Nomad wanna-be

Back in high school we used to have "nomads only" parties - "nomads" are were defined as people who've lived in 3+ countries in their lives

as a self-proclaimed real international school AC attracted quite a few diplomat kids + ppl who've never lived in a city longer than 2 years; ppl who speak 6 languages.  fluently.

i was jealous. i wanted to be a nomad too but i was born bred and raised in HK - nothing too exciting (i know it's all relative. now i know not to complain - at least i didn't grow up in Indiana)

so after high school i vowed to become a world citizen, went backpacking for 2 summers in Europe, and have since been traveling every chance i've got

however, apparently i am still far from achieving my goal - according to this site (which i stole from Zaccan, i've only been to 17% of the countries in the world.

create your own visited country map or write about it on the open travel guide

eeks.

next stop, South America.  i was just talking to Taha over dinner about his adventures there, volcanos and salt lakes, formidable mountains and the coolest open air club in the world.  i'm sold. who wants to come with? 

Ambitions

For Dina's birthday, Joyce and I decided to be different for once and make her dinner (as opposed to taking her out).  For those of you who know me, I don't cook. ever.  my kitchen's barely wide enough for me to turn around in.  pity really, i've always aspired to be an excellent cook. (one step closer to being the perfect gal )

So when I caught an episode of Forever Summer with Nigella on the CX flight coming back from Sapporo, I got all motivated.  Nigella appears in front of the camera, sprinkle ingredients here and there, and viola! a perfect dish appears.  I've found my chef idol!! 

That chocolate pav just looked too good to resist.  so i decided to make it for Dina (thx D & J for being my guinea pigs)

Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

Ingredients        

• Meringue
  
  
  
  • 6 egg whites
    
  • 1 cup sugar
    
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
    
  • 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely
    chopped   
  
  
• Topping
  
  
  
  • 21/4 cups heavy cream    
    
  • 1 pint raspberries                                                                
    
  • 2-3 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate, grated into curls     

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with baking parchment.  
  
• For Meringue: Beat egg whites until peaks form; beat in sugar slowly until meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle cocoa, vinegar and chopped chocolate over mixture and gently fold until mixed in. Mound on baking sheet in circle about 9 inches wide; smooth top and sides.
  
• Put in oven. Turn temperature down to 300 degrees. Bake about 11/4 hours. (It should be crisp around the edges and sides and a little moist inside). Turn off oven, leave door open slightly to let meringue cool.
  
• To serve, put meringue on round plate. Whip cream and mound on top. Scatter on  raspberries and sprinkle on chocolate curls. Makes 8-10 servings.  

*be careful, egg whites burn really easily.  best to layer on the meringue thick and keep a tight eye on the heat settings

*the best thing about this recipe is the whipped cream you pile on at the end. it makes for excellent damage control

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guess what, it turned out pretty well.  and i have pictures to prove it

my satisfied customer:

Happy birthday girlfriend

| Download of the day: 50 cent - In the Club |

what happened to all my readers?? 

Girl geek

i must profess to be a full fledged gear / gadget freak.  what can i say, i like my toys, be it cameras, computer stuff, snowboarding equipment, the works.  

one way or the other i can always convince myself that the purchase is worth the money (and i do splurge on occasion). my matchbox apartment is cluttered with worthless junk that seemed like a "i must own this" at the time. sales people love me.

and i hate throwing away stuff (they're all memorabilia to me)  Like astroanne says, it's like parting with old friends.  pretty soon i'll need to move to get more storage space.  *raur* 

-> how do you cure an obsession?

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Happy birthday Dina!

| Download of the day: Sean Paul - Get Busy | (dina's party theme song)

| Download of the day: Outkast - Hey Ya! |

Niseko, Sapporo

Wish you were here

hellesley

this (read article) is why i hated being at wellesley

don't be mistaken, i don't regret having gone there and i appreciated many aspects of my experience at the school, but *my*! how narrow-minded can people get!!!! 

1) it's just a movie. i personally enjoyed seeing my alma mater on screen, and

2) i don't think it protrays any negative image about the school at all!  that's the way things were back in the day, and to be honest, we still have the Betty and Joan prototypes walking around campus today.    c.h.i.l.l.o.u.t.!

[stella's rant #7 of the day.  now back to my 4 case studies and 3 projects to be completed before end of business today]

namakemono

If you live in Hong Kong, you'll find it virtually impossible to concentrate or even think about work from December till February.  As soon as you flip the calender to December, people start planning for christmas parties, upcoming holidays, getting christmas pressies and what-not.  After that (mid-end december) everyone *is* on holiday...and the office empties out. <1 week after x'mas holidays comes New Year's eve, together with more festivities

Come January 2004 and you think you're ready to buckle down to work (new year = new resolutions = new improved self) but that disillusion is quickly shattered by the realisation that Chinese New Year is just round the corner! (more holidays and more distractions!)

so these two months have been a total write off for me

a few pictures of saipan, as promised (saipan is gorgeous you *must* visit if you have the chance!)

(arrival at saipan's ghetto airport after our red-eye flight.  noticed forced expressions of excitment)

(po-sers!)

(Audrey + steve chillin at the back of the red convertible we rented)

(guess where that frisbee was heading)

(i was a pilot for 30 minutes )

(aerial view of saipan - i was driving the plane while i took this photo so could only get a corner of the Managaha island)

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i'll have you know that quite a few of these photos have been edited using photoshops to remove wrinkles, flab, etc etc

The Wedding Planner

The Wedding Date Predictor YOU ARE CLOSE to finding "the one!" We have carefully calculated your responses according to our scientific formula and harmonized the results to the Venutian lunar calendar. But don't get your hopes up to hear those wedding bells soon, because your bridesmaid days aren't over just yet. YOU WILL BE MARRIED BY: Saturday, July 21, 2007 ******************************************* no, i'm not desperate but it's still legal to daydream right take the test - http://www.emode.com/eredir?m=650849256&u=80092

My boss, the CFO of the Asia Pacific region, just said to me "Stella are you busy?"

Stella [alt + tab to hide the google news page] answered meekly: "i'm alright."

boss: "then get out of there!"

he rocks

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happy new year everyone!  i'm off to saipan tonight

All i want for christmas ...

i am stealing this track "all i want for christmas.mp3" from Olivia Olson's website.  happy holidays 

(damn this girl can sing!)

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caught a late showing of love actually with audrey and steve (my now-regular movie chums in case you haven't noticed.  we make a strange trio) and yep i'll admit it - i loved the movie