Hao Jiu Bu Jian

 So... Wow! It's been a really long time! 

Looking back at my old posts... Wow, I was so unhappy. I was struggling with so many things. But in spite of that, I managed to create so much beauty. So much prose, so many lovely photographs, carefully-written recipes borne of hours spent experimenting in the kitchen. I'm...really proud of myself. I created so many amazing things. I deserved to be loved, even in those days when I thought otherwise. And now I can see, very clearly, that my isolation wasn't my fault at all.

I'm still a creator. My soul is still desperate to speak, and so I continue to draw, and write, and craft things with my hands. I bit the bullet and created an AO3 account, and now have multiple published works - with comments! Bookmarks! People like my stories! I somehow ended up in charge of a club at work (a club! Me!), and publish the monthly newsletter - which also gets likes! From upper management, even! I still bake and cook, and bring things in to share at the office, and people like them. My boss likes them! She goes early to get them from the office fridge because otherwise they'll be wiped by lunchtime. I made a hand-painted gift for the annual Christmas exchange, wielding brushes and paints for the first time in years, and the recipient genuinely loved it!

These days, I actually have validation. I'm loved and appreciated for what I do. It's... Well, it's really all I ever wanted, and now it's just so easy.

To my past self... You struggled so hard so that I could get here. You pushed through pain and loneliness and betrayal, over and over. Thank you, truly. I will always love you very much.

It's Been a Long While

So the last post was, um, a downer.

I didn't want to just leave things there, but... I'm fine. It's been more than a year later, I've broken free from many of the things that used to make me miserable, I've found things that make me happy... I'm fine. I'm still here.

I might not be back for a while, but I'm still going to be here.

Birthday

Today hasn't been a good day at all so far.

Not at all.

Sometimes, I wish I had someone I could talk to, who would understand all of it and who would offer support no matter what. But it doesn't seem like I have anyone like that.

Everything is so miserable right now. I don't even want to look at birthday wishes anymore. They make me sick.

Speaking of Immigration...

I just got around to watching the official Papers, Please short film.

I'm just blown away. It so perfectly encapsulates the feel of the film. The quality of the props. The quality of the acting – Igor Savochkin is utterly masterful in the main role. The sheer attention to detail. How it captures the gameplay aspects in an unforced manner. How it communicates the bleakness, the weariness, the hope – and the utter despair.

I can perfectly empathise with the unfortunate souls trying to enter Arstotzka – matters pertaining to immigration and citizenship fill me with dread – but also with the checkpoint inspector. How often have I wanted to do the right thing, only to be held back by the rules? How often have I thought, this time I'll let it pass, only for the other person to shamelessly take advantage? In real life, we can never know when mercy or intolerance is the better choice. The film captures that uncertainty, even better than the game did.

The only missing aspects are the expenses management – reduced to a lone photograph – and the fact that allowing someone through without the proper paperwork immediately ends in a citation. The latter is unrealistic, of course, but without these gameplay aspects, a lot of the tension is lost. My other issue is the ending. It's...unemotional? It's startling, but it seemed to lack impact, somehow. It doesn't stay with me, the way the beginning and middle of the film did. I think an ambiguous ending would have worked better to preserve that bleak, desperate feeling.

Nevertheless, for a ten-minute film, it is genuinely excellent. I love the fact that more and more independent works, including the original Papers, Please, are being produced with such excellent quality. These works only prove that creativity is far from dead.

Cloudy February

Another month has drifted by. There have been some upsets here and there, but I like to think that I'm getting better at handling them. I'm still working hard to improve myself. It's a hard battle, and I'm my own enemy. But I am seeing progress, and I won't stop now.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to see diminishing returns with my touch-typing. I think there's only so good I can get while working with a laptop keyboard. I really would like to own a Model M keyboard. There's probably one in the storeroom somewhere, but I doubt it works, and the connector probably wouldn't fit my computer. One of the old computers in the lab had a Model M. It was rather dirty, as was normal for shared equipment that no-one was responsible for cleaning, but the keys were well-spaced, and made nice clicking sounds. I once spilled tomato soup on it by accident. The keyboard survived, but the Esc key was always a bit odd after that.

Recently, I managed to reach IKEA just in time to try out their breakfast dishes. The waffles were somewhat hard, dry, and underwhelming – probably because I got to them late – but the scrambled eggs and hashbrowns were genuinely good. It's definitely worth the extremely low price. I'm not a huge salmon fan, but their salmon croissant is pretty good too. 

I've reached the age where ghost stories don't scare me very much, but stories of home invaders and creepers are frightening. Is it a sign of being an adult, to fear hypothetical creatures less than other people? People are terrifying, and there are some exceptionally terrifying people in this world.

This entry was rather stream-of-consciousness, wasn't it? I do have some more things going on, and a frozen cheesecake recipe to post, but I think I'll stop here for now.

Recipe: Breaded Chinese Rolls

Another recipe from my childhood! These are the slightly more filling counterpart to the fish cutlets.

Breaded Chinese Rolls
Makes 20–25 rolls

Ingredients
2–3 (400–600 g) large potatoes
400 g can tuna or mackerel in water
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1–2 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp ground black pepper
1–3 tsp red chilli powder, to taste
1–2 tbsp canola oil
2 green chillies, chopped
8–10 cloves garlic, finely minced
1" ginger, finely minced
2 Bombay (red) onions, finely chopped
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tomato ketchup or paste (optional)
50× 7.5" package frozen spring roll wrappers, thawed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
200 g panko breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes
4–8 tbsp (30–60 ml) soybean, peanut, or canola oil

Pierce potatoes all over with a fork, and boil them in their skins until fork-tender, about 30 min. Allow to cool slightly. Peel, mash, and set aside.

Drain tuna, and flake with a fork. Season with vinegar, salt, pepper, and chilli powder. Mix in chilli, garlic, and ginger.

Heat pan over medium heat, and add 1 tbsp canola oil. Once oil is shimmering, add tuna mixture. Fry, stirring often, until most of the water has dried up, and the tuna is fluffy (30–60 min). Add onions, and stir-fry until soft. Season with soya sauce, and tomato ketchup or paste.

Mix in mashed potatoes in batches. Continue frying the mixture until dense and very difficult to stir. Allow to cool.

Lay out two spring roll wrappers, one on top of the other, onto a flat plate or cutting board. Place 1–2 tbsp tuna filling close to one end of the stacked wrappers, centred. Shape the filling into a small log, about 2" long. Fold the ends of the wrappers together over the filling, followed by the two sides. Roll up tightly, and press down the seam. Repeat for the remaining filling and wrappers.

Dip the rolls in beaten egg, followed by the breadcrumbs. If desired, dip the breaded rolls in a second layer of egg, and bread a second time. Breaded rolls can be fried immediately, or stored in the freezer. For frozen rolls, thaw 30 min in the refrigerator before frying.

Deep-frying: Deep-fry rolls in preheated oil for 2–3 min each.

Oven-frying: Line a large dark pan with aluminium foil. Pour soybean, peanut, or canola oil inside; swirl to coat the bottom and sides. Place pan in the top rack of the oven, and preheat to either 200°C (canola oil), or 220 °C (soybean or peanut oil). Once oil has heated up, remove pan from the oven. Carefully place rolls into the pan, roll once in the heated oil, and space out evenly. Bake 15 minutes. Retrieve pan, overturn each roll, and bake another 12–15 min until golden-brown.

2017 Retrospective

It's been...an year.

I don't think I regret any of it, not really. I've worked to improve myself. I finally learned how to touch-type (still working on my speed, and the numbers row still gives me pause, but I can now type without looking). I joined Khan Academy, and started learning all the mathematics and economics I always wanted to know, but could never quite comprehend. I started writing again. I touched a horseshoe crab.

There have been hard lessons as well. Humility is not something I used to have in very great quantities. Paradoxically, neither was confidence. I like to think that I've been working on both, gradually. I know I'm a better person than I use to be. I also know that there's room for improvement. I do want to be a good person. I've never intentionally tried to be cruel, but...people are judged by their actions, not their thoughts. The current me looks back, and knows that I have acted cruelly.

There is no true purpose to life, I don't think. Life exists because it can replicate. Sentience exists because it can manifest within a replicable body. But a sentient mind is capable of giving itself a purpose; anecdotal evidence suggests that a purpose drives it to function better. I think, for my purpose, I would like to improve myself, and perhaps even bring some measure of happiness to others, if I can. A resolution for the New Year.

Goodbye, 2017.

Good Things Jar

I can't recall where I first heard the idea for a Good Things Jar - it may have been Reddit - but the concept is a simple one. Every time something good happens to you, write it down on a strip of paper and keep it in a jar. On bad days, or simply when you feel low, take out all the paper strips and read them.

My Good Things Jar is a Word document, ordered by date. It's mostly little events like successfully preparing a new dish, or meeting up with friends, or having an exceptionally productive day, or reading a thought-provoking essay, or simply viewing a nice sunset. All the little things that make me happy. And when I read about them again, weeks later, it's like reliving those happy moments again. It reminds me of how many good things happen every day.

I think I need that reminder, sometimes. That I am living a good life. That nice things are happening to me, all the time. That I have the right to be happy with what I have.

Brown Glue

So, I learned something new today!

I have an old, old scientific calculator, bought for school use almost 17 years ago. It has survived multiple examinations, being carried across international borders, and usage of varying frequency.

Yesterday, it suddenly developed an error. It physically would not let me enter 2-digit numbers. I could type, for example, '5', or even '5 × 5', but not '55'. Opening up the case, I noticed that the circuit components had been carelessly attached, with glue smeared all over the circuit, which was not entirely unexpected of a relatively cheap school calculator. More importantly, the single button cell was rusted. That's the problem, I thought. I cleaned up the contacts, and inserted the new battery.

No dice. Exactly the same problem as before.

I reopened the calculator and had another look inside – the keypad design was fascinating – but nothing stood out, other than the smears of brown glue. Wondering if there was something to it after all, I looked up 'brown glue on circuit board'. When Google auto-completed the phrase for me, I knew I was on to something.

It appears that the glue was chloroprene rubber adhesive. It starts off yellow, but slowly turns brown over time. It also becomes conductive. And this dried, conductive material had been carelessly dribbled all over my calculator's circuit board.

I very carefully chipped the dried glue off the conductive tracks using a small screwdriver, dabbed away the dust with a damp cotton swab, allowed the circuit board to air-dry, and replaced the casing. The calculator effortlessly informed me that 55 × 11 = 605.

It's nice that my old friend will continue to function at least a little longer, but I'm also pleased to have found something new to look out for when repairing electronic devices. There's something very fulfilling about getting a broken device to work again.

Happy Birthday, Singapore

You know a show is good when it literally moves you to tears.

...

Happy birthday.

Shark (Sketch)

I feel that this blog has insufficient sharks.

Chilli Flower

Found this in my drafts - a photograph of a flower on my chilli plant, from early February. It has since borne fruit and many more flowers, but this first one remains special to me. 

Apropos of nothing, I recently visited the River Safari, and had the opportunity to touch a live horseshoe crab. There was also a starfish that was more popular with the children, but personally, starfish pale in comparison to the living fossil that has been virtually unchanged for 450 million years. Also, horseshoe crabs have blue blood (royalty??) which is used in some biological assays. Meeting a real one was a very nice moment.

Pineapple Tarts

It's already the Ides of March! Where is the year going.

I love pineapple tarts (the "golden pillow" variety), but they are both seasonal and really quite expensive. Making my own sounded like a great idea!

Pineapple Tarts (makes 30-45)
Adapted from this recipe. 

Filling
565 g (340 g drained) can of pineapple chunks
100 g granulated sugar, plus extra
1 1/2 – 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 – 1 1/2 tsp tapioca starch

Tart pastry
300 g all-purpose flour
75 g cake flour
50 g icing sugar
2 tbsp corn or tapioca starch
1/4 tsp table salt
220 g Golden Churn unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 egg yolks, divided
1 tsp water

To prepare the filling, drain pineapple. Place in a blender and pulse briefly until crushed. In a non-reactive saucepan, combine pineapple and sugar. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in lemon juice, and extra sugar to taste. Add tapioca starch to thicken to desired consistency. Cool to room temperature before use.

To prepare pastry, whisk flours, icing sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside. Cream butter using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Fold in vanilla essence using a spatula. Add two egg yolks and beat until combined.

Using a whisk, slowly beat in half of the flour mixture. Add remaining flour and beat with a wooden spoon until just combined. Scrape pastry dough together and knead 1–2 times to form a ball.

Divide dough into 30–35 balls (about 20 g each). To make each tart, press down on each dough ball to form an indentation. Place 1/2 – 1 tsp pineapple filling into the indentation and pinch shut. Roll lightly between the palms to form a pillow shape. If desired, decorate with a fork.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Whisk remaining egg yolk with water. Place pineapple tarts on a parchment-lined baking tray and brush with egg yolk glaze. Bake 15–20 minutes until golden-brown.

Notes

Theoretically, cornstarch can be used to thicken the filling, but I don't like to use it in fruit fillings because it tends to dull the flavour. Besides tapioca starch, potato starch also works well.

Golden Churn butter is magic and doesn't turn into oil at Singapore room temperatures. I strongly recommend this brand for this particular recipe.

The cake flour helps with the "shortness" of the dough, it can be replaced with plain flour mixed with 1–2 tbsp rice flour. Gluten-free flour would probably work, too.

I haven't tried this yet, but I think a touch of almond essence would help with the flavour. Perhaps 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, and 1/2 tsp almond essence. Other things I'd like to try: different glazes (the egg yolk glaze is very eggy), using silken tofu instead of egg yolks in the pastry, adding cheese powder to the pastry.

Lemon Curd (Egg-Free)

I could have sworn that I had posted this long ago... Anyway, here is some egg-free lemon curd that, with further substitution, can be made vegan.

Lemon Curd (Egg Free)
Loosely adapted from this orange curd recipe.

Ingredients

180 - 250 ml juice from 2 lemons
Zest from 1 lemon
30 ml aquafaba
50 g silken tofu
150 g granulated sugar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp gelatin
4 tbsp unsalted butter
Pinch salt

Over medium-high heat, simmer lemon juice until reduced to about 60 ml. Stir in zest; set aside.

Blend aquafaba and tofu until smooth. Whisk in sugar until incorporated. Stir in cooled lemon juice and gelatin.

Return to medium heat. Whisk constantly until curd has thickened to a pudding-like consistency (about 10 minutes).

Strain curd, if desired. While still warm, stir in butter and salt. Transfer to a clean, airtight jar and keep refrigerated.

Notes

Add more or less gelatin to adjust the firmness of the curd. For the above recipe, 1/4 tsp gelatin makes a spreadable curd but not too sloppy curd, while 1/2 tsp is a little closer to jelly.

Adjust the amount of sugar to taste (I only use 100 g, because I like a more tangy curd).

KFC Chizza

So I tried KFC's newest offering. The Chizza is a cross between fried chicken and Hawaiian pizza. Or, if you prefer, chicken parmigiana with pineapple.

It's not terribly big; the box is about 15 by 15 cm.

Compared with other pictures I've seen, mine looks pretty attractive! It's at least vaguely heart-shaped.

And here is a cross-section. The Chizza is composed of a battered chicken fillet - original recipe, judging by the taste - topped with tomato sauce, chicken ham, pineapple chunks, a proprietary cheese sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Did I mention that it's basically chicken parmigiana?

In spite of its dubious appearance, the Chizza is actually pretty good. The chicken is standard KFC fare, juicy with a crisp crust. The tomato sauce is unexpectedly excellent, a good balance of tangy and sweet. The cheeses, ham, and pineapple come together nicely without overwhelming the taste of the chicken base. Since it doesn't contain much in the way of carbohydrates, it's not too heavy, and it's not terribly greasy either.

I do recommend using a fork and knife, because it is pretty messy and difficult to hold. Also, at S$5.10 à la carte, it is on the expensive side. Nevertheless, it's worth trying at least once. I might go get another one, when the hype dies down a bit. (When I was at KFC, practically everyone was ordering a Chizza. Or multiple Chizzas. The staff really had to rush around. It was crazy!)

MRT Announcements

Rest in peace, Mrs. Melson.

Chocolate-on-Chocolate Tart with Spiced Oranges

This genuinely fantastic recipe seems to have disappeared off the internet, so I'm reposting it here. The recipe was originally published in a 2012 or 2013 issue of the Coles Magazine. The text is the intellectual property of Coles Supermarkets Australia, I'm simply circulating the tapes.

Chocolate-on-Chocolate Tart with Spiced Oranges

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
120 g butter, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
Cocoa, for dusting
1-2 tbsp chilled water

Chocolate filling
300 g dark chocolate, chopped
300 ml cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Spiced oranges
6 oranges
1/4 caster sugar
1 star anise
4 Coles brand cloves
1 cinnamon stick

To make pastry, place the flour, caster sugar, cocoa and butter in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and chilled water and pulse to form a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and bring dough together to form a disc. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins.

Roll dough until 5 mm thick. Ease into a 24 cm fluted, loose-based, non-stick flan tin. Trim edges. Refrigerate for 20 mins.

Preheat oven to 180ºC or 160ºC fan. Line pastry with baking paper and fill with pastry weights, dried beans or rice. Blind-bake for 15 mins. Remove paper and weights and bake for another 10 mins, until firm.

Meanwhile, to make chocolate filling, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat cream in a small pan until just at simmering point. Pour over chocolate and set aside for 5 mins. Stir until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Add eggs and stir to combine.

Reduce oven temperature to 130ºC or 110ºC fan. Pour chocolate mixture into prepared tart shell and bake for 30 mins, until filling is set but still wobbly. Refrigerate until cold.

Meanwhile, to make spiced oranges, remove zest from 1 orange and set aside. Peel all six oranges, removing pith. Using a small knife, segment each orange over a bowl, to catch juice. Strain the juice into a small saucepan, setting aside orange segments in bowl. Add 1/4 cup of water to juice in saucepan, along with sugar, star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick. Simmer for 5 mins, until syrupy. Pour syrup over orange segments and top with zest.

Dust tart with cocoa and cut into wedges. Serve with spiced oranges and a drizzle of syrup.

************

And now... here is my modified version.

Ingredients

Pastry 

120 g plain flour
70 g cake flour
15 g (1/4 cup) cocoa, plus extra for dusting
70 g caster sugar
120 g salted butter, chopped and kept chilled
1 egg, lightly beaten or 3 tbsp aquafaba, chilled
1-2 tbsp water, chilled

Chocolate filling 
300 g good quality dark chocolate
1/4 tsp instant coffee (optional)
300 g whipping cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Spiced oranges 
3-6 whole oranges
35 g caster sugar
60 ml (4 tbsp) water
1-2 star anise fruits
4 cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick (or about 1/2 tbsp fragments)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the plain flour, cake flour, cocoa, and sugar. Chill in refrigerator for 5 min. Toss butter in flour mixture, then rub with fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add more flour if necessary. Mix in beaten egg. Add chilled water as necessary until the dough just comes together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a disc. Wrap on cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 min.

Lightly grease a 24 cm (9.5") fluted flan tin. Place dough disc between two sheets of piece of parchment paper or aluminium foil, and roll to 5 mm thickness. Remove the sheets and ease pastry dough into the tin. Press dough into the tin, smoothing out any air bubbles, and trim the edges with a sharp knife. Line with aluminium foil and refrigerate for at least 2 h.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Remove tin from refrigerator and fill with pastry weights or beans. Blind-bake for 15 min. Remove foil and weights; bake another 10 min until firm.

Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate filling. Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl or saucepan, and sprinkle with instant coffee if using. Over a double-boiler or in a microwave, gently heat cream until just simmering. Pour over chocolate and stir until smooth. Allow to cool for 5 min. Add 1 tbsp of chocolate mixture to beaten eggs and mix well. Stir tempered egg mixture into the chocolate until combined.

Reduce oven temperature to 150°C. Pour chocolate mixture into tart shell and smooth the top. Cover with foil and bake 25 min until filling is partially set. Remove foil and leave uncovered in the warm oven for 10 min. Remove tart from oven and cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

To prepare spiced oranges, reserve zest from 1 orange. Peel and segment all the oranges, reserving the juice. In a small saucepan, combine the juice, water, sugar, spices, and zest. Bring to a simmer; simmer 5 min until syrup has thickened. Strain syrup and drizzle over orange segments.

Dust chilled tart with cocoa. Cut into wedges and serve with spiced oranges.

Notes

The tart pastry can also be prepared using 190 g gluten-free flour for an extra-crumbly crust.

Recipe: Strawberry Melba Sauce

My first post of this year is about dessert. Of course.

Melba Sauce is one of those completely delicious things that seems to disappear off store shelves after you have become hopelessly addicted to it. Unfortunately, with fresh raspberries being as expensive as they are in this country (or simply unavailable), preparing the authentic version of this sauce is from scratch difficult.

Below is a workaround version I created that fairly approximates the taste of the bottled sauce. At any rate, it goes well with ice-cream, toast, and cake.

(The photograph below features two squares of zesty magic custard cake.)


Strawberry Melba Sauce

Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
250 g fresh strawberries, roughly diced
50 g dried currants
1/2 cup (125 ml) raspberry conserve
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) caster sugar
3-4 strips thinly-peeled lemon rind (no pith)
Pinch salt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Add just enough water to the currants to cover them, and soak for at least 10 minutes. In a small, non-reactive bowl, mix sugar and lemon rind. Stand for 10-15 minutes.

In a small saucepan, mix strawberries, raspberry conserve, and soaked currants (including all liquid). Place on the stove over low heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes until the fruit breaks down. Stir in the pinch salt and the lemon rind mixture until all the sugar has dissolved; remove from heat. Stand for 5 minutes.

Strain sauce into a heatproof bowl using a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth, pressing down with a wooden spoon to ensure that all the liquid passes through. Transfer the strained sauce to a clean saucepan and simmer further until thickened, if desired. Alternatively, microwave on low heat for 1 minute at a time, stirring in between.

Allow sauce to cool slightly, then stir in lemon juice. Transfer to a sterile, airtight jar. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks.

2016: A Killer Year

Look back upon the glory days of 2012, when I used to post more than a dozen times per year. This hasn't quite been a good year! People have died, the world has had some moments of insanity, my chilli plants refuse to produce fruit... It's been...some year.

On the other hand, some things have gotten better, at least for me. I've gotten a handle on my chronic procrastination – on that note, I strongly recommend watching Dr. Tim Pychyl's lecture on the subject, his research drills down into the psychology of procrastination, and so his advice has a sound scientific backing. I've commented on my weight loss before, but it's probably worth noting that I've managed to maintain a healthy weight for the past five months or so. After years of being iron deficient, my iron levels are back up, too, thanks to daily consumption of black sesame soup and dark chocolate. Quite dramatically, my hair stopped falling out as much. It's funny, what you get used to when you're chronically unhealthy.

McDonald's has brought back the Gula Melaka McFlurry for Chinese New Year. Someone out there is listening!

A friend got married in December, so I attended my first-ever Chinese wedding. You can believe I spend hours reading up on gift-giving and attire-related customs before going! They weren't terribly strict about it, but I think a wedding is the worst possible place for a social gaffe. I probably didn't have to check all the banknotes (it is traditional to gift money) to ensure that the serial numbers didn't contain 4 or 13... The wedding did introduce me to Cantonese cuisine. Crispy-skin chicken looks like an interesting challenge!

I just want to say, I once tried making soufflé when I was quite young, and it failed so miserably that I didn't try again for years. Then I watched the QI episode featuring Carrie Fisher, in which she declared that soufflé is really quite easy to make, and she did not see what the fuss was about. Inspired, I tried making soufflé again.... and it worked. Perfectly. 

I was devastated when I heard Ms. Fisher had passed away. There have been many notable deaths in 2016, but this one cut deep. She was a remarkable woman, and it's no wonder that so many admired and respected her. Rest in peace, Ms. Fisher.

This was a downer of a year, wasn't it. But tomorrow is another year.

Happy 51st Birthday to Singapore!

It's SG51! The parade was great, here are my disjointed impressions:

• I love military bands in general! The four-cornered interlocking move was somewhat terrifying to watch, I kept expecting someone to bump into something.
• Bani Hidir has a voice like dark chocolate. His brief rendition of Xiao Ren Wu De Xin Sheng was amazing, would love to hear a full-length version.
• I can't believe they left out the bit where Badang gets his powers from eating the ghost's vomit.
• The cannons used for the 21-gun salute looked very shiny this year. I can't remember if they've always looked that good?
• No mobile column. :'(
• The costumes of Badang's opponents were all fantastic. Love the shield-wielders' armour design.
• THEN THE FIRE NATION ATTACKED
• Oh man, the costumes for the Four Civilisations. So beautiful and intricate. I would love to cosplay as any of them (minus the eight-metre-tall skirts).
• The unicorn was pretty impressive. I wasn't expecting to be impressed, but I was.
• Hey, this looks like Tron.
• OMG DAFT PUNK
• OMG TAKE ON ME
• The Sky City segment was gorgeous, really great airborne prop, beautiful music, all just wonderful.
• Apropos of nothing, What a Wonderful World is a lovely song. 
• I suppose if they were going to teach us to sign any song with only minutes to practice, Count on Me Singapore was a good choice purely because of the repetitive lyrics. No, but seriously, that was a great idea, I had a lot of fun learning the signs.
• Singing Majulah Singapura at the end—without backing music initially, just the sound of everyone's voices all together—gave me genuine chills.

I think this may be the first National Day Parade I'd actually want to watch again. Really, really superb effort by everyone.

In any case, happy birthday to Singapore!