Uddevalla

Oh man I've left this blog unattended for super long! 

I was meant to upload many of the works and trips that I've done and taken. However didn't manage to squeeze in the time to. I've travelled quite a bit therefore much of my final assignments were only done after the travels, ie) 3 weeks before end of my study period. In another words, no time for blogging!

There should be quite a few posts that I could do regarding my travels and work, including my trip to Spain, Kiruna, my knitting project and my student directed project (digitally printed fabric). These would  s.l.o.w.l.y be updated here coz editing is a pain in the backside, even if editing was minimal.

The photos in this post were taken on 25th November 2010, when Sophie (French), Nina (German) and I took a train up to Uddevalla, a small town that one of our teachers is living in. 

Before going to her house, we drove to a small island off Uddevalla. Though it was only -10 degrees it felt like -18 deg coz it was by the sea. I've taken loads of photos there as well. But here are only those that were taken at Elisabeth's home. It's so cosy and cute. Loved everything about her little home and they actually renovated most of the interior themselves, including the bathroom!

 Pink Marimekko wall hanging for winter. She changes the cushions and the wallhanging to green one for spring!

Elisabeth with one of the books from her white, gridded shelves

Loooove the colours! Instantly brightening up any gloomy winter day

Cool stairs leading to the bedrooms, wasn't invited up of course

Cool old school stove that she leaves on when she's out so the house would be warmed up

Bulbous plant that you could find very commonly in winter 

Sophie! And typical Swedish food...cheese, ham, cucumber, peprika and bread/ crisp. Can you imagine having this everyday? Not me, thanks, though it wasn't bad. A guy in my student accommodation has this every single day, that's excluding the ham and peprika. Just bread, butter, cheese, cucumber, salt and pepper to taste. Omg.

Motherly :)

Super tasty soup!!!!! I had two servings yet wanted more :( And it's made out of...

...this!! Its texture is like potato...but I'm not sure what it's called.

Saffrony dessert with raspberries :)

Actually the photo looks yummier than it really was. The texture of the pudding was like...white carrot cake, for those Malaysians/ Singaporeans who know what I'm talking about, but with a hint of saffron and sugar. Not used to it but it looked so appealing. Anyway, shall not destroy the pic. So I'll say that it's still.....YUMMMM! Hahah.

Sophie (French) and Nina (German)

 Courtyard, with Elisabeth's car at the background

 Frozen apples still hanging on the tree

 Exterior of Elisabeth's house! Many of the Swedish houses are small and often square/ rectangular in plan

After the lunch, we went to Uddevalla's Art Museum. Didn't take many photos.  It wasn't that blog worthy.

Heading home on the regional SJ train. The kid at the background breathed really heavily, borderlined snoring. Quite distracting.

Anyway, still had a good trip, though it was super cold and I actually slipped and fell as I was walking to Elisabeth's house from her car :)!!

Hej då!!

Somewhat Edible Piece of Dirt

First attempt making chocolate flourless cake. Read recipe wrong and added water in my chocolate, butter and caster sugar mixture. Tried soaking up the water with paper towel. Not sure if that was the reason why my cake was hard, though still edible. Or could it be the cold weather coz it's gooeyer whilst warm? Hmm. 

Still tasted good though, as I used Nestle Gold, 70% dark chocolate bars instead of cooking chocolate as suggested in the recipe book :) Went well with a ball of rich, creamy vanilla ice cream!

There's Always A First For Everything

*Burp*

Well, this is my first attempt in:

+ Making a cheesecake

+ Using a new Canon Macro 100mm lens Dad got not too long ago

Last week, Peggen brought a homemade oreo cheesecake that tasted heavenly and a couple of days after a girl in planetUNI brought blueberry cheesecake as well for a rehearsal we had for an upcoming event. So those cakes where my main catalyst in making my own too! For some reason, I never knew that these sort of cheesecakes didn't require any baking.

The recipe was found here, as I looked it up on google :). It's a great recipe. It said that it only requires 30 mins to make the cake but I ended up taking 1.5 hours, since there was quite a few washing to be done and I like to keep the sink empty/ kitchen tidy.

Make sure you follow the recipe though. It was stated that only half a lemon/ lime was required. On the fruit rack at home I could only find 2 really old lemons hah. Even though one entire (dried) lemon was used, the cream cheese mix was not sour enough. Hence the 2nd lemon was used. Decided to use the entire lemon as no one would use it if I left half of it in the fridge. Bad decision. The mix ended up a little too sour. What was worse was the frozen blueberries I got from Safeway was extremely sour too. So mum and I decided to just put some icing sugar over the cake, and it tasted better :).

Lesson learnt: Always follow the recipe!

As with the macro lens, I love honing in details so it was awesome!


 

Chocolate Covered Macaroon Ice Cream Pop

Assignment research again. Link here.

I've just died and gone to heaven. Funny how the simplest and littlest things in life you see just make you so happy! :)


This shall go to my resource book of my new print project that requires us to dig deep and find out what makes us happy, then translate it onto designing a blanky. 

This just put a big smile across my face. :)

The sweetest Valentine's Day gift

The best Valentine's Day gift I've received so far was the flat, red 'Love' book that Jon took lots of time writing and answering many of the hard questions that it posted. Questions like when we first met, what he liked about me and what he wishes to see in the future. Though it cost him $25, that was still the best thing I ever got from him, material-wise. But that was last year. 

If there was a prize for the best and sweetest Valentine's Day gift, this has got to be it.  This totally kicked my little red book's backside (though I still love it). Sometimes it's not the most expensive gifts we've received that we hold closest to our hearts, but those that have been personally crafted with much effort, care and time invested with solely you in mind. This year the best gift had been made by using just a little flour, sugar and water (I'd think, I'm actually not sure at all). With lots of pink icing and all those girly toppings. I absolutely LOVED IT! 

Jon keeps getting better at getting me gifts, not to mentioned that they get cheaper  as well by the year :P. In the first year, he hid behind a tree at my front porch and surprised me with a bouquet of red roses. He then took me out for a movie and lunch, I think. The flowers would have cost quite a bit. Second year, picnic in Sorrento with the lovely red book. Cheapo style coz we both wanted to save money. Third year, these home made cookies! Meaning they're sort-of FREE or cost the least. What cost him was two cards enveloped in this red cover (told you he's getting cheaper). Maybe next year I'd only get half a card, the next year a hug, and the year after that just a high-5! Haha. But I absolutely adoooore these cookies coz they're so beautifully handmade! 

And you know what's the best part? He didn't make them. It was, in fact, Mrs. Ngan. Yes, Jon's mother made these for me.  When he told me that I was like "What!! You asked your mum to make cookies for your gf for VD???", only to learn that his mum suggested to do it. *aww* So thanks so much for these cookies, Auntie, if you're reading this :). I don't mean to bag your son out on the WWW but in his own words, to bag and tease is to love, what I learned when I first met him. He's an absolutely legend and I love him for being who he is. 

 

  

  

 

Pretty, aren't they?! :D

On a separate note, I, on the other hand, didn't get him anything at all this year! Not even a lousy card. So I admit the cheapo here is ME! Haha!! Yes yes boos and rotten cabbages at me. But I'll make up for it by baking him a chocolate cake, as requested by his mum :). 

(P/s: - Sorry for the absence btw! Was away in M'sia longer than expected and just got back.

         - I've decided to keep this blog! Trial period's over!

         - Is it just me or does the last pic appear to be cropped off on the right? can't seem to fix it tho' it looks centralised in the draft Fixed!)