Snow

An icy mountain, only millimeters high, casts a tiny shadow in the late morning winter sunshine.

The much talked about tsunami

Reading the news about the tsunami which occured in Japan is one thing. But seeing the pictures of the wreckage occured made it extremely heart-wrenching. I sit here, look around, and ponder - If it happens here, what would I do?

Pictures of the aftermath of tsunami in Japan: CLICK HERE

Videos of skyscrappers scraping and terrified people: CLICK HERE
All the scenes are so alike to the ones we see in action movies.

The height of waves from the tsunami as it travelled across the Pacific basin

Yesterday, I also read about some astrologers believing that since the moon is at a point on the orbital which is closest to Earth, hence, there is a strong gravitational pull which is bound to cause earthquakes and other natural disasters around the world on March 19, which is a week from now. They call it "Supermoon".

But of course, science researchers are calling it bull on the supermoon theory.

Scientifically, according to Dr Roger Musson, head of seismic hazard at the British Geological Survey, described the quake, of 8.9-magnitude, as a "truly massive event."
He said: "This earthquake happened because the Pacific Plate, one of the largest of the tectonic plates that make up the crust of the Earth, is plunging deep underneath Japan. It's being pushed down and it can't slide down smoothly so it sticks.

It sticks for tens of years then eventually it breaks and moves very suddenly down, buckling and giving the seabed a sudden kick over areas of hundreds of square kilometres. That displaces an enormous volume of water. That water just races away in the form of this enormous wave in all directions."

Looking at the picture below, it looks like there was a chance Malaysia could have been affected.

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Same, different

Back home in KL, it was weekly dose of teh si with kaya butter toast in Oldtown or X amount of teh tarik when studying in IMU's library.

Coming to Glasgow, no such thing has yet to be found here. Even if I found a cup sold here, it would burn a hole in my pocket to have it on a weekly basis.

But then I was introduced to this Sainsbury Chocolate flavoured milk. Creamy, rich, "less than 2% fat *lol*"... It has been something I've bought every fortnight. It goes well on its own or with cereal or with any other meal :)

Different but at the same time same as teh si/teh tarik...

On another thought, does the Scottish accent have anything to do with the wind? Thats why their accent is like the mumbly kind. Wind + Cold = mouth cramps, frozen tongues, dry lips..?

just.a.thought.... since its windy and cold outside now :/

The past

Photographs are memories worth a million years. I looked back at some of the old photos and the forgotten past became the present again, memories flooding.

There were some photos which I took with people, who were mere acquantaince at first, but now we became closer years later. We became friends. Looking back at the photos made me go, "Oh, I took a picture with you before!"

So, it is sometimes worthwhile to take pictures with strangers... who knows they might 'click' with you in the future.

Same goes with food that I cook.... :P:P

Mussels

Hello, Spring!
The weather was bright and sunny, lifting everybody's mood and also enticing people to head out just to be under this glorious weather.

This beautiful weather must have also made my regular fishmonger feel generous that he gave me a bag of mussels and two slices of fish fillets for free.

Mussels - I usually have them in restaurants, but never at home. So, I really had no idea what to do with it.
First thing I did when I reached home was to soak it in salt water, thinking it should be similar to lala..
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
I had this nagging feeling that I was doing something wrong and I had flashbacks of stories about people getting food poisoning after eating shellfish. So, I decided to google "How to cook mussels."

I read through three sites and all three stated that:

• mussels should be alive when I cook it;
• I should not soak the mussels in water because I will DROWN it!!
• I'm suppose to knock the mussel's shell and if it opens and close easily, means it is safe to eat. If not, i should throw it away.
• I needed to remove 'something hairy' sticking out of the mussels *It was icky*
• I needed to scrub the shell to get rid of the other sea creatures that were stuck to it. *I threw a few mussels away because there were some really 'stubborn creatures'*
• Any mussels with a cracked shell should be thrown away,

That's like a whole load of things to do. And I now see how there is always a chance of food poisoning when eating mussels in restaurants. Gotta be careful!

Oh, I actually don't know if my mussels were alive. I knocked it hard, but none of the mussels opened.....
So, I just dunked the scrubbed ones into hot boiling water... *I didn't hear any squeal like how live crabs do* After a few minutes, all the mussels opened up.... And I could feel my salivary glands producing more saliva in my mouth ;9

I made garlic butter mussels.
The mussels tasted really good. I could really tell the difference between those found in supermarkets and these ones. Its softer, juicier and very much less rubbery.

So, the last two rules of cooking mussels were:

• Boil till the shell opens. Throw the closed ones away.
• Do not boil too long if not it will be too rubbery

Too much of prep work to do for these mussels till I don't think I'd ever purposely buy them eventhough famous chefs say its the best thing to eat as it is fast to cook and absorbs flavours well.

On the bright side, I do love trying out new dishes to cook and watching people enjoy it too :)

One more benefit of doing stuff in the kitchn during spring - I get to wash dishes, look out the kitchen window, and see this:

Hello, spring again!

Evening

A lovely blue winter sky (with the moon and a just-visible Jupiter below it) decorate the backyard of the internationally recognized Icelandic Nikita brand clothing store on Laugavegur. In winter, the store's owner, Heiða Birgisdóttir holds all-ages snowboarding competitions in this yard, and in the summertime the half-pipe in the left-hand corner of the picture lines with skaters big and small. Some amazing concerts have been held here as well, including Icelandic wonders GusGus and the very amazing Agent Fresco.

Pfft

The daily mail wrote our Agung's name wrongly! They called him Yang Di. lol

They probably thought his full name was Yang Dipertuan Agung.....! Oh well, our Agung did get invited to Prince William and Kate's royal wedding :)