Thursday, January 14, 2010

Tschüs!

So tomorrow is the big day! At 16:00 pm we're off to Berlin!! Laia, Albert and I are so happy and excited about this... yaw!! I can't believe that the day is almost here!!

Finally we're staying at my friend George's house, at Sewanstrasse... oh, my, I'm so happy about it! I haven't see him in ages!

So, before we leave... remember I asked you about some tips for the cold and recomendations about Berlin? Here they are!

 Laia and I made a very similar post, so we're sharing all the answers you gave us... thank you!!



Sandra told us...


You have to bring lots of warm clothes! For example, if you are wearing skirts and tights you have to wear at least two pair of tights. And warm warm sweaters (I wear three pair of tights and three pair of sweaters). It's not as cold in Berlin as in Sweden, but it's still really cold. Don't forget really warm socks, a hat and scarf. ♥

Emma said...

It's almost -10 here and I wear 4 pairs of tights, a polo shirt under the dress, two cardigans and a wool coat. and a double pair of gloves!

Maria gave us some more tips...
 
My suggestion is bring lots of clothes you can layer and maybe even some long johns to wear under your clothes, like you would if you were going skiing. Definitely bring warm hats, gloves and scarves and if you have them, some practical winter boots. When it’s really cold I try to wear pants instead of dresses or skirts, but if you want to wear the latter make sure you wear warm tights or wear two pairs of tights doubled up. Oh, and sometimes it helps to bring extra pairs of socks encase your feet get cold or wet from the snow.

If you need any clarifications or have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!!

I look forward to reading about your trip!


Ariella told us some good advices as...

I have to tell you, -10 is pretty cold for my standards too. I live by the coast so it rarely gets that cold (although a few days lately it has indeed been that cold and it was practically unbearable) - I really hope it won't be quite that cold in Berlin!
Anyway, to keep warm, wear many layers. If you like to wear dresses or skirts make sure you wear wool tights. You might even want to wear two pairs on top of each other since that usually helps. What matters the most is that your feet won't get cold because that will ruin your day, so wear shoes that have a thick, warm sole. And don't forget mittens (better than gloves since they keep your hands warmer than gloves), scarves and a hat!
I went to Berlin almost two years ago and it was great. The eastern part is where it all happens!
You need to go to the Jewish museum in Berlin. It is so striking, impressive and interesting. We only had two hours there which was way too little. It's the most interesting museum I've ever been to.
Have an amazing trip!

Sweet Mo said to us...

 I' m not quite sure i know so much though...I guess i ll say what's important for me is:
  • To always cover your head cause all the heat from your body "leaves" from there + when your ears are cold it hurts freaking bad
  • Nose, fingers and toes are the places that have a tendancy to froze the fastest so make sure you take good care if them (u can use those handwarmer stuff that you "break" and it provides warm for a while)
  • Put cream on your face and protect your lips !!
  • Wear high socks so it also protect your leg under your pants or a pair of tights under your pants.
  • Don't forget to eat and to have several tea and hot chocolate breaks;-)
 That's pretty obvious but that's all I can come up with to prevent me from freezing so far !

Lovely Natalia said... 

I think layering of clothes is most important when it comes to dealing with cold weather  You need to have a hat, gloves and some additional socks, cause it's mostly through those three places on the body that you lose most warmth from;D I can't really think of anything else..hehe..maybe because it seems so ... normal to me
 But hopefully I was able to help a bit! Have fun in Berlin! :*

And then, some lovely people recomended us great places...

Laia said...
There's nothing better than walk near the Wall of Berlin and the go to the museum... I loved it!! Loof for some markets, I'm sure that you'll find some good and lovely bargains... and about the food, I survived thanks to the Donner Kebaps !

Marit als said...

You should go to the east (I think) part of Berlin. Vintage and 2-hand shops all over the place! And in Galeria at Alexanderplatz they have the coolest tights. I think it was almost a floor with tights and socks.
And at the milkabilly, if i don't remember it all wrong, they have the best icecream ever!
Hope you'll have a great time in Berlin. It is alot to see there. Enjoy!



So that's it... thank you for all this lovely advices and suggestions!! I'm sure we'll have a great time! See you next week!

Tschüs!(Bye in German!)

terrified but i'm not leaving


since i'm a lil bit rajin hari ni, mari hupdate bergmbr! thee. here's a sneak peek of everything. eh. no lah. a lil bit of everything. lots of pixca act. x tersempat.


btw. this is my room - 1st day moved in
they said i've got a lots of clothes. naaaa.


this is the 5th floor not-so-condo/apartment with 6 rooms.
and 5 toilets. thee. salghee + salmiza dah masuk! ;))


so, this is my 1st wedges. with a zip at the back.
simple, but i love it so much. i really do.


mira, salgheee, dila masham + me.
that's my 1st dress ever. long dress.


i watched this yesterday.
slow, but, scary. grrr! it is!
*thanks to u sweetheart*


14th & 15th jan 2009 -
- was there at the college. we did VO (voice over) for BJ (broadcast journalist).
- had a life talk with salghee. just 2 of us. lots of things to learned from others.
- went to old taste, were there to accompany dilla masham. 4 of us. me, leon, salghee.
- wait 4 him to pick me up at the college, i just can't handle those tears anymore.
- he came. i cried. few drops only. i know i wanna cry out loud. but i can't. those tears wouldn't came out. naaaa, nothing matter anymore. i just wanna b with u. thanks again!
- went to leisure mall cheras at 530pm, with him, watched paranormal activity.

*thanks ssh payah dtg on the spot all the way from UPM and bwk i round 1 kl sampai kte explore tmn. duta itu. cantik owh umah2 d sane! and. thanks 4 calming me down in ur own way*

15th jan, today - broadcast journalist, BJ final project news presentation.

*and then, i'm gonna meet him, again. yeay! imy!*

btw. mama dah sebut2 hadiah bday die. dia hanya maw few pokok bunga. yup. she told me a month b4. gaaaa~ 1st - x sempat pergi beli lg. 2nd - kopakkkk T____T sabar eh mama!

awk. rndu nak lepak dgn awk ah. tp kte taw awk bz. take care! *dpt duit sila simpan =P*





1 of 2010 resolution - be bad. be hard.
be bad to be strong. be hard to be stronger.
and, still can handle it. good. clap to myself.







Apesss..naik train

14 Januari 2010, kamis,

Hari ini mesti anter les dance Mei, biasanya si anter pake mobil, tapi berhubung laki gw lagi pake tuh mobil buat kerja, mo ga mau jadi harus naik train nganternya. Untungnya stationnya tuh deket rumah, jalan kaki ga nyampe 5 menit, tapi dinginnya ampun dah.

Jam 3.30an kita da keluar rumah, uda pake segala perlengkapan baju tebel, da kayak robot dah, bawa stroller juga. Perjalanan pergi si berjalan mulus, nyampe di sana, kita pergi makan dulu seblom dance soalnya dance nya mulai jam 5.45 mpe 6.45.

Perjalanan pulang nya, harus jalan kira2 15 mnit ke stationnya. Niatnya si pulang naik taxi aja, tapi berhubung pertengahan bulan, jadi harus ngirittt...hehe. Mahal soalnya kalo naik taxi, buka pintu aja uda kena charge 550yen hoho...pelit com nih.

Mpe di station uda beli karcis, tanya naik di station 3. Kita nyebrang stationnya pake lift coz bawa stroller, ga bs naik tangga. Untung aja ada lift, kalo ga..bakalan angkat2 tuh stroller..ga bs ngebayanginnya dah. Thx buat Matsuyama Gov.

Di dekat liftnya, tiba2 Mei nunjuk ke kertas pengumuman gambar Bochan stadium, t4 orang main yakyiu-baseball. Dia bilang, Ma, pernah liat ini ga??Dimana ya??Di station 3, ada train yang uda nunggu, jadi langsung masuk aja ke situ, uda rame banget, ga kebagian duduk. Ya gpp, soalnya kan cuman 1 station aja balik ke rumah.

Nunggu punya nunggu akhirnya itu train jalan juga..tapiiiii lhoooo kok arahnya berlawanan?? aduh...mestinya ke arah kanan ke arah hojo, itu ke arah iyoshi..na lho????? Ternyata gw salah naik train, buset dah.. baru pertama nih, selama 7 th di matsuyama salah naik train??? Kaget bangetttt...akhirnya turun di station berikutnya, cari train yang balik lagi ke matsuyama.

Tau ga pas turun dari train?? ternyata gambar Bochan stadium ada di depan mata gw..hahaha.. gile, kok bener2 pas bangettt?? buset dah, serasa mimpi, baru Mei bilang itu stadium, lho kok itu gambar berubah jadi kenyataan ??? hahhaa aneh bin ajaib.


Mei da mulai ngantuk, jadi rewel n takut pas tau salah naik kreta..gw jg bingung..lah ga pnh ke t4 itu, kok bisa ke situ, mana itu station ga ada orang yang jaga, gelap, mana dingin..mana ketinggalan kreta balik, mana tiket nya jatoh...bener2 apes. Harus nunggu kreta balik 30 mnit lg..Mei n Xiang da teler banget dah..gw jg da capeee .

Akhirnya balik ke matsuyama, mesti nunggu train lagi yang ke arah rumah kira2 30 mnit lagi, bener2 menguji kesabaran n kedinginan..haha. Akhirnya nyampe ke rumah da. Pulangnya langsung pada bo2 teler...aaah, kejadian apes, tapi jadi pengalaman bagus. ..hohoho...

KESAR HALWA - Basant Panchami Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup Rawa
Sugar to taste
2 1/2 cup water
5 Almonds
10 Cashews
10-12 Raisins
1/4 tbsp Cardomom Powder
1/4 tbsp Nutmeg (Jaiphal) Powder
2 pinches Saffron soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk
few drops Yellow Colour
3 tbsp Ghee
How to cook Kesar sooji ka halwa:
1. Heat ghee in a large heavy Pan, add rava.
2. Stir and Roast on low for 7-8 minutes or till aroma exudes.
3. Side by side, put water to boil, add sugar and bring to a boil.
4. Add boiling water to rava, little at a time stir continuously.
5. Take care to protect hands from spluttering.
6. When well mixed, check rava grains between fingers and taste for sweetness.
7. Adjust sweetness, and add more boiling water if grain is hard.
8. Add the remainng ingredients, cover & simmer till ghee separates.
9. Save a small amounts of Almonds and Cashews for garnishing.
10. Add colour and mix well.
11. Halwa is ready.
Few tips for Serving:
1. Grase a Katori or steel cup.
2. Press hot halwa inside it and unmould onto a plate.
3. Garnish with few Almonds and Cashews.
4. Serve hot.

The mathematically perfect sandwich

Oh dear. We’ve been naughty. Again.



As if state-sanctioned unhealthiness wasn’t bad enough, it appears even parents can’t be trusted to feed their little ones decent lunches and the great collective mother is going to have to step in again.

Of the four million children who take a packed lunch to school, just 1% of those lunches meet the government’s recommendations for nutritional content. Shock and indeed horror?



Well, no. Not in the slightest (although I doubt that will prevent some arbitrary figure regarding nutritional content being pulled from the air like gristle from a twizzler and a blanket ban on pies, crisps and artificially sweetened drinks).

As someone who was subjected to packed lunches throughout my school career (and I say subjected for reasons that will become obvious shortly), it makes perfect sense that barely a hundredth of the little tykes are bringing with them a lunchbox containing wholemeal bread (or maybe gluten free rolls?), salads, fresh fruit and some granola.



That’s not what children eat. And I should know. I was one.

Although more recent adventures may suggest otherwise, my career as a bold food adventurer has not been a lifetime in the making. I was, in no uncertain terms, a fussy little blighter when I was younger.

Every day I would open my Transformers lunchbox with trepidation, wondering what horrors lurked within, my mind already devising elaborate plans for their disposal, none of which involved ingesting them.

As my fellow diners chewed their way through sliced white bread sandwiches filled with neon pink ham, a bag of Walkers crisps (back when they were actually salty) and maybe some Iced Gems to finish, I was left pondering my homemade bread rolls or adoringly prepared salads.



Cautious nibbling of the sort that would shame a sparrow invariably left me sitting alone with just the dinner ladies for company as the sounds of playground football filtered through the windows. On occasion I would sit there for an entire lunch break, the start of afternoon lessons ending the torture with the sound of a bell.

After a number of false starts (‘accidentally’ dropping my lunch on the floor rendering it inedible or shifting chunks of sandwich to my pockets as my dad did with his own school dinner dumplings) I finally hit upon a foolproof scheme.



Wrapping my butties in paper towels and disposing of them in the toilet bin prior to lunchtime (or even after school) worked for quite some time. I could proudly show my empty box to both teacher and mother then set upon the cereal as soon as I returned home.

I was rumbled only by illness.

The day I was off school, there were no sandwiches in the bin. My teacher (the fabulously named Mrs. Spooner) put two and two together with the skill of Magnum P.I. and phoned my mother to inform her of my untruths. I almost felt as if I’d been caught in an FBI style sting. Except the powers of analogy and metaphor were beyond me at the age of six.

Trouble came my way. After an apocolyptic bollocking I was sent to school the following day with no lunch. Not that it made much difference – I rarely ate it anyway and my fellow packed lunchers took pity on me offering me nibbles of their own offerings. I sat that day quite happily enjoying a diverse picnic comprising of Space Raiders, custard cream biscuits and triangles of Dairylea.



Soon after that I moved school (not as a result of my inability to consume lunch) and left the tiny village primary behind. Huge sports pitches and exotic new friends were a joy (‘Mum, what do Jews do?’ I asked after my first day) but the real deal breaker, the pièce de résistance , was that there we no lunch monitors. No teachers of Orwellian imaging watching every morsel that passed my lips and making sure I’d eaten ‘at least half’ of everything. I could dine, or not, without impunity.

I tested my theory by asking for a school dinner one day, soon after the start of term. Request granted, I helped myself to three slices of cucumber and a scoop of pickled beetroot – a lunch that would leave even Karen Carpenter asking for seconds.

I ate about half, expecting reproach. But there was no stern face, no admonishment, no repercussions. I was no longer in lunchtime limbo.

The perfect sandwich

I don’t know what psychological barrier I put up that rendered me incapable of eating lunch within the confines of a school but it was a significant one. Things are different now. Lunch is an integral part of my day, in the same way that breakfast, mid-afternoon snack, dinner and supper are. I also make the GF a lunch each morning to unshackle her from the confines of the local café thus saving around £100 a month. I can only assume she doesn’t wrap it in paper towels before throwing it away.

Despite last minute surges from the likes of soup, sushi or salads (or as prêt so nauseatingly insist on calling them, ‘breadless sandwiches’), the sandwich remains the undefeated champ. But making a truly killer butty is a skill in itself.

Thankfully there is an equation to ensure perfect results, every time:

S(√CM+C/P) x (B2)+(M1 +M2) = The perfect sandwich.

So, ‘Sandwich’ = ‘Salad’ multiplied by root of ‘cured meat’ plus ‘cheese’ divided by pickle(s) multiplied by ‘bread’ squared plus (mustard + mayonnaise). Easy.



There are also a few basic rules. Firstly the bread should, ideally, be sourdough and of large slices. The filling should at least equal the thickness of the two slices of bread and wet items (tomatoes, pickles) should be carefully placed between moisture repelling layers to avoid the sandwich eaters worst nightmare: soggy bread syndrome.

So, there you go – a mathematical solution to those lunchtime quandaries. If only my mum had known…