autumn

(picture: Sandgate Road, Blackburn South 05/09)

autumn is beautiful in melbourne.
there is something about it that soothe the mind when one sees leaves dropping in droves or see a road or pathway that's littered with beautifully brown leaves. some times we get beautiful sunshine during the day that makes getting outdoor something to look forward to. a run, walk the dog or just hang out by the park are simple pleasures that autumn brings.

autumn is beautiful in melbourne.

there is something about it that soothe the mind.....except if you are tasked to clean up the backyard.

food fit for the empress

may 10 is designated mother's day worldwide. i readily agree* to take over the kitchen for the day so my better half can have a little `take it easy' day with her.

i have no problem cooking. in fact, someone once told me that real man cooks. i couldn't agree more. early in our married life, i was the one who ruled the kitchen (besides being the breadwinner; and taking charge of laundry, ironing, general house cleaning and fixing the light bulb) i am pretty adeptable since i have lived out from my family at an early age. whipping up 3 meals a day is at the tip of my finger. in fact, when i was an undergrad, i temp at the university club house as a kitchen helper. in 2 months, i learnt how to debone a cooked chicken cleanly, down to the wings. when i showed off that skill to my mother at home, she was very impressed with me. the chef there even let me handle the kitchen knives once in a while, which is a big deal. i could go on but i better stop here, less i am accused of boasting.

it was not until about 3 years ago, when my wife first laid hand on the game,`クッキング ママ, kukkingu mama' (cooking mama) on her nds lite that she started cultivating an interest in cooking. when she mastered and outcooked everyone in`cooking mama: world kitchen', she decided to try her hand in cooking for real. her interests in cooking grew from there. and there is no looking back since that day. i too hung up my apron soon after to concentrate on my day job.

i realized that 3 years can unlearn many things that you thought were 2nd nature to you. i found out the hard way on mother's day yesterday. for a start, i nearly sliced off my own finger as i attempted to `speed chop' the onions. i blamed the tool. the knife wasn't sharp enough. then i chickened out trying to chop the chicken wings in pieces. i feared parts of my hand will be amongst the pieces of meat in the simmering chicken curry pot. i resorted to using a scissor to cut the chicken to parts. i learnt this from the singapore hawker stalls. it worked to my relief even if though the chicken is raw.

critically, things turns out well. my reputation within the family remain intact. i won by a split decision** when i ask my family members to vote if the food were top notch.

for the curious soul, this is what i prepared (clockwise in the enclosed picture):

1. golden crisp salmon strips (commonly known as salmon battered in tapioca flour and deepfried)

2. special sauce sauteed leafy green with scampi champignon (layman calls it stirred fried kailan with leftover mushroom/prawn from the fridge)

3. golden l'oignon oeuf (you are probably more familiar with fried omelette with onion)

4. lechon udang kering (or `hay bee hiam' with pork. poor man's dish found mainly in malaysia/singapore)

5. golden authentic kari ayam pedas malaysia*** (most just called it chicken curry)

better not drool....

* no choice

** my youngest 4.5 year old girl splits the votes to my favor. this after i agree to include her disney's princess food mat in the picture

***thanks, prima deli!

house hunting

it didn't seemed like a long time ago that we were house hunting. when we first arrived back in november 08, we spent a good 2 weeks looking for a rental place to call our own for at least the year. it was slightly daunting times then as we were newbies in the country. we weren't sure of how things will pan out. we were glad we managed to find a place we liked in blackburn south.

not long after, we began looking at houses for sale. we were prompted by a friend who thought it will be a good idea to get use to the way house sales are conducted here in australia. back in singapore, we never really moved from our first home, a hdb apartment we owned since 1997. to me, moving house in singapore is almost an oxymoron; singapore is not big enough (at least for me) to want to move to someplace `closer' (work or otherwise). we are pretty much 30-45mins from anywhere in singapore when we drive. most times, shorter. secondly, most homes are 99 year lease, we don't own the place anyway, and if we want to buy a freehold or 999 year lease, we have to fork out significantly more. thirdly, i personally get turn off by the total amount of loan interests that i need to fork out. for the most part, i will be working to pay the bank. if i could, i do not like to owe anyone money, much less the banks. paying via my cpf then is perfect. i don't fork out a cent more from my take home pay. but mostly, i don't make enough money to buy my singapore `dream home'. i prefer to live within my means and enjoy smaller luxuries than to keep up with the joneses.

so, `getting into the market', as house agent here told me; is something new to me. for the last 4 months or so, we spent some saturdays driving to open houses; mostly to understand what to look out for, pitfalls to avoid and the processes of house purchase. in fact, i did make an offer of a house i pretty fancy (then), but my offer was deemed too low. it was recently sold to an `investor'. i learnt that you also need to `walk the talk' when you want to make an offer of a house. when i told the agent, "ok, i will offer $x00k for this property.", he looked at me and for 20 seconds, time stood still. he then politely told me that in order to show that my intent is serious, i need to write a cheque of `a couple of thousand dollars', to show that i am sincere. of course, i did not have my cheque book with me, which made my offer amateurish and insincere. now, i am more controlled. i don't `anyhow' make offers anymore.

and there are these `things to avoid and looked out for' that my mother insists that i look out for when i view the house. at times, i want to tear my hair out as we may have tick off successfully the 98 points that she laid out, then #99 didn't pass the `feng shui' test. house numbers are important, obviously, inauspicious numbers like 4, 13 (never mind 13 is my favourite and lucky number), 24 and thousand other house numbers that i need to avoid. other key things to look out for are: the house frontage cannot face the lamp post, kitchen cannot be at the front end of the house, toilet seating needs to face away from the entrance door, etc., etc. and 99 other conditions. well, it probably narrows down your choice of probable house to consider to................zero. all planets need to be aligned for this to happen. that said, i do take into considerations what my mom said as i personally believe in some of those things. if you can avoid it, why not? however, i am also realistic enough to know that in a mature suburb like where we are at, it will be pretty darn hard to look for that `perfect' house. so, we will cross out some of the conditional listings if necessary. i am more concern that i can afford the place.

and suddenly, 6 months passed. our house hunting shifted a gear up for a few reasons. for starter, the australian government may revise the first home ownership scheme subsidy which stands at a$14k now. we hope to still enjoy it before it may be taken away. secondly, we didn't think that the property market will `collapse' as we had hoped earlier with all the poor economic climate and the gloomy news we read. the market in melbourne is pretty resilient in holding its prices. so, if we can find something that is within our budget and a place that we like, we might as well take the plunge. thirdly, i was told that in autumn, house price can sometimes be as damp as the weather. when spring comes and flower blooms, property prices may actually edge up as the property will look prettier with all the flowers surrounding the property. i actually believe that logic.

wish us luck!