Being some of the lucky few Malaysian.. or even few people on planet earth =) we got to watch the TRANSFORMERS 2 " Revenge of the Fallen " , on the big screen at One Utama... it is Awesome!!!!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Transformers 2 (Revenge of the Fallen)
Being some of the lucky few Malaysian.. or even few people on planet earth =) we got to watch the TRANSFORMERS 2 " Revenge of the Fallen " , on the big screen at One Utama... it is Awesome!!!!
Worst. Idea. Ever.
So...remember when I said that this was my breakfast 60% of the time? Well, conveniently JUST as I wrote about it, in the last week it's really started to feel like summer around here and well, oatmeal isn't really the type of thing you want to eat on a hot day. Well, yesterday I read this article and thought to myself "what a brilliant idea! I can still have my daily oatmeal, in granola form!" So last night when I got home from work I whipped up a batch of granola with my basic oatmeal ingredients - rolled oats, almonds and walnuts (I had some kicking around as well) and dried cranberries. And man, was I patting myself on the back once it was finished. It looked, smelled and tasted SO good. Genius, right?Well, this moring I decided to have a bowl of this awesome granola with some milk and what happened? I CHIPPED A TOOTH.
Okay, so I should really mention that I had a moment of slight panic during the granola-making where I realized my granola wasn't really "clumping" and whipped up a quick crumble-esque mix to add to the mixture. (I did read a few comments about this around the web that this doesn't happen so much with homemade granola anyway but would I have that? noooo) These ended up being quite crunchy and probably what led to the aforementioned tooth incident. Anyway, needless to say I was quite disgusted with myself and am no longer so impressed with said granola. Though really, that shouldn't stop you from making it. It really IS delicious. And easy! Just don't freak out about the lack of clumps. Your teeth will thank you later.
Cranberry-Almond (and Walnut) Granola
Granola, like oatmeal, is incredibly versatile in that you can really add whatever you want to it. Overall you're looking for about 1/2 cup of wet mix to 4 cups of dry mix.
Dry Mix
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking scottish oats (you can use any variation of oats here, I just ran out of rolled oats)
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup walnuts
Wet Mix
1/8 cup canola oil (you can use any type of oil here)
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp molasses
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 250 degrees Farenheit
1. Combine dry mix together and spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet (I used the Silpat)
2. Mix wet mix together until combined, and drizzle over dry mix; stir gently to combine
3. Bake in preheated oven for about 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes
4. Remove from oven and stir in dried cranberries while mix is still warm.
5. Once cool, store in an airtight container.
Persiapan Mudik
24 Juni 2009, rabu
Tinggal 2 hari lagi, bakalan mudik nih...seneng...coz da 3 tahun lebih ga mudik, da kangen ma fam n sodara2 n temen2...
yang paling seneng si Mei, soalnya die waktu umur 2 tahun dibawa mudik, die inget tuh main main bola di kolam , inget rumah poponya, inget ma kukungnya...mpe inget ma mbak yg kerja di rumah nyokap...wowowo...
Die da nanya trus, mama kapan berangkatnya...uda ga sabar pengen naik pesawat hehehe.
Tapiii kemarin, dua2nya pada kena flu...na lho..gw yg mabok..bner2 deh, pagi2 langsung telp ke skul, minta ijin sakit, trus ke dokter, priksa n minta obat buat semingguan, untungnya biaya dokter n obat masih gratisss...Flu aja si, Mei batuk2 pas bo2 semalem, Xiang pilek2 bersin, meler trus...mmmm..
Moga moga perjalanan bisa lancar dah...takut ga fit, pas terbang, pasti rewel.
Buutttt, gw blom nge pack barang...permintaan nyokap masih mengalir, mpe gw takut juga telp ke rumah..psti ada aja yg minta dibeliin, hihi, mana koper da fulll tank...
hahha...
Hari ini msti ambil tiket peswat lagi, beli pesenan nyok, beres2...mmm...rasanya uda malas banget da brangkat, coz, inget2 perjalanan panjang yg pasti heboh bawa 2 anak..
plsssss help meeeeee...
Tinggal 2 hari lagi, bakalan mudik nih...seneng...coz da 3 tahun lebih ga mudik, da kangen ma fam n sodara2 n temen2...
yang paling seneng si Mei, soalnya die waktu umur 2 tahun dibawa mudik, die inget tuh main main bola di kolam , inget rumah poponya, inget ma kukungnya...mpe inget ma mbak yg kerja di rumah nyokap...wowowo...
Die da nanya trus, mama kapan berangkatnya...uda ga sabar pengen naik pesawat hehehe.
Tapiii kemarin, dua2nya pada kena flu...na lho..gw yg mabok..bner2 deh, pagi2 langsung telp ke skul, minta ijin sakit, trus ke dokter, priksa n minta obat buat semingguan, untungnya biaya dokter n obat masih gratisss...Flu aja si, Mei batuk2 pas bo2 semalem, Xiang pilek2 bersin, meler trus...mmmm..
Moga moga perjalanan bisa lancar dah...takut ga fit, pas terbang, pasti rewel.
Buutttt, gw blom nge pack barang...permintaan nyokap masih mengalir, mpe gw takut juga telp ke rumah..psti ada aja yg minta dibeliin, hihi, mana koper da fulll tank...
hahha...
Hari ini msti ambil tiket peswat lagi, beli pesenan nyok, beres2...mmm...rasanya uda malas banget da brangkat, coz, inget2 perjalanan panjang yg pasti heboh bawa 2 anak..
plsssss help meeeeee...
The Chronicles of North Face
"NEVER STOP EXPLORING" -The North Face
Cannes Lions Festival is currently ongoing. The most anticipated big winners remain unrevealed. I may not be able to bring some Lions for this year, but I am simply happy to be on the list of entries. It was in deed a long and winding road for me to be able to make it for this festival.
Allow me now to share with you how this long saga started. It was when an Australian Creative Director from Saatchi Singapore arrived in Saatchi Manila to help the creatives come up with disruptive ideas for Cannes Lions. For me, to do ads for the purpose of having an award is not my cup of tea. So as the days go by, I see people from the creative department doing their homework and brainstorming. I feel quite strange. Since I was just new then at Saatchi, I really didn't know yet how to go about it. My heart refused to come up with creative juices. But until one day the deadline came and we are required to post our ideas on the wall. I got pressured. Everyone is doodling and polishing their ideas already while my paper is still empty. Deadline is at 5 pm. At around 11:30 am on the same day, I grabbed my pencil on my desk and try to think if there will be some germ of an idea that will come out in this uncooperative brain of mine. Then all of a sudden, one idea popped out. My heart was beating fast when I thought of this idea of CLIMBING WEAR CAMPAIGN. I knew then that I thought of something good. I doodled what I thought of and they are better and solid as a campaign than what we submitted to Cannes. Quickly after I doodled the idea, my celfone rang and it was my father breaking the news that my grandfather just passed away. I felt terribly sad. Made me think that my Lolo helped me come up with the idea that fast. hehe. Anyway, 5 pm arrived. Everyone posted their doodles on the wall and one by one we all explained our work. When it's my turn to give the rational behind the idea of my work, I simply said---no more words to explain the boldness of the visual. The series of ads that I did doesn't have a headline. But to have an option I told the Creative Director that my seatmate copywriter (Mark Peckson) suggested a headline. The CD said, no more headlines for this one. It can stand on its own. That comment made me happier. I love visual ads than copy ads. The next day the materials were chosen. Saatchi chose 10 works to be entered in Cannes Lions' contest. Climbing Wear Campaign made it as one of the entries. That fact alone is enough for me to be happy.
The Berlin Wall filled with germs. Ideas that will go to Cannes Lions
The photo shoot for North Face jackets with Jay Tablante as the photographer
Day by day each and everyone of us walked going to the long and winding road to Cannes. It was a journey and the Saatchi creatives can attest to that. The long list of creative credits are the people who helped me made this entry possible. Only one thing surprised me, that there's a copywriter on the credit. Well actually, I shouldn't be surprised seeing a copywriter credit on a visual ad campaign because I did question that fact a hundred times. Whenever I see that credit on award winning visual campaign. So benefit-of-the-doubt, I presumed that the copywriter might be the one who thought of the idea. But in this case, NO. But maybe this is my chance to thank PATRICK MICIANO, my teammate copywriter who took charge of the copywriting for the concept board that was submitted. He was not there in the credits.
The print ad's proof. I was waiting for the local newspaper publisher to pick up the material for print. Unfortunately the head office of The North Face China didn't allow us to release a print material for this campaign.
Allow me now to share with you how this long saga started. It was when an Australian Creative Director from Saatchi Singapore arrived in Saatchi Manila to help the creatives come up with disruptive ideas for Cannes Lions. For me, to do ads for the purpose of having an award is not my cup of tea. So as the days go by, I see people from the creative department doing their homework and brainstorming. I feel quite strange. Since I was just new then at Saatchi, I really didn't know yet how to go about it. My heart refused to come up with creative juices. But until one day the deadline came and we are required to post our ideas on the wall. I got pressured. Everyone is doodling and polishing their ideas already while my paper is still empty. Deadline is at 5 pm. At around 11:30 am on the same day, I grabbed my pencil on my desk and try to think if there will be some germ of an idea that will come out in this uncooperative brain of mine. Then all of a sudden, one idea popped out. My heart was beating fast when I thought of this idea of CLIMBING WEAR CAMPAIGN. I knew then that I thought of something good. I doodled what I thought of and they are better and solid as a campaign than what we submitted to Cannes. Quickly after I doodled the idea, my celfone rang and it was my father breaking the news that my grandfather just passed away. I felt terribly sad. Made me think that my Lolo helped me come up with the idea that fast. hehe. Anyway, 5 pm arrived. Everyone posted their doodles on the wall and one by one we all explained our work. When it's my turn to give the rational behind the idea of my work, I simply said---no more words to explain the boldness of the visual. The series of ads that I did doesn't have a headline. But to have an option I told the Creative Director that my seatmate copywriter (Mark Peckson) suggested a headline. The CD said, no more headlines for this one. It can stand on its own. That comment made me happier. I love visual ads than copy ads. The next day the materials were chosen. Saatchi chose 10 works to be entered in Cannes Lions' contest. Climbing Wear Campaign made it as one of the entries. That fact alone is enough for me to be happy.
The Berlin Wall filled with germs. Ideas that will go to Cannes Lions
The photo shoot for North Face jackets with Jay Tablante as the photographerDay by day each and everyone of us walked going to the long and winding road to Cannes. It was a journey and the Saatchi creatives can attest to that. The long list of creative credits are the people who helped me made this entry possible. Only one thing surprised me, that there's a copywriter on the credit. Well actually, I shouldn't be surprised seeing a copywriter credit on a visual ad campaign because I did question that fact a hundred times. Whenever I see that credit on award winning visual campaign. So benefit-of-the-doubt, I presumed that the copywriter might be the one who thought of the idea. But in this case, NO. But maybe this is my chance to thank PATRICK MICIANO, my teammate copywriter who took charge of the copywriting for the concept board that was submitted. He was not there in the credits.
The print ad's proof. I was waiting for the local newspaper publisher to pick up the material for print. Unfortunately the head office of The North Face China didn't allow us to release a print material for this campaign.
The posters were posted on ROX store in Bonifacio High Street where in The North Face products are being sold.
The climbing wear that we borrowed for the photo shoot. SWEATER. JACKET & COAT.
That was Bogey Bernardo, ruined our beautiful photo. Haha!
And Saatchi people will raise the flag because they will never stop exploring
In this photo: Chin Pangan (Art Director) Maan Agsalud (Copywriter) Ian San Gabriel (Art Director) Hans Malang (Art Director) Joan Manalang (Art Director) Bogey Bernardo (Copywriter) Glenn Lalogan (Art Director) Not in thios photo: PATRICK MICIANO (Copywriter and the Photographer of these photos)In deed, this experience enriched me as a creative individual and made my enthusiasm for advertising grows deeper. Now in my life, I know there will be more mountains to climb and each one will be tough to reach but with huge amount of determination and a positive mind, things will be easy. Who knows next year I might be doing some North Face materials again . This time for Saatchi & Saatchi Vietnam. :-)
'Til my next Cannes Lions Saga!
hugs,
joanie xxx
'Til my next Cannes Lions Saga!
hugs,
joanie xxx
Nose to Tail Tuesday (N3T) - Brains
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single foodstuff in possession of good batter can be rendered not just palatable, but delicious through the simple action of deep-frying.
So said Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice.
I think. Or something along those lines anyway.
But it is a fair argument. Golden batter can hide a multitude of sins, provide a satisfying crunch to an otherwise flabby ingredient and even impart its own magical flavours.
It’s a culinary sleight of hand used the world over from the feather-light tempura of Japan to the more, ahem, heavyweight Scottish offerings (deep-fried kebab meat pizza, anyone? And is it wrong that I find that slightly alluring?).
My old boss once told me of a dinner he enjoyed after a long day’s trek through a mountainous region of the States. In the mood for seafood, he ordered a large plate of Rocky Mountain Oysters.
They arrived not on the half shell as expected, but a steaming mound of golden brown delights, fresh from the deep fat fryer, just the right size to pop into the mouth.
It was only after eating half the portion that his colleague informed him they were not the salty molluscs he thought, but rather the inevitable leftovers of the messy business of cattle castration.
‘Quite tasty,’ he relayed to me, almost romantically.
It was this approach I thought best when contemplating the prospect of eating, for the first time, brain.
The menu tete de porc is gradually taking shape. It needs some work, some gentle refining before it is unleashed upon intrepid diners but it is mostly good.
One course, however, will not make it onto the final bill of fayre.
Removing the brain from the head of a pig is a chore of such magnitude that the final result would have to be rapturously delicious and close to orgasmic in order to make the task worthwhile. It is far from being either of these things. About as far away as it is possible to be.
After stripping the head of the cheeks, ears and snout you are left with something that resembles a science project. What then follows is an hour of finely tuned sawing, cleaving, chipping and brute force in order to remove its contents.
Which are surprisingly small. A disappointing fact at first sight but one that I grew grateful of very quickly when eating time came around.
A pig’s brain is about the size of a large duck egg. Before eating it must be soaked in water for at least 24 hours and then gently poached for about ten minutes. You can use plain old water with a splash of vinegar but we used chicken stock.
What emerges is something that looks like, well, it looks like a brain. There is no getting away from that fact: those familiar little lobes with the swirling labyrinthine pattern twisting across their pale surface.
Each hemisphere was sliced into three, dipped into batter (made with plain flour and ginger beer seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne) and then deep fried in sunflower oil and suet for about two minutes.
They looked great. Appetising little nibbles whose true origins had been thoroughly and carefully disguised.
My dining partner on this occasion was a chef, also in possession of an adventurous and willing palate. ‘Batter looks good,’ he mused in an attempt to distract us both from its contents.
The small portion was taken outside along with some homemade mayonnaise, plenty of water and a pinch of bravado.
Sitting opposite each other in unintentional gladiatorial style, we each picked up a piece of battered brain and took a bite.
It is not necessary for something to taste actively bad in order to be unpleasant. Texture plays a major role in how we enjoy food. Few westerners enjoy the sticky, glutinous quality of many Asian delicacies such as Natto, made from fermented soybeans.
In that respect brain is unpleasant. Deeply so. What little flavour there is, is not nice. Faintly eggy but not strong enough in of itself to warrant being labelled disgusting.
But the texture of brain is what made us wince. Hard to pin down we tried to find a foodstuff with which to compare it to. The uncooked top of an inadequately fried egg. The slight ickiness of a cloying curdled milk product. Yoghurt that has gone flying far, far beyond its best before date.
It’s somewhere ethereal beyond liquid but stopping short of being solid and it disappeared in the mouth in an alarming fashion, almost flooding the palate with its bizarre nature. The brief respite of the batter only accentuated the downright unpleasantness of what was inside.
We ate another, with slightly more mayonnaise and slightly less gusto in order to galvanise our findings hoping that having removed the shock and awe factor, our second taste wouldn’t be clouded with prejudice. But prejudice merely gave way to knowledge and expectation. I’m not sure if it was better or worse. There was certainly no pride.
The remaining two nuggets were dissected and picked apart in order to pin down what the texture was like but we were still left without an adequate comparison.
A truth universally acknowledged? There is an exception that proves every rule and brain is the one.
Verdict? Brain has made the list. The. List. The list of foods I will happily go a lifetime without tasting again. It has happy company along with tinned tuna and hundred year egg. Don’t try this at home.
So said Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice.
I think. Or something along those lines anyway.
But it is a fair argument. Golden batter can hide a multitude of sins, provide a satisfying crunch to an otherwise flabby ingredient and even impart its own magical flavours.
It’s a culinary sleight of hand used the world over from the feather-light tempura of Japan to the more, ahem, heavyweight Scottish offerings (deep-fried kebab meat pizza, anyone? And is it wrong that I find that slightly alluring?).
My old boss once told me of a dinner he enjoyed after a long day’s trek through a mountainous region of the States. In the mood for seafood, he ordered a large plate of Rocky Mountain Oysters.
They arrived not on the half shell as expected, but a steaming mound of golden brown delights, fresh from the deep fat fryer, just the right size to pop into the mouth.
It was only after eating half the portion that his colleague informed him they were not the salty molluscs he thought, but rather the inevitable leftovers of the messy business of cattle castration.
‘Quite tasty,’ he relayed to me, almost romantically.
It was this approach I thought best when contemplating the prospect of eating, for the first time, brain.
The menu tete de porc is gradually taking shape. It needs some work, some gentle refining before it is unleashed upon intrepid diners but it is mostly good.
One course, however, will not make it onto the final bill of fayre.
Removing the brain from the head of a pig is a chore of such magnitude that the final result would have to be rapturously delicious and close to orgasmic in order to make the task worthwhile. It is far from being either of these things. About as far away as it is possible to be.
After stripping the head of the cheeks, ears and snout you are left with something that resembles a science project. What then follows is an hour of finely tuned sawing, cleaving, chipping and brute force in order to remove its contents.
Which are surprisingly small. A disappointing fact at first sight but one that I grew grateful of very quickly when eating time came around.
A pig’s brain is about the size of a large duck egg. Before eating it must be soaked in water for at least 24 hours and then gently poached for about ten minutes. You can use plain old water with a splash of vinegar but we used chicken stock.
What emerges is something that looks like, well, it looks like a brain. There is no getting away from that fact: those familiar little lobes with the swirling labyrinthine pattern twisting across their pale surface.
Each hemisphere was sliced into three, dipped into batter (made with plain flour and ginger beer seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne) and then deep fried in sunflower oil and suet for about two minutes.
They looked great. Appetising little nibbles whose true origins had been thoroughly and carefully disguised.
My dining partner on this occasion was a chef, also in possession of an adventurous and willing palate. ‘Batter looks good,’ he mused in an attempt to distract us both from its contents.
The small portion was taken outside along with some homemade mayonnaise, plenty of water and a pinch of bravado.
Sitting opposite each other in unintentional gladiatorial style, we each picked up a piece of battered brain and took a bite.
It is not necessary for something to taste actively bad in order to be unpleasant. Texture plays a major role in how we enjoy food. Few westerners enjoy the sticky, glutinous quality of many Asian delicacies such as Natto, made from fermented soybeans.
In that respect brain is unpleasant. Deeply so. What little flavour there is, is not nice. Faintly eggy but not strong enough in of itself to warrant being labelled disgusting.
But the texture of brain is what made us wince. Hard to pin down we tried to find a foodstuff with which to compare it to. The uncooked top of an inadequately fried egg. The slight ickiness of a cloying curdled milk product. Yoghurt that has gone flying far, far beyond its best before date.
It’s somewhere ethereal beyond liquid but stopping short of being solid and it disappeared in the mouth in an alarming fashion, almost flooding the palate with its bizarre nature. The brief respite of the batter only accentuated the downright unpleasantness of what was inside.
We ate another, with slightly more mayonnaise and slightly less gusto in order to galvanise our findings hoping that having removed the shock and awe factor, our second taste wouldn’t be clouded with prejudice. But prejudice merely gave way to knowledge and expectation. I’m not sure if it was better or worse. There was certainly no pride.
The remaining two nuggets were dissected and picked apart in order to pin down what the texture was like but we were still left without an adequate comparison.
A truth universally acknowledged? There is an exception that proves every rule and brain is the one.
Verdict? Brain has made the list. The. List. The list of foods I will happily go a lifetime without tasting again. It has happy company along with tinned tuna and hundred year egg. Don’t try this at home.
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