friends in malaysia

tonight, i got to see a friend of mine from my petrad class last year. it is a blessing that i got to see kuala lumpur for the first time, see petronas twin towers and now this! after almost a year, here's a chance to catch up and form a more lasting friendship :)

the first stop was at K's house for dinner. she prepared a spicy chicken meal which i like very much (i choose home cooked meals anytime). after this, we were supposed to go to another classmate of ours' house for supper but because it is still the month of Ramadan, their prayers lasted longer and it was already late. i guess we are going to see each other another day, before i leave for manila. it's just funny how i was confused when K used the words dinner and supper in the same sentence. isn't that the same, i said, but apparently, since they are fasting, it is two separate meals. dinner is just after sun down and supper after evening prayers. now, isn't that a cool lesson? though i should have expected it since my friends in mindanao also fast during Ramadan.

before taking me back home, K also brought me to kl's Ikea as she remembered how much i wanted to visit the Ikea in Stavanger. how sweet of her. this shop is bigger than the one in stavanger but still has a lot of things to see. if i could just easily take home some of the stuff i've seen, i would! i didn't see a fire blanket, though. that one i would like to buy :)

so happy to see my friend right now and hopefully, i get to see her and Sal before i go home. and maybe go up the twin towers as well? :)

hello, petronas twin towers

at last, i've finally seen you up close and personal...

 

taken from my Samsung Galaxy Y. didn't know it could do this! so happy!

kl - first impression

If it's true what they say about the airport being a reflection of a country, or a city, then I'd say I like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I like the idea of putting up a semi-forest within the airport even though the airport has a modernist feel to it. Then the roads leading to KLCC is so much better than in the Philippines. I wonder how my country cannot do this when they can afford to give senators and congresspeople 10B for "development" projects.

The next surprise was our hotel. Well, the guys up the management did not book a hotel for us - they booked an apartment. It's so cool. The bed is high and big, there's a kitchen, tv, iron, sala, office table, a shower and tub. Yummy!

Next, we got to have a short tour of the nearest mall to our apartments - the pavilion. We ate at a non-halal Chinese/dimsun place where the food tastes good, especially the vinegar used to dip the dimsun in (tastes like my favorite Ilocos vinegar or basi) and the surprisingly good tofu topped with what something like seaweed.

Last stop is our trip to the grocery for our food supply - Mercato. I absolutely loved it the first time I saw it. And they're products looks yummy and the produce fresh, some of which are new to me! Just couldn't take a picture though coz it might be frowned upon. Anyways, I love the store! Bought myself some grapes, pears (I miss this variety - used to eat them everyday at Stavanger), chocolate, bread and water :)

Just another reflection - walking towards the mall, I felt like I was just in Makati, I couldn't stop and gaze up the tall buildings (I saw the Petronas Towers, by the way). It's a new place, but it's also really Asian in feel. If given a chance, I can live here.

first outcrop

my first outcrop for the year and hopefully not my last...

this is said to be a cinder cone but what interested me more are the structures seen on the outcrop. the fault cuts across the whole length and height of the outcrop and can be seen from the displacements between beds. we even see normal faulting!

what is fun here though is to have shared this time with my friends from university who shares the same passion as mine. even their families are now looking at rocks with us! :)

photo credit: zoantharia

carabao's milk

I did not think that carabao's milk can be that good - until I tasted it.

Yummy. Proudly UP, proudly Filipino!

according to my friends who lived outside the city, especially those in the Katagalugan areas, they would pour this fresh carabao milk in newly cooked plain rice and sprinkle a little bit of salt. this mixture would make a yummy rice meal. i now wonder how it would taste like.

marriage and risk

In our lecture on risks last year --

INSTRUCTOR: In the petroleum industry, there are a lot of risks involved. It's like marriage, if you decide to commit, you know there will be a lot of risks that you would encounter. How many of you are married?

Almost half the class raised their hands including Maria who was seated in front, just beside where the instructor was standing. The instructor looked at her and said:

INSTRUCTOR: You, when you got married, what was the risk involved?
MARIA: I lost my money.

Hahahaha!

the chocolate chip cookies and one more surprise

So here I am on a baking high still. Yesterday, I decided to make empanada since I could not think of any other dessert that I want to make as of the moment. Empanada is one of the favorite pastries of many Filipinos, mine especially. Sometimes, I used to go out of the house just to buy empanada at the nearest store, which is about seven blocks from us. The better if it is fresh.

After mass, I decided to go to the mall to buy my utensils - shell moulder, rolling pin and brush - and my ingredients. I started making the dough around two in the afternoon before cooking the filling so I can let the dough sit for a while. Never did I imagine that making the empanadas would take so long! This is because I had to cut/square/mince all filling ingredients -- onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, boiled chicken. It was an exhausting work but well worth the effort. When they came out, they truly looked like professional empanadas (except for the burnt underside hahaha). I was happy with what I had. When a couple of friends arrived to pick something up, the first thing they noticed was the very nice smell coming from the oven. That alone made me so happy! And they were lucky too, because they were the first ones who got the freshly baked empanadas, straight from the oven! Yey! :)

The chocolate chip cookies did not turn as chewy as I expected it would be but it was okay, too :) I would probably bring some of these at the office so they can comment on it. Hope they would like it :)

----- updated 9 November 2013 -----

Chicken Empanada (from My Bright Yellow Kitchen)

Filling

2 lbs coarsely chopped chicken (you can use chicken breast but thighs taste better)
2 tbsp cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 piece medium-sized yellow onion, minced
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 medium potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 can cream of asparagus soup
1/2 cup green peas, optional
2 hard-boiled eggs cut into strips, optional

 

In a heated pan with cooking oil, saute garlic, onion & carrot until onions are soft and translucent.

Add chicken and stir fry until meat is cooked thru (about 5 minutes). 

Add cream of asparagus soup and potatoes and cook until vegetables are tender (about 10 minutes).

Add green peas and raisins and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat. Set aside to cool or store in refrigerator overnight.
 
Dough

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, cold
6 tbsp ice water
2 raw egg 

(Note: Original recipe calls for only 1 egg. I changed this to add another one to include in the mixing of dough to hold the ingredients together. The other egg will used later as egg wash - see instructions #16-18)

Tools you need: rolling pin, pastry blender (if you don't have one you can use bread knife/fork), pastry brush, round cookie cutter or dough press

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt then mix well.
2. Cut the cold butter into small thin pieces and drop them on the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
3. Using a fork, two bread knives, a pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter into the flour (i use both pastry blender and fingers).
4. Don't stop until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 
5. Add cold water one tablespoon at a time and mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
6. Keep mixing until a dough is formed.
7. Divide the dough into individual pieces by grabbing a piece from the whole mixture and rolling it in your hand until a pingpong-sized ball is formed. Do this until all the dough is consumed. Chill in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or until ready to use.
8. On a floured surface and with floured hands, press the spherical dough with your palm to make it flat.
9. Use a floured rolling pin to flatten it fully while creating a round shape.  Make sure the flattened dough is wide enough to fit on your dough press or a round cookie cutter.
10. Pick the size you want for your empanada (i use medium mold)
11. Take the flattened/rolled dough and place it directly onto the "bowl" shaped, top side of the mold. Gently press and stretch out the dough into the bowl area and over the ridged edges.  Fill with about 1 tbsp of chicken filling and 2 small slices of hard-boiled egg on half of mold. (using your fingers or a small brush, you can also moisten the edges of the dough with a little water so that the dough will stick together better.  I'm too lazy to do this.)
12. Gently close it and apply light pressure.  Remove excess dough and use again when you have enough excess dough to shape a ball.
13. Gently open the mold.
14. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
15. On a greased baking tray or lined with waxed paper,  arrange the sealed doughs.
16. Prepare the egg wash by cracking an egg and separating the  white from the yolk.
17. Beat the egg white lightly and mix about 1 teaspoon of water.
18. Brush each empanada with egg wash. 
19. Bake for 25 minutes.  
20. Remove from oven and allow to cool in tray for 5 minutes.
21. Transfer on a cooling rack. 

baking session 2

I am still on a baking high so I decided to bake two things over the weekend - brownies and cookies. Tonight, I made the mixture for these two but only the brownies mixture was put into the oven because the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies requires the dough to sit overnight. Here's my final product!

The top is the chocolate chip cookie dough that needs to sit overnight and the bottom picture is the baked brownies. Although the recipe (adapted from Jaime Oliver's website) did not say anything about marshmallows, I decided to put some on top so I could see how cooked the mixture is (if the marshmallows are black, then it is burnt! Hahaha). It turned out pretty well, so chocolatey but my only comment is, the brownies was too crumbly. Hoping I can perfect it next time so that there won't be too much crumbling of the mixture when baked :)

---- updated 9 November 2013 ----

Chocolate Chip Cookie (thanks to Sally's Baking Addiction)

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour, spoon and leveled
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

Toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, then egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in the chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough becasue of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed among the dough. Cover the dough and chill for two hours, or up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

Roll the dough into balls, about 3 tbsp of dough each. The dough will be crumbly, but the warmth of your hands will allow the balls to stay intact. Roll the cookie dough balls to be taller rather than wide, to ensure the cookies will bake up to be thick. Put 8 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet. Press a few more chocolate chip/chunks on top of the dough balls for looks, if desired. Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. Do not bake longer than 12 minutes. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for ten minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

----

Jamie Oliver's bloomin brilliant brownies

250 g unsalted butter
200 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up
75 g dried sour cherries, optional
50 g chopped nuts, optional
80 g cocoa powder, sifted
65 g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
360 g caster sugar
4 large free-range eggs
zest of optional 1 orange
250 ml creme fraiche, optional

note: since i am just starting and haven't learned how to convert from weight to volume, i just looked up online what's the nearest conversion to the recipe ingredients. the optional ingredients i left alone, walnuts for the nuts, and granulated sugar was substituted for the caster sugar.

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F gas 4. Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the cherries and nuts, if you're using them, and stir together.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate, cherry and nut mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don't want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don't want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle.

Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares. These make a fantastic dessert served with a dollop of creme fraiche mixed with some orange zest.

note: since this was my first time to bake a brownie, i am not sure how to see if they're properly cooked so i placed some marshmallow on top so i could see if the top is already cooked or not. the marshmallow bit turned out well though, so i am happy about it.