Monday, October 29, 2007

Sometimes, I really hate the politicking that goes on in activist circles.

And what really irks me are those who seem to be doing activism for the sake of fame. It's just about getting your 'credentials' out there, 'show-offing' yourself to the world and what you 'have achieved' for the gay community in Singapore.

Like. Are you really fighting for your own ego or do you really care about the community?

When I meet such individuals, it just really disgusts me. And makes me want to keep my own activist endeavours far away from it. Of cos, I believe credit should be given when credit is due. But I've met so many unsung heroes around me who never once.... wanted their 'fame' out there. They just do it cos they believe in it.

The last thing I want, is to see the youths grow up to become just like our forebearers. Fighting over who has the upper-hand becos who has 'so-called' contributed more.

BULL SHIT KAY.

And people wonder why I seem to be stepping outside the scene lately. Being less visible. If anything, I'd rather people remember the stuff I've created and not focus on the creator. Some might say that being totally and irrationally out there is an act of courage. But frankly, there's a difference between carrying a flag of pride, and carring a flag of hubris.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Woot!

Weekend was fun! Although damn packed with shit. Heh.

Saturday evening was the OC talk about sex. Oh gosh, the life stories of gay people is a never-ending fountain of intrigue and juicy gossip man. I laughed and balked and eye-ball popped. Too bad I couldn't attend it till the end. Crowd was pretty good. Bian co was packed. And LC was farking funny.

Laters, went to Oktoberfest! It was pretty darn interesting. They actually set up a tent complete with benches in true Oktoberfest style, with barmaids and jolly 'ole fellows dressed up like the actual people do in Germany. And the beer, omg, there were such huge glasses of erdinger. We even got to pose with one of the massive mugs! Food was not tooo bad, loved the pork knuckle! Then laters, we had dessert and talked the night away. Fucking (in celebration of her favourite emotional term) hilarious.

I considered going over to the say oni party later. But it was too darn late and everyone had mostly gone home by then. But DAMN! I heard I missed some good shit tonight! DAMN DAMN DAMN!!!! I hate it when my social activities clash.....last time, it was always a struggle to choose between... hanging out with the boys or the girls. Hmmm. Tough choice. Do I be a fag-haggy princess or the joke-of-the-day? Decisions decisions....

No matter what, saturday night was awesome still! Wouldn't trade it for something else! Plus, I found a Madonna fan! Am I lucky or am I lucky?



*Gasp*


-------

Sunday was a blast during dinner. Went with the iris girls to Sofra, this turkish restaurant near Bugis. It was seriously good. I loved every single dish and I love love love indian/middle-eastern-y food!! The desserts were peculiarly sweet and tingly. The pizza was warm and inviting and crisp. But the company beats everything hands down. Oh gosh, they were so funny today, despite the merciless teasing and deconstruction and mockery of my love life. And the senseless but lovely witty remarks. The dry humour. The cackles of giggles, and the complete abandon of social decorum and noise limit. (They practically announced my life story to the entire restaurant, as evident by staring waiters).

Darn I love my lau chee bai-s! Hahahaa...

-------

Absolutely cannot wait for the mox party. Like seriously, I'm going to bring straws to the party... and use them in certain 'holes' of the body. Ha. And introduce meep* to wonderland....

Cool times lie ahead. After all, gay is the new black.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

I've got my head surveying the clouds. Counting the days, weeks, months. Assessing the gaps in time. Time away. Scrutinising the weekends, trawling the events laid bare.

Trying to connect the dots. (They cannot be broken!). To form a chain, to make a bridge, to... somewhere.

Somewhere no one's been.

How do you conquer a frontier never explored.

I'm someone who loves information, even in my ne pal trip, I get frustrated when the facts are not clear, when I can't plan my murals down right to the littlest details, without confirmation of success.

You know what's the flaw in our education system? Is that for soo long, for so very long in primary and secondary and junior college, our questions, our worlds, were so black and white. Such controlled environments, all the parameters and assumptions given to you.

But the more I learn in school, in life, the more I realise we work with unseen, dynamic boundaries that are constantly changing, shifting, morphing.... in ways which I don't even know will affect my results.

Elsa has discovered a new road in the journey. But it's a very long walk indeed, and I don't even know if that road leads to somewhere.

But if I don't explore, I guess I'll never find out right?


------------

Walk with the faith that God's right behind you. Yes. No matter what.

Everything will be alright in the end. For the lord is my prince of peace!

You know God, adversity builds a person's character. That I totally agree. And I can definitely attest to that from personal experience. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

But you know.

First there were single but straight girls, then there were gay but attached girls... now there are asexual girls????

Goodness gracious me Father, how many more types do I have to encounter? This is really some kind of cruel test of the heart man.

Monday, October 22, 2007

http://www.borncriminal.onthewei.com/all-criminal377a.htm


The joke that is 377a.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

God help me.

I feel so confused. I don't even know what I want anymore... yet I've already made a promise to V. Made him create things for me. There are plans already set in motion, which must be carried out to the end. For I have committed myself. There is no turning back.

Curled up at the sofa earlier, and wished that life was just a simple answer.

For all those who love the song by Oasis, Wonderwall. Here's a deeply spell-binding, lovely acoustic cover by Ryan Adams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtfsNovxq0U

------------------

Today was openhouse at church. Loved the service, loved the music, sang with my all for both services. This reminds me of Festival of Praise, and makes me wish I could attend the one next year (cos I missed this year's). Yeap, I'll be there. In the next FOP. I loved today's message too. =)

Food was awesome, I love love love it! And the lemongrass tea!!! Yummy! I think I shall make my own at home. Hmmmm. Showed phua around, met (omg) AG!!!! in church of all places. Although she is not my type of girl, she is still cute nonetheless!

*Did I ever mention I have a weakness for girls with dimples?* mmmm.

And on top of that! Met my softball senior 3 years back. My senior-senior captain...is she gay, is she not? I don't know... I theenk so, feel so, hope so. Another cute one, always good to have them on your team. Haha. Apparently they were all doing a project on our church and my friend was their groupmate.

Small world eh?




----------------------

Lying about churches reminds me of my past secrets and lies and smokescreens. And how scared a life that was for me.

Hope. One day it'll get better for you.

----------------------

For He's my Prince of Peace. And God will make everything alright in the end....

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Nicknames


Here's a new meme (or not so meme-ish). Either way, here's a list of all the quirky nicknames I've ever come across and why.

Armageddon: This is min dy. Yes, you are actually 'Armageddon' on my cellphone, lols. Back in NJ, the story goes that I accused you of being a fair-weather friend, friendly jibing ensued, in which I conceded that no, you're stormy weather, then it escalated and culminated in the most chaotic weather conditions imaginable to describe you. Armageddon. Haha, do you even remember?

Virtual Slut Reality Amoeba: Okay this is my favourite. This is Kok We i's nickname from secondary school days, when he was a computer addict and permanently online on IRC. Fantastic social and carnal life online, zilch in real life. Hence, the nickname bestowed upon him by his friends. The Virtual SLUT, Reality Amoeba. Hahahaha, I love it I love it!

Wei Ge: Also Kok we i's nick. It means 'viagra' in chinese. And therefore, Ko k Wei..is wei ge. Haha!

Stump: Reminiscient of a tree stump, a.k.a. the low height. Haha! Which has many evolved forms such as stumpie, stumped, stump, stumpied etc etc. Haha I'm stumped already. -_-

Androblur: I christened my friend this nickname. My friend who was andro. And you know, under the label andro, there are sub-divisions... into andro-femme and andro-butch. She was neither. But she was unique in an intrigueing manner. Thus I married the term 'andro' with her most poignant characteristic. Androblur. Haha! I love it calling her that!

Laksa: Haha this one is really sad. My old sc primary schoolmates had no idea what to nickname my sister (since I had one, she should have a nick too). So they tried to rhyme 'elsa'... and the result was.. 'laksa'. Only for sister dearest.

Truffle: I heard 'The Gang' address mel as such. And the reason being that mel loves truffles! Is it the chocolate or the mushroom? Not too sure, but either way, both sound delish! And both sound like something mel loves anyway lols.

Fragile: I gave Sam Tan this nick. Cos she was so stick-skinny in primary school I thought she would break apart at the slightest bump. When I think Sam in primary school days, I still think the sign on brown cardboard boxes which state 'Fragile!' and the lined image of a cocktail glass.

The powerpuff girls: Haha, this is for the 3 jeremys in my cell group. Term was coined when we were thinking of superhero alter egos for ourselves. Why are so many gay men called jeremy??? But either way, they are.... The Powerpuff girls! Boo, Kwo k, Ta y!

Rossieeepooo: I dunno why haha. I don't even know how it came about lols.. But it's a nice way to address Yapit by!

And of cos... the nickname to rule them all.....

ELSA!

10 years baby. It has been a decade since this nickname started, by Fragile no less. If you don't know me by Elsa, you don't know me yet. Huil ing haha, is just a smokescreen. Sometimes.

Friday, October 12, 2007

You know, after consulting once more with fellow karmic victim, J, I'm beginning to believe that love is like an onion. You gotta peel it layer by layer. Slowly. Or else you'd end up in tears.

Either that or I'm slicing the onions the wrong way, or using the wrong knife or choosing the wrong onion or worse I'm not suppose to touch particular onion.

But an onion is just a simple onion. No need to think so much while trying to cook it.

And here's another epiphany to ponder on: A quote from Yoda of Star Wars. Yes, I'm taking advice from YODA, of star wars... which reminds me of min dy's canoeing friend (cue peels of unrelenting, merciless laughter)

"You either do. Or do not. There is no try."

So I'm just going to do it. Whatever the *toot* happens. Cos whenever I think back about all the 'mistakes' I've made in the past, life would have been more boring had I not commit them. And learnt, and lived.

So. Here goes nothing! *close eyes and plunges in*

Truth is.... I'm damn scared.

Love. And love FULLY.



Today my fortune cookie says...."You won't grow unless you take risks."

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Today was truly jinxed.

First the clinic faced a location flub-up. Then, I crashed into someone else's car.

Like. Oh gosh, I could just say my millionth F word of the day right now. Couldn't stop saying it for awhile after I crashed the car.

Training had ended. We were going to load the equipment into the boot. The car was a short, 40m distance away, we decided that I should reverse the car 40m back along the row of parallel parked cars so that we don't have to walk so far. So I said okay, I will reverse the car. Then I started reversing in the opposite lane (facing against traffic of cos). Reversing was pretty bad, the car was zig-zagging left and right cos it was tough for me to straighten the wheel, see where I was going and reverse in a straight line. Then this stupid lorry drove in front of me and waited as I slowly reversed back down the road. Then later I finally managed to reach the location, tried to parallel park to stop the car. So happened that the car was moving down the slope of a hump at the time, it sped up a little, rolled down a wee bit too fast, and before I knew it, bang! I didn't even hear the motion sensor alarm at the back. I had banged into a parked car.

When I heard the noise. Gawd, it was like a heart attack. I stopped in total shock. Got out of the car, glanced at the boot and 'crash area'. Got back into the driver's seat and put my head into my hands. I could've cried. It felt like the world had ended. Cursed fuck so bad.

Look out the window and see the entire softball team + clinic newbies look at me in total horror. Fuck I think I could've died. The guys ran over, I got out again, surveyed the damage, drove the car slightly away from the crash. Got out again, looked at the victim car. Realised that ... sigh... Nevermind. No damage to my car. Some damage to his/hers.

Either way, in 3 minutes, the boys jumped into the car, we loaded the equipment and fled the scene pronto. I was so scared all I knew was that I must get out now and fast before I get found out. We left the team there, and then went for dinner and homeward-bound.

That wasn't all.

Parked at bukit timah to grab a dinner. Forgot to tear carpark coupon for the umpteenth time. Got a $30 summon. When I saw the summons slip tucked into the windshields, I didn't say anything or curse as usual. Just looked at it in amusement, some nervous laughter of "Heheh...". After all, what could be worse than just now.

Shall not be driving for some time. I don't want to drive for some time. Told my mom, she wasn't as angry as I expected.

But I'm thankful for some things. At least I'm safe. At least the car wasn't damaged. At least, it's over.



I just want to curl in my bed and not face the world.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

You know, I'm beginning to believe that men's emotional insensitivity is a necessity born out of evolution. With all due respect to the sausages, let me explain why....

In girl-girl relationships, one of the reasons leading to the death of said relationship, or causing problems in the relationships... is the fact that the girls think too much. We over-analyse, and segment, and dissect, and project, and evaluate, and consider all factors, and suspect, over the littlest of details. The tinniest most insignificant things... blown right out of proportion. We perceive portents of doom in a little gust of wind, look skywards in terror at gathering storm clouds (believing it could last forever, or that it will not float away).

I'm talking to J now, and once more, am engaged in deep analysis of the intricacies of human interaction and its quirks (or not). Hoping, that our limited and skewed experience will forecast the future for me and dictate the next step.

Now, if this was a guy. It would be a simple process of, ask, receive response, move on. They wouldn't look twice over words, or bother to ponder more than 2 feet deep. For the jibe would just bounce off their culturally-induced masculinity. I think.

Not for girls. Or me at least. I will think to death. A most excruciating and painful and silent way to die inside indeed. Like a slow-roasted pig over a spit. Have been slow-roasting for awhile now. Worse still, I can't seem to do this on my own.

One pawn has moved across the chest board. So has the opponent's.

Now it's my call. How now brown cow? *Crouch low and do reconnaissance, data collection must begin at once again!*

And of cos, always ALWAYS apply the golden rule: "EXPECT. NOTHING"





Fuck lah.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Not my Usual

Sometimes, heart leaps ahead brain
and images flash which should have
served as warning signs.

I had a slight feeling
in the past, long ignored,
brief and truly insignificant.
Now teased out and brought to
shine through greater notice.

And lovely, sweet, you.
Had to grow that thought in my head.

Before I know it, that
Special One, is being replaced
in the little ivory tower.
And with that the lands go dry,
the sky screams drought,
and once more, I'm left wanting.

Well.

Dig a well buddy.
And hope you find the source.

FUCK.

Saturday was a real 'stretch' of emotions.

First was the division contest. Went for 'training' on Wednesday, came home with ribbons and high hopes for Saturday. Apparently, I found out later that I got the judging criteria wrong. Blooooodyyy.....#$@#^@&*!@!!!!!

Went home with third. When they called my name, that was some shock. Bad shock. A blow to the guts. My gawd, I didn't even want to smile at the camera when they took the prize photo. F---. Talked to the chief judge and Da vid later, and found out that the focus was different. Style and showmanship counts for nothing in evaluation. No marks for flair at all. Although these elements are very crucial in all other contests, this was different. And there I thought, lies my weapon.

My journey ends here. The whole point of coming on Saturday was to get into next round. 'Consolation prize' just doesn't cut it. No more part of the Singapore team.

Laters, went for finance meeting. Wow I love my group. They have only one mindset and that is let's do this and pack up and go home! Have high hopes for our productivity. Got an offer to party with the boys at night. Grabbed it. I figured I needed some alcohol to numb the afternoon's shock, which had then turned into this simmering growl at a chance lost.

Went to vivo for dinner. Thai food. I accidentally bit down on this dried green chilli padi. And oh gosh... boy did I really pay. My tongue was in knife-slicing agony for more than 5 minutes. I drank 2.5 cups of cold icy water in 5 minutes. And the tears flowed so bad I looked like I just broke up and broke down. Nose was clogged with mucus, the kind that develops when people really cry badly. I never felt so much pain before. Ate and munched and rolled rice all over the tongue to wash out the heat. It helped abit. We even ordered an emergency coconut milk desert for me to eat. It was so bad, I felt like someone had cut my tongue open. NO KIDDING.

Night time was rather cool. Went to party at Mox, then Play (my first time there). At mox there was a private function at the attic. Went up, got in through the door bitch (our dearest friend), got myself a free drink through a newly dear friend. Met another high-roller, made-it-big super flamboyant and friendly gay dude. Felt slightly dizzy and high from the alcohol binge. Ate the BEST birthday cake I've ever tasted in my life. It was so chic, so minimal, so complex in it's layers. So gay. It was from Fullerton. I still remember it. One of the best cakes ever eaten.

I don't even know birthday boy.

In some hazy alcholic setting, pissing the boys off with crude jokes, our door bitch fetching the cake for us cos we were too 'shy' to fetch it ourselves. Witnessing my friend getting picked up at Play later, jiggling to great music at the bar counter (why do gay clubs always have better music than lesbian ones?), pushing and shoving with the other fag hags on the dancefloor (they push worse than the guys I tell you). Gossiping at maxwell. Falling asleep in the cab. First time I ever did something so dangerous as falling asleep in the cab at night. Out for more than 17 hours in a day. So tired....


--------------

Went church late on Sunday. Went to watch the JBJ play. Very nice and funny. Borrowed precious graphic novels from library.

--------------

Monday. 9am: Ne pal design team meeting, 11am: l tb project interview, after that, lunch with tey and tay, movie (nanny diaries) at PS. It was a very nice show. Then back to school to mug, then off to TM exco meeting cum chillout cum pigout (we ate a churrascharia--however you spell it).

Now. At home.


-----------------

Life is...increasing in pace.

Softball: We've got some problems with the clinic. No. Make that massive problem. Murphy's Law always apply to this cca, it is. Indeed, a challenging task ahead to navigate. More things for me to worry about. Worries that I might've over promised to newbies.

To astmasters: Big plans. Big hopes. We just need to do this the politically correct way. There's a lot of subtlety that is involved. Planning of a subcomm does not come socially easy. And I don't want to miss our camp just cos of my overseas trip. Plus, there are too many people inviting me to their meetings to be evaluator. I just don't have the time. Now I have to work the PR everytime and side-step the arrows. Tell them to book me in january '08. Which means... that january would be mad for me.

Ne pal: More work is being piled on. Am now sub-let to the sponsorship team. But I utterly adore my design assistant. We indeed make a capable team! But lately, our plans face constraints... which dampens the grandness and big ideas we have. Time to go back to the drawing board....

School: Got this invite to be some student advocate. Basically PR stuff. Go around give talks, run roadshows, career fairs, go back to NJ and talk, be the face of the school. Big commitment, big + on resume. I don't know if I should commit. That's alot of events I'll be doing next year. And I still have yet to implement my grand toastmaster scheme of a com m 101 workshop (of which the 3-page long proposal has already been drawn up, gathering dust), now scheduled to run next year. I'll just give the freshies the blue print. 5 modules I have to do next semester. STILL got my two exco roles to play. STILL got my toastmasters job exploration to engage.

Week 8 has started. Wednesday onwards is projects all the way. Meetings after meetings for various issues. Sunday is big opening launch of church. It is my DUTY to help out. I will NOT miss it. Cell on sunday afternoon. Cell tomorrow. I haven't even laid down my 'squash' plans. Next week everything will start piling up. Then after exams, it's 7 days grace and I'm flying off already. But I can see that they are probably going to scoot me off for advance team due to painting requirements. Meaning I have 2 days less to prepare. Meaning I come back on the 27th. Miss Christmas and all the luscious parties. Go for TM camp. Come back to school. Start like mad again... plan internships etc...FIND A MAJOR to major in. Oh gosh...




and now???




Fuck. Fuck I hate falling in love. Fuck to feel that oh-fuck-I-just-can't-control-myself-and-be-stupid realisation. And realisation leads to knowledge of slow painful nightmare to come. Becos I can't sit and just do nothing. No one's going to create chances for you.

FUCK. I just want to be close. Near? I had glimpes of futures possible. Peals of connecting laughter. Quickened pace of gushing and banter. Epiphanies of someone different. You're so many things I'm not. Would it be too much to ask... if I can be. Your experience?

---------

I'm typing. Just reporting. Lots have happened during this few days. But right now, my mind's only preoccupied with one idea. Despite all the rest that clogs.

In our nep al emailer tagline, there is one that stands out:

"When life is full of clutter.... what really matters?"



One chance. That's all you get. One chance. And you've learnt that lesson on Saturday. Let's not repeat it shall we? Let's win this time. For real.

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Please sign cos you care. Don't be a paranoid schtick and avoid putting your name!!

http://www.repeal377a.com/letter/


------------

One very enticing show to watch on TV is Jamie Oliver's food shows. I especially love the series which shows him cooking at home and his herb/fruit/vegetable garden. Cos I also have chilli plants at home, and they are blossoming very well. There's 2 plants in total, and both are heavily laden with curly green chillis (some maturing into red ones) and a smattering of tiny baby chilli padis. So far, we've eaten a couple of our own home-grown chillis. But it makes me want to grow more of our own food. Especially! Our own spices.... cos I have no more space for large plants in this house.

No more dried, or powdered, or ground, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc etc. I want the natural fresh thing, where the flavours are less diluted. Then again, I'm not sure if these herbs can grow in Singapore weather.

Hmmm.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4cP2oy4ebE

hehe~! So cute =D

Monday, October 01, 2007

There are days whereby I spend my entire time at home to study... and restlessness gets to you.

That, coupled with the food pornography on TV. Yeah, you read right. Porn is a concept whereby after watching it, you gotta do something. So similarly, after watching shows like Just Jamie, Come dine with me and (the most pornographic of all) Summer time with Nigella, it makes me wanna do something.

Why is Nigella the most pornographic of all? Becos the camera always pans very slowly over the contours and surfaces of the food, zooms in on the pot and stir-frying action, has a host who is plastered forever with this come-hither look and smoky eyes, and describes food as though describing a hot body, AND cooks very alluring, very intrigueing and very neat kind of dishes. No wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am kind of messy speed cooking, it's the love-making-slow-music-in-background kind of leisurely cooking. You could almost taste the pleasure in your mouth.

Just last week, I was 'inspired' to re-create a Nigella dish at home. Grilled pineapples with a chocolate sauce. Mmmm.

I was midly surprised by the idea of grilled pineapple skewers. When we think barbeque + non-meat item, we think corn on cob, sweet potatoes etc. But rarely.. grilled pineapple skewers. So. I decided to try this dish at home, but since I do not have a barbeque pit (unlike in the show), I will just chuck the skewers in the oven. Same result, no?

Wells, the skewers took much longer than usual. In the show, Nigella puts the skewers on the rack, next scene, she removes from the rack smokin' and nicely browned skewers. Of cos I didn't think it would be as quick as the scene change, but I didn't anticipate how looong it could be either. After dusting the skewers with brown sugar and popping them into the oven, it took more than an hour before the pineapples even begin to brown. So anyways, I took it out, served it with the chocolate sauce (use water-bath to melt baking chocolate, supposed to add double cream but I had none, so I added water *gasp!*... but the chocolate still tasted too rich for my liking) and some strawberries. And that was that.

------------------

Fast forward to this noon, and I was watching another food show, and I suddenly remembered that one of the most delightful moments during that pineapple experiment... was the browned and slightly crispy surfaces on the pineapple. Reminiscing, I wished for more brown bits in those skewers, but upon further brain analysis (I was supposed to be studying marketing) I realised that the water content of the pineapples was too high. And that was probably why it took so long for the pineapples to char and so little tasty brown parts. Becos I clearly remembered a whole wet-load of pineapple juice being sweated out of the skewers mid-way through 'oven-ing'. Perhaps the pineapple flesh had to substantially dry out first before it can 'crisp'. That load of juice, also probably hindered the brown sugar from caramelising properly on the skewers as it was a)washed off the skewers by the juices, or b) too wet to caramelise.

I wanted those tasty brown bits. That was the highlight and main event of the pineapple experiment. So I tried to think of ways to make just that... At first I thought I'll just do skewers again, but squeeze them abit this time to drain some juice. But then, that would still leave alot of chunky, juicy pineapple parts intact, which is not what I want! I just want the crispy stuff...

And so, I decided I will de-structure the pineapple entirely. Pound the flesh, squeeze the pulp of all the juices so it's as dry as possible. And hopefully, the now flayed and thin fibrous flesh will cook faster and crisp better. (Becos then I had another eureka!, and that was: it was the fibres that browned very nicely and gave the crunch factor).

So I mixed in brown sugar and cinnamon powder into the pineapple, and then layered out my pulpy fibres broadly on a large baking sheet. Shoved it into the oven at high heat. And waited.

When it was done. Wow.

And I saw "wow" in a surprised way. Neither overly good or overly bad. It's just wow, what is that? The fibres were semi-crispy/crunchy. But the fibrous structure remained intact and the pineapple was, of cos, dry. So that meant that it became chewy as well. Thus I had a cross between pineapple jerky and pineapply crispy floss. But what made it really nice was the cinnamon flavour and how, slightly charred, toasted pineapple flesh actually tastes very nice. More interesting than plain boring pineapple.

The first time I tasted it, it was of mild disappointment. I wanted something more akin to the crunchy, candied texture that the caramelised brown sugar is supposed to give, but I got floss instead. But one bite, led to another, and another, and soon I finished off the entire tray (half a pineapple's worth of flesh, mind you) in 10 minutes. For some odd reason, it was midly addictive. Maybe it was the interesting texture (sometimes you get chewy, sometimes crispy, sometimes you bite into a chunk and juice bursts forth while the outside is charred), maybe it was the change in taste of the pineapple when roasted, maybe it's the cinnamon. Maybe it's abit of all. But either way, I can't explain why. It isn't a very spectacular dish, but it is an addictive dish.

A snack. Today I made a pineapple snack. (And later this evening, I did it again with the remaining half of the pineapple for my sister to try. And we each sat down and polished off the tray in re-creation of the afternoon scene which had just me. She agreed it was kinda addictive, like... it grows on you...).

-------------

But after squeezing those pineapples, I had a load of pineapple juice to use. So then I thought of ways to use it, as I didn't want to just drink it cos it can be very strong. I first thought of a smoothie. Get some ice cubes in a blender, add pineapple juice, maybe some alcoholic stuff like vodka, maybe some other fruit (mango? banana?). Blend away...But a blender was too much trouble in terms of cleaning, plus I didn't want a drink.

So I decided to use it for another experiment. The baked chicken in oven experiment. I've done this before, with promising results just by adding lemon juice, cut potatoes, rosemary, crushed garlic cloves, and chicken parts rubbed with butter in a roasting pan. Slam it in the oven, comes out nice and with crispy charred skin. I decided to tweak this by using a method I saw on Come Dine With Me. And that was, instead of leaving the roasting pan open, I shall seal it with aluminium foil, so that the juices are kept inside and the chicken remains moist (but the skin won't char).

For dinner, I chopped up chicken parts, sliced potatoes, crushed garlic cloves, grated lemon zest. Then for the 'marinade', I used all the pineapple juice, added with olive oil, some honey mustard (I just felt like going crazy whatever the taste), ground black pepper, rosemary, cumin powder, sea salt. Although the marinade tasted abit weird, I pressed on.... So I poured the sauce over all the ingredients and sealed the roasting pan with aluminium foil. Then I left it in the oven on high heat for 1.5 hours (another slow-cooking method I learnt from porn-mistress Nigella).

When it came out, it was like opening a present. Lesson learnt: Never open a sealed and very hot food pack facing you. I opened the foil and got scalded by hot steam and whiffs of nice aromas. (I shall endeavour to open the foil away from me next time, or at least poke holes into the foil to release steam before opening.)

Still, it turned out pretty good! Meat wasn't overcooked nor undercooked. It fell from the bones easily but still was very springy even though it was tender. It was also really moist. The sauce had this piquant sweetness to it. Although the sweetness could probably be stronger, as I think the mustard neutralised it (shall not use it again next time). There was one stray pineapple chunk that tasted both sweet and savoury (from the chicken broth) at the same time, so I shall add pineapple bits next time together with the marinade. The potatoes and garlic were soft and sweet and everything blended well together. Heck, even the 'feared' marinade didn't turn out that bad after all! Me and sis loves it. However,I know it's not for everyone, cos people might find it odd to have sweet gravy for baked chicken. But! I shall make it if ever there is a dinner party! Or pineapples at home...

------------------

So, as you can imagine, I didn't manage to accomplish much studying today. But hey, at least I indulged in some of the things I love. And you just gotta have a life right? =)

Elsa, now also a food experimentor.