Friday 25 April 2008

O_O

I am now a great fan of the late Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz.

O_O OH MY LORD, WHY HAVEN'T I HEARD OF HIM BEFORE THIS??? I loooooove how he plays the piano!! *_____* He is my new idol!!!


A day out with Mel!

I went out with Mel today!

At first, we planned on meeting at Piccadilly Circus, getting a takeaway lunch, then hopping on a bus to Hyde Park to enjoy the good weather. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative and rained today, of all days, when it's been so nice and warm and sunny the past few days.

So, I had to go back to my room and change cos the outfit I picked was too thin. I was planning on wearing this white dress with pinstripes in black, blue and red, but the skirt was a flare skirt (is that right?) and the dress was made of a blouse-like material which turns transparent when wet. Not very appropriate for wet and windy weather! In the end, I wore my dark blue-green dress with a white shirt inside and a white cardigan-thing over it.

I was short on time so I didn't really bother with matching the bag and shoes, but I just threw everything into my LV bag (can't remember how to spell the name and colour of the bag) and slipped into a pair of slippers I got with a yukata set (which was brown wood with a yellow-gold strap) and ran out. It wasn't till I was waiting for the bus to the train station that I realised I'd actually coordinated my outfit with my umbrella, which was brown, blue and white as well :P

Anyway, enough clothes-talk! The bus to the train station was late, and I was trying out a new route to Piccadilly Circus today, so I ended up being nearly 20mins late x_x"" *feels guilty* When I walked out of the flat, it was already sunny, and when I got out of the tube station, the ground was drying up pretty quickly.

Mel and I didn't want to go to the park when the ground was still wet, though, so we went to Chinatown and had a good lunch of dimsum! We had loooaaaads to eat and it ended up costing only £23 for both of us! Quite a good price, considering how full we were after!

When we walked out of the restaurant, we noticed it had rained again, but we were lucky enough not to get caught in it. We went shopping around for a while before we finally stopped at Starbucks to have a drink and chat and ended up staying there for nearly 2 hours! Time flew by so quickly...

We were talking alot about crabs and seafood and stuff, but we didn't want to go to Belgo's, so we decided to have Japanese food for dinner. Only thing was, we didn't know where to eat and we didn't want to have Misato, so I suggested that we go to Mitsukoshi, even though it was rather pricey.

We had a really good dinner there! We shared a starter of a salad and soft shell crab, and Mel had the chirashizushi while I had a miso black cod with rice, pickles and miso soup. Yumm it was all so delicious! (But ohhh so expensive ;_;) We had a simple dessert of matcha ice cream and anko for Mel, and afogaato for me.

We went home straight after dinner, though, cos we both need to study :P Well, okie then I better go and revise Econs. Bye!


Wednesday 23 April 2008

o_O

Okay, I know this is really weird and random, but I just measured my waist when I'm in a kimono and O_O did you know the amount of padding I put on increases my waist measurements by 8 inches?? *rofl* I bet it'll increase by at least 1/2 an inch more if I were wearing a proper kimono with juban and lining, and an otaiko obi, instead of a thin yukata. Hehehehe... It does make me feel good about the size difference between my bust and waist though. Hee.


Tuesday 22 April 2008

Closet Feature: Hee! Red bunnies UNIQLO Yukata!

I promised I'd post a picture of the JPY1000 Uniqlo yukata set that I got and here it is!
You can't see if very clearly, but it's a very bright red colour, with bunnies and flowers on it. Here are the details:
The obi is double-sided, with a bright yellow background and dark yellow flowers on one side and the same pattern, but with inversed colours on the other side.

Isn't it pretty? In fact, today's weather was so good, I decided to wear it! Of course, I'd forgotten it was longer than most of my kimono so I ended up having a longer-than-appropriate ohashori, but that's alright! It isn't that much longer :P

Okay, I gotta go and do housework now. Bye!

Ling> I forgot to mention in my last post, but the BUNNIES ARE SOOOOO CUTE!!! I especially love that site with Oscar the Bunny :P I even told Patty to have a look and he said we should get a fluffy white bunny too hehehe... Of course, while we're dreaming about pets, we can always dream of getting a chincilla or ten, and maybe a tiger/cheetah/leopard cub too. Nyehehehehehe...


Monday 21 April 2008

Closet Feature: Men's Yukata Set o_O

I think I've lost weight. Really, I'm not sure, and the only thing I have to prove it is that my hip measurements have gone down 1/2 an inch since a month ago. That doesn't say very much does it? =_="" But still! I'm on my way back to hourglass figure :P My bust either needs to grow 1 1/2 inches or my hips need to reduce that amount. I'd rather it be my hips, really :P

It's getting loads warmer! I don't need my winter coats anymore (despite the fact that they're still hanging up behind my door) and when the weather is good (like today) I don't even need a coat to go out! *yay* Joy, for the time to wear yukata is coming! Heehehhehe.

After reading my past few posts, I realise I haven't posted about kimono for a month! *bad me* Anyway, about two months ago, I bought a men's yukata set for my brother. It finally arrived sometime last week! It looks good, and quite different from the other yukata I bought for him a year ago. Here's a picture or two:


The little sharp (okay, hash, I'm told it's called, but I prefer to call the symbol "sharp" like in piano notes) you see in the center of the second photo is the pattern on the yukata. It looks really nice! I must say, it was a good idea for me to buy one that was white, because all of Patty's others are dark blue. I'm not sure if it'll actually fit Patty, but if it doesn't, I guess I'll have to sew it up so that it does. Or maybe loan it out to someone else when they need it.

One really good thing that I love about this set is that the obi is pre-tied! I never knew that men's obi could be pretied as well, but I guess that was a stupid thought, because practically anything in kitsuke can be pretied! Here's a picture:


The little line you see on the obi in the picture of the man is actually a velcro strip. Convenient, eh?

I just had a thought. Now that we have 2 men's yukata sets and countless women's yukata sets, it would be reaaaally nice to have a family yukata outing, wouldn't it? Oh no wait, I just remembered, we need one for Pot too.... *makes a face* How often would the guys wear yukata anyway? Should I buy more or not? *sighs* But I guess that'll depend on the prices of the yukata sets. This one in particular was ¥2980, which really isn't bad for a whole outfit!

It isn't as cheap as my new Uniqlo yukata set though. Someone was trying to get rid of one, even though it's never been worn before (you can tell by the cloth texture and everything) but sold it for only ¥1000!! If you bought it in-store in Japan, it would cost ¥3500 without tax! *gleeful* THAT was what I call a bargain! I'll post up pics of my Uniqlo set later today or tomorrow. It's so cute!! Hehehehe...

Okay, I've rambled enough already. Toodles, people!


Tuesday 15 April 2008

:(

*stares at cookies in dissatisfaction* After reading my sister's newest post about crabs I don't want any of the cookies anymore.

Instead, I want to eat crabs!! Plain steamed hairy crabs, chilli crabs, salted egg yolk crabs, white pepper snow crabs.... Then there are also prawns!! Fried mantis prawns, steamed prawns with egg and rice wine, butter prawns... Not to mention other food like o chien, steamed snails, sotong, clams, red wine noodles.. Especially the red wine noodles!! I miss the one my grandma used to make......

*stomach rumbles* *sighs*


Monday 14 April 2008

O_O

I just baked another batch of the sugar cookies. As in, I literally just took the last tray out of the oven 5 minutes ago. Don't ask why I'm baking at this hour of the night! I just felt like I really really needed to do something, and since it was so late, I didn't want to go out for a walk or a jog, and there really wasn't anything much else to do around the flat but cook something! (So maybe I could've played the piano, but are you crazy?? There are kids living next door who need to sleep, and I feel guilty enough everytime I start playing and realise it's past 9pm!)

Only thing was that I didn't want to cook anything savoury and keep it in the fridge cos I really don't like to eat leftovers (unless they're damn good stuff :P roast duck?). The only option left was to bake, and at first I wanted to bake a cake using that instant mix I bought so long ago. Then I read the instructions and realised I needed oil for the mix - but our kitchen doesn't have any oil!

Okay, fine, I have some in my private stores, but who the heck wants to use garlic flavoured olive oil in chocolate cake? And no way in hell am I wasting my oh-so-expensive truffle flavoured olive oil in an instant cake mix! x_x

I also thought of baking peanut butter cookies but I wanted to save the peanut butter I have to make a frosting for the chocolate cake. So the last option left was the sugar cookies, since I got too lazy to find another recipe to use.

I was really lucky - I actually didn't have any butter left to use to bake, but then I found someone else's butter in the fridge that I think has been sitting there for a long long time. It was gonna expire soon, so I just went ahead and used it. And it was a good stick of butter too! Smelled very buttery (more so than Lurpak, that's for sure) and gave the dough a nice smell and consistency.

This time, I had changed the ingredients' volume a little bit. I let a small amount of the butter melt to make the dough a little less dry, and used about 245g of butter instead of 225g. Instead of a full 1 1/2 cups of sugar, I added in slightly less. The egg was larger, but I used the same amount of flour, although I originally wanted to cut down the amount of flour. This was to balance out the increase in the amount of butter used. (<- omg that sounded like a sentence I would've written in a report)

The resulting dough was much softer than I remembered the first batch being. It was more malleable, and waaay easier to roll into smooth balls too. This time, it looked like there was less dough than before, so I made smaller balls and got 94 bite-sized cookies instead of 80-something large cookies.

All that's left is to wash that last tray and the rack I've been using to cool the cookies. In all actuality, the 'cooling rack' is just the rack from the roasting tin that's been inverted so the handles become the 'legs' and the rack is raised high enough that the cookies won't touch the table. *sighs* But I'm lazy to do it now, so maybe I'll wash it tomorrow instead.....

I think I must be more tired than I realised o_O I just babbled on and on in a whole entry about desserts and cookies! Okay, I think I better go sleep now.. That is, IF I don't get a serious sugar rush from eating some of those cookies!

'Night people! ;)


Sunday 6 April 2008

Sugar cookies!

I just finished baking a batch of sugar cookies!! And they're not bad, too ^__^ James came downstairs when the last tray was in the oven, and he took one of the cooled ones to try. Then he took a warm one. Then he took another one from the last tray (just out of the oven). I didn't keep track of how many he ate, but I think he took at least 8 cookies in the 10 minutes we were talking! Glad to know my cookies are addictive :P

Anyway, just thought I'd post the recipe (so I don't lose it lol):
-Cream 225g of butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar till smooth.
-Beat in 1 egg and 1tsp vanilla extract. I added abit more vanilla.
-Add in 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1tsp baking soda.
-Gradually mix in 2 3/4 cups flour (I did this in batches of 1/2 cups and one 3/4 cup).
-Roll into balls and place on a greased tray.
-Bake for 9-11mins in an 190C oven.

In the website I got it from, the recipe originally said about 8-10mins and the reviewers said 8mins is good for chewy cookies, but I like mine crunchier, so I put them in for about 11mins each tray. Also, just a little warning - these cookies are really really sweet, so if you're baking them for people who don't have a very sweet tooth, I recommend leaving out 1/4 to 1/3 cups of sugar.

Okay, I went out in kimono today. I'm lazy to write about it now so I'll post about it tomorrow. Bye!


Friday 4 April 2008

Ow.

My cough has gotten worse over the past 18 hours. I can't take a breath without having to cough now, and sometimes I cough so badly I feel like I'm going to throw up everything I've eaten in the past week. And maybe a lung or three. Now my side's got a painful stitch from coughing.

Ugh, it does NOT help that I couldn't sleep the whole of last night thanks to a sugar rush after drinking Coke. Remind me never to do that again.

I did end up practicing kitsuke on one of my yukata, though. The fabric's rather stiff, but I think a quick wash will make it all nice and soft. Speaking of yukata, I think I ought to sell one or two from the sets-of-5 I bought from YJA. I don't really know, though, cos everytime I look at the pile, I can't even think of separating from them!! Maybe I won't sell them on eBay, but sell them to friends or one of the sibling's friends when I get home? Or keep them and open a rent-a-yukata business during cosplay and Bon Odori days lol.

*hums* I feel really 'Chinese' at the moment. Taking a hobby and some clothes and planning ways to earn money off them. LOL. I'm still thinking of a way to incorporate kimono and my future career :P A side job, maybe? Hehehehe...

Toodles, my side hurts!


Coursework done!

Ahhh I just finished the last piece of coursework for this term and sent it off to my groupmates for checking. Well, not so much checking as it is making sure it looks alright! :P I'm so glad it's over!!!!

Patty's gone back to Concord; he went on Wednesday. I feel bad, cos for the first half of his hols, I practically ignored him for my coursework, and then when I finally had free time, I was sick so I couldn't really go out. By that time, he was already feeling rather lethargic and didn't want to go out, and I feel kinda guilty that a part of me is glad we stayed home, cos my throat really was killing me!

But now, my coursework is almost done and a number of my kitsuke stuff is here, so I can FINALLY get to practicing my kitsuke, especially for furisode!!

Do you all remember this furisode from this post?

I finally found and bought a matching fukuro obi for it! Okay, so the obi I bought doesn't seem to be as formal as it should be, but the colours and patterns are spot-on with this furisode and they look absolutely gorgeous together! Here's a picture:

I assure you, the shade of orange is darker than the picture, and matches the flowers perfectly. Even the shade of gold seems to match the gold edging in the furisode!
I wasn't quite sure what obiage to match it with, but at the moment, I quite like the look of my yellow shibori obiage (left in the picture below) because its sweetness balances the harsh brightness of the obi against the white background, and provides a sort of in-between. Also, the shade of yellow just happens to match the swirly pale gold karakusa in the kimono :P
I haven't thought of an obijime either, but I just received this set yesterday, and can't wait to try them on! I was thinking of the white one in the middle..... Think it'd look alright?

Hehehe, I think you can tell I'll be spending this weekend practicing kitsuke. But first, I want to do a major clean-up of my room and of the living room and kitchen... LoL :P
Toodles!