making 雲吞 (wonton) and a smoothie (ft Woody the Cowboy)

Today I made wanton dumplings.
I would've taken photos while I was actually making the individual dumplings
but my hands were very floury from the wrapping sheets haha.

before being cooked

cooking :)

the final product :) with coriander!! 

(I grew up obsessed with coriander)

Smoothie ingredients:

1 cup of ice

1 cup of strawberries

1 apple

1 avocado

2 kiwi fruits

1 banana

1 carrot

 (after oxidising lol, the colour wasn't as vibrant)

A word of advice.

Advice is seldom welcome, and those who want it most, like it least.
When asking for advice, keep an open mind.
A lot of the time, we seek advice from others not to actually hear it,
but to somehow find a way to confirm what we already know.

Most of the time, people will oblige and assist in confirmation.
But not always.

When someone gives you advice you don't like, accept it graciously.
Whether you choose to use it or not is completely up to you.

But remember. You asked for it.
Don't reprimand those that give advice just because you hear something you don't like or expect.


~Kim.

a first; baking for the spring fair

My younger sister's school is having their Spring Fair this weekend, and I decided to bake something for the cake/sweets stand to sell. I mostly did it because my mother is hopeless at baking.

Because I actually have other plans on this weekend, I decided to bake in advance, so obviously I couldn't bake a cake (cakes just won't keep well honestly). I decided to go with the old fashioned chocolate chip cookie.

I don't think I've actually ever baked choc chip cookies before.
Not sure why though, since they're super easy.

(recipe after the photos)

my cute geese measuring cups & ingredients (the butter was...somewhere else)

sifting the flour

goose and melted butter 

 goose and sugar

brown sugar + melted butter

and then in goes the egg and vanilla essence

add the flour...

and the chocolate chips...and mix it up!

Ingredients
2 cups (250g) self-raising flour 
170g butter, melted 
1 cup (185g) sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla essence 
1 egg 
1 egg yolk 
1 cup chocolate chips 


1. Preheat oven to 150-170°C, line trays with baking paper
2. Sift flour into a bowl, then set aside
3. In another bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar until well-blended. Mixing by hand, or by hand mixer is fine.
4. Mix in eggs and and vanilla essence until light and creamy.
5. Sift in flour and mix with a wooden spoon.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Using a tablespoon, make scoops of dough on the prepared trays (allow room for spreading)
8. Bake in oven at 150°C for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly toasted. If you want hard, less chewy cookies, leave them in the oven for around 20 minutes.
9. Leave them to cool slightly on the baking tray before eating or transferring to a wire rack to cool completely for storage.


Word of advice.
Always drink a glass of milk with your cookie.

And make sure you maintain your levels of vitamin D by eating fish or taking supplements
(sunshine is not enough honestly)
because there's no use in drinking milk for "strong bones and teeth" when your Vit. D levels are down. Vitamin D is crucial for calcium absorption.

a last; never wearing these boots to the airport again?

I have nothing to say today.


I went to the airport, and every single time I go to the airport, I wear the same damn boots that require taking off before entering the secure area of the terminal. There's some weird metal component in my boots that sets off the metal detector every time. And yet I don't learn from previous trips and continue to make the mistake of wearing the same boots.

I wonder why.

Perhaps they are comfortable.

Perhaps I'm insane.

Many say that insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.






A piece of advice.

If you find yourself stuck in a cycle of the same mistakes,
you're probably not insane.
There's a certain comfort in familiarity
If the mistakes you are making aren't self-destructive,
you'll probably find that you have less incentive to deviate from your ways,
because there's no way your mistakes are gonna kill you.

And even if your mistakes are self-destructive,
there's still something that stops you from changing.
Why is that so?

Because you've taken some control over your ultimate fate.
Because in the back of your mind, it keeps your cause of death from being a total surprise.


If you ever find yourself thinking like this. Talk to someone.
If you feel like you're at an all time low, it's the turning point.
And it can only get better, right?

Right.

So talk about it, keep yourself in check.
You're not insane.

woah shit, my advice is longer than my actual original post.

a first; breaking chatime & cars stuck on a wall

Had some errands to run in the city today so I brought along my camera.
Since I've started this blog, I might as well take opportunities to take random photos.

자장면 at Raah Cafe - $7.00

Chatime

Then I accidentally broke my Chatime cup ;_____;

I'm so glad that today I decided to try something new 

and have egg pudding instead of tapioca pearls 

(because imagine trying to stop the pearls from flying everywhere)

Brown rice milk tea with egg pudding - $4.70

Hanging up my bag that got wet after my cup broke

Then I just sat in Elder Park waiting for my bag to dry haha.

 note the random person lying in the background 

Then a bug of some sort flew onto my boot

obsession with steps?

And this is something I've never seen in person but have heard about many times. 

Matej Andraž Vogrinčič, a Slovenian artist created this project and stuck around 

15,000 toy cars on a wall in Rosina Street Carpark... 

It's honestly one of the most interesting things I've seen in Adelaide.

And that's all folks.

A piece of advice.

When you're stuck in traffic and you have nothing else to do,
Pick up your phone and send someone you love a text message
telling them that you love them.
Life is short, traffic jams are shorter,
and the time it takes you to send that message, even shorter still.

~Kim

a first; winning a cover contest

Recently, CJ E&M Music hosted a cover contest after the last episode airing of tvn drama 응답하라1997 (Reply 1997)

The drama has become one of my favourites, definitely in my top 3 Korean dramas of all time. So naturally when the cover contest was announced I just had to join. The cover had to be of the song "All For You" on the OST by Seo In Guk and Jung Eun Ji (who are 2 of the leading characters in the drama as well).

This was my original video for the cover contest.

Surprisingly I placed 4th in the solo category (since there was also a prize for actual duets)

The prize listed for me was the OST album, so it was a bit of a surprise when the package came (I was actually sleeping when the FedEx people came and rang my doorbell...) and it was a bit larger than I anticipated (thanks to bubble wrap haha).

comparison to a standard dvd sized album cover

I've also made a video to accompany the opening of the package (CJ E&M Music requested a video, so I went all out actually haha) and you can watch that here.

Photos of what I won!

Reply 1997 t-shirt & Original Soundtrack album

 Birthday coupons, just like the ones Shiwon gave to Yoonje for his birthday in Episode 1

 And some photos of some of my favourite scenes in the drama 

and my favourite scene of all

Yoonje:     Why do you like Shiwon? 

Joonhee:   I’m not into Shiwon. 

                  I don’t like her. 

                  There’s someone else I like. 

Yoonje:     Who? 

Joonhee:   You

All in all, I'm really happy and thankful that I was able to place in the top 5 and receive these items. And to everyone that supported me and watched my cover, liked my cover, I owe you guys.

And, a piece of advice for anyone reading. 

(which will basically be how I sign off these blog posts from now on)

If there's someone you like, tell them.

Try not to think too far ahead, 

Don't wonder if they'll receive and reciprocate the feelings or not.

The most important thing of all is the fact that you like them,

That there is a person that makes you feel this way.

It's a feeling that is incredibly human, and a feeling that should be cherished.

~Kim

"당신이 좋은 이유? 그저 그 사람이라서. 바로 너라서. 

이거 말고 다른 이유가 또 있을까? 차라리 이유를 알 수 있었으면 좋겠다. 

그럼 널 좋아하지 않을 방법도 찾을 수 있을 것 같은데. 

정 피할 수 없다면 원하는 건 딱 한 가지 뿐이다. 

오래 두어도 진정 변하지 않는 사람으로 남길 바랄 뿐이다. 

가슴 시린 우리의 사랑을 위하여."

"The reason I like you? Because it’s that person. Because it’s you. 

Would there be another reason for liking you? I would rather learn a different reason why. 

Maybe, that way, I can find a way to stop liking you.

If I can’t get away from you, I want only one thing, that we will stay the same way as before. 

Here’s to our love, full of heartaches."

a first; scrapbooking

Project: paper bag album mini scrapbook (6x6 inches)
Purpose: sentimental gift for a 21st birthday
Total time spent: approx 12 hours spread across a week, not incl. time spent finding material
Cost: Far too much

Some photos of the finished product
(taken on my sister's bed...my room is not that girly....)

front cover - foiled printed paper, black button and burnt rust ribbon

inside the front cover

several pages in - garden and indoor window scene + handsewn curtains

last page - mp3 player design with iPod style earphones tucked into one of the paper bag pockets.

a self composed song for the birthday girl/boy is somewhat of a trademark gift of mine, since it was yet to be her official birthday, 

I wrote a note saying I'd send her the song on her actual birthday :)

This was my first time scrapbooking. I'm not very artistic with my hands. I understand aesthetics to a certain extent, but translating certain ideas and designs in my head onto paper is often really hard, but considering that I was doing a joint gift for the birthday girl (a Marc Jacobs watch), I opted to add a personal touch to a side-gift.

Scrapbooking is honestly exhausting. And very expensive. I think if you're the type to stick to scrapbooking like a long term commitment, the cost of material does spread itself out and if you can be pedantic and save all scraps of material used, you can definitely save a lot of money (if you choose to continue with scrapbooking).

I've saved EVERYTHING that I can and put it in a very large shoebox. I'm not sure if or when I will do any more scrapbooking, I honestly don't find it that enjoyable (the mess was terrible, I'm terrible with paper) 

Some extra shots taken by my phone

The first mess I made 

Hand sewing the tiny curtains :)

Saying goodbye to my scrapbooking box

I guess that's all for now.

A piece of advice for anyone who is reading:

Take some time each night before going to bed and read a few pages of a book.
It puts less strain on your eyes because there's no light emitting from the book,
whereas your smartphone does. And most people (including myself) are guilty
of staying on their phones right up until they drop off to sleep.

Read something other that Facebook statuses and twitter ;)

~Kim