perfect timetable...

dayum. just found out today that there's a chem tute at 12. i swear when i saw the enrolment times, there was only 9am, 3 and 4. so i chose the 9am since the other ones i would get home later. i'm pretty sure they opened that class since heaps of people had stuff clashing. too late to change/it's over enrolled ): just realised,

 the perfect timetable for my subjects would have 3 hours of break the whole week! tues/wed/fri being "block" days, ie no breaks. then i have bible study and the talks at lunch, so if i had the perfect timetable, i would only have 1 hour of break a week! only two 9am starts. two 3pm finish, two 2pm finish, one 11-6pm day. i wonder if anyone was lucky enough to have that perfect timetable. i know of a few people who have close to perfect, managed to get all the early times for almost everything. next time, next time it shall be my turn...

they actually give out set timetables for everyone from 2nd year, so everyone has a "fairer" timetable, same thing just different groups.

i have 2 block days, but then two days with three hours of breaks, so they cancel each other out.

wow, i was late to my 10am lec today. luckily it started late. i guess having a 9am tute tmr morning helps me to try to keep a healthier sleeping time. (lol jks, i survive on less than 7 hours of sleep now). ending at 2 is so awkward. there's a bus at 2.10, so i obvs miss that, the next one is at 3.10, then the express buses start at 3.25, but by the time it gets to my place, the express bus which left later overtakes the earlier, slower bus. 

if i catch train back to penno, and if i get picked up, it's school zone time, so for my mum to come pick me up, it's kinda annoying. i catch a bus from home to city, so i avoid trains. catching bus from station to close to home, then getting picked up, that's annoying as well. other option is m2 bus, so i guess i get picked up from there. if i catch the bus to towers, then i have to catch m60 back then picked up again (m60 doesn't stop outside my house...). dear hillsbus, can you please add another bus service at 2.30pm? basically i have to get picked up somewhere if i end early to not waste heaps of time. this probably makes no sense to you guys. i just need a bus back home at 2.30.

thanks Better for visiting and for the shout (: so nice seeing you (:

my cousin is coming over next week to take wedding photos, since he met his gf while studying here and his gf was also from hk and came over here to study. he's finally getting married! he's been dating that girl for around 10 years, ever since i was in primary school. i can't believe that girl can put up with him all those years, he's one of the fussiest guys i ever know. has to eat fresh food (ie no leftovers), picky eater, so slow and fussy. eg, just recently, he whatsapped my mum to see if we have Pantene at our house for him to use. dude! you're getting free accommodation/food, what more do you want?

also, around a month ago, another one of my cousin's got engaged. he's a tad more complicated. he lives in canada so he wants his wedding there, but reception will be in hk where most of the family is. that'll happen next year, going to miss another relo wedding, before the other cousin ie the above cousin is so slow at preparations.

cousin 1 (it's actually quite inadequate to number my cousins since i still have not met all of them) is getting married in nov next year. on the last day of exams, so if i don't have exams, i still want to go! i love going to weddings (: then i'll spend nov to hopefully feb and spend chinese new years there, and hopefully go around america during that time. i seriously do not understand how people get bored overseas. spending time with so much family, family friends, friends, and by yourself. last time i went for a bit over a month, everyday was jam packed and exhaustingly fun. if i get three months to spend overseas, easyyyyyyyy. (inb4 i'm bored to death during the 3rd month).

my uncle bought back 10 boxes of packed durian from malaysia back to hk. people said it was delicious, but it was a day old, and according to my uncle, it was over ripe and no where as good as eating it falling from a tree. =/

i kind of hate it when i'm invited to a party which i would love to go, yet some other close friend has their birthday on that day....going to have more dilemmas growing up, which party/wedding/reception should i attend if they clash on the same day and both are close friends? #firstworldproblems. should just enjoy the simple uni life. lol jks, uni's going to be hectic.

i really miss cheap and delicious food from hk.

i think phys lab is a tad less stressful than chem. they allow you 20mins to be late, and partner work. despite me hating group work, i'm quite hopeless in labs, but i still like labs (:

oh, and sorry Renee. i had my lab book today and realised i had scrap paper after i left uni...not sure if scrap paper would have been much use....i have yet to go buy some exercise books.

DIY Fondue

i was so pumped once Bitter linked me to where free pies were in the city, but when i went, they were all given out ): i don't have anytime during midday, and i promised myself i won't skip lectures for food, since a one hour lecture is about $60, a pie is $7.50, and in the end i have to pay back my uni fees, so long term, going to the lecture is more beneficial than getting free good. now i'm craving pie, well actually black star's pie. hopefully go this week. i hate how my timetable changes, it's actually just this one course which changes times and classrooms/locations, have to check up every time we go somewhere, so annoying.

but my day was made by free hash browns at maccas! haven't had one in agessss. no lines and freshly made (: missed the bacon and egg mcmuffin last week...

the m2 finally finished last thursday, and the price are ridiculously. it used to be $4.95 one way car, not it's $6.02. i've done the maths: m2-two ways, lane cove tunnel-two ways, harbour bridge-pay one way, all up $22. that's almost a my multi two ticket and you haven't even counted the cost of petrol and parking. yep, bus it is. three lanes is so good, esp with bus lane. no more traffic jams, can sleep in more for 10mins/take less time to get to uni (:

fondueeee. probs cost $15+ these days.

melted some remaining chocolate from yday, cut up some banana bread from two days ago, bananas, strawberries and apples. tbh, you can dip anything in chocolate. i have kiwis at home as well, but they're more annoying to cut up. so delicious after dance (: last time i hade home made fondue, we used those melting/baking chocolates, but either way, you have to eat quickly since there's no candle heating the chocolate to prevent it from setting.

i also want liquid nitrogen ice cream. i've had it once before, but i want it to be made by heston, lol. he put around 10 vanilla pods for one serving of ice cream! that's well over $20+. obviously he couldn't lose today, he has 5 michelin stars, but seriously, i wouldn't mind eating christina's/daniel's dishes. actually i've always wondered, what happens to the rest of the food on masterchef? eg, daniel serves up one perfectly cooked egg, but he made around 4 other perfectly cooked eggs. wonder if people who wash dishes also get to lick plates/try the remaining elements for a dish which weren't used. 

Mirror Glaze

i need an eating buddy. my breaks don't match friends' who like to go food adventuring. i spent a good portion of last night looking at good/cheap/well known food. should i go to something which has bad servicing, not good quality food just to try it out?

there's actually heaps of places in the city where you can get a meal for less than $10, excluding maccas, subway etc. would it be weird to go eat by myself...? then again, i should just not eat since i would like to save that five bucks towards something higher class.... wow, all these thoughts contradict each other.

when i go to england, heston blumenthal's The Fat Duck is definitely on my to-go list! every time he comes on Masterchef, it is always something spectacular and filled with liquid nitrogen. i've probs blogged about this, but i want to go to Noma, Denmark, which was top restaurant in the world for a few years. about $300pp. heaps of top restaurants you need to book/reserve like a year in advance, so i shall save some money in my retirement plan for those restaurants, when i have time (lol, a year), to wait for a table and a meal.

the zumbo choc mud cake we made at Dandelion's house a few weeks ago was actually supurb in itself. the water bath and that packet mix was so good! the cake was moist and it rose evernly and turned out super flat. if you haven't realised, most of the cakes you bake at home are domed.

i decided to use the mirror glaze (the icing) which we didn't use last time on the cake. it would have looked nice since that cake had a smooth, no holes surface, but then it would've been super sweet. made a cupcake recipe and just put it into a loaf pan today. i don't have any deep roasting pans to create a water bath, but i used wet towels...didn't turn out that flat, so had to cut a bit of the top off...it was a very small cake since 12 cupcakes does not equal one normals cake...

sooo shiny! if this cake had a smoother base, it wouldn't refract light in different directions and it would be such a nice reflection.

"thumbs up"

that icing dripping

i never cream my butter and sugar properly. today (after ten years), i finally read the instructions on my hand mixer. (just about a month ago, i realised there was an eject button for the whisks things..), but today i read something like this "Use for 10 minutes, and if it heats up, rest for 10 minutes before using". wow, the manual actually said that. stupid weak hand mixer. last time i couldn't even make macarons properly because the machine kept on overheating to the point i had to stop, and by that time, the batter changed a bit. so i don't bother to beat my butter till perfection, as it "pulls" on the mixer and really over heats the machine as it takes a long time to do it properly. so many factors just affecting a super duper simple cake. watching those mixmasters on masterchef...if only i had the money/space...i found an old sifter and measuring spoons though! so sifting stuff took literally 10 seconds compared to over 10mins. (:

now another thing to add onto my wish list: a milk frother. imagine all the lattes you can have in every single flavour you want. nespresso ones look good, but weren't fast ): then i had another "epiphany" that if i am rich enough/have room to buy a coffee machine with a frother, then the previous plug in frother would be useless/waste of money. i would also love a kitchen aid (then again, i don't cook a lot since it has many non-baking functions as well) or a mix master. my hand mixer heats up quite quickly. envy those masterchef people who just chucks stuff in and can walk away whilst doing something else. again, i have no room to put a mixmaster and don't bake as often as i would like...but these are stuff i shall "invest" in after i invest in a house. lol, the irony, i don't even have a job.

made banana bread today, breakfast for the rest of this week. next time i need more bi-carb soda. store bought banana bread is always different to homemade.

my uncle went to penang, malaysia for the durian festival, never knew something like that existed. apparently when i was young, whenever went to hk, i would eat heaps of durian, i still remember it/have photos of it. now i can't even stand it. so much for it being an aquired taste type of food...but he said the malaysian durian (unlike thailand) have this frangipani smell, and have aloe vero like type of liquid oozing from the stem. so it doesn't smell like durian, and taste different (Happy Apple, have you had them before from Malaysia...)

so i do have work to do, but ceebs. new tactic for this sem: don't aimlessly write notes and try visn tute questions. they give out answers and for visn, learning from the answers is so much easier than trying it. that can't be said for chem or phys though...damn those phys quizzes...I understand what Dandelion said earlier this year about checking over 5 websites just to see if you are up to date with everything.

every time i have twinings chai tea, i decrease how much water i put in it, but the flavour is still not intense ): t2 chai is good (: i still have to say qvb tea room has the best chai tea.

would love to have gone out today, but i legit have no money. i don't get any allowance, but i know consciously when i have used too much. when the great gatsby premiered in syd and some of the cast were interviewed on the project they talked about coffee and i forgot the places. a quick google search told me tobey macguire's fav coffee places in sydney are reubin hills and single origin roasters in surry hills. will defs go there when i have money.

Watermelon Cake

today's been another good day. actually this week is good since almost everyday i have had 2 hours of lectures. for one of my vision courses, we're doing "ice breakers, and communication" type of non-uni stuff, so that's a bludge, yet they have hw, but i didn't do half of it...so that's about 3% gone. fingers crossed i'll make it up in finals.

these days, i get sick of uni after 2 hours. how will i survive next week. i shall sneak into earlier tutorials and hopefully end earlier.

i am so excited for my birthday! not going to be hosting anything, but the amount of free food available! hope boost allows multiple ones at different stores...

thanks bitter for visiting! and thank you for the cake! this watermelon cake from black star pastry was on my to-go list. i shall go there and hopefully have one of their famous pies there.

this cake didn't really survive when i got home. some layers were tumbled, and since watermelon naturally has a lot of water/moisture, a lot of it soaked through the other layers. however, the flavours were there and it was delicious! probably a tad sweet, but it was a nice sweetness (: and there were quite a lot of strawberries/grapes on top, more than it seems.

i have five cafes in surry hills i want to go to. also, 2 places with cheap eats. problem? no money ): 

Guzman Y Gomez-Free Burrito Day

today has been a really good day (: 

yayayay food (: first time going to guzman y gomez, didn't know it existed before. this new place in the unsw university terraces is the best so far in free food. let me quickly recount: moochi opening: paid for froyo, waited 1+hours, max brenner: free hot chocs and chocolate.

today was so good! free burritos from 11-8pm. they told us they churn out 500 in 2 hours. wow, they're kitchen was hectic. at least 20 people around this bench, then other people cooking meat. it wasn't very big in their either, but i love their efficiency! it was so fast considering how long the line was. waited for about 25min the first time, skipped the line the 2nd time, and 20min the 3rd time. each time my burrito felt hotter (in heat). line was over 25m long imo.

whilst you waited, they had free corn chips with guacolmole (ahh, so good, got at least 10 big corn chips) and live music with legit mexican people singing mexican/spanish songs. they dressed up with those massive hats and we're pretty cute. they also have free condiements when you get your burrito, but i skipped them since it was jalepenos and various levels of spicy salsa.

they're actually really heavy, despite it appearing quite small. they were wrapped very nicely and eating-friendly, nothing messy which was a surprise.

burrito 1: chicken

burrito haul! beef, barramundi and pork (spicy)

utilising my kitchen scales (: it's about 500g for a burrito. i had a bit of the pork one for dinner since i'm at home and have access to cold drinks at a cheaper-than-uni price. hey, i can stand that spicyness! slowly improving guys! but out of chicken/pork, the chicken one was better. 

how much are they normally? $10.90, but these ones had rice, so and extra $2, so $12.90 per burrito times 4=$51.60. WIN! that's about 3 hours worth of work. i only lined up for about an hour today, so defs worth it (: (i had two breaks today as well, and nothing due, except for that stupid useless hw...but yes, time to spare for free food).

i have tickets to A League of Their Own for tomorrow at moore park. it's a new comedy/game/reality show and they're doing their recordings tmr. anyone wanna come? i actually ceebs going myself. it's stupid how x-factor had their auditions during some of my exams.

end at 6pm on thursdays now. the amount of people crashing our chem/visn lectures is kinda weird. like we end late sometimes, and the lecture for chem atm are pretty basic, not sure what you guys are doing coming to 5pm lectures...