekly contact time, no project work and the mid-semester breaks to give me some slack. over the 4 semesters here, i’ve somehow managed to complete just that – a 2000 word essay every 1.5 teaching week – which essentially means that my semester break starts at the end of the 12 weeks of semester most of the time. (on the basis of 8 essays each semester hence 1.5 x 8 = 12)

each time this semester, i’m usually off to some holiday destination while my peers begin their exams. its not that arts students are professional slackers, its just that we’ve have paid our dues and have sweat, toiled and bleed in different ways. 16,000 polished words every semsester is quite a feat.

but for the case in this semester, i do have one more essay question that will only be released at the start of the exam week i.e. the following monday, as a take-home-exam with a one week deadline. so till then, i’m just waiting and feeling paranoid that there’s something else i’m forgetting to do between watching dvds, oh and cooking up a storm. more details in the next post.