Explosion of Home-Cooked Flavours in Graz (1)

Food doesn't magically appear on the table. You don't magically learn how to cook if you've never done it before either. That's where the learning comes in. Practicing certainly helps too because it means you start getting the hang of what not to do. You won't see any of the failed meals here but a couple of them were actually "first tries" which can only be described as "work in progress".

Fried rice with Peas and Corn (12.03.2014)

Notice how it's 12th March, and almost a month after settling in. Decided after the first week that eating out is not financially sustainable so the kitchen beckoned. Spent most of the first month preparing very basic dishes because of the fear of burning everything. Started getting the hang of things and decided it was time to do more!

Fussili in Tomato Paste with Pork Chop, Fried Egg and Peas+Corn (13.03.2014)

Claypot Rice with Pork, Brocoli+Cauliflower and Tomato Soup (15.03.2014)

Carrot Strips and Pork Slices (16.03.2014)

Pork Belly!!! (16.03.2014)

Pork Ribs Soup with Cabbage, Onions and Carrots (16.03.2014)

The first soup prepared from scratch. Gradually added more and more ingredients to it to enhance its flavour for meals after this.

Cabbage with minced beef and eggs (19.03.2014)

Tasted way better than it looked. Here's one example where I didn't really do my cooking right. But you can't let food go to waste. Good thing it tasted alright.

Fusilli Aglio Olio with minced meat and Brocoli (19.03.2014)

Cabbage Rice + MORE Pork Belly (20.03.2014)

Pork Belly + Cauliflower (20.03.2014)

"Singapore" Chicken Curry with Potatoes. Prepared this with Sly at Jason's place, after the other 2 had already left for Holland earlier. Tasted more like Laksa though. Need more practice. (22.03.2014)

Fried Paprika (Capsicum) with Onions, Mushrooms and Pork slices (23.03.2014)

Combination of Dad's favourite Beef with Capsicums (Paprika) + Cabbage, Carrots and Shrimps with Garlic (3rd April 2014)

Looks like a real mix of completely different dishes and it was just that... "Rojak" of the meatier variety. Was a week before heading off for the Easter break, so I just had to finish up as much of the meat as possible.

Fried Rice with Long Beans and Mushrooms (3rd April 2014)

Slight improvement on my first attempt earlier with the grains no longer clumped together. More ingredients too!

Wholemeal Spaghetti with Eggs and French Beans (10th April 2014)

Done the night before heading off to München. Intended to do Carbonara, but the lack of proper Bacon meant that was not going to happen. Turned out pretty okay too.

So that's it for the first Food Diary and I was off for my 2-part Easter travel, 1st by InterRail and then to Croatia on a road trip. The next part of the Food Diary will have to wait till after Easter then.

Next up: Munich, Germany

Cooking Adventures in Greenbox #39

It's never just about the beautiful sights you see here in Europe. Food is really important too. 

What better way to enjoy food, then to try cooking it yourself!

Introducing, the humble Greenbox #39 kitchen!

This is where I did almost all of my cooking along with my fellow #39-ners. There were 6 of us in this flat and we cooked so much that the cooking panel broke! It's a good thing Greenbox replaced it for us, although it was only replaced in late June.

Enjoyed every bit of my time spent in this kitchen, learning from scratch, coming up with food ideas from improvised ingredients without literally blowing the place up!

That's the reason why I've titled my Food Diaries as, Explosion of Home-cooked Flavours in Graz!

First up, a collection of dishes from pre-Easter i.e. from February to early April.

London Town (25th-31st March 2014)

Inspired by Paul McCartney and Wings' 1978 album of the same name.

The Sequel to "The Beauty of the Danube", is a collection of stories coming from the only other Al­pha++ Global City other than NYC.

London, UK, the bridge between Europe and America, a global hub that Singapore also is. The similarities between London and Singapore are uncanny. You might even suspect that Singapore is a mini-London sometimes. The hustle and bustle, the congestion, the crowded Tube (Singapore's MRT-equivalent) and even the people. Somehow, returning to London just a month after stopping over reminds me of home.

Then, there's Brighton, a wonderful place to go on a day-trip from London. Relaxing by the seaside along the pebble beach, enjoying the warmth of the sun with the cool sea breeze, that's a proper vacation!

Of course, there was Singapore Day on the 29th, which already has a separate album on its own. It always is nice to bump into old friends.

This week-long trip was made possible all thanks to my best buddy, Hu Ching!

So here is the story of London and the one day in Brighton!

M&M's "Abbey Road". M&M's World in London is perhaps the most ridiculous place with M&M's ever. Anything and almost everything you can think of that can be related with M&Ms is there!

Red-faced because of the sheer amount of M&Ms!

The Neoclassical St Martin-in-the-Fields Anglican Church

Can you spot the Big Ben in the distance from Trafalgar Square?

At Trafalgar Square just outside the National Gallery.  Paintings tell a lot of stories. Just too many stories to be told inside here.

"My mummy says I'm a Miracle..."

Matilda the Musical at Cambridge Theatre! Indescribably brilliant Musical! Well worth freezing in the cold early in the morning and getting each ticket for £5!

Brighton Clock Tower! Wait... 20km/h? You need a speed limit sign for that?

Mummy, why aren't the seagulls coming to me? Am I that scary?

The Royal Pavilion (Brighton Pavilion): built with a  Indo-Saracenic style. Reminds you of the Taj Mahal or the other 19th Century buildings in India eh?

The first "gate" into Brighton Pier while the seagulls fly by.

The Brighton Wheel of Excellence! It's funny that it was built in a "conservation area". Not much sense in that.

Seagull: I'm the king of the world! Ha! Oops, daydreaming again!

FISH & CHIPS!!! Hardly had any chance to bite into seafood since leaving Singapore so this tasted more than amazing!

The iconic Brighton Pier

It's only while on vacation that you can relax on the pebble beach of Brighton while seagulls fly by!

Going solo for the day and starting off at the incredibly huge British Museum.

The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, the central area of the British Museum.

These days, you tell time with an app in your smartphone... You needed weights and a sophisticated mechanism for that here!

"Artist's impression"

Bumped into Youngkwang Park here and he got a really good shot for me here.

Crimea...Ukraine...Russia...

This is how big the Big Ben is!

"Big Ben, Small Ben"

The London Eye. Just one of the many things that remind me of Singapore. Thank you Singapore Flyer, hope you'll settle your financial difficulties soon.

Big Ben: Maybe I'm not that big. But I'm still bigger than you, lamp post. Ha!

Speaks for itself, I presume. Incredible variety of food found here from Asian to Caribbean to Indonesian to Italian...... the list really just goes on and on. It was really really tough to choose what to eat... Finally made the decision to get some Caribbean, which was relatively cheap by London standards. 

A trip down Memory... I mean, Brick Lane!

Doesn't this remind you of Shredder?

So what does the Fox say?

Way too cool...

The Icons of London, done with a paintbrush

Containers converted into a mini-shopping area.

Petticoat Lane Market with stuff that's incredulously cheap!

War...

Tower of London. When the nearby bridge was built and opened on 30th June 1894, it took its name from here, hence the Tower Bridge.

Boris Johnson's office looks like a quarter of a Kinder Joy egg... And that's the Shard, the tallest building in the whole of the European Union. It's co-owned by its developers, Sellar Property and Qatar and was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. Guess he was under no obligation to design it in the shape of a piano.

Where all the rich people keep their boats...

The Tower Bridge (not the London Bridge, which is an unappealing boring old bridge nearby)

The closest I got to mimicking Paul McCartney and Wings' London Town 1978 album cover. 

With a Queen's Guard outside the Tower of London. They're no ordinary guards, they're beefeaters!

The Monument commemorating the Great Fire of London of 1666. The monument's height is the distance from this point to the bakery where the fire started.

St Paul's Cathedral, the 2nd largest Cathedral in UK. It's also here where Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 80th Birthday and the Diamond Jubilee.

Spring is coming into London too :) Or at least I thought so back then...

The West front of St Paul's.

Who can forget the iconic red telephone booth in London? (Posterized)

London, thanks for being all so lovely again. Thanks for reminding me of home, whether it's the people the sights or the food. I'll be back in just over a couple of weeks and then for a couple more times after. Meanwhile, please send my best wishes back home through the telephone lines.