All Blacks Haka

What a Rugby World Cup final it was! When the All Blacks won, people were jumping around, high-fiving each other on streets, singing, dancing... ohh the horn honking cars! I've never heard so much honking in Auckland!

Here is the All Blacks Haka from the momentous day:

A whole new world

My favourite song from my favourite Disney movie:

Watched this with a big smile on my face! :D

RWC 2011

¤*¨¨*¤.¸¸ ...¸.¤\
\¸.ALL BLACKS! ,.,\
.\¸.¤*¨¨*¤ .¸¸.¸.¤*
..\
☻/
/▌
/ \ Rugby World Cup 2011!!!

Doghouse Diaries

Doghouse Diaries: Your daily LOL. :D

sleeeep.

Drinking peppermint tea right now hoping it'll jog my brain into a decent working mode? But no, I put sugar in it, it'll most probably lull me to sleep. I sure hope not.

write. edit. layout. edit. pdf. sleep.

can't take it in - imogen heap

Doesn't it take you to Narnia? :)

Lemon Curd; the cooking part

I told you earlier that I would be making some Lemon Curd, which I did, yesterday. I think that it's turned out good for a first time try, although if I were to make it again, I would add some more sugar (... or less lemon juice ... it's just trial-and-error!). Other than that, it is quite similar to the one we bought. Here's the recipe that I followed, and I've written it out if ya wanna copy+paste+print it!

Lemon Curd:

You will need:

1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons) + 1 tbsp of lemon zest (I added more 'cos I love lemon zest)/

3 eggs, lightly beaten (yup the white and the yolk)/

1 cup of sugar/

1/4 cup butter/

The preparation:

- Melt the butter over a double boiler.

- After the butter is melted, add all the sugar and mix properly with a whisk. Let the sugar granules dissolve.

- Add the eggs and mix it. 

- Add the lemon juice, followed by the lemon zest.

- Mix everything, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

- Remove from the heat, and pour it through a strainer to make sure you don't get bits of curdled egg in your lemon curd!

- Keep it aside and let it cool. It will thicken as it cools.

- Spread it on bread or scones, use it as a pie-filling, or if you're like me, take a spoon and start nibbling! ;)

Notes:

- With the zest, you don't want the white part. It's bitter.

- I didn't want to lose any of the lemon zest, so I didn't strain the curd. Puny bits of (scrambled) egg wasn't that much of a problem as there were only a couple, which could be easily taken out by a spoon.

- I was just telling mum that this would be a good gift for Secret Santa's!

Ahhh, this recipe by Gordon Ramsay looks especially scrumptious! So tantalising!

NZ is the place to be!

According to this, NZ is the place to be next year, what with the Rugby World Cup and shooting of The Hobbit! Kinda sorta cool! It's going to be a fun year!

Is anyone thinking of coming to Auckland next year?!

p.s.: We used to live really really close to the place where the World Cup is going to be held. Like... five minutes walking distance close. Like... we could hear the crowds roar close!

thxthxthx

thxthxthx

What are you thankful for? (Hahaha, I sound like a TV commercial!)

Most Used Words

Facebook says that these are my most used words. I love how it's got "Zeitgeist" in there (I think everyone's most used words say something about that particular person):

My most used words

Yes:Used 8 times

Karishma:Used 7 times

Amazing:Used 6 times

Birthday:Used 6 times

Time:Used 5 times

Weeks:Used 5 times

Fun:Used 5 times

Omg:Used 5 times

Gandhi:Used 5 times

Mmm:Used 5 times

Awesome:Used 5 times

Bus:Used 4 times

Zeitgeist:Used 4 times

Yay, handed in two of our assignments today (Film Analysis essay—we analysed She's the Man, and Life Drawing). Three more to go (Online Portfolio, Juno Storyboard, aaand Creative Design Thinking for Business Essay)! Can't wait for the holidays!

Maraschino Cherries

Gasp! Maraschino Cherries in rainbow colours! In jelly shots! With tutorial! :O

Yummeh Pop Tarts Pops recipe. For us NZers, who aren't lucky enough to get Pop Tarts here! (Or maybe I just haven't been looking).

Also check out this amazing Star Wars themed party. With lots of photos and recipes! Makes me want to throw a Harry Potter themed party... Can you believe that the Part 1 of the final movie of the series is releasing in 15 days?!

Links found via Epicute.

Navratri

Navratri is a Hindu festival, and the name literally means "nine nights" (nav is nine, and ratri is nights). It started last Friday, and will go on till Saturday (which is also my birthday!). Traditionally, people dance in a large circle around the statue/photo of the Goddess (I wasn't sure which Goddess it was, but Wikipedia says that this depends on different traditions). This dance is called Garba (pronounced gur-ba).

I just got back from Garba half an hour ago.. it's such an exciting experience, dancing and twirling to the beat of rhythmic music. I forgot everything and just danced! There's specific steps that you need to follow, and my friend Karishma (who also writes a blog here) taught me how to do them. Thanks, Kri! :) We were meant to take photos today, but we just danced the whole time... I'm going tomorrow as well, and I really hope I can take some photos that I can share here with you!

I don't think it's an opportunity to miss, so if you have any Indian friends, do grab them and go to Garba!!

Oooh, and my cookies are progressing very well, thank you. I iced some today. I've kept PINK as the theme of my birthday party, as it's one of my favourite colours, and it's also Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

:O

Realisation just struck me hard.

I will be 21 in exactly two months.

EEK! ;)

Zumba!

Today, I went to my very first Zumba class! It was so energising... and loud. The teachers were real nice and enthusiastic, so that definitely improved my bleh mood.

I want to go again!

And yay, thanks, Glynis, for following us!!

Candwich

This would make lunches oh-so-easy. via Time

Pom Poms

I need to stop making these, and get on with my theory journal. :O

Possibly the most funniest joke I have ever heard

And possibly my longest blog post title to date ... Anyway, here's the joke:

An English lady, while visiting Switzerland, was looking for a room for a more extended stay, and she asked the schoolmaster if he could recommend any to her. He took her to see several rooms, and when everything was settled, the lady returned to her home to make the final preparations to move.

When she arrived home, the thought suddenly occurred to her that she had not seen a "W.C." around the place. So she immediately wrote a note to the schoolmaster asking him if there were a "W.C." near the room.

The schoolmaster was a very poor student of English, so he asked the parish priest if he could help in the matter. Together they tried to discover the meaning of the letters "W.C.," and the only solution they could come up with for the letters was for a Wayside Chapel. The schoolmaster then wrote the following note to the English lady:

Dear Madam: 

I take great pleasure in informing you that the W.C. is situated nine miles from the room that you will occupy, in the center of a beautiful grove of pine trees surrounded by lovely grounds. It is capable of holding about 229 people and it is only open on Sunday and Thursday.

As there are a great number of people who are expected during the summer months, I would suggest that you come early; although, as a rule, there is plenty of standing room. You will no doubt be glad to hear that a good number of people bring their lunch and make a day of it. While others who can afford to go by car arrive just in time.

I would especially recommend that your ladyship go on Thursday when there is a musical accompaniment. It may interest you to know that my daughter was married in the W.C. and it was there that she met her husband.

I can remember the rush there was for seats. There were ten people to a seat ordinarily occupied by one. It was wonderful to see the expression on their faces. The newest attraction is a bell donated by a wealthy resident of the district. It rings every time a person enters.

A bazaar is to be held to provide plush seats for all the people, since they feel it is a long felt need. My wife is rather delicate, so she can't attend regularly. I shall be delighted to reserve the best seat for you, if you wish, where you will be seen by everyone.

For the children, there is a special time and place so they will not disturb the elders.

Hoping to have been of service to you, I remain,

Sincerely,

The Schoolmaster.

----

I had first read it in a newspaper, when I was about 12. I've tried to find this copy for so long! And then it struck me - it'll be on the Internet! D'oh! And here it was! And for those who didn't get it, the W.C. that the English lady was asking about, stands for Water Closet, or in Indian lingo, a Western Commode.

Chalkboard Paint

I mean, how awesome is chalkboard paint?!

This guy right here painted it on his fridge. It turned his fridge into a creative space!

Design Mom's painted her son's wardrobe with this stuff.

General chalkboard paint ideas.

And it's Martha Stewart approved.

The year the Gypsies came

Again, a little off-topic, to introduce another book that I really like. The year the Gypsies came, by Linzi Glass. I first read it about three/four years ago [it was recommended to me by a librarian, and I have to say, she had an excellent choice], and haven't gone back to it again, but I took it out of the library the other day ... I won't review it, as it's been a long time since I read it, but I will type out the blurb for you ...

This is the cover version of the one that I'm reading [the writing is in metallic bronze and the cracks underneath (to represent the cracks in Emily's family) aren't as visible]:

They came to us that spring and cast a spell over us, and they changed our lives forever.

Emily Iris looks forward to the times her parents welcome house guests to their family's unhappy home on the edge of Johannesburg. For a while, for as long as the visitors are there, her mother and father will put their quarrels aside and be like a real family.

In the spring of 1966, a family of wanderers—an Australian couple and their two boys—comes to stay. But the arrival of these 'gypsies' starts a chain of events that will shatter Emily's hopes of a happy family life and change them all forever ...

--

And of course I'd like any book that has a character named Emily Iris! Such a beautiful name!

Book cover from the Linghams Booksellers website and (c) Linzi Glass

The Crimson Thread

A little off-topic ... but if you like Rumpelstiltskin, I would highly recommend you to read The Crimson Thread written by Suzanne Weyn [it is a part of the Once upon a Time series]. It is a retelling, set in the 1800s. It's very cleverly written, and is an amazing read.

Here is what the blurb reads:

The year is 1880, and Bertie, having just arrived in New York with her family, is grateful to be given work as a seamstress in the home of textile tycoon J. P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that Bertie will save the business, that she is so skillful she can "practically spin straw into gold."

Amazingly, in the course of one night, Bertie creates exquisite gowns—with the help of Ray Stalls, a man from her tenement who uses an old spinning wheel to create dresses that are woven with crimson thread and look as though they are spun with real gold. Indebted to Ray, Bertie asks how she can repay him. When Ray asks for her firstborn child, Bertie agrees, never dreaming that he is serious ...

---

So yeah, that's the blurb, it is seriously a very good read, with so many twists and turns, you never know what to expect!