Baktapur, a city which hasn’t yet been taken over by tourists or even set up for tourist visits. Its old school and its just as they like it.

Home to the traditional black and red sarees, the city is ull of life, culture and colourful festivities.

You’ll get to see me in the following photos unlike the other cities. I had fun, hope you have as much fun looking at my photos.

Hope u enjoyed Bhaktapur!

xx S

My first venture out of Kathmandu city was to Patan. This is where i found my favourite Durbar square! I joined many tourists in exploring Patan, and fell in love with the craftsmanship, the windows, the doors, the statues, the alley ways, the temples OH MY! I think i want one made for my house …. now to think of how im going to get it here keke.

My footsteps through Patan…

<3 xx S

My travels are over, and my realisation that my blog is at a standstill is hovering above me like a grey cloud. What’s the point of this blog/site, if there isn’t anything new right?.

I’ve returned home to Sydney, but not home to my surroundings. My things are in boxes, and im not in my former space. Sometimes it still feels like im living out of a suitcase. Only with more clothes, the love and care of my family and friends, and this time.. I am able to drive to any destination at any given time that i feel like.

Over my 7 months, i have gone forwards, backwards, stood still and put in situations id never thought i would experience. Among these three countries that i stayed in (Malaysia, Singapore and Nepal), the newest and most culturally different, was Nepal. It is said that this country changes a person, their minds and their future. Walking around thamel, i have seen many a lone visitors scribbling away in their journals. And i often wondered what brought them to Kathmandu. Although Nepal is laid back, chilled and relaxed. The chaotic traffic and people in ktm make up for it. They love their food and are colourful in celebrations.

My time in ktm saw the Cold nights, the hot days, the no rain, the no fuel, the bandhs and the no constitution. In saying that, I really enjoyed the 20mins drive out of the city to have the most extraordinary change in scenery. The mountains on a good day, were seen beautifully on the terrace, just looking beyond the concrete city. The people i met were warm and friendly, making it that little bit easier to transition into the culture during my stay.

Swayambhu, my surroundings for 4 months.

<3 xx S

I have finally returned to Sydney. And amidst the excitement of friends and family.. i have come home to no laptop.. and no desktop. What am i typing on .. you ask?…well its a lil mini MSI laptop which hardly shows me anything. I need something to work on… I need my software and I just want my comps back … *sigh*

You know those moments when you feel like you’ve come back to nothing.. thats kind of what it feels like. Those who know me more personally would understand more of what im talking about. Its more like everythings upside down.. and i know the computers are not that important… but its something that adds to it. and pushes everything more… it was my goto … to forget about things. to pass time and now… theyre gone.. oh well

Once a year a tradition of a Christmas tree like chariot is pulled in the city of Kathmandu. It has been said that the falling of this chariot forecasts a bad omen to the country and has always resulted in something bad occurring during the year. The past 2 fallen chariots has seen the massacre of the royal family and a dethroned king.

Sorry for changin my tags on my pics nearly every post.
I’ll try to keep them consistent. The red Chinese stamp at the bottom was made for me in Marble. Its my Chinese name. I thought it would be a good chance for me to use it.

Some of you may know now that i’ve been our of Sydney for nearly 5 months now. At the moment i’m in Kathmandhu, Nepal. And although i vowed to write more and document my travels. I have failed to do so in all areas.

I was in Malaysia for 3 months and whilst i do have pictures, most of them were saved on my Hdd of my laptop which died in the last week of my stay there. Its still not fixed and has yet to return to me.

SO.. whilst you havent seen much of what i’ve been up to, here’s is a sneak peak of a Newar Feast, this is normally done at weddings, pujas and the likes.
i know that this is a weird post to start with on my travels, But hey, its better than nothing .. and starts my blog rolling.

I hope you enjoy it

Buffalo Organs. Nepals national meat is the “Buff” … Nearly all of the buff is eaten.

Dried raddish.

Vegetables and buff meat.. yummm.. ( but the cook made it too hot)

Black eyed peas

Chopping up the bones.. for the brain soup (bRAINSSSS.. its like Zombie farm )

Wash and Prep lady

Serving time… Round 1

keke his 2nd puja!… our first was at 4am up at swayambhu

Rana and Sachin

Rati and myself

ohhhh its the lungs! This is how u fill it up

Cha Cha

Brain Soup!!!

Fried Lungs .. and Chiang… (lol.. i have no idea how to spell it.. and im chinese.. so thats how im spelling it.. Pin yin styles )

And the lovely Insha

Yes ppl i ate everything.. it was Yummy!

Ever wondered through Hyde park North on a Sunday?… well not necessarily on a Sunday. But I say Sunday cos its the day where you have time, where your thoughts aren’t clouded with To Do’s or worries.. its the one day of rest… the calm after a storm. This day is when you take in your surroundings, acknowledge that the world is huge with many beautiful things, if only you take the time to stop….watch… and listen.

On this Sunday occasion i found myself walking from st mary’s cathedral … through the park, and past the fountain.
What fountain?… many of you may ask…
Well.. there is a fountain… in the middle of the park..where if you stand at it… and look towards the church.. it is dead centre of the church.. giving you a wide angle view of the biggest and most grand cathedral in Sydney. If you’ve never been in. Please do… it is gorgeous and will take your breath away.(You can enter even if you’re not catholic or christian)

So this is the fountain that i mean… and i know for a fact that if you were in Europe and came across it, you’d have taken a photo of it.. But living in Sydney all your life.. you didn’t even know it existed. it called the Archibald Fountain.

(eeek.. i forgot i deleted the foto to make space for other…. i will get you guys another pic soon)

I also noticed the big chess set next to the station. I’ve actually noticed this for awhile now.. and have watched the men play with the big chess floor paired with big chess pieces. This time though i had the courage and armed with my camera… i was able to get some shots of the chess players of Hyde park.

On the 25th of Sept i attended an exhibition called “Shake that ass” by Yasumasa Yonehara, or like most like to call him, Yone.

Presented by Refill and halfsleeve, the exhibition was hosted at lo fi collective a venue well suited to showcase Yone’s work. A collection of yone’s photos and installations. With the turnout being of creatives and the curious, there was a steady stream of fans. Girls in singlets a bikini and heels were amongst the crowd to add hype and excite the lil boys

Photos were taken from my iphone… sorry for the poor quality.

Want to know about Yone?

Yasumase YONE Yonehare is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic and influential magazine editors and photographers in Japan.

During the 90s Yonehara’s work with the iconic Egg Magazine was instrumental in the emergence of kogyaru (Japanese schoolgirl) culture into the global consciousness.

Yonehara’s signature lo-fi sexy photographic style was established though a collection of erotic Fujifilm cheki shots for Smart Girls with some of Tokyo’s hottest models. The unprecedented success of his first book, a folio of these Smart Girl portraits, bestowed him instant fame.

It was at this point that Yonehara’s sphere of influence became global, with brands such as American Apparel appropriating his unique photographic style for use in advertising campaigns. A new genre of editorial photography was born, founded on Yonehara’s instant Polaroid style.
In 2007 Yonehara launched the online publication cexwork.com which blends erotic art with blogs by influential photographers, friends and tastemakers from around the world.

Yone has spent recent years exploring themes of eroticism, continuity within discontinuity and the power of repetition in a series of acclaimed photographic exhibition.

A Creative Director sought by fashion labels, music groups and advertising agencies around the world, Yonehara brings a unique aesthetic, vision and Japanese pop-culture sensibility to the world of art.

I made pasta for the first time the other day. Mixing and all is easy, but kneading this dough is tough. Also over kneading it results in tough pasta that breaks then you don’t get a long strand of pasta. So get it right the first time… cos its not salvageable.

So i used about 3/4 of a bag of tough bakers pasta flour to a dozen organic egg yolks. It was still too dry, so i added another 2 eggs i think. Make it moist but dry, if you know what i mean. and add in 2 hands of semolina.

I hope you have a good pasta machine.

Split the dough into 4 batches, flatten out and feed the dough through the machine at lvl 1.

Fold it into 3′s and feed it through on the side. Flouring with flour and semolina everytime before the feed or else it sticks to the machine. When ready increase the levels to get a thinner pasta.

When you think you have it thin enough, Feed it through the choice of fettuccine or spaghetti roller and TADA!! .. PASTA LAVISTA!!

The ones below have Parsley in them. I also made ravioli with ricotta and spinach.

keke hung them on the chair separately before cookings … or you can freeze them immediately.. and eat whenever you want.

So when you’re sick and have a burst of energy… or in other words.. bored out of your mind… Why not bake a cake.. A Pandan Chiffon cake at that!

My Pandan Chiffon Cake
Recipe

A)
1 Cup – Plain Flour
1 tsp – Baking Powder
3/4 Cup – Castor Sugar
1/2 tsp – Salt

B)
1/2 Cup – Water
6 – Egg Yolks
4 Tbs – Cooking Oil
1 drop – Pandan essence

C)
6 – Egg Whites
1/2 tsp – Cream of Tatar

1. Set oven temp to 150 degrees Celsius
2. lightly grease a chiffon cake tin. ( see pics)
3. Sift flour, baking powder and then mix in sugar and salt (A)
4. Mix all ingredients (B) together
5. Add (A) to (B)
6. Whist egg whites with cream of tatar together until thick and stiff
7. fold egg white into ingredients (AB)
8. Pour mixture into baking tin and bake for 45mins
9. Turn cake tin upside down on its stand to allow to cool and stretch
   

mmmmmm smell that pandany goodness

this is the cake tin you use… and you need to let it cool upside down

Yay Success!!

See the greeeeeeeen??

nom nom nom…

Happy baking love love!!