and to think i was so hyped up about going back to uni on the 2nd of March. seems that unsw has a pretty intensive O week for the first years; the 2nd years and above only return on the 9th of March, the following week. -.-" ahh well...

can't wait for the movers to reunite me with my piano. i think i need to get a tuner in to tune it, it's in need of it.

maxxed out my bandwidth from watching too much j-dramas online. i need to sell some items to get money. need to take photos..

yesterday's potato korokke was a hit. i think i need to expand my repetoire now.

rain rain go away...

...brings me back... :)

i need to right some wrongs.

and other stuff...

...like having weird dreams.
in my dreams recently (as much as i can remember upon waking up), i've been pregnant. which is really really weird. cos in my dreams, everything around me is happening like everyday, say like uni, lazing around at home watching dramas, but i'm like preggers. like craving certain biscuits or disliking certain smells. and today upon waking up, i truly (for maybe around 2-3 hours) did sub-consciously believe i was pregnant. no kidding. it was truly truly weird. ...

IN ANY CASE, i tried my hand at castella again! hopefully this one turns out better than the other one. note to self: i need to use a bigger bowl. the mixture nearly overflowed the bowl. will see how it turned out at dessert time.

after dessert time: better than my first attempt, but still soggy in the middle. gotta either make it in a larger pan, or lessen the amount. can't increase the temperature; as it is, it nearly burnt on the top.

Ingredients

- シューパフス・Choux Puffs -

50g butter
150mL water
65g sifted plain flour
2 beaten eggs

- クリム・Cream -

2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar [i found it pretty sweet though. feel free to lessen the sugar if you don't like it too sweet]
2 Tbsps sifted plain flour
1 cup warm milk
1 Tbsp melted butter

Method

- シューパフス・Choux Puffs -

Melt the butter in a pan. Add water to pan and bring to a boil.
Add the flour immediately and beat till mixture leaves the sides of pan.
Cool the mixture, then add the eggs a little at a time, beating well.
Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe small mounds onto greased baking sheet.
Bake in preheated over (220C) for 10 minutes, then lower heat to 190C and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Cool puffs make slits on the sides of each puff.

- クリム・Cream -

Mix egg yolks and sugar in a pan.
Add flour and mix well.
Add warm milk gradually and stir till combined.
Put pan on low heat and stir till smooth and thickened.
Take pan off heat and add melted butter. Stir well.
Cool cream and put into piping bag. Pipe cream into choux puffs.
(Option) Dust icing sugar on cream puffs before serving.

some notes:
i didn't really wanna dig (and mess up the kitchen) for the piping bags so i just used the normal plastic sandwich bags. tuck one pointed edge into a cup and roll the edges on the outside of the cup to help fill up the 'piping bag' easier.
remember to butter the baking sheet well as it does stick. learnt this the hard way.
i found it better when i chilled the puffs. especially on a hot summer day. ahhh~

anyhoo, i'm gonna go try castella カステラ　next!

more like dining stool-chair potato. damn these chairs hurt. they're like from ikea and made from the same rope that boats use to moor and tie their boat at a harbour. pain in the butt. literally. =.=

so yes, i've been engorging my eyes and ears with j-dramas and series (save for the one k-drama).

come to think of it, i'm not that much of a japanophile like i was when i was younger, constantly watching japanese anime and dramas on the off-hand, but more anime than ever (i actually memorised the anime channel schedule and scheduled my study timetable to accomodate for my addictions).

but coming back to the music, dramas and bands feels good. gives me more reason to study Japanese in uni. tbh, halfway through my studies last year and the year before, i was starting to really question why i even chose the subject in the first place. questions like "where is this going to get me?" & "what job am i going to do at the end of this?" started nagging at me in my head. people always ask me what i'm doing in uni, and when i tell them about my degree (science-arts), the general answer is "ohh... i see." no one's really known how to answer to the name of my degree. say if you said "international law", usually it'll be "oh wow! so you planning to become a lawyer in the future?" or say if it was "optometry", it'll be "ahh, planning to become an optometrist eh?" but for science-arts it's just an "oh..." and then some nice ppl would then go on to ask, "so... what does that end up as?"

maa... i'm just straying off topic. pfft.

so here's the list of series so far that i've

completed: Ouran High School Host Club, Hanazakari Kimitachi e (just had to watch the SP), Gokusen 1(ditto SP too), Zettai Kareshi, Hana Yori Dango

watching: Zettai Kareshi (still haven't completed the whole series even though it's been sitting in my collection this entire time), Beethoven Virus (ditto), Hana Yori Dango (i've finished season 1, now onto season 2 and later the movie), Yamada Tarou Monogatari, Voice, Mei-Chan no Shitsuji, Ando Natsu

plan to watch: Kimi no Petto, Binbo Danshi, Tokyo Friends, Ando Natsu, Koizora, Innocent Love, Love Shuffle, Mei-Chan no Shitsuji, Boku wa Imouto ni Koi wo Suru, Bokura no Yuuki

best way to loose sleep. XD